[Karthik]

Originally Posted by phrontist

This post was triggered by discussion of selling gearboxes as a way to raise funds. I see this as the exact opposite of what FIRST should be about. My team probably could have purchased a gearbox this season, and certainly had a better bot as a result. But we went with a ghetto direct drive and made a lot of mistakes even in doing that. In making these mistakes we developed a healthy desire to do better, and we're excited about what we can do this year. I have no problem with a team reading a whitepaper by Andy Baker about how to optimize a gearbox and then using his guide to design and order components. I don't care about whether they actually machine the parts, but they should be forced into thinking about why they are doing what they are doing. There pride should be on the line and failure/mediocrity should be a grim prospect motivating them.

The rationalization has been made that in "the real world" engineers spend a lot of time making purchasing descions and altering OEM products to meet a specifc need. This is not what FIRST should be about because its far less fun/educational. FIRST is an inherently artificial microcosm of the real world, which gives us the benefit of picking and choosing what we want to include.

If you can't spend the time about thinking what your bot needs gearbox wise and opt to buy one instead, you shouldn't get that gearbox.

FIRST is and always will be about inspiration. FIRST has always left up to the discretion of the teams, as to how the achieve this inspiration. To your team, it may mean lots of hands on work by students. To other teams it may mean watching as engineers create an inspiring robot. The path each team chooses is their decision. There's no need for anyone to pass judgement on what is more inspiring.

Buying is a shortcut around thinking!

No. Not at all. Buying is a result of smart thinking. From a business perspective, why spend 80+ man hours, and $200+ on parts building a gear box, when you can buy a tested one for similar monetary cost. This is what we call smart business decision. The time saved on these gearboxes can used to teach lots of other engineering principles. Companies make decisions like these on a regular basis. Why do something yourself, when you can save money by having someone else do it.

If you think buying these gearboxes is going to hurt the inspiration level on your team, then don't buy them. I think they're a brilliant idea, and I plan on advertising them very heavily to the rookie teams I'll be mentoring in the upcoming season.

I consider the highest honor in FIRST to be winning at nationals, certainly not the Chairman's Award.

Winning at the Championship Event, is a very inspiring event for the teams involved. But, winning the Chairman's Award means you've inspired not only your team, but other teams and usually an entire community. The Chairman's Award is about the big picture, changing culture. It's clear to me, which award is the bigger honour.