Quote:
Originally Posted by cbale2000
True, however, if you don't have a finished robot to compete with then an animation isn't really going to do you much good will it? Granted if you have enough people on the team to get the robot done, so be it, but it is a reality for some teams that there are sometimes just not enough people to have some off working on side projects like animation and such.  |
However in 2007,
our animation did allow our team to be a part of the Championship even though our robot could not.
FIRST is about exposing young high school students to Science and Technology. By participating in the FIRST program under the guidance of mentors, students are exposed to options of what they want to do later in life that they may otherwise not know about until the middle of college. There is much more than just engineering (even though that's what FIRST focuses on).
The robot is just a vehicle for this experience. It doesn't have to be particularly successful for students to have the "FIRST" experience. The kitbot, which provides a good deal of functionality, can be put together in a matter of hours. Teams are missing out if they only focus on just having a complete robot on ship day and neglect other aspects of FIRST.