FIRST Skills comp
 

I was thinking... why doesnt FIRST have a skills competition on practice day. Have a hybrid comp- who can get the most points in 15 seconds
Hurdle comp- most hurdles in 15-30 seconds
Herd comp- most herds in 15-30 seconds
Ball Pop- best time to knock down 2-4 balls

and best of all...
Best Lap- shortest time to complete one lap

I think these would be a lot of fun, especailly if the overall best round bots earned spots at atlanta. The championship skills comp would be ridiculous.

Your thoughts...

Re: FIRST Skills comp
 

Miini-competitions like this are often found during off-season events. But the actual Regional Competition schedules are just too structured to allow for "extras" like this, as fun as they might be. For many teams, it will be the first time they have a chance to play on an actual field. Or with a robot that is finally put together! :) So practice day is really important for most teams.

Re: FIRST Skills comp
 

These events would be fun as entertainment with maybe little prizes, but would not be good for competeing for nationals. It would be unfair to those that work hard to master all aspects of the game so they can win the competition if someone could build a robot that all it can do is run around real fast and they still got into nationals. A robot that goes around fast might do poorly in competition but would do real well in a small game. These minigames also take away the competition aspect of first. first is all about making a robot so you can work well with allies and get around opponents.

Re: FIRST Skills comp
 

These could just be some fun stats that the MC reads during the match. They dont actually need to mean anything. It may give some teams a reason to actually show up to their practice matches:eek:
Joey

Re: FIRST Skills comp
 

Showing up for practice matches can be very important, especially if your team doesn't have the resources/space to build a full size practice area. Last minute changes that you discover on the practice field can potentially make or break a robot.

Re: FIRST Skills comp
 

I know practice matches are important. Our team always shows up to them. There have been many teams though at our competitions that just dont feel they need practice and dont show up. Sometimes we have had only 1 or 2 robots on the field. When people dont show up like that you really cant see what the game dynamics will be like at that regional until the qualifying matches.
Joey

Re: FIRST Skills comp
 

I think that we're likely to see fewer shorthanded practice matches this year, since they're making filler lanes available to let people who want more practice sub in for no-shows.

Re: FIRST Skills comp
 

I am looking forward to that this year. I am going to try and get my team in that line as much as possible.
Joey

Re: FIRST Skills comp
 

I think that most of the time teams don't show up for practice matches not because they feel that they don't need the practice, but because they are working on the robot. Remember, practice day is one of the few times you can actually get hands-on time on the robot.

Re: FIRST Skills comp
 

Yeah there is really too much to do for some teams during the practice day as in getting the robot unpacked and everything..tinkering wit hany motors and testing out to have a skills comp.. maybe after the competition events are all done then that would be cool, but i just dont think it would happen.