Quote:
Originally Posted by Citrus Dad
1) FIRST needs to announce in September, long before Kickoff, that it is planning a game that requires robot interaction with bonus points. This gives all teams a signal that they must rely on their alliance members much more than in the past. The GDC need not reveal anything more so teams are not going to get a jump on design.
2) FIRST needs to provide a list of newest teams (including prospects) to other teams in the region so that the older teams know who they need to contact for step 3). FIRST should try to finalize this list by the end of November.
3) The more experienced teams should start in September to visit the newest teams, both this year's and last year's rookies to start, to explain how they design for different game strategies, including focusing on specific, manageable tasks at the outset, and to train these teams in building robust, reliable robots. And guess what? This program both enhances the FIRST experience AND achieves some of the most important educational objectives of FIRST. It also builds community by bringing together the best teams (which aren't always viewed in the best light) with the newest teams.
FIRST could take this a step further by assigning the top teams a number of new teams to mentor, e.g., 3-5, and start the assignments based on world ranked order. Participating could become a requirement for FIRST membership. Many top teams do this, but it would formalize the process and ease finding the newest teams. FIRST could even create the ability to have "superalliances" that some how play into regional rankings and world championships qualifications.
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1. Simply put, I don't see this happening. The best we can hope for is a couple of years in a row of this style game, such that coopertition becomes expected by teams, and not something they complain about.
2. You can already do this. As soon as a team registers for a regional, they're listed on the regional webpage. You can also search for teams in your area, and list them by team number to find both the oldest and the youngest.
3. Many teams already do this. My team has mentored several FRC teams through their first season, we regularly have teams over to our build space or go to theirs to help them improve their programs, and we present every year at a local rookie-centric 1-day conference (I believe we had 6 presentations this year, on a wide variety of topics).
You won't see FIRST assigning specific teams other teams to mentor. That sort of mentorship is part of what Chairman's is all about, and it's expected that the best teams out there will be actively going out and doing it. Further, FIRST has no way of ranking teams in order to determine which ones would provide good mentorship for a rookie team and which ones wouldn't.
FIRST has a steep learning curve. A very steep one. Until we start getting rookies signed up in September so they have 3+ months to train and learn, they'll always struggle a bit. You simply can't get all that knowledge into a rookie team that doesn't sign up until December.