This is a thread on suggestions to help teams get inspected quickly. Feel welcome to post your ideas.
Wire Gauge
Since you can’t tell the wire gauge from the outside (could have thick insulation):
Pneumatics
Ditto on if you are using pneumatics. A sample piece of tubing with the printing showing the inside diameter, or have a caliper handy so the RI can measure it.
Make sure your Pressure Switch is easily accessible. The RI will be shorting the connection. Ideally, it should be easy to short while being able to see the pressure gauges.
Make sure your main breaker is:
a) accessible without moving anything (don’t cover it)
b) No moving parts nearby that could harm someone trying to reach in and turn off your robot.
I think rope inspection may be a bottle neck. At least for teams whose climbers could be a bit rough on things. We will be planning on inspecting a day’s worth of ropes and assuming each might be damaged after a match. I might ask the team to make a tall “Rope Gauge” with a davit at the top and marks for the various zones as defined by the rules…along with what we think is the best place for loops/knots for our specific situation. Of course it is likely that there will be some sort of “official” version of this at the inspection station but if we are making ropes at competition it would be helpful to have this standard. And it makes it look as if we were paying close attention to rules.
Be ready to remove and install bumpers at Weigh In. As **bumpers are part of the volume, **more than likely they will be checked near the weighing station as well. You may also need to actuate any appendages that reach out. If they cannot be back driven by hand, then be prepared to operate your robot to do these checks.
Initial plan for events I will be an LRI is to check this similar to sizing at the inspection station. If this creates too much of a bottle neck, we may have to figure out another method.
My last big tip is get inspected early, and when changes need to be made, just ask for a quick re-inspection.
Know the location of all electrical and pneumatic parts on your robot, this will help you, the inspector and all teams. Here is a short list of items you should be able to quickly locate:
Main circuit breaker
Pressure switch
Press release valve
Safety valve
Custom circuits, their specs and the wires going to power
CAW
Take your multi meter or ohm meter for inspections (occasionally inspectors are short on it). This reminds me, check for short between robot frame and PDP power terminials (or +ve from main circuit breaker and -ve pole of main AP connector), make sure battery is not plugged in.
Like others mentioned, let one mentor go over the check list and students double check before you bag. Also make sure no sharp edges, you will not have to file at the event.
The easiest way to get your robot inspected quickly is to have it done by stop build day, if your done you can get your robot inspected at the start of Thursday when the inspectors aren’t as busy