Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me
Am I the only person who thinks that the issues with FTC parts and the mini-bot this year was yet another example of a lack of transparency hurting teams?
If FIRST had come out and said "Hey, this next game will basically require FTC parts - you should account for that in your budget" - teams like mine would not be in the predicament they are now.
I feel like the MiniBot situation was made much worse because FIRST was by no means transparent about it.
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Not a transparency issue Chris, just a decision that a lot of people aren't happy with.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dlavery
Am I the only person that really thinks people should really, really READ and UNDERSTAND the manual and the options they have in front of them rather than endlessly whining about a non-issue?
The FTC parts that teams can use on their mini-bot are FREE. You have effectively already paid for them as part of your registration and they are virtually included as part of the KOP. All you have to do is get on FIRST Choice and have it sent to you.
If you are "budgeting" for large purchases of hundreds of dollars worth of Tetrix parts, then that is your fault for not taking advantage of the resources that have already been given to you. That is not FIRST's fault - it is yours.
-dave
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I love the mini-bot idea. Love it because it gives us an excuse to get our old friends from FLL who moved to FTC this year involved again. What I don't like is that it is creating a
perception of FIRST trying to force teams into FTC.
So, allow me, if I may be so bold, to venture a guess at the logic. I understand we had to have limits on the parts and I understand the logical choice was either add two more motors to the KOP -OR- make motors specific to this. Since we already have 13 motors in the KoP and by allowing any motors on the mini-bot would drastically change it (in an interesting way imho) we had to use specific motors. It is only logical to say, "hey who do we know who can donate these parts, oh the guys who we already work with..." Oh hey, added benefit, it promotes awareness of a different segment of the FIRST brand. The only question this leaves for me, why can't I build my mini-bot out of lego bricks?