Quote:
Originally Posted by noceradave
For the most part, when we purchase imported Common Off The Shelf components (also known as COTS), most of the profit from COTS is made by the foreign manufacturer. A large degree of imported COTS on our robots also means a large amount of money and technology jobs are flowing out of America.
In my opinion, this is the problem that needs solving.
We are trying to inspire future engineers, engineers we hope will have jobs when they graduate. Is imported COTS this best long term use of our money? Is teaching future engineers to rely upon imported COTS the best long term strategy?
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This is a decision that each team deserves to make themselves. Putting official FIRST rules on such issues puts too much political emphasis on the inspiration side of this program. Plus there's the whole international aspect of this program that's been mentioned numerous times in this thread.
Your questions are great, and they should be discussed with your team.
I know that my team makes decisions about buying parts based on weighing various values, like reliability, customer service, cost and purchasing local as much as possible. Some values are weighed more than others. It depends on the part, time of year and need.
If FIRST put an official rule on something like this, it would take away important discussions that individual teams can have about personal team values.