Is competing at multiple regionals REALLY fair ?

[tennispro9911]

Sometimes its fun to argue. I don't mean pointless arguments but discussions that provoke your thoughts. There isn't one right answer to many questions. As a community it is good for us to discuss our beliefs and opinions.

All teams are not created equal nor do all have equal opportunities. Teams can work hard to overcome obstacles, but some teams have inherit advantages. Our team for example has a mill at our school. That is an advantage over some teams that we did not have to work for. We also have numerous other advantages and disadvantages over some teams. That's life. That's reality. FIRST does a great job of leveling the playing field with the KOP, but the playing field is never completely level. For example, a team from a very rural area with no CNC mills within 100 miles of them would have a disadvantage compared to a team that can walk up to a community college, take a course, and use their equipment. Hard work does not completely level the playing field either. Hard work makes it more level, but the team with more resources will use their hard work to expand them to a level that might be impossible for some other teams.

However, we are forgetting the purpose of FIRST. Even though we are in FIRST because its fun, and I know that everyone would love to win a championship or, in some cases, a regional, we are really in FIRST to develop a love and appreciation for Math, Science, and Technology. This is our goal. Every team can do this effectively regardless of how well they do in competitions.

[Tom Line]

Originally Posted by Sgreco27

I sort of see what you're saying but...
All I'm trying to say is if you put in the effort to get machinery or access to machinery, most of the time you are going to be successful.

*chuckle* Actually, we did just that. We now have a semi-local (40 minute drive, but hey we're not picky!) prototyping some new dewalt style transmissions for us and they've promised to work with us down the road too.

Let's keep steering this back onto the road of improving first. What if FIRST made a directory of machine shops that help out other teams (with their permission of course) so that in a pinch, rookie or "new" teams could get something done if they really needed it?

[s_forbes]

Originally Posted by fuzzy1718

Practicly our entire robot this year was made from hand tools, a drill press welder, and hand drills.

Hey, us too! Our robot was designed in a way so that it could be built with a hacksaw and a hand drill. We actually had access to a nice mill; we walked by it every single day in the shop! But we never used it. I guess we don't build our robots correctly... (as an interesting side note, we haven't had to put a single speedhole in a robot since our rookie year in 2006!)


As for the competing in multiple regionals: The rulebook allows it, therefore it is fair in the FIRST competition. I'm personally very happy that it is allowed, otherwise we would have been non-functional in a majority of our matches this season. (we had some defective wiring to the distribution block through the entire Arizona regional, didn't figure it out until we went to L.A.)

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by Tom Line

Let's keep steering this back onto the road of improving first. What if FIRST made a directory of machine shops that help out other teams (with their permission of course) so that in a pinch, rookie or "new" teams could get something done if they really needed it?

That would be a hard task, but I'd be up to helping you out. But let's open another thread for that please.

[waialua359]

Originally Posted by tennispro9911

Sometimes its fun to argue. I don't mean pointless arguments but discussions that provoke your thoughts. There isn't one right answer to many questions. As a community it is good for us to discuss our beliefs and opinions.

All teams are not created equal nor do all have equal opportunities. Teams can work hard to overcome obstacles, but some teams have inherit advantages. Our team for example has a mill at our school. That is an advantage over some teams that we did not have to work for. We also have numerous other advantages and disadvantages over some teams. That's life. That's reality. FIRST does a great job of leveling the playing field with the KOP, but the playing field is never completely level. For example, a team from a very rural area with no CNC mills within 100 miles of them would have a disadvantage compared to a team that can walk up to a community college, take a course, and use their equipment. Hard work does not completely level the playing field either. Hard work makes it more level, but the team with more resources will use their hard work to expand them to a level that might be impossible for some other teams.

However, we are forgetting the purpose of FIRST. Even though we are in FIRST because its fun, and I know that everyone would love to win a championship or, in some cases, a regional, we are really in FIRST to develop a love and appreciation for Math, Science, and Technology. This is our goal. Every team can do this effectively regardless of how well they do in competitions.

excellent, excellent points made here.