2012 Lessons Learned:The Negative

[Koko Ed]

What could FIRST stand to improve on from this year?

[Peter Matteson]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

What could FIRST stand to improve on from this year?

Field management system.

Someone had to be the first to say it.

[ratdude747]

Originally Posted by Peter Matteson

Field management system.

Someone had to be the first to say it.

Better Radios. Someone had to be the first to say it.

[jwfoss]

Until Einstein, it seemed to me that the control system problems were swept under the rug. While I'm not mad that there are problems (truthfully), technology will always have problems, I am unhappy with the way that FIRST did not listen to the fairly large number of teams presenting the issues throughout 6+ weeks of competition.

It was sad that it had to come to Einstein to make them really see it.

A major topic that I believe FIRST could improve on is the support of veteran teams, rather than what seems like an absolute push for rookies.

[Debbie]

Definitely get rid of the Field Management problems. We lost our first elimination match by only 2 points but had one dead robot. The next alliance had a dead robot (1717) in the exact same location in the following match.

Also, eliminate anything that allows one team to easily manipulate the ranking of another team. Though to some degree you can always do this, this year it was too easy to keep a team down in ranking by refusing to co-op with them. Though we would think Gracious Professionalism would prohibit this from happening, it did.

District trophies were just sad. I understand making them smaller than regional, but the selected trophies were not a good choice.

MSC and MAR teams qualify in week 7 for worlds, not leaving them many choices with STEELE Meetings and freezing them out of events like the ball game and Finale. Something needs to be done to ensure these teams have equal chances to participate in all championship activities.

100 teams is TOO many in a division. You never get to know the teams in your division. Break it down into more divisions of smaller numbers. Allow us more matches to allow for better ranking chances.

Give division trophies as well as Championship trophies. Those getting the championship one could be eliminated from receiving division ones so that more than 10 or so teams out of 400 get recognized at the world level. It would recognize the top 5 teams at worlds (4 division winners, 1 championship winner).

Just a few thoughts.

[Don Wright]

I know this is sort of Championship specific...

I agree with everything Debbie said above. Just a few to add:

Put screens showing the current matches being played on the field back in the pits. Our pit team barely got to see any matches.

The seating for Einstein was frustrating. As soon as matches were done on Newton, we moved to get seats on Einstein. As soon as we got their, the lower section was already very full so we went up a level and were told that FIRST didn't want anybody on those floors and we had to go back down. We ended up at this point almost all the way around to the side lined up with the curtain separating Einstein from the rest of the dome...i.e. we could barely see the field and had to rely on the screens. Then, we see that they were now letting people up on the second and third floors...it was quite annoying...

If you want teams to use camera tracking, please be considerate where you put LED signs up around in the arenas.

From my understanding, the people on the field queuing the teams were not the most polite or understanding...

[theun4gven]

Get rid of the black volunteer shirts. Volunteers should stand out, and the black shirts did nothing to help that. Even a white shirt would stand out more.

[LeelandS]

I'm going to forget the field issues right now, since EVERYONE knows that's something to be looked into.

First, I think the rule book needs to be more specific. Thare was a lot of ambiguity this year as far as rule interpretation, so I think next time the GDC shouldn't skimp on the rule book. Not saying it needs to be overly detailed, just enough so teams shouldn't need to turn to the Q&A for seemingly simple rule clarifications.

Also, if FIRST is going to use a more general rulebook, they need to be prepared to back it up WITH the Q&A. We all know what happened to 118 earlier this year, and though it pretty much turned out alright for them, I feel it was an unfair move by The GDC to refuse to answer their question when the rules on what and what was not grappling were so vague.

I also think FIRST should move away from that age-old rule that teams aren't allowed to check field measurements for themselves. I don't see what harm there is in letting a drive crew/coach onto the field prior to opening ceremonies/the driver meeting with a tape measure to take some measurements. Or for an FTA to do it themselves and publish the results to all the teams. FIRST seems to cringe at the thought that their volunteers built their own field wrong, but I don't really see the harm.

I also think FIRST needs to be more careful when it comes to Hybrid/Autonomous points. The GDC ruled that as long as a ball entered the net in Hybrid, it would count for the full Hybrid points. I saw several times where it did not. Either they need to make sure field personel know the deal with those, or they need to think about their sensor placement (i.e. a sensor on the hoop. I know that would be pretty difficult to implement, it's just an example).

I, personally, would like to see FIRST stray away from games where game piece deterioration isn't such a huge factor, but I know what pretty much impossible. But I can wish.

Those are pretty much my gripes. Nothing too extreme. Just some logistical stuff.

[Gdeaver]

First has a serious internal problem at HQ. An immediate investigation needs to be launched at HQ. WHO sent out that VIP invitation to Mr. Murphy and Mr. Finagle ???? Anyone in technology should have know that those SOB's are on the black list. I will be very mad if it is found that First picked up the travel expenses. This investigation should be handled by an outside firm and I expect transparency. This can not be allowed to happen again.

[Rob Stehlik]

Please bring back the live feed to the pits!

[Anupam Goli]

Originally Posted by Gdeaver

First has a serious internal problem at HQ. An immediate investigation needs to be launched at HQ. WHO sent out that VIP invitation to Mr. Murphy and Mr. Finagle ???? Anyone in technology should have know that those SOB's are on the black list. I will be very mad if it is found that First picked up the travel expenses. This investigation should be handled by an outside firm and I expect transparency. This can not be allowed to happen again.

I see what you did there...

One negative that I saw were the rules on bumpers. They were specific. Should they be this specific? Also, there are varied interpretations on those rules by various inspectors. A while back, it was posted on here by an inspector that we had to have 8 inches of frame backing the bumper as well, but at the Peachtree regional, the head inspector said that was not an issue, and we just had to have 8 inches of bumper. We essentially wasted precious hours trying to extend the frame when the head inspector came over and said that wasn't the issue.

[RoboMom]

Originally Posted by theun4gven

Get rid of the black volunteer shirts. Volunteers should stand out, and the black shirts did nothing to help that. Even a white shirt would stand out more.

I respectfully disagree. As someone who was issued one shirt for 4 days of sweaty volunteering, black held up better than the traditional white of the past.
ps. I guess this post really belongs in the positive thread...

[Nate Laverdure]

[EDIT: At CMP especially,] provide more than one printed copy of the match schedule. Or install a photocopier in Pit Admin for team use.

[JesseK]

The game was a lot to keep up with for the refs at champs. There was at least 1 instance of a [G28] in Curie SF-2-1 and a very obvious [G27] in SF 2-2. The ref that was right next to the areas of contact was looking at the other side of the field both times. Perhaps consider adding 1-2 refs per field at champs since the level of play is always greater than at Regionals.

The teams posting questions to Q&A's need to be more direct. If they aren't direct, they need to quit their [whining] when the GDC makes an event-time decision on whether something is within the intent of the rules. Teams who aren't part of the team who the decision may go against especially need to quit their whining. No one likes whiners, especially those who think they're whining on others' behalf.

[Jared Russell]

Need video feeds to the pits. It is ridiculous that our pit crew does not get to watch us play!!!

The Kinect was not a well thought-out addition to the game this year. (Unless you are 987