how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

I have been involved with FIRST for 4 years with 2064 and 558, and before that watched my cousin work his way up on team 237. Over the years, I feel that FIRST has effectively ruined some things for me. I'll elaborate, with the years. Keep in mind, I was 9-12 for the FIRST few years listed here.:

2001

• I now have to balance on any see-saw I find...anywhere
• I wondered for years why *our* schools didn't have those nifty ball bins!

2003

• I never want to have anything shipped...ever again, those poor crates!
• I learned to appreciate regular lighting, and to this day still refuse to use camera flash if I can!
• The idea that a DDR pad sent robots crashing around ruined that game for me!

2004

• I just gave up on chin-ups in Gym.
• Dodgeball got a lot scarier for me...dumping all those balls!

2007 (My rookie year!)

• I finally found a use for Binary math! And I *USED* it
• Tic-Tac-Toe just wasn't as fun
• I used the scoring system to breac tic-tac-toe ties
• I wanted a lift kit on my car to get up on any ramps I could find
• I painted a white ring on my pool tubes so nobody took them

2008

• I hated universal remotes
• I had an easier time finding the remote on my robot than on my couch
• I felt that NASCAR would be more entertaining with giant blue balls falling from the sky.
• I grew a new appreciation for the Dung Beetle (see 558's 2008 bot for details)

2009

• I fear my bathtub...it's the same material as regolith!
• I have a new reason not to wear white after Labor Day
• I learned why purple Neon goes UNDER the car and not on top of it
• I want, no, need proximity sensors on my trailer. I hate unwanted cargo.
• Have you ever seen a robot skid towards you, and can't do anything about it? I hate the outpost.
• I only wear black or gray shirts to robotics, my vision code tends to chase shirts!
• All balls should be solid, period
• Willie Wonka now creeps me out (our theme that year)

2010

• I feel that if there were more balls on the field, people may actually watch soccer
• My robot now knows how a flipped turtle feels.
• I have a new appreciation for segways
• I need to ball-proof my workspace at home, too
• every time I walk up to an autmatic sink, I expect a light to turn on. If I can do it, why can't they?
• I'm looking into mechanum drive for my car, would make parking a LOT easier!
• I need to adopt a small child for fundraising purposes, they're quite effective!

Does anyone have anything else? I want to compile a list. It's always kinda fun looking back on things like this!

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

2010: When a Robot hanging from a tower in the middle of a forrest falls, and I don't hear it, I still groan

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

2010 (My Rookie Year :D): If you feel like there might be a BOB rag on your back there probably is. Now I have BOB rag paranoia.

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

2010 (rookie year)
when anyone says dogma I now jump a little (the only rule that applied to Human Player (me) this year pretty much)
I now engage in arguments about rules as recreational activities...and I always win

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

2010: Bike brake cables and powered car antennas scare me...
-----internal monologue :[just 2 more inches. come on. no!]
-----driver:remember that time we didn't hang?
-----Human player(me):<disappointed and annoyed*>yes


*because it was neither the first time this has happened nor was it the first time I had been asked this

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

2003 - Stack Attack: 118's robot and strategy. I've never been the same since.

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

2010- Whenever someone says, "Why the #ell would they do that?", I automatically lay out a logic matrix in my mind according to Prisoner's Dilema to see if there is a loophole in their behaviour that causes the seemingly bizarre action. This tends to lead to rolled eyes and disappointing glances from my wife and friends...

2009- Reminded me that simple solutions are often the best after watching our custom trajectory, dual roller, turreted, multi-chambered 30 ball holding with anit-jam software, swerve driving, traction controlled robot get destroyed by a Kit-chassis with a tall gear, and overhead bin with dump gate. KISS

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

2003 - 3 goals that move will forever frighten me!
2003 - Robot that have wings are like monkeys with wings... Then can't be good!

Ivey

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

I learned that in 03 with Stack Attack as a team leader. Tried to get our robot to do to many things, and it did nothing well at all. Now as a Mentor I stress simple designs, especially with the resources our team has. Last 2 years we have had very few mechanical issues and have a competitive bot, maybe not the best, but one that always gives you a chance to win.


do you mean 02?

