Quote:
Originally Posted by DanTod97
I only created this thread to remind people this is a high school competetion and to request everyone just be aware of that and to be extra careful to make sure there team is run as a highschool team.
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But that's the thing. It
isn't just a high school competition. You must have high schoolers on your team, and high schools must drive the robot at the competition, but that is the sum total of the required high school involvement. It is a robotics competition that involves high schoolers.
I understand your argument though, as I've made it before I joined the dark "mentors are A-OK" side: Teams that utterly thrash the field each year result in a net lowering of engineering inspiration, because they discourage teams in their area. I no longer hold this opinion after having met several high school kids who take 1114 (our local unbeatable team) as an inspiration rather than a roadblock.
Those seemingly unbeatable teams aren't untouchable. Take the best robot this year: 1114. Nothing on it took (to my knowledge) extraordinary resources to manufacture. It's a bunch of bent metal on top of a 2 speed 6WD drive base. Nothing in its design is extraordinarily far-out. Other teams have roller claws, other teams have hybrid shooter-arms. 1114 just seems to have a process where they think about the problem, think of a solution, and then optimize, optimize, optimize.