Maybe it's just because I come from a bygone era of FIRST, but I don't really think that this year's competition is more violent than anything I've seen in the past. 2002, in particular, continues to represent a high water wark of physical robot interaction in my experience and Aim High stands no chance of approaching it.
Our robot was battered and bruised considerably during the event, though it never once stopped functioning. We saw bent omniwheels, repeatedly bent 3/16" Al plate, sheared 1/4" stainless steel bolts, and our entire chassis was nearly cracked in half. I designed for less contact than the machine saw in competition, but it was by no means the worst damage I've seen to a FIRST machine. We fixed it and moved on.
Strategically, we were focused on scoring and probably saw less contact with other machines overall than did some of our alliance partners. We were never tasked with playing defense, though our drivers certainly didn't avoid a fight, either.
To me, it seems on par with previous years and nowhere near as bad as it has been in the past -- not that I felt 2002's level of contact was excessive, mind you -- and imagine there are some rather easily ratified solutions for the increased celebrity the topic has seen recently.
Obviously, there are more people participating now than ever before and so there are more voices crying about even the most inconsequential of topics. Also, I'd not be surprised to learn that as FIRST continues to grow and veteran teams vanish from the landscape, the median level of experience across all FIRST teams is decreasing. As a result, we're likely to continue seeing machines that are designed by teams with less practical experience in the FIRST arena.
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Originally Posted by Rick TYler
Yeah, thought of that. We could use my uncle's barn, and my aunt can sew costumes!
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As an aside, I've given some thought to starting a proper off-season event in the Seattle region. Because I like to do things bigger and better than anyone else when I can, I've been trying to find a venue outside a school gymnasium. Pacific Science Center is a leading candidate in my mind, but I think there's some concern in that the Ackerley Family Gallery exhibit space is entirely enclosed in glass
