[Greg Powers]

FIRST hasn't lowered the bar but merely tried to make sure by raising the bar they weren't tripping the rookie teams. I'm from a veteran team and we have had our work cut out for us just trying to accomplish the new things they throw at us every year.

To be a Rookie team this year is harder than it was in the past, mandatory autonomous, with sensors, that works, would really be outrageous expectation for new teams who are still figuring out how to put their chains on and pickup rubber balls with joystick controlled claws. (You saw how much trouble some of the veterans had last year with merely dead reckoning autonomous)

I actually like what they did to make sure Rookies (and less technologically advanced teams, like our team who only had a 4'X5' closet, 1 drill press, and a school cafeteria, for 2 of out ‘veteran’ years) aren't getting left off the score board, while still presenting challenges that require quite some engineering feats to accomplish for those who want to push their limits (the 9 foot bar, and 6 inch steps)

I really think this years competition is going to be a lot better on the field than it may seem on-line