FRC Blog - Something New - Team 'Standards'

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by marshall

NASCAR is cool. There is a tremendous amount of engineering that goes into those cars. Guys with PHDs use supercomputers to run analysis of airflow over dents in the bodywork. For that matter, Formula 1 is cool too.

Actually, motorsport is a close approximation to what a mainstream FRC looks like. It's all about iterative design.

EXACTLY!! (I prefer INDYCAR but that's another conversation).

The point is this: Why are we trying to put down something that another group likes to do? Are we in some sort of nerd pecking order? How many years have we been fighting to make robots "cool?" (It's still nerdy/geeky and i'm ok with that.) If you don't like the theme, that's fine. Don't partake in it. This "fantasy" theme is very mainstream. Look at the pop culture this is centered around fantasy. Maybe, just maybe, they are trying to appeal to a different population that has not been interested in FIRST before?