[cbale2000]

Originally Posted by Brian Selle

Survey was super confusing. I read and re-read every question, still not sure what they were asking. My random stop build points:

1) Removing the stop build day does not remove the deadline. Your first competition is your deadline. I would argue that removing stop build day is more "real world" than the stop build loophole. Car racing, sports, design competitions - everyone prepares right up to the start of the competition.

2) When I first started mentoring for FRC and heard that others build practice robots to get around the stop build day, it didn't feel right. Either you say stop and mean stop or don't do it at all.

3) I believe the mythical "6-week build" concept is mostly about a catchy marketing phrase. It rolls off the tongue and sounds great in the elevator. Then after you've set the hook, you explain the concept of building a second robot so that you can continue practicing, their accepting smile becomes a "what"?

4) For those teams/mentors that want to stop after 6 weeks that's still an option without an official stop build day. At least you won't be lulled into thinking that other teams are really stopping work after stop build day.

5) Several years ago when we only had a few kids and a couple mentors, I remember everyone working flat out until bag day to finish the competition robot. The kids and mentors were all exhausted. We didn't have the bandwidth to build 2 robots simultaneously. We'd take a couple days off then peel ourselves off the floor and have to start building the practice robot. It certainly paid off, but felt so unnecessary. I would have much rather continued working and practicing on the competition robot.

6) Competitions would soooo much less stressful. Teams would be able to help other teams more. We would actually have time to walk around and see other teams and the exhibits. I think the level of performance of all teams would increase. How many times have you said or heard, "it worked perfectly on our practice robot"?

I was going to post a long write-up of my thoughts on this topic, but you basically just summed up everything I was going to say for me.