Administrative and Game Manual updates - 2/11

[Christopher149]

The change to the minimum access period time is not something I expected. Does anyone know the reason behind it (even though it probably won't change our behavior)?

[mikemat]

Originally Posted by Christopher149

The change to the minimum access period time is not something I expected. Does anyone know the reason behind it (even though it probably won't change our behavior)?

I assume it's because if you used 2 hours your first time and 2:01 your second, you just wasted your last 1:59 under the old rules. The new ones give a bit more leeway.

[Bryce Paputa]

Originally Posted by mikemat

I assume it's because if you used 2 hours your first time and 2:01 your second, you just wasted your last 1:59 under the old rules. The new ones give a bit more leeway.

But why change it now?

[mikemat]

Originally Posted by Bryce Paputa

But why change it now?

I have no clue. Maybe someone finally brought it to their attention, maybe they thought it would encourage teams to be more honest with their unbag time.

[Steven Donow]

Originally Posted by Bryce Paputa

But why change it now?

Because FIRST felt it was a good idea/change to make?

[Pault]

Originally Posted by Bryce Paputa

But why change it now?

Better late than never.

I am very happy with this team update. Lots of good stuff. They really payed attention the feedback from the community, and made some good, reasonable changes because of it.

11 team updates so far and they have yet to make many people angry. Things are looking good.

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by Bryce Paputa

But why change it now?

Would you rather they changed it after Week 1?

I'm guessing they changed it now for the same reason that there are so many bumper questions here on CD lately - because it's what people are starting to think about.

[fox46]

I think this new rule with respect to demonstrations violates FIRST's own "third party observer" rule. How would you explain it to your grandmother that you can't keep working on or testing the robot because it's beyond "stop build day" and in its bag...... Then you turn around and unbag it to drive it around. I miss the days when a FedEx truck would show up and take the robot away from you. Much less chance for teams to pull post-stop-build-day shenanigans.

Seems like FIRST is getting easier and easier every year. All you really need to do this year is pick-up and throw a ball- half of the robot pictures I've seen on CD here look identical. The only real part of the robot being built anymore is the frame which holds all the COTS items together and even those can be purchased "off the shelf". (Veterans- remember trying to mount drill motors? Or having a 20000RPM motor with no clue how to use it?) Between the number of COTS items available from awesome vendors like AM and VEX, three different groups posting videos and instructions within the 1st week on "how to build your aerial ascent robot", the ever-increasing withholding allowances, being allowed to unbag in order to drive your machine around... Yes it is his 10th demonstration this week but no no grandma- I assure you our driver isn't getting any experience. Anyone know where to get more lockup tags?

[eddie12390]

Originally Posted by fox46

[IMG]
Seems like FIRST is getting easier and easier every year. All you really need to do this year is pick-up and throw a ball- half of the robot pictures I've seen on CD here look identical. The only real part of the robot being built anymore is the frame which holds all the COTS items together and even those can be purchased "off the shelf". (Veterans- remember trying to mount drill motors?) Between the number of COTS items available from awesome vendors like AM and VEX, three different groups posting videos and instructions within the 1st week on "how to build your aerial ascent robot", the ever-increasing withholding allowances, being allowed to unbag in order to drive your machine around... Yes it is his 10th demonstration this week but no no grandma- I assure you our driver isn't getting any experience. Anyone know where to get more lockup tags?

This will probably just turn into another one of those debates, but, as far as I'm concerned as long as people are still Inspired by Science and Engineering as a result of FIRST they're still fulfilling their goals, regardless of how difficult the competition itself is to compete and be competitive in.

[BigJ]

Originally Posted by fox46

I assure you our driver isn't getting any experience.

Neither is anyone else's (with their competition robots), if they follow the rules.

Regarding "FIRST is so easy now!", please proceed to the 7 other threads this year already discussing the issue

[Ty Tremblay]

Easier doesn't necessarily mean worse. Making the repetitious tasks easy to repeat has happened throughout history. Builders don't saw their own logs or forge their own steel but we're building some of the tallest and most amazing structures in the world.

