In most events, inspection people are just passionate parents of kids participating in robotics.
Therefore, I would not say a ref is obligated to inform you of any rules, as they probably don’t know all of them in most cases, rather they are obligated to do their best to determine that your robot is legal.
Thus, if an inspector makes an error, it is not on the inspector, and that error is corrected as soon as it can be. When correcting the error, the team at fault will either receive tournament or match disqualification depending on the stakes of the match, the importance of the object that is illegal, and whether or not it is fully expected of the team to have known this rule that they are violating. This makes it a complicated case by case basis.
But that’s just my opinion, this can certainly go multiple ways.
In most events, inspection people are just passionate parents of kids participating in robotics.
Therefore, I would not say a ref is obligated to inform you of any rules, as they probably don’t know all of them in most cases, rather they are obligated to do their best to determine that your robot is legal.
Thus, if an inspector makes an error, it is not on the inspector, and that error is corrected as soon as it can be. When correcting the error, the team at fault will either receive tournament or match disqualification depending on the stakes of the match, the importance of the object that is illegal, and whether or not it is fully expected of the team to have known this rule that they are violating. This makes it a complicated case by case basis.
But that’s just my opinion, this can certainly go multiple ways.
Is this coming from the perspective of another team, or of an official?
If you’re in a match against a team that obviously should’ve failed inspection, notify the ref prior to the match beginning, as they will do an on field inspection in most cases, however, it is at their discretion. I would recommend keeping a set of the inspection rules handy – Found Here – and I would point out the exact issue to the ref.
If the other team is clearly new, and it is one of their first competitions, I believe it is your responsibility to let them know that they are in violation of the rule and that they should fix it immediately before another team calls them on it. Be friendly, as this should be a positive learning experience for that team, not a negative one.
But if you’re an official at a competition, I would notify the team to fix the issue and have them go for reinspection. You would probably need permission from the event coordinator first, but it’s better they get inspected early, rather than risk a disqualification.