What if...

[BJC]

FIRST, as you all know, is designed to inspire students to enter stem careers. The challenge of designing a unique robot is a very important part of this inspiring. Without the uniqueness year to year, the challenge quickly no longer becomes challenging (repetition and all that.) Removing the uniqueness removes creativity which removes inspiration. I know I certainly wouldn't have fallen for the program quite the same way if my team was only improving on the previous year's robot during my time as a student.

Basically, I hope FIRST never reuses a game 1 for 1. If it became a trend I think it would subtract a lot from what the program has to offer.

Cheers, Bryan

[mrnoble]

I'm not thinking one-for-one. I just wouldn't be surprised by an improved version of a game. And I can think of numerous ways they could redo AA without teams being able to reuse last year's robot design:

-add the end game
-smaller or larger balls
-shoot non-ball objects (spun inner tubes?)
-play on a field with 1/20 rise/run slope to the center of the field
-change frame perimeter

et cetera.

I like the mashup idea, or a replay of a game >4 years old, so current students wouldn't have any experience.

[thatgirlinred]

While I certainly agree that this would be an unprecedented move for FIRST, it would also be likely to put rookie teams at a significant disadvantage, as they would be faced with an entirely new problem to solve whereas more established teams would only have to tweak certain ideas, and have an existing knowledge of which methods don't work.

[RonnieS]

If they did so happen to play AA again...I think some of the districts who own their own fields would be quite upset seeing how most of the game specific field pieces are scrapped or sent back to the owner(truss).

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by Ronnie314

If they did so happen to play AA again...I think some of the districts who own their own fields would be quite upset seeing how most of the game specific field pieces are scrapped or sent back to the owner(truss).

Well the PNW still has all of our game specific field elements since there are 3 off season events still coming. Now of course we are likely going to recycle them before kickoff. I did hear from a FTA that he was told that we should keep the human player barrier for potential reuse in future years. Of course they aren't really that game specific since it is more or less a guard rail and we've always had restrictions on the human player's body parts not breaking the plain of the field perimeter. They may not reuse the portion at the center of the field but I could see the portion at the driver's station being used from time to time.

On the other hand I bet FIRST has already sent most or all of this year's game specific elements to be recycled since the reality is that they just don't have that much storage area that they could stock pile elements from multiple seasons.

The trusses were rentals and are industry standard parts so it wouldn't be a big deal to rent them again.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by thatgirlinred

While I certainly agree that this would be an unprecedented move for FIRST, it would also be likely to put rookie teams at a significant disadvantage, as they would be faced with an entirely new problem to solve whereas more established teams would only have to tweak certain ideas, and have an existing knowledge of which methods don't work.

That's the case every year. Witness the number of teams this year looking at 2008. 2012 had teams reaching for their 2006 and 2009 designs. 2011 sent 'em to 2007. 2010 and 2013 were anomalies in that it was difficult to draw a parallel--but 2010 had some teams going for their catapult from '08, and others going from scratch, while 2013 had teams adapting 2006 and 2009 and 2012 ideas to frisbees.

And just to keep going...
2009->2006
2008->2004 (the last time previously there had been a large ball on the field)
2007->2005 to some extent, also 1997
2006 was actually pretty new. That was the first time there had been significant launch velocities allowed.
2005->1997
2004->2000, 2001, 2002
2003->no real comparisons here.

I think y'all get the picture. It's almost always possible to go back to a previous game and pick up SOMETHING that can be adapted. This is an advantage that all the veteran teams that were around in that year share, and the rest of the veterans who know something about that year have a slightly smaller advantage because they know where to borrow ideas from. A rookie team who sees the discussion may have an idea what to look at... but the "how did they do that?" is still a huge problem.