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Unread 19-06-2003, 19:13
Ken Leung's Avatar Unsung FIRST Hero
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I've made a post for a topic exactly like this, so... I am just going to copy and paste.

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I totally understand those of you who feel frustrated watching those cool looking robots win the competition... I once was on a team who mostly used bandsaw and drill press to build a robot out of students' hands. And I felt really jealous when other teams have gear boxes while we could barely host clamp the drill motors on a piece of ply wood.

But I grew out of those feelings as years past because, as years pasted, my team (as well as others) did great at competition even without great engineering support, or fancy machining... As a team, we were able to build better robots just by more and more experience, harder effort in fund raising, and getting help from different people.

I grew out of those feelings as I see other teams won competitions without great engineering. Team 254 cheesy poofs is a classic example, as well as my old team 192, and many other teams. Great gear boxes and complicated machines were only few of the many factors that decide how your robot will do in a competition. There are also scouting, strategizing, and communication between driver and coaches, or between you and your alliance partner.


What is the unfairness between teams anyway? Well, we were all given the same kit of parts, the same battery, and the same rules. Everyone have the same weight and material limit, as well as how much motors/pneumatics we can use. The differences between the teams are their experiences and resources...

With more experience, a team can build a much better robot... Can you really call that unfair? With more resources teams found, they can build a better robot... But who's stopping you from going out to find more resources? Can we really say it's unfair because our area happens to have less resource for us to use?


A lot of well-supported teams are really cool teams if you get to know them. They've always done great at regionals, and their robots were always really effective and simple. Their team is high spirited, and was great help to teams around them. So, I really do believe they are all great teams to learn a lot from. Take your time and get to know their whole team. That's what competition is for.

Mean while, I challenge you all to build your team to as good as theirs. Go out and get engineers interested in this program. Go out and get more sponsors to help out.

Also, I've seen a lot of their robots, and most of you could build robots just like theirs without great machining (although yours won't look as good). They have a lot of simple original ideas what work quite well at the competition, and it's not hard to build.

Don't feel so frustrated... You have plenty of chances to improve yourself, and make your robot better. You can be competitive in a competition if you keep building a robot that you are proud of.

Mean while, keep sharing your ideas and take advantage of this forum. A lot of other people and I are willing to share what we learned, so don't be afraid to ask.

-------------------------------------------------------

A little I want to add. Having NO engineer support is NOT an excuse for you to and say "oh such and such teams have 10 engineers building the robot for them. I am not even going to try anymore." It is YOUR JOB to get more engineers involved in your team, so you can work TOGETHER with those engineers, and learn from them. It doesn't mean you tell the engineers to build the robot for you. It means you ask for help and guidance and support when you need them, and make use of their knownledge as much as possible.

When you face a difficult challenge, you don't look at the answer. You ask for help, and try to learn enough to solve the problem

There are plenty of people around here who are willing to offer their advices. So make use of this forum, and learn as much as you can so you can build those good looking robots too.
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1999-2001: Team 192 Gunn Robotics Team
2001-2002: Team 100, 192, 258, 419
2002-2004: Western Region Robotics Forum, Score Keeper @ Sac, Az, SVR, SC, CE, IRI, CalGames
2003-2004, 2006-2007: California Robot Games Manager
2008: MC in training @ Sac, CalGames
2009: Master of Ceremony @ Sac, CalGames
2010: GA in training @ SVR, Sac.
2010-2011: Mechanical Mentor, Team 115 MVRT
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