Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyB871
So Hopefully everyone tunes into the mild humor of my title; This isn't meant to be a bashing topic, or a rant or any such thing, simply my personal opinion and concern that I have.
I'm a veteran of FIRST from East Islip Team 311 and West Islip Team 871 (NY), back in 2005, so while I haven't been around since _THE BEGINNING_ I've been around the block. I've been very lucky to be part of teams where the students are the real designers, idea pushers.
How much do we take away from them when we start down the slippery slope of buying FRC specific, competition-made assemblies and bolting them together like erector sets? I for one don't like where that path leads.
So again, this is my humble opinion, I don't mean to bash anyone or anything. How does everyone else at CD feel?
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AndyMark.biz was selling gearboxes in "the old days" of 2005. FRC gave you a full drivetrain and instructions in the kit too! This discussion has been had many times. My team thought about the AM gearboxes in '05, and shelled out for them in '06... and I've been giving Andy & Mark my money every since.
I don't think anyone wants to sell teams prefabbed game solutions (that wouldn't be any fun!). What they do want is to make sure teams have a great FIRST experience... and for low resource teams that can be difficult. These teams need a lot of help. As FIRST has expanded, many teams no longer have access to as many engineers, machinists, hobbyists, and otherwise technically skilled people as they used to. The proliferation of FIRST suppliers like AM, VexPro, and design ideas like Ri3D & FRCdesigns has only improved overall robot goodness and the FIRST experience for students and mentors alike.
And if you want to do it the old school way, you still can! As a student, I really enjoyed the "Advanced Shop Class" aspect of FRC, and I enjoy passing that on too.