Posted by Jon.
Engineer on team #190, Gompei, from Mass Academy of Math and Science and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Posted on 1/12/2000 9:27 PM MST
In Reply to: Declawed games posted by Marc DeSchamp on 1/12/2000 11:04 AM MST:
(Kate, please don't hurt me

Well... i kinda agree with the declawing thought... the games have seemed a little weaker. SEEMED. But once in competition, they were SOO much fun!
This game seems weird with the neutral strategy possibilities and all, but i see it as more of an extreme challenge for the mind than a classic NFL style game. This isn't Robot Wars... if you wanted to just blow things up, you could do that or become a Fire Protection Engineer. FIRST is more than that... i think i'm in the gracious professionalism camp... maybe that tweaks my pov.
The idea of bumpers seems totally silly to me, having seen that you can build a robot to take damage without them, but they may be of help to a team's structural plan. The rules have stated that you have to build robust robots because stuff is gonna happen, in my opinion this is just another tool towards that goal. I don't think bumpers will help if you go flying off that bar... but they might

jon abad
Team 190
wpi/mass academy of math and science