Re: What did you vote for in the stop-build day survey?
 

..and I voted the exact opposite: Students can go knock themselves out, while mentors get Pina Coladas and hammocks.:rolleyes:

Re: What did you vote for in the stop-build day survey?
 

Crap! Is it too late to change my vote? Wait, where do we stand on being sponsored by pina colada companies?

Re: What did you vote for in the stop-build day survey?
 

I don't recall such a question being asked. Now that you ask it, I would answer "keep it" (first choice) as a #1 preference, and "ditch it" as a not-too-distant #2 preference.

• Bagging as currently practiced at least simulates the concept of a ship date. Long-lead ship dates are a real thing in my professional world; we prep equipment in-house and ship it to (mostly) foreign ports where we install it on a ship. Carrying software and small hardware upgrades is also a reality; I have hand-carried both software and hardware many times, and only once did we pay excess baggage because the hardware was in excess of 30 pounds.
• Build until the deadline also mimics many shops.
• Access periods in your own shop don't have any real world analogs that I am aware of.

Re: What did you vote for in the stop-build day survey?
 

I am quite sure that both sides are able & willing to come up with tortured real world analogs to bag day or no bag day to support the conclusion they've already reached for other reasons.

Re: What did you vote for in the stop-build day survey?
 

Honestly, the option that would make the most sense (in my opinion, note that this is not a factual statement due to the fact that I am not all-knowing) would be the one that involves a sort of compromise, aka Option 2.

Rather than abolishing Stop Build Day or maintaining Status Quo, there could be a variety of paths the FRC community can take. Please note that none of these solutions are the best ways to go. They're all just ideas thought of as alternatives to just outright abolishing Stop Build Day:

• Staggered Open-Bag Time: Give every team 24 hours per week (no roll-over for unused time) after Stop Build Day to do what they want to the robot. This is based on the honor system, I know. The current Bag-n-Tag system is, too.

• Complete Season Change-Up: Have Build Season occur with the same amount of time but during the summer with competitions in the fall instead of the spring. Also, you could increase Build Season to end the week before Week One competitions begin. This would involve major hassles and re-working, but I believe it would benefit students overall (no missed assignments, diminished studying efforts, etc). That being said, I don't know what effect this may have on mentors and teachers.

• Build Time Allotments: In timed chess, you have a clock which counts down the amount of unspent time you have and it is up to you to portion your time effectively. Instead of a full X-long build season, FRC could give each team a certain number of days to work on their robot which can equate to six weeks, and these days would be spent in a similar manner to timed chess. I've seen posts from numerous teams limiting their build time to four days per week anyways, so this system can allow for this to happen with an added benefit of using leftover time whenever the team wants.

None of these ideas are perfect solutions on their own, but I think it would be healthier for us to entertain more than just one solution to the current problems of Stop Build Day.