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Re: Robot in 3 Days : Feedback
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery
They could still do the project over the first three days of build season, but simply not post the results online until later on (midway through week 1 or week 2). That would also give them time to prepare plenty of supporting documentation and fully explain their processes and iterations.
My gripe doesn't only necessarily come from my team, though I used it as an example. How many non-wheeled frisbee shooters did you see last year? I only know of 1024 and 1503. Everyone else was using the wheeled launcher design. I don't know of a single Nerf-inspired frisbee "flicker" or rotating arm flinger. I know a handful of teams took the time to prototype other concepts and didn't like their results, but the bulk of teams went immediately into the wheeled shooter concept demonstrated by RI3D.
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I do not see this as a bad thing, necessarily. Cribbing designs that work is an essential part of good engineering.
Delaying the release of Ri3D information would remove a very, very important early resource for inexperienced teams. I do not think the marginal benefit of a possible increase in robot variety (I'm not entirely convinced of the magnitude of this effect on well-established teams, at any rate - I know 449 prototyped a very wide variety of designs) compares to the utility of having that information out there for teams which it benefits greatly.
Anecdotally, I know for a fact that 4464 would not have had the success we did last year without Ri3D. We had a working shooter prototype by the second weekend - it was the only prototype mechanism we were able to build, due to budgetary constraints. Without Ri3D, we would not have had a tested, feasible design to attempt, and as a team we simply could not afford to try things which we did not know would work.
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Member, FRC Team 449: 2007-2010
Drive Mechanics Lead, FRC Team 449: 2009-2010
Alumnus/Technical Mentor, FRC Team 449: 2010-Present
Lead Technical Mentor, FRC Team 4464: 2012-2015
Technical Mentor, FRC Team 5830: 2015-2016
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