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Unread 02-08-2008, 16:03
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VEX Robotics Engineer
AKA: Arthur Dutra IV; NERD #18
FRC #0148 (Robowranglers)
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Re: New FIRST competition structure in Michigan

Quote:
Originally Posted by GaryVoshol View Post
So you're saying that FIRST should be more elite, that we should not seek to give other students the opportunities that are there for existing teams today. And that without all the bells and whistles at a competition, no one would be inspired by the 6 weeks of work in build season - which, I might point out, in most cases is done in a non-professional high school shop!
I'm not saying that at all, in fact, quite the opposite. I one-hundred percent believe FIRST should get into every school in the country, but I don't think FRC is the perfect vehicle for that widespread expansion.

FRC != FIRST. FIRST is about much more than FRC; it's also about FTC, FLL, and JFLL. It is a lot easier to get one (or two, or three, or four) FTC or Vex team(s) in every high school in the country than is is to get an FRC team into every high school in the country.

As such, I would rather see every high school get a FTC or Vex team first. Not only is it a lot more economically feasible, but the entire competition model of FTC/Vex is much better suited for a large scale competition with tens of thousands of teams. (Everything about FTC or Vex costs but a fraction of even the cheapest FRC off-season competitions).

Once FTC or Vex gets into 60-80% or more of all high schools, then come back to talk about looking to get as many of those expanded to FRC, as by then the necessary support infrastructure is already in place, and over the very short term goals, we have expanded the scope of FIRST much more than a [cheaper] FRC could ever have.

That is not elitism, that is looking to get the opportunity and inspiration of FIRST, as far reaching as quickly and cheaply as possible. That's like anti-elitism.

I have no qualms about FRC expanding to district-level competitions, I just believe that FIRST isn't pursuing the most cost- and resource-efficient methods for expanding the scope of their outreach.
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Art Dutra IV
Robotics Engineer, VEX Robotics, Inc., a subsidiary of Innovation First International (IFI)
Robowranglers Team 148 | GUS Robotics Team 228 (Alumni) | Rho Beta Epsilon (Alumni) | @arthurdutra

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