First Robotics In Popular Mechanics

[J_Beth]

Today I received the May edition of Popular Mechanics (http://www.popularmechanics.com/), and was pleasantly surprised by what was inside. It was a FIRST Robotics supplement.
Its a shame that I have not been able to find a like on the web to the contents of this supplement, but I am however very pleased with how it presents FIRST as a whole!
I think that media coverage like this is something that is greatly beneficial to the FIRST message. Popular Mechanics has had several previous articles about FIRST, and previous competitions (just go to the web site and do a search). But I think that since the current supplement is actually a completely separate booklet, more people will read it.
Having read it myself (of course) I think that it does an excellent job describing all of the hard work that goes into building a robot. The article explains what the goal of FIRST is, to teach kids about science and engineering at a younger age, so that they can get hands on experience, instead of just reading a textbook. It also features interviews with Dean Kamen, Woodie Flowers, team members from Fe Madiens(#2265), and pictures of teams #67, #3128, #118.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I believe that we (as a FIRST community) are doing an excellent job of presenting ourselves to the rest of the world. We are actively reaching out to bring new people into this amazing organization and helping everyone, not just students, mentors included learn and grow as a community with a commitment to a better future through science and engineering.

So, if you get popular mechanics, show this supplement to your team, read it over, and be proud that you are apart of FIRST!!

[CalTran]

Oh I'm pleased to see they did it again this year. I recall last year they did an article about FIRST and did spotlights on teams 51, 67, and 469.

[flippy147852]

Mine actually arrived the day right before the Michigan State Championship, so I brought it there and got Kyle Hughes (27 RUSH) to sign it!

Now to bring it to champs and get everyone else in it to do the same...

[cadsculptor]

I thought the article was great, also. I am trying to find out how to order reprints so I can hand them out when people ask "what is FIRST?" and give them to sponsors and supporters.

I'll post a reply when I find out how to get the reprints.
Paul

[Buzz2001]

Hi all - New to the forum.

I too received the insert on FIRST in PM. Great article!

I was surprised to read the option they are considering a change to a 3 year game. I don't think this would challenge the students near as much as the current annual game roll out/build season.

Any other opinions?

[buildmaster5000]

I'm not sure if this (http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/robots/the-best-high-school-robot-builders-meet-in-new-york-citys-first-competition) is what you meant, but it is what I found after stumbling on the PM site. Sadly, I have not received my May edition yet, and I am going out of town for the weekend :(

[2611.Shooter]

buildmaster: that is part, but not all, of it. It leaves out all the pictures of teams at the back.

Buzz: I agree, moving to a three year game would completely destroy the ability of rookies to actually compete. Imagine being a rookie team, joining on the third year of a game, and going out against a team with two previous years of refinements and observations of other teams (you know how at the first regional, people are always like "why didn't I think of that?" well, those other designs could be then incorporated into the next year's bot, and by year 3, all of the experienced teams would have superb, similar bots.) I also think that this would put a severe dent in gracious professionalism- why show off how your bot works if they can then copy it for next year? A 3 year cycle would SUCK!

[Bill_B]

A 3 year cycle would SUCK!
Is that really the only 3-year cycle you can imagine? Maybe it's a good thing you're not on the GDC then, eh? ;)

Spend a minute or two to think why anyone would consider announcing the rules for a game to be played by using remote-controlled machinery three years from now. Then compare this to the designs and construction that goes into, say, planetary probes. If the game is "tell us all you can about Jupiter" what would you do differently than has already been done by Voyager and Galileo spacecraft?

Next think about how a construction time limitation might be applied to such a game announcement. A lot has already been said about how "real worldly" the six-week build season is. I'm betting the real reason for the limit is so that the mentoring engineers are not "stolen" from their real jobs for too long. These days, quite a bit of design and construction is done by the students, so it would be an even harder job to sell the various boards of education on the distraction of a long build season.

One thing FRC teams might be required to do in the future, is something FTC teams are already doing. A team engineering journal could be kept by the team during an extended duration project in such a way that documents just how much time is used for construction.

So, this has all the potential for a thousand-entry thread of its own, similar to game hint speculation. My apologies if this thread is hijacked by the 3 year subject.:D

[ATannahill]

Can someone expand on this 3 year topic for those of us who don't get Popular Mechanics?

[Rosiebotboss]

I'm not sure if this (http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/robots/the-best-high-school-robot-builders-meet-in-new-york-citys-first-competition) is what you meant, but it is what I found after stumbling on the PM site. Sadly, I have not received my May edition yet, and I am going out of town for the weekend :(

No. It is an insert into the regular magazine. I am told there is a picture of me and one of my Rosie kids in it, so if anyone has a copy, can you scan it and PM me? I haven't been able to find a copy of one yet with the insert.