Thread: A Request
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Unread 12-05-2014, 12:57
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Re: A Request

Quote:
Originally Posted by Siri View Post
...(snip)...

This isn't to say that FRC and VEX don't have room to grow in these regards...I've spent like 20 minutes now trying to figure out how many VEX teams/students there even are, and don't get me started on FRC webcasts...
The new VRC season just kicked off two weeks ago, so it's not a good time to try and get a count of teams in the program It'd be like trying to figure out how many FRC teams there are the first week of registration, it'll be in flux for a little while. For the 2013-2014 season (that just concluded) VRC was sitting close to 10,000 teams worldwide (I was going to say over 9,000, but I didn't want to invite the memes).

Quote:
Originally Posted by hzheng_449 View Post
Just out of curiosity, can anyone else that's been to both Vex and FIRST championships comment on their relative sizes. I'm having a hard time imagining a robotics championship that's substantially bigger than FIRST championships (which are already huge).

Also, as for comparative competition footprint, I'd think FRC regional would have a larger footprint than VEX events, given that FRC teams are generally larger and regionals probably host more teams.

Granted, I'm only familiar with FRC so if anyone else if familiar with both and could clarify, that would be nice.
The two world events are hard to compare I think. The production value for both is top notch. I really enjoy a lot of the details that go into the "show value" at VEX Worlds including laser light shows, really nice quality medals, etc. VEX Worlds also has a significant non-North American population in attendance which adds to the "worlds" feel. Numbers wise VEX Worlds has about 760ish teams (VRC, VEX U, VIQC combined) and 15,000ish participants, putting it at least on par with FIRST Worlds if not larger. The VEX Worlds dome is smaller than the FIRST Worlds dome, but it's also completely packed (no large portions of empty seats in the stands or only using a small part of the seats for the big finale) so there's not a good direct comparison. Square footage wise both are huge.

At a local/qualifying event level I think FRC generally takes up more square footage than VRC, although that's an odd pair of programs to compare as FTC/VRC are more comparable in that regard.

On an unrelated note, the thing that I find really odd about FTC is that according to section 3.8 of Part 1 of the Game Manual (page 14), the very first team to advance is the qualifier host team, so long as that team attends one other event and fulfills the criteria set forth in the affiliate partner agreement. Does FTC really have an issue finding organizations that are willing and able to host events? Is it possible that part of the perceived lackluster quality of events is due to teams hosting a competition primarily for the advancement benefits?

Regarding the original topic, I think the perception of FTC as "lesser" is similar to the perception of colleges/universities. An institution that charges 50K per year for tuition is assumed to be of higher prestige than one that only charges 5-10K. In the grand scheme of things though, public perception matters little relative to the time and effort that a student puts into their education. There will always be the idea that FRC is the most elite (regardless of whether it is or not), but if an individual grows and learns from their FTC or VRC experience then that's what matters.
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