Safety (General)¶
Baseline expectations that apply to all teams, venues, and modes.
- Lab conduct and supervision: follow institutional policies; ensure adequate oversight for any powered testing.
- Electrical and mechanical safety: enclose rotating parts; provide guards/shields; use appropriate fusing, grounding, and LOTO where applicable.
- Emergency stops and interlocks: clearly labeled, tested E‑Stops are REQUIRED for physical equipment; verify interlock behavior before demos.
- Procedures and training: maintain a written Safety plan; brief the team before each test; log incidents and near‑misses.
- Data privacy and OpSec: keep credentials and control endpoints private; DO NOT expose unsafe remote control pathways. DO NOT commit secrets to public repos.
- AI and automation: any AI components MUST run offline for judging; MUST NOT write to PLCs/actuators during read‑only/shadow interop checks.
Track‑specific details are on the respective pages:
- Mode Physical (P) — Safety & Risk
- Mode Virtual (V) — general safety is minimal; still follow lab policies for any hardware‑in‑the‑loop setups.
Mandatory Rule
- Teams MUST maintain a written Safety plan and review it before tests.
- Rigs MUST have clearly labeled, tested E‑Stops and appropriate interlocks.
- Interop checks are read‑only/shadow; teams MUST NOT write to PLCs/actuators.
Prohibited
- DO NOT expose remote control pathways on public networks.
- DO NOT commit credentials, tokens, or secrets to public repositories.
Recommended
- Log incidents and near‑misses and include lessons learned in reports.
- Keep AI components small and edge‑deployable; run offline during judging.