[=Martin=Taylor=]

BBIQ is a worse competition for several reasons:

1. The challenge is static. After 13+ years of BBIQ all the best designs have been explored and the robots have started to fall into the same boring categories (spinners, wedges, kinetic-energy disks, and hammers... ect.) Because FIRST changes every year the challenge stays interesting.

2. BBIQ is a judged competition. By this I mean BBIQ is not point based - in other words, judges determine who wins the match based on inflicted damage. Although it is sometimes obvious who the winner is, other times robots just ram into each other and the winner is somewhat arbitrarily determined.

B/c FIRST is point based it is always obvious who wins.

3. No Kit. Because of the KOP, all the robots in FIRST are roughly standardized - they all run on 12 v and use the same motors. But in BBIQ there is no kit. Some people pay ridiculous sums for high-powered electrical systems that not everyone can afford.

Notice that I never said anything about BBIQ being a worse competition b/c it doesn't have the goal of "inspiring science and technology." I'm sure BBIQ has inspired many students to pursue careers in these fields.

I base my opinions on my experience with the Combots and Sozbots competitions, which are almost the same as BBIQ.