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Originally Posted by patTeam241
My second point is on the biggest complaint heard of FIRST, it's cost. Yes, $6000 to register, and more to build a robot is a challenge, however, that's part of what FIRST is. In the real world, most companies fail in their first year. Money is always a challenge, and FIRST emphasizes that wether intentional or not. It inspires a team to work hard on the business side of the challenge. With regards to BBIQ, the situation doesn't seem to be much different. Many posters report bills of $10,000+, although this may have changed as more competions seem to have popped up.
Just my 2 cents.
Pat
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Pat, the cost of FIRST is definitely the biggest complaint I hear all the time as well - and yes it does challenge teams to be have sound business structure. But getting new teams started, is tough, since they don't realize what FIRST is all about until you participate in it. We've made presentations to schools and they really like what we show them, but they just can't get past the initial cost. So in the end, it'll keep FIRST out of those schools that lack resources (inner city, low socioeconomics, etc..) so the great technology divide will continue to grow.
The one thing that really seemed to make a difference to many teams were the NASA grants - they're usually for 2 years (if applied for each year). Once a team were in FIRST for a couple of years, then they got it - they realize how to build it up like a business venture. That's what helped us our first few years.
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Originally Posted by Alan Anderson
The TechnoKats used the kit chassis (and gearboxes) to make a quick software development drivebase at the beginning of the build season. It directly benefited us, a 14-year veteran team. We also indirectly benefit from those rookie teams having well-built and working drivebases. It helps raise the level of performance across the board, making for a better competitive environment.
I think having a consistent set of basic building blocks is one of the important differences between FIRST and something like BattleBots. Sure, most experienced teams can do well without having things handed to them in a box, but that fosters elitism and makes it harder for newcomers.
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We too used the kit chassis for prototyping - but not on real bot. I guess what I'm sying is it would be nice for FIRST to find a way to get the entry cost down so that more teams would start up. Three years ago FIRST tried a slightly different kit for Rookie teams and veteran teams. I believe that veteran teams didn't receive a pump and battery charger whereas new teams and 2nd year teams did. Perhaps they could something similar to that?
Maybe a question that could be asked is, would veteran teams be willing to receive less kit parts than rookie teams if it means lower the entry fees? Or would veteran teams be willing to subsidize part of the cost of rookie teams (assuming it's a perfect world and nobody abuses this)? Rookie teams cost = $4000, Veteran Teams = $6500?
I'm just throwing out ideas that probably have been discussed to death elsewhere in the forums.