No one on my team has FRC experience - Could someone help me understand what inspection is like, and how it works?

This is VERY solid advice. An easy way to make sure you don’t go outside hard limits is to subtract a bit from the limits and design for a 119 inch perimeter, and a 15 1/2 inch extension.

Inspectors really hate to say “you’re gonna need to cut a half inch off of your chassis somewhere”

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We’ve had them ask about mechanisms and want explanations and stuff because they’re curious, so at that point, we’ll sometimes just say “We’d like to hurry this along a bit, but we’d be more than happy to answer your questions about the robot in our pit later.” When the only thing standing between you and playing a bunch of practice matches is the inspector, it gets quite annoying.

I can think of one particular case where I (serving as a regular inspector rather than the lead at that event) fell into the trap of explaining everything during the process of on-the-job training for a new inspector, and ended up taking too much time to get through everything. I think it is worthwhile to quickly clarify expectations with the team at the outset—like for example, that this may take 120% longer if we treat this as an explicit training exercise, but if you’d rather just be done fast, we can have the inspector-trainee mainly just watch. While I think some teams in some situations might appreciate the long-form explanations, other teams in other situations would just prefer to be done with it.

Also, as usual, I’m of the opinion that FIRST should communicate standards both internally (they do, in LRI training) and externally about the ideal duration of an inspection. Most importantly, communicating it externally will help teams understand the expectations and plan accordingly. And both teams and inspectors can offer feedback about whether this is reasonable, and whether the target is being achieved.

The Inspectors are also supposed to be on the lookout for mechanisms that may be unsafe or hazardous. If they keep asking questions after you try to hurry things along, it may be they have some legitimate questions relating to the Inspection process and not just their curiosity.

from their perspective
The vast majority of inspectors are fantastic, but there are a few oddballs that might claim an incredibly common practice is illegal on your robot to much frustration and the loss of a practice day. Don’t be afraid to ask to speak to their manager if you think they’re starting to gaslight you.

just another game manual change brought to you partially by 330

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There is a significant variation in the knowledge of different inspectors and what they catch or don’t catch. Our team has caught a questionable configuration after an inspector passed it (didn’t notice the violation). Our team has had good configurations that inspectors have disapproved but subsequently were allowed by a lead inspector with the warning that the lead inspector at our next competition might not approve. Follow the rules and certainly practice in your shop doing the Inspection Checklist. Sure you can have re-inspections but rebuilding a gross violation may not be practical and any trivial re-inspection still sucks the life out of your very precious time. You want to get in a practice or calibration session on the arena field as quickly as you can.

Uh-oh. You might have just triggered me… At one point, I nailed inspectors at three different events over two seasons on bumper rules and frame perimeter. The worst one I didn’t spot until it was on the field for a match–and that’s the reason it was the worst. (And the third season I had to call in the LRI for a discussion with a rookie team on frame perimeter and Starting Configuration–this was while I was working to help the team solve the issue, I just wanted confirmation that it was an issue, and someone to help the team work through it.)

That said, sometimes those issues are allowed to slide–usually if it is, it’s a violation of the letter of the rule, but the intent of the rule is met. I’ve pulled that a time or two, always informing the LRI when I do and always telling the team that they should consider fixing that when they’re able to do so. One of the catches I mentioned got the same treatment from the LRI.

I also have a tendency to try to target and help the rookie teams–there’s a lot of information to process (and completely miss, in some cases), and getting someone to them quickly for a once-over (major issues only, possible safety check) and “this is what you need to do and where to go to get inspected, do you have any questions about inspection or about the event in general?” can really help those teams out.

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