A very intelligent friend of mine has a saying about drivetrains.

A drive train isn't going to win an event for you, but it sure can lose one.

A "COTS" drive train enables a team to focus on what WILL win an event for you, the end-effector. If we didn't make the stuff we do every year "easier", FRC robots would have improved much slower than they have year-to-year.

As for drivers practice during demonstrations, that's a matter of Gracious Professionalism and honor.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by fox46

I think this new rule with respect to demonstrations violates FIRST's own "third party observer" rule. How would you explain it to your grandmother that you can't keep working on or testing the robot because it's beyond "stop build day" and in its bag...... Then you turn around and unbag it to drive it around. I miss the days when a FedEx truck would show up and take the robot away from you. Much less chance for teams to pull post-stop-build-day shenanigans.

This rule is really fortuitously timed for 4901. Our flagship sponsor (the University of South Carolina College of Engineering and Computing) has their National Engineering Week open house the Saturday after ship day. As rookies, we have no spare robot. In past years with another team that built there, we had no working robot since we had to yank the cRIO for the robot that's in the bag.

As for the "not practice" rule, we (I) plan to document the heck out of it. Robot as it left the bag, robot as it entered the bag, the space where we ran it (which seeing the map of that open house won't resemble the field at all), who ran it (there's a bounty for a picture of Cocky running it), and have that all with us. Anyone who wants to say something can say something.

(Caution: Off-Topic Discusion Follows)

Seems like FIRST is getting easier and easier every year. All you really need to do this year is pick-up and throw a ball- half of the robot pictures I've seen on CD here look identical. The only real part of the robot being built anymore is the frame which holds all the COTS items together and even those can be purchased "off the shelf". (Veterans- remember trying to mount drill motors? Or having a 20000RPM motor with no clue how to use it?) Between the number of COTS items available from awesome vendors like AM and VEX, three different groups posting videos and instructions within the 1st week on "how to build your aerial ascent robot", the ever-increasing withholding allowances, being allowed to unbag in order to drive your machine around... Yes it is his 10th demonstration this week but no no grandma- I assure you our driver isn't getting any experience. Anyone know where to get more lockup tags?

This is my eleventh time at the rodeo, 13th robot. The first one didn't even move until Week 6, when we plunked in two window motors out of sheer desperation. The second one, we struggled with the old AM Trick Wheels (remember those?) not spinning freely until we had to stick a nigh-uncontrollable caster on the back of the robot. The third one we took a portaband to on Saturday of Palmetto for better defense because we couldn't shake our sticking-ball demons. The fourth one straight clocked me in the jaw with a window motor at high speed.

I say all this to frame my next statement: This is the hardest season I've been a part of, bar none. We watched the Robot In 3 Days and Build Blitz videos, and yes, you'll see we cribbed off more than one machine when we take the covers off Sandstorm I. But the process of starting a team from bare walls with no school backing us up, the process of getting the kids and mentors all on the same page, getting the parts at all, integrating those parts, balancing "We can do that here in our space" against "We should send that part out for cuts", battling three or four days lost to winter weather (Will we have shirts for the FLL state championship Saturday? Will we have an FLL state championship Saturday?), and generally trying to make the most out of the 15-20 hours a week in the shop? That's still hard. And I wouldn't change a thing.

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by fox46

I think this new rule with respect to demonstrations violates FIRST's own "third party observer" rule. How would you explain it to your grandmother that you can't keep working on or testing the robot because it's beyond "stop build day" and in its bag...... Then you turn around and unbag it to drive it around. I miss the days when a FedEx truck would show up and take the robot away from you. Much less chance for teams to pull post-stop-build-day shenanigans.

