[Madison]

The idea of driving other people's robots is certainly an intriguing one.

Scoring would go to the robot, rather than the teams, I think. In other words, you'd get a high score by designing a machine that was easy to use, rather than by being skilled in it's use.

I think the game would be simpler, generally speaking, but perhaps not.

Ultimately, if another group is going to be operating your machine, it places a lot of emphasis on areas of engineering which are somewhat neglected in FIRST. Control systems, of course, would need to be something that's as well thought out as the robot itself. It needs to be ergonomically friendly and easy to learn.

But, even moreso, the robot mechanisms need to become a lot more streamlined. How many teams out there could pretty honestly say that they're robots could be driven by anyone? I don't think there are too many. Our robot had certain limitations that you wouldn't know about unless you were there when we built it. Should another team exceed those limits, it would've fallen to pieces.

So, I think you can all see where I am going with this. The efficiency and elegance of engineered monsters will really have to stand out. It'll put a whole new twist on the competition.

And think about this; we won't need to set aside any time for practice!!