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

I can't look at mailboxes without assigning a team name to the address numbers.

1:11 is Wildstang O'Clock.

I can't go through the toy department of any store without considering all toys as potential game objects. I then think of how to manipulate all of them.

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

2009:
-I now hate Wal-Mart a little more (they stopped selling moon rocks about two months before January and we had to call stores all over the country to scrap some)
-I have a new respect for drifting

2010
-I suddenly love magnets and everything about them (I guess you can say I'm ATTRACTED to them...anyone? Anyone?)
-I'm considering going to Vegas using capes as bargaining chips
-Psh, forget chin ups. I'm just going to wrap my legs around the bar and curl up.

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

2007:
- I hate tic-tac-toe now. I haven't played a game since 2007.

2008:
- I've become obsessed with keeping our designs simple. We couldn't even go around in circles correctly? Wow.

2009:
- Regolith. 'Nuff Said.
- Also, what's the score? Oh wait...
- I agree with Kelsey, I'm not too much a fan of Wal-Marts now. We've got the largest store in Ohio, and we still can't find a *darn* moon rock?

2010:
- Burned CIM Motor Syndrome.
- Speed bumps are now seen as opportunities to go faster, not slow down! :eek: (Don't worry, I don't drive... yet).
- Any mythological story that involves a trident is considered banned reading for me.
- Random numbers make me go insane. At this point in my FIRST career, I'm starting to see bus routes or addresses, and trying to associate a team name with them.

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

Does the fact that I'm making a clock that displays FRC Team names instead of the time make me damaged?

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

No. Just slightly insane. ;)

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

Am I slightly more insane in that I would pay serious money for it? Seriously, there's a fundraiser here waiting to happen.

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

I hate VisualBasic...the SQL database would be excessive for this, so I'm doing it all by hand. This could take a while, I'll make another thread on it later!

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

2005 Tetrahedron is now an established word in my vocabulary.
Vision systems are the key to Autonomy.

2006 Shooting something from a Robot is now a standard, that's all I want to do.
Vision again really should be working.

2007 Bummer, only human players can make ringers by shooting/throwing.
12" double lift is not as simple as you would think.
See, Vision is still key to good Autonomous, don't you get it?

2008 Big balls are fun, and pop easily.
OK, the need for vision was not crucial. Setting highest score in Autonomous at Davis was achieved with a Gyro and encoder.
Going to Hawaii the week of competition was a bad idea. Getting text updates on how it was going was OK, but being there would have been better.

2009 Barfing robots rule!
Traction control is a must. Driving on ice can be fun!
Vision worked perfectly, only robot to score autonomously at Davis and Cal Games.
Whenever I see LabView being used on Discover Chanel programs, I smile.

2010 I will NEVER look at kicking a ball the same way again.
Vision was excellent for autonomous, but ball control is King.
Scoring from all three zones in Autonomous mode, priceless!
Robots can dance.... and score in the process.

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

2009
I will forever look at orbit balls as the most valuable and rare object on the planet.:mad:

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

Yes I did mean 02, I told you those wings scared me!!!! Scared me so bad I wanted to forget the year!

Ivey

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

Who's wings, exactly?

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

2009 (Rookie year!) - the simpler it is, the better.
school?! what is that thing?
robots are made from pure awesomeness!
2010 - Hanged robots just seems normal..
soccer is just a dull game compared to breakaway, robots play better...

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

2010 - Traffic Control - on our way Saturday from team activity no. 1 to team activity no. 2, we pulled up at an intersection where the car next to us was significantly over the line. One of the team members commented, "good thing this isn't the autonomous period, that car would get a penalty for being completely over the line." Followed of course by the expected - Isn't that two penalties? And I thought it was a yellow card. And so on... :rolleyes:

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

2009- I've always wanted a truck. But after this game, I really really really wanted a truck

2008:
NASCAR- Look he's making a left turn! Look he's making another left turn!
FIRST- Look he's making a left turn! Look he's making another left turn!

