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Posted by Nate Smith.

Other on team #66, GM Powertrain/Willow Run HS, from Eastern Michigan University and GM Powertrain.

Posted on 7/30/2000 7:55 PM MST


In Reply to: What do you think? posted by Michael Martus on 7/30/2000 7:22 PM MST:



: I have brought up this subject before but here it goes again. I think this will stir things up a little ....

: What if ........
: We were given the 6 weeks to formally build a robot, like in the past.

: What if .......
: At the end of the 6 weeks we could keep the robot and test, modify and practice then transport it ourselves to our first event and every event there after.

: What if ......
: We had the robot the entire FIRST season in our unlimited control.

: Would that be so bad?

: This may solve many problems such as ..

: Some teams having their robot locked away for 4 weeks many times unfinished, un-tested while other teams are competiting.

: Rookie teams making rookie mistakes on drive train and and other critical design areas with no time to correct or repair.

: Some teams getting more driving time than others because of going to other events.

: Some teams getting more repair/fabrication time than others because of multi- competitions.

: And what about the teams only going to the nationals, 6 weeks in a box is a long time.

: After all if this is going to be a SPORT then it should be treated like all sports are treated.

: Football, Basketball, Hockey teams practice and improve all season. They do not lock away the players and forbid them from practicing and creating new plays.

: Race Car drivers in the Winston Cup Series do not lock up their race cars between races and only work on them at the event?

: I think it makes sense to have the highest quality, most refined teams and robots during the season. It makes a highly competitive event for all.

: What do you think? What is your opinion on this subject?



Well, if this works(just installed Win2000, and IE doesn't like posting to one of the other discussion sites i visit), here's my 2 cents...I see the 6 wk limitation as part of the challenge of the competition, and part of what sets FIRST apart from other sports...as either Dean or Woodie said at closing ceremonies this year(I forget which one said it), the media covering Nationals this year stopped saying that FIRST was like sports, and that sports should be more like FIRST...there is a distinction between us and other sports already, and do we really need to become more like other sports to become more successful? At the same time, I disagree with the rule that FIRST put into place this year, disallowing fabrication of identical(key word) replacement parts after shipping. That's just what I think though...

Nate