Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyB871
One of the hardest things we have to do is learn to let them make mistakes. Sometimes a mechanism looks like it will work, but then at the last minute wont. An experienced FIRSTer can probably stave off these kinds of mistakes early on, but should we? Don't we know these mistakes because we ourselves have made them? Engineering is not "Do all the right things and make a cool widget" It's about the hundred (or thousand) failed attempts that got you to where you were, that helped you UNDERSTAND why widget X simply can't do thing Y.
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So on to my real question:
How does everyone feel about the sudden Proliferation of Purchasable, Prefabricated Parts (P4 for all you DoD acronym lovers like me)?
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As mentors we can help students avoid thousands of mistakes along the way, but you won't prevent them all. There will always be failures, and the lessons we learn from them.
My personal philosophy is to correct every mistake I see when I see it, and talk to the students about the issue (and hopefully create a teachable moment). I want my team to fail at as high a level as possible. Your methods may differ as there is no correct way to mentor. I believe it's impossible for FIRST students to not learn something regardless of how a team operates i.e. mentor built vs. student built.
As for your actual question, I believe prepackaged COTS solutions are a great thing for FIRST. It raises the floor and does nothing to limit the ceiling. Anything that accomplishes those two things is a great thing. I guarantee students on a struggling team will learn more from a functional prepackaged solution than they will from a non-functional "original contraption".
Even if the prepackaged solution isn't used, it may inspire ideas to make an original mechanism work. I can't think of any downsides to prepackaged solutions.