[Cory]

For anyone who didn't navigate through to the linked page, here are the comments on the page, all of which are very relevant to the discussion at hand. We should all be very interested in FIRST's response to them.

Greg Needel said...

"We hope to keep costs down and reduce the impact manufacturing, shipping and scrapping these items has on our environment."


Does this mean that we are going to see reduced kit costs passed along to the teams in future years? Also what will the price be for extra control systems for teams that wish to buy them to avoid dismantling old robots every year. What will the policy be in regards to fixing control systems that break; similar to the $100 cost to fix the old one from IFI?

September 19, 2008 6:37 AM
William "Billfred" Leverette said...

If I recall my FRC history, it looks like we're gonna party like it's 1999.

Reusing components on this scale conflicts with the mantra a lot of teams share with rookies: never take apart a robot. On my team, we draw the line at modifying old robots' mechanisms to make them better (or, more commonly, work in the first place). I could see it making sense if the other option was to raise entry fees in the present economy, but I still find myself less than enthused by this announcement.

September 19, 2008 9:26 AM
Greg Marra said...

How will teams demonstrate old robots if they have to cannibalize them year to year? Given that the cRio and other components are being heavily subsidized to FIRST teams, how much will purchasing additional parts of the control system cost?

What happens if my cRio breaks in year two? Are all of the new control system components covered by a lifetime warranty?