[EricH]

Originally Posted by nitneylion452

OR they really want us to use the NXT Controller. Possibly because it's the most expensive item of the FTC kit? And so begins the political arguments.

I wasn't going to say that, precisely because of the political arguments that were bound to ensue. However, I'd suggest simply getting a Mindstorms NXT kit instead, if you're going that route and don't have an NXT controller on the way. It's really fun to monkey around with LEGOs for a while to relieve stress.

But what I will say is this: The Minibot race was a race up the pole. As I understood it, the goal was to trigger the target at the top as quickly as possible by going up the pole, then retrieve the robot by whatever means were designed in, pole or otherwise.

This changes the game to "Race up the pole, then activate your down-going mechanism"--which down-going mechanism I would anticipate most teams not having designed in yet. Why not have a race down the pole instead.

I see why they did it--4 retrieval poles on the field, each about 5' long, could create a somewhat dangerous situation, and having people off the ground creates an even more dangerous situation--but not allowing a pole to remove your minibot? How else are you supposed to remove a minibot that gets stuck near the top while sliding down? Are you supposed to ask the field reset for whatever device they're using?

GDC: For your next change, would you mind putting a second target in the base, and allowing points for hitting it after hitting the target on the top? Just to give us a reason to have the minibot come down besides the risk of a Yellow Card, and to extend the "race" to assist with minibot removal?