Here's my thoughts on the matter:
After 12 years of playing these games? I've seen a lot of weak teams building completely ineffectual robots. Sometimes unable to even drive about the field. Anything that makes that less common is a good thing.
I wasn't around for the "must be from Small Parts Inc" restriction.
I WAS around for the days before AndyMark/VexPro.
I WAS around for the days before the KitBot.
I WAS around for the days before mandatory bumpers.
Other posters are correct in that each of those changes prompted a similar "but it makes it TOO easy" outcry.
Each of those changes has dramatically improved the competitiveness level of ALL teams. This effect is asymmetrically loaded though. They help the weakest teams the most, and they help the strongest teams the least. This helps to both raise the overall level of the competition AND level the playing field. This is a GOOD thing.
Observations:
In another similar thread, a user expressed:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Starke
I hope that some well-respected FIRSTers like JVN, Karthik, Andy Baker, Joe J. will reply in this thread as well. These are men that are inspiring to me and would love to know their side of the story.
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All four of the mentors named in that post were a part of a 2014 72-hour robot.
In general? I see many of the MOST respected mentors in all of FRC echoing essentially the same sentiment. That 72-hour builds are an immensely great thing. So much so that they're joining the fray, and doing one of their own.
2013's Ri3D team? I didn't know about them before 2013. They did a great thing, and showed how simple a competitive 2013 robot could be.
JVN, Paul Copioli, Karthik, Joe Johnson, Andy Baker, and a handful of others are all names that I automatically associate with winning robots, and all of them joined or started a 2014 72-hour build. THESE ARE THE PEOPLE I WANT TO LEARN FROM THE MOST!
Seeing how these people analyze the game, and then translate that into a strategy, and ultimately a robot design, is the best possible way I can imagine to learn how to build winning FRC robots.
I also agree with many posters in saying that wholesale copying of one of their designs is not going to be nearly as inspiring. I don't think that its completely without value though. You will still learn things. This program is specifically about inspiration and nothing else matters. Does building a robot whose design you didn't come up with, but does well on the field do that? I think it does.