Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry Bonzack
Focusing in on these two comments because these point to just a few of the misconceptions of what FRC participants believe FTC is and what it is not. Here are some others.
[*]A Student design and build competition like FLL[/list]
Will some teams choose to have 100% student designs, and others have mentor's CADding their teams robots before a single part is fabricated? Yes. Will this create a larger gap between the top tier and lower tier teams? Yes. Is this fair? Of course not, and it isn't supposed to be, just like FRC.
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I will pull two comments where I have a different view as a long-time coach. I think that FTC
is a student design and build competition, like FLL. The students do the work with the guidance of their mentors. Maybe it's a result of my team's origin as an FLL team, but we still hold this as a central tenet of our FTC program. We engage with engineers at outside companies and solicit advice and help. I think both the kids and the companies get a lot out of it, but the kids do the work.
The kids should also do the CADding. CREO is free to FTC teams and there is a lot of help available to get teams working with it. In NJ there are at least 5 different formal PTC classes offered to FTC teams. Other teams will also help the less experienced. There is no reason for the mentor to sit down and CAD the robot for the team.
FTC is not a contest between mentors to see who can design and build the best robot, it is between the kids.
I am afraid this rule change is moving it to the FRC realm where it is a contest between mentors and resources. If that happens, the phenominal growth rate will end. We have helped start a lot of FTC teams, and one of the selling points is that it is easy. The coaches don't have to be technical - they just have to manage the kids, parts, and practices. The kids get the kit and can figure out how to buld and program the robot with minimal outside startup help. With the rule change, you need to understand welding, part fabrication, metal bending, etc. It makes it harder to convince the local science teacher to start a team and that is a shame.