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Unread 15-04-2011, 23:16
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Billfred Billfred is offline
...and you can't! teach! that!
FRC #5402 (Iron Kings); no team (AndyMark)
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Rookie Year: 2004
Location: The Land of the Kokomese, IN
Posts: 8,475
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Re: Multiple Event Winners

Quote:
Originally Posted by Macdaddy549 View Post
The way I see it is that most teams that win multi regionals are "professional" teams where the students never touch the robot during the build season. These teams I have a problem with. Also these teams have very deep pockets and can go anywhere to compete.

Just my opinion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EricH View Post
2815 --Billfred'll be more than happy to tell you that you're wrong there.
Very, very wrong. In terms of raw fabrication, this year had the most student involvement of any year in 2815's history. From the start of the kit frame assembly to putting on the racing tape at Peachtree*, our kids were leading the way.

Is our robot the definition of perfection? Not even close. The lion's share of those issues were solved by our kids working shoulder-to-shoulder with the mentors. It's through hard work, a lot of luck, and the tremendous assistance of 2415, 1771, 180, and 2363 that we were able to be in such esteemed company. (And don't get me started on the budget jab.)

But that said, I want to be on the level of sophistication of teams like 67 and 148. In the words of 16-time wrestling champion Ric Flair, to be the man, you've got to beat the man**. I don't want the man to be someone that shuns the gym and trainers out of some misguided idea of how things ought to be, I want the man to be working hard with the pros to up his game and sell out the Georgia Dome!

By working with professionals, we can spend more of our time testing and optimizing our designs and use less time figuring out how to re-drill a half-inch hole in our 1" box tubing arm tower that was done crookedly***. If that's wrong, I don't want to be right.

Spoiler for Footnotes:
*We didn't have time to paint, so we ordered tape in garnet, black, and yellow and wrapped our robot in it...contrary to the rumors, we aren't using it to hold the whole thing together. The garnet tape happened to be sold as racing tape, and I maintain it's added at least fifteen horsepower to our robot.

**WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

***Actually happened--our arm tower was initially mounted a little crooked, so nothing lined up. We flipped the piece of metal over in the end, hidden neatly by the racing tape to avoid shelling out another $30 for virgin material.
__________________
William "Billfred" Leverette - Gamecock/Jessica Boucher victim/Marketing & Sales Specialist at AndyMark

2004-2006: FRC 1293 (D5 Robotics) - Student, Mentor, Coach
2007-2009: FRC 1618 (Capital Robotics) - Mentor, Coach
2009-2013: FRC 2815 (Los Pollos Locos) - Mentor, Coach - Palmetto '09, Peachtree '11, Palmetto '11, Palmetto '12
2010: FRC 1398 (Keenan Robo-Raiders) - Mentor - Palmetto '10
2014-2016: FRC 4901 (Garnet Squadron) - Co-Founder and Head Bot Coach - Orlando '14, SCRIW '16
2017-: FRC 5402 (Iron Kings) - Mentor

93 events (more than will fit in a ChiefDelphi signature), 13 seasons, over 60,000 miles, and still on a mission from Bob.

Rule #1: Do not die. Rule #2: Be respectful. Rule #3: Be safe. Rule #4: Follow the handbook.
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