Quote:
Originally posted by JosephM
While we thurn out only '3 differnt styles', the problem is that unlike BB, FIRST changes every year. Goals are almost ALWAYS used. If you were here in previous years, you would know that many other things beside balls were used. Floppies and possible weights this year. On the other hand, BB never changes and has a greater possiblity of more diverse robots.
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Which brings me back to my original point: if FIRST inspires more creativity than Battlebots does (and BB apparently requires no intellectual input), why is it that Battlebots tends to churn out more unique robot ideas than FIRST does with the game changing every year? Restriction on parts plays a part, to be sure, but that in and of itself does not solely explain this phenomenon.
The robotics team I'm on has been at it at least 2 years before I came aboard. The problem is that the last two years have been somewhat similar, with the exception of how the scoring works and some field modifications. You can't fault FIRST for this: they're trying to save money during a time in which corporations are looking to maintain the bottom line. However, the problem is that for the past two years they haven't changed the competition dramatically enough to break from the aforementioned 3 different kinds of robots. Yes, there's a difference between a 2001 and a 2002 goal grabber. However, a 2001 goal grabber could've been given a quick retrofit and been just as competent as a 2002 goal grabber built from scratch.
The games change, but they haven't changed dramatically enough to really cause any massive change in the three main groups of robots. The years before I came on the team were obviously dramatically different. Still though, it's been "take x object, put high up, deposit (if applicable)" with a few bells and whistles attached. Even then, that doesn't really get much attention: the balls on the field are worth so little in almost every competition that there's almost no incentive for a team to build a robot to pick them up. Of the ones that tried that I saw, only the Sea Dogs' robot (I believe) had any sort of success picking up balls.
Finally, Battlebots and FIRST are plagued with the same problem: the metal on wheel bots. At least in Battlebots wedges have some weaknesses: if you want to be a champion in FIRST, just slap some wheels on a chassis, a goal grabber or two, hold the goals in the end zone for 2 minutes (last year) and you'll win almost every time. Folks, I've seen it happen a lot. If alternate methods aren't worth the effort you put into them, than people aren't going to be very creative about their robot designs.
Simple as that.