|
Kit, i agree with you... A team that NEEDS to manufacture a part and does so, will probably do so no matter what ruling we encounter. I think, however, that many of us are forgetting what appears to be the intention of FIRST with this ruling. It seems that they are trying to level the playing field for rookie teams. Let's face it, if they wanted to see complicated machines this year rather than tractor-pull competitors, they would have put ONE 10-point black ball on each side of the field. They're more concerned that the experienced teams have the ability to quickly develop and manufacture a drive system, allowing weeks to develop a good ball gatherer. Yes, they expect many teams to go for the balls on the field already, but I, for one, don't know of too many teams who have a working gatherer capable of actually putting more than a couple of balls in the goal. --Especially when one hit on the last ball in the row will send the rest scattering. Many teams have told me that they put everything they had into a Bully-bot, capable of taking the goal away from some team who might have been skilled enough to put balls into a goal. This encourages aggressive strategies.
If FIRST really wanted to help rookies they would change the rule!! It is less likely that a rookie team would know which systems would fail in aggressive competition. Thus, they would also be less likely to have premanufactured spares shipped with the bot.
If they wanted to level the playing field in terms of wealthy teams v. poorer teams they're wrong again. Sugar daddy sponsors can easily afford to ship practically two bots in the first crate--thus complying with the rule. Poor teams? --They have to manufacture during the competition.
Finallly, those teams, like ours, who go to one regional then to the nats. would hate to spend the tens of thousands of dollars to get everyone to Fla. only to find that we won't be able to compete because we broke down in the regionals and couldn't repair it in the ill-equipped shops at the regionals. Explain where the learning and positive experiences are comming from in this situation.
|