[Steven Smith]

I feel like the value of a purely original idea is becoming lessened with the internet age. It is too easy for billions of people to hop online and spout out their every thought, and it is well documented. I have heard people claim wistfully, "I thought of that years ago! I could have gotten rich!", as if it was that single novel idea that led to someone else's success, instead of all the work and risk associated with implementing the idea.

I strongly believe the secret sauce that allows some to succeed is in the execution of ideas. If we took a single Ri3D example this year, and had every team build a copy, you would still have enough variation to differentiate teams based on their execution of the build. In my opinion, teaching teams to execute is at least on par with teaching them to innovate if we want students to be successful in our modern economy.

When I look at reveal videos, and see those who have both innovated outside of the Ri3D/BB envelope (or even prior year designs) and executed a design wonderfully, I'm blown away. When I see robots that have clearly pulled elements from recent examples, but built a cleanly executed robot, I'm still inspired. When I see a robot at a regional that is very original, but non-functional, it is hard to not be disappointed that a team put in a lot of work and effort to create something they may not even get to play with (versus inspired by their creativity).