I would simply explain to her FIRST's name - For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. Yes, we can't work on the robot or use it for driver practice. But in order to further inspiration and get the word out in the community we have the robot unbagged for a demonstration where someone other than our drivers are controlling it.

The real fact I think you're missing is that this rule is nothing new. Ever since Bag and Tag started teams have been e-mailing FIRST asking if they can unbag for a demonstration event. And FIRST has replied "Yes! print out this e-mail and show it to the LRI at your next event so he knows you got permission for the unbag period". All this does is remove the hassle and requirement for teams to e-mail FIRST and for LRI's to deal with teams forgetting to bring the e-mailed permission with them to an event.

Wait, it does do one more thing... it perhaps gets our robots out there in the community more, as more teams know about this "special" demonstration unbagging. It makes demos more effective, increases public awareness, and helps to inspire the community that much more than we've had in the past. Personally, any time I see these types of unbag periods, I've had a great time asking the team about their event and how it helped them, and the students have loved talking about it. It's not about shenanigans - it's about the mission of FIRST.

[Pault]

Originally Posted by fox46

I think this new rule with respect to demonstrations violates FIRST's own "third party observer" rule. How would you explain it to your grandmother that you can't keep working on or testing the robot because it's beyond "stop build day" and in its bag...... Then you turn around and unbag it to drive it around. I miss the days when a FedEx truck would show up and take the robot away from you. Much less chance for teams to pull post-stop-build-day shenanigans.

Seems like FIRST is getting easier and easier every year. All you really need to do this year is pick-up and throw a ball- half of the robot pictures I've seen on CD here look identical. The only real part of the robot being built anymore is the frame which holds all the COTS items together and even those can be purchased "off the shelf". (Veterans- remember trying to mount drill motors? Or having a 20000RPM motor with no clue how to use it?) Between the number of COTS items available from awesome vendors like AM and VEX, three different groups posting videos and instructions within the 1st week on "how to build your aerial ascent robot", the ever-increasing withholding allowances, being allowed to unbag in order to drive your machine around... Yes it is his 10th demonstration this week but no no grandma- I assure you our driver isn't getting any experience. Anyone know where to get more lockup tags?

I know right! This is going to make things so much more unfair. What if one team likes to gain more recognition for STEM than all the others, does that mean they have a right to get more driver practice? I guaruntee you that all the teams that do this are just going to abuse it to get in like 2 more hours of drive time, because they aren't graciously professional. Now I'm going to have less of a shot a winning, because I try to do things the right way...

Oh wait. It's not about winning. Oops.

[fox46]

I should have known this would spin off into a "who art more gracious than thou" debate. Face the facts- there are individuals in FIRST who do not follow the rules or intend to bend them to their advantage. People like us who abide by them cannot implicitly expect everyone else to. If so, then why even have a bag? Why not just agree that everyone will stop work on a specific day? The fact is that not everyone is 100% honest, gracious and rule/law abiding. If you debate this then you are in for some serious disappointment later in life outside the protection of the FIRST community.

Oh wait. It's not about winning. Oops.

I've been involved for well over a decade in FIRST and have yet to win a regional. You think you need to tell me this?

It is however, about preparing students for their futures and lives. I can assure you that as a high school student struggling to get a drill motor to power a wheel I learned a lot more than one would when they are given a kit chassis. It taught me about every facet of machine design. The environment in which we are currently operating is breeding a flock of catalogue engineers who are completely dumbfounded when their solution doesn't exist on a website. You cannot deny that it squelches innovation - why would a team build a multi-speed gearbox when they can buy one off the shelf? (This of course is not a generalized statement- obviously).

With respect to the liberties with stop-build-day, you remove some of the challenge of the entire process. No longer is there a brick wall at the end of build season. This is very unlike the real world! It is no longer representative of if a company misses a delivery date they lose the contract. Instead teams could entirely legally continue building all the way up until their competition, disassemble their robot and walk in with a 45lb frame and pre-cut wires and assemble their entire machine. Why even have a stop build day?