|
What do you actually lose?
I think that it's hard to see unless you compete, but the value of the robot is in the journey not the destination (it's "path dependent" for you physics types.)
When you lose your entire robot you still have the journey and everything you learned. Consequently building that same robot would be much easier, cheaper, and faster the second time around. Most builders don't just rebuild their robot of course. They set out on another journey to improve, thus learning more and making a better robot.
This is one aspect of the destruction I think Dean would appreciate. You better believe he has tested IBot to destruction to find it's limits; this is the same idea except it's entertaining too.
With all this said BattleBots is expensive and of course you risk losing a lot of expensive stuff during any given match. But realistically the damage is usually structural.
The core parts of a BattleBot (electronics, motors, batteries) last just as long as any FIRST robot and even better you don't have to buy a whole new (but mostly identical) kit every year.
Standard disclaimer: FIRST is cool, BattleBots is cool. But they shouldn't be compared or compete with one another.
Dan
|