Questions you've been asked about robotics

[JamizzleHavok13]

In our area, not many schools have a robotics team, so a lot of people don't automatically understand what you mean when you say you're on a FIRST Robotics team.
What are some strange questions you have received over the months/years about robotics?

A standard level technology class was instructed to ask our team a series of questions. Here are some that they wrote down:
- Who gets the most chicks?
- What kind of robots yall build
- Is yall play sports
- Is they smart
- Yall machines
- Is yall robot people

Fire away! :]

[miketwalker]

The question almost everybody asks first (which is very sad):
"Is that like that battlebots thing?"

[JamizzleHavok13]

The question almost everybody asks first (which is very sad):
"Is that like that battlebots thing?"
:rolleyes: I have definitely gotten that one way too much, too. :ahh:

[Liz Smith]

"Can you make something that can do my homework for me?"

[Steve Howland]

My grandmother: "Can it walk around and do stuff like a human?"

[Bcahn836]

Can you make it do tricks?
What it robotics?
Do you build it yourself?
What do you build it out of?


But you must understand I live in St. Mary's county Maryland.

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

Oh so many...

1) Are the guys hot?? OMG OMG?
2) Is it good on my resume?
3) What's "robotics"
4) Will I look nerdy if I join
5-200) Battlebots...

[pyroslev]

I've been asked the battle bot questions so many times i do not answer it anymore. I've alsi been asked and I quote, "You spend HOW much time at school?!" But the best one is, since i got sick at VCU last year, "You going to get sick again?"

[miketwalker]

But the best one is, since i got sick at VCU last year, "You going to get sick again?"

Oh man, let's hope that whole ordeal doesn't happen again. That'd be no fun lol.

[Kyle]

Do they make you dye your hair that color?
How much do you get paid?
Why do you build robots?
Why don't they fight?
How much does it cost?
Can it do stuff for me?
What the point of building something that doesn't do anything?
Then of course- Do you mean battle bots?

[DCA Fan]

I always get:
1. Is it BattleBots? (grrr.)
2. Can you make it to my homework? (no.)
3. Are all the people on the team uber geeks? (no, but is that a bad thing?)

[kjohnson]

-"So you're using the same robot as last year?"

-"You're telling me you have to build a new one every year?"

[KathieK]

From my boss, recently, as we were walking together to a meeting, "So... your son is a senior this year. How much longer will you be involved in this robotics thing???" I guess maybe I spend too much time at work on it and too much time talking about it??? :o

[greencactus3]

can i have it when you're done? no? ill buy you lunch for a week i promise...
can i ride it?
is that a flame thrower?
how fast can it go? (well i suppose this is normal)
are those tires really pirelli? ( no this would be an inside joke)
does it have a hemi? (or 2? now that the hurricane was introduced)
do a burnout!!!!!
do donuts!!!
.....i always wondered.. burnouts are possible but does a skid steer count as a donut?

[Yan Wang]

"Oh, so it drives around and does stuff by itself without human control?"

:)

Response: "Er... sometimes... when it works."

[Lisa Rodriguez]

"Girls can build robots?"
"Where do you do it?"
"Why do you only have 6 weeks"
"How can you do it with THOSE people"
"Can I join?"(note this is ALWAYS in the middle of build and once i mention atlanta, and i DO say next year)
"You're doing WHAT for robotics???"(i'm dying my hair, well robotics is ONE of the reasons....andy)
"That's how you know all those people from other towns?"

that's all i have for right now........

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

I just got asked this question...

"So what is it that you program your creature to do?"

:ahh:

[CourtneyB]

hahahai got that once i think....people in my school are wierd so they ask stupid questions..

i usually get asked like "wht is a robot?...does it talk?"

[JakeGallagher]

1) So, it's like BattleBots right? <No>
2) Why don't you make it fight? <That's against the rules>
3) Why can't you make it fight? <That's not the point of the game>
4) So why do you do it if it isn't cool like BattleBots? <...>

[KyleGilbert45]

My favorite question of all time asked by "outsiders"

How much does/did that thing cost?


How can you put a price on the hard-work and dedication it took to build these machines? Of course you could give them a raw materials cost, but is that really even close to the "actual" cost?

[Courtneyb1023]

"so..they give you the instructions and you just build it ..everyone's is the same..right???"

i get that a lot

[Billfred]

I get a lot of BattleBots questions--after a while, I kinda learned to bounce off that in order to get the idea across.

