Ruling on Robonauts Balance

[pfreivald]

I'm glad you guys had a 'plan B' (as I knew you would -- you guys are class acts all the way), because I never in the world dreamed it would be ruled legal, especially given the 'astute observer' definitions in the Q&A.

Please keep in mind that designs like this put the Q&A folks in a difficult situation -- they can't possibly anticipate every solution that a team can dream up, and so the intentionally broad definition criteria of 'astute observer' (which I personally find to be completely reasonable) gives them wiggle room to do exactly as we are instructed to: interpret the spirit of the game, and not try to squeeze every advantage out of the letter.

If FIRST is going to co-opt the sports model successfully, they must at almost all costs avoid the audience thinking, "I thought that was cheating?" Designs based on letter-of-the-rule interpretations will therefore always be a major risk, and perhaps an even bigger risk than they have been in the past.

Yes, there is a cost in ingenuity; but if FIRST is to become a true culture-transforming spectator sport, it can't also be a 100% proscriptive rules set game. (Most games are permissive. Proscriptive games are much more open-ended... which is what makes them harder to follow, and thus gives them less mass appeal.)

My favorite quote applies here: "It's a wonderful idea. But it doesn't work."