Re: "Spare Parts" Rules Are Broken
 

Please forgive me if I blaspheme, but I detect a religious mindset here; the religion of FIRST. Perhaps the day will come when the rules are boiled down to just ten pearls of common sense. The spare parts rule could read as follows:

4. Remember the Sabbath by keeping it holy. Six weeks you shall labor and do all your work, but the days until the first event and those between are the Sabbath to the FIRST. On them you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your engineer or engineerette, nor your Bridgeport, nor the teacher within your gates. For six weeks the righteous moved the heavens and the earth. Therefore, the FIRST blessed the Sabbath and made it holy.


Don’t get me wrong. There should be rules. Concrete ones such as the weight and size constraints. Vague ideologies such <R09> will only lead to the creation of sinners, and to the saints who police them.

Re: "Spare Parts" Rules Are Broken
 

I'm not saying we shouldn't pursue the normal avenues for dealing with violations. I'm saying that there are some violations that should be announced, for instance if you are caught overweight.

The problem with the current system is that it is completely reactive. Teams know if they are caught breaking a rule, it won't matter, they'll be told to fix it and thats that. What good are rules that have no reprocussions for breaking them? If my parents raised me with the mindset we use in FIRST for rules, I would probably would have been a juvenile delinquit.

You are assuming everyone in the world acts graciously and professionally, and that's just not the case.

Re: "Spare Parts" Rules Are Broken
 

Wow, I really hope you are still following this thread because.. I'm sorry. I saw your robot get weighed after your match. I was shocked & a little upset. When you indicate that you tried, I believe you. There are so many ways you could have delt with this. I understand your want to compete & use your robot as it is intended to be used but, this competition isn't about YOU. We are a comminity and when one of us goes astray, we all go astray.

Our first year (2000) we made lexan hooks that snaped in a match. We replaced them with aluminum and played in our next match. After that match we went & got ourselves reweighed. We weren't asked to we wanted to. We were slightly over weight, we then took off another component, our arms. Nobody told us to do so, nobody asked us to do so. We knew it was the right thing to do.

I am mostly concerned about the way you feel about what happened. Nobody is looking at you and saying "your what's wrong with FIRST." Were saying "how can we help you do what you want to do?" FIRST is about learning & competing but is also about having fun & doing whats right. THere were 60+ other teams at Buckeye, I know I would have been willing to help you. Just ask.

BTW: I don't remember if we won or lost the match we played overweight in, that was 5 years ago. I just know how we flet like we had done the wrong thing & had to make it right. & we did.

I think i just torn my MCL getting off my soapbox. Ouch

Re: "Spare Parts" Rules Are Broken
 

First of all I'm not assuming. I'm expecting them to act graciously and professionally. I know this isn't always the case and I know sometime this is the case and doesn't appear to be the case. Engineering is a ethical field. In many cases peoples safety is affected if engineers aren't ethical. I expect the engineers to instill this in their students and be proactive on their own teams. I know as the main rules expert on my team last year I expected being within the rules a must.

I'm not saying anything wrong with what your saying to do except for who is going to do it.

You came off in your previous message like the teams should let everyone know if a team was breaking a rule. That isn't the correct path and can have many negative consequences.

FIRST makes announcements like this in matches and can make these announcement during competition after bringing it to the attention of FIRST officials. "Team xxxx was overweight in match xxx and therefore is disqualified." Not userxxx writing, "You know team xxxx was overweight in match xxx and they won. That not fair" If you get into the last part we're all in trouble.

I imagine most people would realize they had broken the rules and then accept the forfeit. At least I would. I guess maybe not everyone is gracious and professional but give them the chance (idealist statement).