Sometimes it actually works.

(Of course, then I have to explain that it's a high school competition, but that's just my personal problem.

[tiffany34990]

i get from some people..

so when are you guys going to build a robot that does all the chores around the house... like rosie on the Jetsons..??

the bot weights how much??? :ahh:

the robot moves on it's own (auto mode)??

are there instructions to make the bot?? a kit with everything in it????

[Nadav Zingerman]

"So all the robots accomplish the same task? You'll never win that way, yours has to do something completely different."

Probably more my failure to explain the game than anything else. I would have explained further, but the taxi ride was over and I really had to be in my pit...

[mrbob1000]

Whenever i talk to people about robotics they usually ask

"dont you have to be smart?"
"doesnt it take up all of your time?"
"is it like a kit?"
"are you guys any good?"

and then i always get the usual questions like
"is it like battle bots?"
"what do you do?"

[Mr. Pockets]

A few I've got include:

-"Do you love robotics?" (That came after I had spent the last hour or so droning about FIRST to the kids I was babysitting. I'm almost wondering if it was a rhetorical question...)

-"Why don't you put some sort of jammer on it?" (Came after I asked my family for suggested robot improvements. Kind of a running joke now)

I've also gotten a few questions about what my team t-shirt is for. Oddly enough, I don't remember ever being asked if FIRST like battlebots. Instead the ones I get are from the other direction (why isn't it like battlebots?)

[Molten]

1) So, it's like BattleBots right? <No>

Interesting, my answer is yes. It is a lot like BattleBots, just with a different goal. This generally leads to, "what's the goal?" and a bit more interest. I mean, let's face it...Battlebots has done a service for FIRST in that it gets people to come and start a conversation. Even if that start is always, "Is it like BattleBots?". I'm just happy they asked a question.

[wendymom]

"what do you feed it?"

asked by a third grader at a demo

[JaneYoung]

"what do you feed it?"

asked by a third grader at a demo

The answer is: really awful bad hints.

--
My favorite question: so... long pause... if your son graduated a long time ago, why do you stay involved?.. long pause...
followed by my 3 minute elevator speech that goes on for days.

[demosthenes2k8]

Usually, it's "Only six weeks? Are you serious?"
followed by...
"A new robot every year? Are you serious?"
followed by...
"And students build this? Are you serious?"
etc...

(They don't always repeat what I say, but when they do it's funny.)

[NorviewsVeteran]

I've gotten, "so does it come in a kit?" a few times.

[Chris is me]

The questions I get asked at 90% of demos.... (read the following in a sarcastic tone for the full effect)

"IS IT BATTLEBOTS???? DO THE ROBOTS FIGHT EACH OTHER??? AWW THIS IS STUPID. YOU SHOULD PUT A CHAINSAW ON IT LOLOLOLOLOOLOLOL"

Otherwise it's usually intelligent questions about the competition, what skills I learn, why I do it, etc.

[Karibou]

Interesting, my answer is yes. It is a lot like BattleBots, just with a different goal. This generally leads to, "what's the goal?" and a bit more interest. I mean, let's face it...Battlebots has done a service for FIRST in that it gets people to come and start a conversation. Even if that start is always, "Is it like BattleBots?". I'm just happy they asked a question.
My answer to that question is very similar to yours. "Well...kind of...but not really. It's kind of like BattleBots and sporting events mated and had a baby" It's like BattleBots in the sense that you actually build a robot. But, the motive of the game is more of a competitive tournament, kind of like you would see in football. The goal (of the game, not FIRST) is to win, or at least do well in competition, so you can advance in rank and the best teams end up facing each other.

Questions I get A LOT:
"So you actually build robots?"
"Isnt' it hard?"
"How big are the robots?"
<insert obligatory BattleBots question here>
"Where do you do all of this?"
"How big is the team?"
"How many girls are on the team?"

Edit: Oh yeah, I also got asked the question "Can you build a robot that could kill people?" during an interview for journalism. The task was to interview a classmate and write a profile story about them. Naturally, I babbled on for the entire class period about robotic and how amazing it is (why would I talk about anything else?), and my interviewer asked me that as a joke. Somehow we got on the topic of killing the journalism teacher (which we would never do; he's too awesome), and I elaborated on alllll the ways we could build a robot to do that. He wrote a story based on that and got an A+ about it XD
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