Supporting the FIRST organization through growing pains

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by popnbrown

Well the other issue is, VEX is completely out of VEX parts. FRC/FTC are composed of parts NOT by one manufacturers but a collaboration of a bunch of them.

I'm by no means an expert on such subjects, but I have to believe this is a key issue in the modern FRC control system. When you have vertical integration through the whole system, things can often be made more robust. (Consider syncing an iPhone with a Mac versus using iTunes on Windows.)

while I do feel bad for all teams (not only Einstein) that have had problems with the FMS/FCS, I think it's a unique learning experience. Kinda still shows you that there is always improvement to the Science and Technology we have today, which is exactly what we're trying to do in FIRST.

While that message is all well and good, I don't think the competition field is the place to espouse it. Doesn't matter if it's Einstein or the All-Plain-Kitbots-Middle-O-Nowhere District.

[JohnBoucher]

If FIRST wants to continue to grow they need to make these problems go away. They need to keep it easy enough for a true rookie team to build something that can compete. If these problems happen to seasoned teams then how can a true rookie team keep pace.

[popnbrown]

Originally Posted by Billfred

I'm by no means an expert on such subjects, but I have to believe this is a key issue in the modern FRC control system. When you have vertical integration through the whole system, things can often be made more robust. (Consider syncing an iPhone with a Mac versus using iTunes on Windows.)

True but I think it's cool how FRC uses a mixed system, shows you the GP and Coop and core values of FIRST that they are trying to spread.

While that message is all well and good, I don't think the competition field is the place to espouse it. Doesn't matter if it's Einstein or the All-Plain-Kitbots-Middle-O-Nowhere District.

Well, I semi-disagree. I think it's a concept and something to be espoused fully and all the time. I think we all know that STEM is important, and we're all working to encourage that.


Kinda irrelevant but still relevant rant:
I'm starting to get a feeling that FIRST is turning into another robotics competition, and it's kind of saddening. Winning is not everything. People say we are all winners to lift spirits, but honestly, I do believe that those that participate in FIRST are winners. I see a lot of people losing the real meaning of FIRST and participating in it as another competition. It's a whole lot more than that....a whole lot.