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View Poll Results: Is Battlebots I.Q. a threat to FIRST?
Nope, true quality and decency will show through, XFL 77 34.53%
Although Battlebots will climb up, they won't be that big, think UPN vs. NBC, ABC, or CBS 56 25.11%
They will be on the same level, like American and National baseball leagues 39 17.49%
Battelbots IQ is a better concept and will triumph over FIRST 12 5.38%
Don't Care 39 17.49%
Voters: 223. You may not vote on this poll

 
 
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Unread 19-04-2002, 21:52
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Mr.B Mr.B is offline
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Frank's "Math" is Awesome!

Frank,

You made a great choice!

And I am keenly aware that you do not need my approval to validate your choice...but I'd like the opportunity to share a possibly worthy point. So please forgive me.

You and the community of learners at your school "Did the math" necessary to make the right choices for your program...and that is the simple message for all of us.

What you did Frank is the very embodiment of "Deterministic Design" as outlined in the lecture notes from the MIT Design Manufacturing Course...a course started by Woodie...a course that served as the model for FIRST...and a host of other engineering programs ...and is currently managed by Prof. Alexander Slocum at MIT...

Read the notes from this course Frank...You'll love it!

http://pergatory.mit.edu/2.007/lectures/lectures.html


Of course you have an open mind...and better yet, your using it to make important decisions....open minded people do not necessarily arrive at the same conclusions...good grief no...History provides us with great stories of intensely debated philosophies, scientific conclusions and ideologies...and it is this rich and passionate debate that births ideas based on evidence and research....an incremental and iterative process of getting closer and closer to what is true...to what works best...given the design parameters. A process based on rsearch and knowledge, not on opinion and emotion.

After all...can you honestly say with any certainty which FIRST bot is THE BEST in any given season? Or which BattleBot is the best..I think not. The "Best Bot" is simply indeterminate math...the answer changes every time you do the problem...that is the fun of it...

The 2.007 lecture notes begins with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson...

"
Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without
enthusiasm".....

Your enthusiasm shows in the effort you put into making your decision...your Principal's enthusiasm shows in the effort she put into working with you and your team to arrive at the conclusion that FIRST was the best program choice for your school....and undoubtedly it is....

Our school administrators, our teachers and our students "Did the Math" also...and simply came up with a different conclusion..just like we all come up with different robot designs given the same universe of parts and game objectives...

It's OK to think different Frank...in fact it's a good thing!

I only ask that people consider that the functional requirements, and thus the "Math" is different for every school, or youth organization looking to involve itself in technological programming.

FIRST is a great program, and certainly the best program for your school needs...but the needs or requirements or logistics of school based programs are mutable...they change.

This is why it is important that there are choices for others to make...what fun would it be if there were only GM cars to choose from...good products (I own one)...but Hummers are cool too, and how about Hondas? or the nearly 25 other major auto manufacturers on this planet?

Choices are a good thing...

Our team was blessed with many great engineering mentors, parents and administrators...and of course...students! We were, and we remain passionate about what we are doing...we worked hard, and still work hard to support FIRST in many ways...and we work equally hard to support BBIQ....

Your choice is a great one Frank...and so is ours...let's celebrate our good fortune...lets toast to all our successes...let's wish each other the very best in what we choose to do....

And let's do it with all the passion and enthusiasm we can possibly generate....and lets hope we are all successful...these are simply robot games Frank....just games....the important things are you and me and all the other fine people who play them....

I salute you Frank...you are decidedly "Open minded"...and you have the soul of a truth seeker. You will be succesful in whatever you choose to do.

Long live all engineering competitions that result in the development of a sense of community among the participants and foster a love for learning, knowing and doing things that teachers, mentors, administrators, parents and students can get passionate about...and there are hundreds that do this!


Frank...I'll pose this "Loaded" question for you to research...

Has there ever been a person who could claim both a FIRST and a BattleBots National Championship Title? and who would that be?

The point I would hope to illustrate here is that these competitions are not mutually exclusive...One does not in any way negate the other....They do not threaten eachother...they actually improve one another...my school administrators took pride in our having participated in both. They looked at the passion of the kids...and we managed the rest.

Our administrators do the the "Math" differently too. They recognize that the true danger lies in the shop tools we use to build the Robots. The shop tools we use are far more dangerous than any FIRST bot or BattleBot our students designed or built. We see little difference between the robot games we play, and the Hollywood animitronic engineers who work insanely hard to design and build intricate and electronically sophisticated models that they then destroy making movies. But, hey, that's just out POV, and we don't expect that anyone else has to share it...but they do...just like many (16000) people share your teams POV...and that is a good thing.

It's OK for each of us to do the math and arrive at different answers....and we can support eachothers conclusions completely, even though our conclusions are different!

Yeah diversity.

Good luck next year!

Mr.B
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