NASCAR- How do you confuse a rabid fan? Turn right
FIRST- How do you confuse a rabid fan? Press 4 on your remote

Never in the history of time have nerds and rednecks felt closer together.

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

2007- the ability to move a tube off of a ramp can win you a championship.
-the roof of the georgia dome during the day can really mess up a cmu camera
-throwing a ringer onto the flag of your robot is never a good thing

2008 -1114 is scary good
-you can launch anything with enough pistons

2009-i now enjoy carpet even more

2010 -any sport can be made better by adding more playing pieces to it
-the greatest defense is done by controlling the game pieces

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

1. It doesn't matter where I am, if I hear someone say, "Mom..." I turn in that direction, wondering which of "my kids" needs something.

2. When I see numbers, especially exit numbers on the highway, I think in team names: Exit 111 "I just passed Wildstang"

3. I can't get my brain to understand that I'm not watching the Red Alliance play, I'm watching the Red Wings play.

4. People think that because I do robotics, I must be really good at math and ask me to help them. This is a very predictable assumption. The problem is, I struggle a lot with math! Just ask our engineers. One of them even had to get out his "Weapons of Math Instruction" for me to use this year. ::sigh:: Being an English/Literary person in a Robotics world is so tough. ;)

And lastly, (Tim, this one's for you):
5. Whenever I see a really cool tshirt on someone, I'm tempted to ask them if they want to trade shirts.

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

I love this, I love this, I love this.

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

Try to imagine how teams outside the United States felt...try convincing Wal-Mart to send you moon rocks they "weren't selling" to Israel or Brazil.

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

1992: I can't eat corn anymore, it just slows me down.
2003: Playing King of the Hill can hurt!
2004: I cringe every time I'm in a bolwing alley
2005: I still want to stack the pyramids in Egypt
2006(Rookie Year): Sometimes you just can't do anything to defend
Dodgeball is ruined for me forever
Don't look into the light!!!
2007: Jungle Gyms that shake are shady
Exponents make my brain hurt
2008: You can't run fast enough on a track!!!
When lifting giant balls, you are very top heavy, and falling hurts.
2009: The moon sucks.
Robots should never "spew"

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

2007 (rookie year): i can no longer stand green lights hanging up high, tic-tac-toe has officially been ruined, ramps that lift up scare me a little

2008: i learned that a pneumatic catapult has potential for injury, running into a wall with ur forklift down is very bad on the forks.

2009: Drifting is my new favorite hobby when its snowy outside, 16 wheel drive is a good thing when u can get power to all 16 wheels and the cogs dont slide. REGOLITH = SPAWN OF SATAN

2010: Soccer would be much more enjoyable with 12 balls on the field instead of 1. Springs = best power plant for a kicker (just need to find a system to retract them), independant suspension pods with 8 high traction wheels is a recipe for disaster when trying to climb with an balanced bot. Stealth 5.0 Also knows what a turtle feels like, and how it feels to push people around.

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

On the way to the Michigan State Championships, we saw a car with abnormally large wheels. One of our drivers asked why anyone would want such large wheels. My co-scoutmaster said "So it can get over the bump!"

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

2004 - NEVER build a robot that can have a gave piece forcibly inserted into it by another robot.

2005 - My love of an aggressive 6wd.

2006 - Never do in hardware what you can do in software. Seriously, making a hardware PID controller was a huge time commitment. Still learned a ton though.

2007 - C does not have System.out.println()...

2008 -Driving to Atlanta after work = bad idea.

2009 - FRC fields should be carpet. This is not negotiable. (And STILL, nobody pushes Truck Town)

2010 - Low CG = Great demo tool for people. Being able to tip your robot backwards and STILL have it fall on its wheels is pretty impressive to people.

Re: how I have been "damaged" by FIRST
 

2010: Barraging my poor mother not only marching bands (oh yess, i'm a big fan) but different robots that blew the minds of everybody and how I'm excited for next year:D