Does robotics attract the right students?

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by Alex.q

I definitely agree with what has already been said. Additionally, imagine what your team would be like if everyone only wanted to work on the robot and nobody wanted to do the business related stuff. The team wouldn't have any sponsors, no media or marketing, no website...

You mentioned atcompetitions feeling bad that people were in the stands and only a handful of people were in the pits. What fun would the game be if nobody watched and cheered, and isn't scouting integral to success for top-tier teams? Additionally, from experience, it is unproductive and impratical for the entire team to stand around in your pit, there is just not enough space.

I'm not trying to berate you, just trying to point out it is important to have people who aren't totally focused on the robot. With that said, I would still branch out to FTC or find another way to make sure anyone who is interested in building/design/programming has a chance to do it. It would not be a good idea to force a student into doing business or media activities if they truly want to be designing or programming the robot.

You made me remember a very important point... One of the most celebrated individuals on our team last year never touched the robot. She spent 3 years organizing and expanding our scouting program, and that scouting program is a huge reason we've done as well as we have. it's enabled us to find the teams that compliment us, while not necessarily being the "best" teams at the competition.

Scouting takes more than writing numbers down on a piece of paper... it takes an intimate knowledge of the details of all the robots competing, and a broad understanding of all the technologies and approaches each team used. Without an understanding of engineering principles, you can't scout effectively.