Why I think having no defense was a great idea

[Citrus Dad]

Originally Posted by lynca

Agreed 2013 was the best mix of defense and offense.
2014 was way too much defense.
2015 was no defense.

I get upset when teams build fantastic scoring robots and lose to inferior robots built only for defense.

Hopefully the FRC GDC finds a good balance and rewards teams for building great robots !

The answer to creating the right level of defense is to insert "traffic calming" obstacles that prevent full-speed hits, and safety zones for scoring. Those could have been added to the 2014 game without changing it very much.

As for the balance of defense and offense, it is part of the competition to find a way to counter those scoring machines. 1114's goalie bot almost stopped 254 (at least one of 254's auton shots deflected off 1114's goalie pole in the last final). That was perhaps the most exciting moment in 2014 and maybe for many years.

FRC is about much more than the engineering of the robots; its about the organizational challenges of real world competition. Students may not always realize that even if they build the coolest device in the world, they still have a lot more work to get it adopted for widespread use. Training your drive team, preparing in-depth scouting, creating robust strategies, and marketing your program to raise funds are all just as important as building the best robot. The teams that cover all of the elements are more likely to be successful.