Quote:
Originally Posted by 2544HCRC
My guess is that if the presentation for FIRST went something like you are going to need a team of Engineering mentors, access to a pretty sophisticated shop, and the finances to build 2 robots + in order to be competitive, the field would and will be much much smaller.
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That statement seems fairly loaded with misconceptions in my opinion. Engineering or technical expertise in some form (almost always mentorship) I agree is a necessity to be competitive. However, other resources like a sophisticated shop and resources for 2 robots are hardly necessary to be competitive. Sure they can help, but there are teams with sophisticated shops that do well and those with sophisticated shops who don't. There are those with 2 robots who do well and those that don't. Likewise there are teams WITHOUT sophisticated shops or 2 robots that do well and ones that don't. Sure the extra practice time, machining capabilities, and expertise can help, but it's certainly not impossible to be competitive with limited resources.
Plus search the web and you'll find things like kit bot on steroids...great way for teams with few resources to build a good (highly competitive) drive base.