[dlavery]

Since my name was brought up earlier in this thread, I will go ahead and throw in my two cents worth (note: this is my opinion only, and in no way represents any discussions FIRST may or may not be having on this topic).

First off, right up front I have to say that I really don't like where we all are on this. Oh, don't get me wrong - I don't have any problem at all with what AndyMark is offering (more on this in a moment). But I don't like the current system that basically allows you to buy and bolt on pretty much anything from any source that you can find. I was a very big fan of the FIRST competition of 10 years ago, where you had to build your entire robot from the contents of the kit, a small amount of credit with Small Part Inc., and a very select set of "additional materials." Dean Kamen's philosophy at the time was very clearly stated when he said "we want to see what happens when we make you use parts for purposes for which they were never intended." The solutions that teams developed at that time were among the most creative, innovative, and occasionally astounding systems I had seen built in quite a while. As a competitor, it was an amazing experience and I really miss that competition.

But, that said, we are where we are. Given the system that is in place, it is incumbent upon all of us to make the very best of it that we can. One of the clearly stated goals of FIRST is to expand the program so that it becomes a common element of our culture, and through that mechanism, spread understanding and appreciation for science and technology. One approach to this is to help teams raise the level of the competition so that the competition itself is as exciting and inspirational as it can possibly be (to the casual observer, and not just to the teams). Turning the FIRST Robotics Competition into something that really can interest the vast unwashed masses, and mass media, will require that we increase the caliber of the competition itself and the robots that compete. This is not going to happen with robots that are moving piles of rain gutter and bicycle fenders held together with bailing wire. It is going to happen with machines that are well designed, well built, and able to compete. It will happen when we raise our standards from "success is building a robot that can just get out on the field" to "success is playing the game and being a good competitor - and doing it with a robot."

Toward that end, anything that comes along that allows teams to build better robots or compete at a higher level is a good thing. If a new vendor appears with a set of products that raises the quality and competitiveness of the robots on the field, as competitors we have only three ways to respond. We can ignore them and continue to use the tools and methods used so far, and maintain approximately the current level of competition. Or, we can take advantage of their wares and incorporate them into our robots, presumably making our robots better in the process and thereby raising the quality of the competition. Or we can say to ourselves "well now that EVERYONE will have access to capabilities that used to be reserved for only the very top teams, the only way to stay ahead of the crowd is to get to work and develop the NEXT great quantum improvement in competition robot technology" - a step that will set the bar even higher than before and force a quantum leap in the quality of the competition.

In short, I think that having options like the AndyMark products available to teams will positively impact the overall quality and caliber of the competitions, and end up increasing our probability of reaching and inspiring an even larger audience. For the teams at the lower end of the scale, it will help them to become better able to get out on the field and be competitive. The middle-class teams will be able to go head-to-head with the top-tier teams and compete like there is no tomorrow. Top-tier teams will be challenged to come up with new technologies to stay ahead of the commercial products and the rest of the teams. And if in the end the students are inspired and more of the public becomes aware of the program, and people gain more appreciation for engineering, how can that not be a good thing?

-dave