[Mike Betts]

Mike,

Thanks for coming to my rescue but it is not necessary... I have a pretty thick skin.

If anything, I am guilty of losing my temper (not a good thing)...

I just get a bit perturbed when people post on subjects which a passerby may interpret to be "cheating".

FIRST made it very clear that communications between the robot and operators must be exactly the same for everybody. This is why they do not give you the Master source code. This is why the dashboard is one way communication. And this is why no other communications device is allowed.

It is the spirit and the intent of the rule which is at stake here.

At least half of the teams have team members with the technical competence to install a two way communications device onto their robot and most would be able to make it so stealthy that a FIRST inspector would never find it.

At risk is the other half of the teams (mostly rookie) who read these threads and say "It's OK! Team 1430 is cheating so we can too!" or "I saw a post by Russell who says that this is legal!".

At risk is a mentor or sponsor backing away from a program like this because they do not want to be involved with less than ideal ethical issues.

At risk is what people like you and I have worked so hard at for so many years being undermined when people post about ways to circumvent the rules.

Thanks anyway...

Mike



Russell,

My apologies for snapping at you in my post. You are not the only person who is tired this time of year...

Regards,