Old FIRST compared to New FIRST

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by Damiaen_Florian

I've always heard a lot of people say how much different FIRST was "Back in the day" so I was just wondering if some of the older members on here could discuss what some of the major differences were between these past few years of FIRST and FIRST back in the 1990's and early 2000's, aside from obvious things like different games and less teams. I figure it'd be cool for some of us younger members to get some insight into the history of FIRST.

This terrific video gives you a good idea about what happened in 1992.

[Jay O'Donnell]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

This terrific video gives you a good idea about what happened in 1992.

Dean had some serious facial hair...

[Koko Ed]

Some more videos from Youtube:
1996 Championships.
http://youtu.be/T8N6lnle1fc
http://youtu.be/flV2hM1m4sE
http://youtu.be/cOmCZobK7S0
http://youtu.be/y4W84N_4ELE
http://youtu.be/-Tr6xtPZ28k
1995
http://youtu.be/6yJ4suxGFFg
1994
http://s50.photobucket.com/user/X-Ca...tml?sort=3&o=0
1993
http://youtu.be/1rZyU9Xu8GE

[Chris Hibner]

In my day, we had to drive the robot up hill, no matter which direction we were driving. But we liked it.

The biggest change I've noticed is the family atmosphere is not nearly what it used to be. What I mean by that is you used to have 150 teams or so (total) and practically everyone knew everyone else. Now there are just too many teams to keep track of.

This is an interesting topic - maybe I'll post more when I have some time.

[Kimmeh]

Originally Posted by Chris Hibner

The biggest change I've noticed is the family atmosphere is not nearly what it used to be. What I mean by that is you used to have 150 teams or so (total) and practically everyone knew everyone else. Now there are just too many teams to keep track of.

I'm the most sad about missing out on this. I feel like those of you who have been around for a while have a closeness that the rest of us don't.
Sure, it helps that that also means that you've known each other longer.

Also, keeping up with how 150 robots work is far easier than keeping up with how 2,000+ robots work...

[Zyrano]

I'll throw in a couple of things (for 1999)

1. Drill motors and transmissions for drive train
2. Most parts were fabricated (no kit bot chassis/transmissions available)
3. no bumpers
4. For Californians, 1st (and only) NASA Moffet field Hanger 1 regional
5. More contact, I remembered shattering a team's PVC basket into many pieces during a match... We even picked up an opponent's robot (some what unintentionally), one of my favorite robotics memory is captured in the this picture...

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Zyrano

I remember the red robot (which is actually on blue alliance). Does SuperChimp still compete in FRC, or were they done after that year?

BTW: I think this picture also shows the reason for the rotating lights used to identify alliances (2000-2003, replaced by LEDs from 2004-2005, replaced by flags from 2006-2009, replaced by bumpers starting in 2010) AND the requirement to have the team number visible all over the place. Ah, the rotating lights--so visible, and so annoying to mount so they'd stay intact. And yes, they counted towards your weight. So did the battery.

[Chris Hibner]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is the field size. Prior to 1999, the field was about half the size of what it is now. In fact, they used to have two fields set up side-by-side at every event. As soon as one match ended on one field, they would immediately start introducing the next match on the other field while they scored and reset the field on the match that just ended.

1999 was a rectangular field (I want to say it was only 12' x 24'), and the previous three years had a hexagonal field.

Another fun thing about the field is how it was managed in 2000 and 2001. They tried to keep the idea from pre-2000 of introducing the next match while the previous match was being cleaned up. They did this by alternating the ends of the field. In 2000, both alliances drove from the same side of the field, and the game pieces were lined up on the far side of the field. The next match, the drivers were all on the opposite end of the field. This was so the next match could start setting up while the current match was being played. 2001 was the same. They finally scrapped that idea for the 2003 season.

[Kims Robot]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

Some more videos from Youtube:
1996 Championships.
http://youtu.be/T8N6lnle1fc
http://youtu.be/flV2hM1m4sE
http://youtu.be/cOmCZobK7S0
http://youtu.be/y4W84N_4ELE
http://youtu.be/-Tr6xtPZ28k

And there goes my afternoon! Im not sure I knew this existed!! This was my first year (saw my first FIRST robot - Hook - flash by in the first video... gotta watch to see if there is more!!) Hexagon Havoc was such an awesome game, I'd love to see it replayed!! Gosh they really need ESPN to do something like this again...

I know there are some "old days" threads floating around too, I'll have to dig them up.

[Koko Ed]

The Technokats History Project is the best place to get information about old skool FIRST.

[Travis Hoffman]

I miss Disney. And no bumpers.

Anyway, here's a link to video of the 1999 Championship eliminations. I believe much of this footage was recorded for a Delphi-produced video on FIRST:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...0EDA122AFA63BE

You'll see quite a few recognizable faces in this!

[Steven Donow]

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

And no bumpers.

This is, to me, the biggest difference when watching older games.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

The Technokats History Project...

...has not yet been fixed after it failed to transfer cleanly to the new web server. Sorry. It's on our To Do list.

[Adam Freeman]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

This terrific video gives you a good idea about what happened in 1992.

Incredible video Ed. Very insightful on what it was like at the start of all of this.

Such a different time (small and unproven concept) but so powerful that all the same concepts (cooperation between mentors and students, GP, competition, etc..) are still exactly the same today.

One of the biggest things I noticed is that Dean is much more engaging and interesting when he is speaking in this manner, than how he talks to us now. I wish he would go back to the speech pattern he used back then.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Adam Freeman

One of the biggest things I noticed is that Dean is much more engaging and interesting when he is speaking in this manner, than how he talks to us now. I wish he would go back to the speech pattern he used back then.

If you've ever had the pleasure of listening to Dean Kamen speak in front of a relatively small group, you'll know that he does still talk that way. He's just not able to express his passion effectively when addressing thousands of people at once.