Quote:
Originally Posted by ideasrule
I still find it surprising that you're the only competent programmer, but I concede that may be because I don't have much experience with teams outside my immediate area. Our school is medium/smallish, with 90 people in each grade, but we've managed to find 3 competent programmers this year, 2 of them dedicated. Our team isn't particularly good, certainly not a powerhouse, but any of the 3 programmers can write the teleop code within an hour (provided the drivers know what they want, the electrical stuff is connected correctly, the mechanics work, etc).
As for recruiting programmers, I think the best way to get them is to inspire them. Don't say they get to write the driving code and winning the game is entirely the responsibility of the drivers. Tell them they get to work on the camera, let the robot make intelligent decisions, or score autonomously. That's what got me enticed; I certainly wouldn't have joined the team just to make the robot drive.
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Well part of this is that I misunderstood the original post and thought he was lobbying for FIRST to make an all autonomous game. I still can't see how anyone can expect that to work out as a mandatory requirement given the sad state of most regional's autonomous modes. Since I have reread it and he's just challenging teams to try it, well then more power to those that want to do it.
Well one thing your team has going for it is that you are from a low number team. I would bet that your team has been around long enough to become an institution at your school and a program that many students want to participate in, or at least have heard of. We're only a second year team, and though our Rookie All Start trip to Atlanta made some headway towards getting us known at the school, we still have a long way to go. We're still kind of unheard of in the area, so we have to overcome that. It's entirely possible the school has programmers begging to try something real-world but just don't know there's a robot team. We're not "school-sanctioned" like a football team so being able to announce things on the intercom and such isn't easy. We're still considered a "club" and there are different rules for them.
One of our goals is to try and get robots the same benefits as a sports team at our school, even having letter jackets for the students. That would open us up to more of the student base. We have given various demos around the school and all, but the interest just isn't there yet. Give us a few more years and we'll see.
I just think that everyone needs to remember that everyone has different stories and rules and requirements they have to overcome, and to not be surprised about anyone's limitations. :-) "FIRST is not fair" is one of those things you learn in your rookie year, and that applies at every aspect of the game. I imagine there are teams that have nothing but programmers and very few mechanical oriented students and mentors, we just happen to be the opposite of this.