[Sunshine]

Doesn't FIRST start the whole COT purchasing culture by providing a frame kit in the rookie kit of parts?

In my opinion, the line was crossed when you could buy a complete swerve drive system. The line continues to be crossed with the Rhino, intake and possibly actuator kit. But that's my line, yours may vary.

I am old school and will admit it. I'm not crazy about our culture that wants brand new teams to get instant satisfaction by being competitive at competion instantly. I still remember our rookie year, we told the kids it would be a long hard road and they had to earn their stripes. But hey, I don't like participation trophies either.

The flip side
I like the use of COTS like gear boxes. There is so much to do and learn in six weeks that our students can't do/learn it all. That's why we encourage them to switch sub teams from year to year. We suffer a little but they learn more.

Quote:
Originally Posted by JesseK View Post
In developing new products, I simply hope that suppliers do not encourage sacrificing resiliency in problem solving for convenience in executing a solution.
I really like that. I may steal that verbiage soon and often....