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Re: [FRCTop25.com]- 2014 Premiere Night
This was a big success last year and a lot of teams gained exposure through this premiere night. I'm glad teams have this opportunity again.
However, I'm concerned about the requirement of robot secrecy. I definitely noticed last year that some of the usual suspects posting info in the last two weeks did not get to do so because of this contest. Historically, 2791 has posted mechanism photos and designs throughout the build season. Last year we weren't able to do this because of our decision to participate in this reveal. I'm sure many other teams dealt with this same issue as well.
What this means is that less information is exchanged at the end of build season, information that can be extremely helpful to other teams. Videos of partially functional robots in Week 5, completed robots several days before ship, etc. often serve as inspiration for teams struggling to get their robot to spec. I know 2791 has used information posted on CD by teams way farther ahead of us to design last minute robot fixes more than once, and I know many others have done the same.
As this contest gets more and more popular, this means more and more FRC teams will not be able to publicly talk about their designs, post videos of mechanisms running, or otherwise discuss their completed robot in public. I know the contest is optional and teams could opt not to participate if they individually value sharing designs. But what about the teams that could really go either way on design sharing, but really desire the exposure this event gives their team? I fear that in the name of a fun reveal night we're going to continue to stifle discussion and openness in the FRC community, and that is the opposite of what I think would be best for FRC. I can't speak unilaterally for my team just yet, but I personally don't want to be part of a project that makes secrecy mandatory.
All of that said, this was a great show and a great opportunity for so many teams to show off their hard work last year. I don't want to minimize that or the hard work you guys have put in. I just personally wish it didn't have to happen at the expense of open communication between FRC teams, and this seemed like a good venue to express that concern.
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Mentor / Drive Coach: 228 (2016-?)
...2016 Waterbury SFs (with 3314, 3719), RIDE #2 Seed / Winners (with 1058, 6153), Carver QFs (with 503, 359, 4607)
Mentor / Consultant Person: 2170 (2017-?)
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College Mentor: 2791 (2010-2015)
...2015 TVR Motorola Quality, FLR GM Industrial Design
...2014 FLR Motorola Quality / SFs (with 341, 4930)
...2013 BAE Motorola Quality, WPI Regional #1 Seed / Delphi Excellence in Engineering / Finalists (with 20, 3182)
...2012 BAE Imagery / Finalists (with 1519, 885), CT Xerox Creativity / SFs (with 2168, 118)
Student: 1714 (2009) - 2009 Minnesota 10,000 Lakes Regional Winners (with 2826, 2470)
2791 Build Season Photo Gallery - Look here for mechanism photos My Robotics Blog (Updated April 11 2014)
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