Let me start by saying that your opinions are much better supported then normal arguments against BBIQ but some of your facts still need to be checked.
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Originally Posted by Hachiban VIII
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.
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Maybe most of the robots fall into these categories but there are always new types and implementations tried. What you are saying is the same as saying that all of the drivetrain possibilities in FIRST have been explored and now people are just copying each other. It is true in FIRST that most people use similar drive styles, but that doesn't stop teams from innovating. The same is true with BBIQ
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Originally Posted by Hachiban VIII
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.
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I have judged BBIQ and it IS a point system, much like boxing. 3 Judges give points in 3 categories. Strategy, Aggression, and Damage. 9/10 times it is very obvious who wins the match and those other times they go to the scores which is done by experienced people.
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Originally Posted by Hachiban VIII
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.
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While there is no KOP the sport has been normalized. There are motors which most teams in a weight class use, and the same goes for the controls, actuators, etc. If anything this make BBIQ more affordable then FIRST because you can use whatever you have lying around and build your robot to your budget and just because you have expensive components does not mean you are a lock to win the event.
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Originally Posted by Hachiban VIII
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.
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This is exactly the point. Now there actually is a difference that many BBIQ events are sponsored by tool and die organizations and are looking for skilled trades as well. For the most part both organizations do have the same ideals with the implementation just being a bit different.
Ultimately I don't think you can say that BBIQ is a worse competition than FIRST, it is just different. There are elements of both competitions which I prefer over the other and if I were to name my ideal competition it would probably be somewhere in the middle of the two.