POLL: Six Week Build Season

[Mr_I]

Thoughts from a long time but periodically absent poster ...

FIRST is a program with a challenge too hard, a calendar too short, a team too large and a budget too small. - Dr. Woodie Flowers

"FIRST isn't fair!" - Dr. Woodie Flowers

Just a reminder of what we all should be thinking about: I know we all want to beat "that team", the one that always seems to have a robot built by the finest engineering firm on the planet, driven by the greatest Indy driver equivalents of all time, the team with the mentors who think it's all about them and not the students, etc. But in reality the only ones we need to beat is ourselves. Team 811 has had some shining moments, when the planets aligned and everything fell our way ... and some less-than-stellar moments when we really shot ourselves in the foot. Longer Build Seasons or open bag times won't change those realities.

As many have stated, there will be teams that figure out ways around any restrictions put in place (such as "tools down"). And teams will find ways of screwing up even if there was a 52 week Build Season. That's one of the life lessons we hope our students learn!

That said, I agree that an infinite build time will result in all robots looking the same; this is one of the reasons that I tend to dislike RI3D. What could FIRST do to avoid this Attack Of The Clones? Maybe "post Bag Day" work sessions must be fully documented, with mandatory CAD descriptions detailing how and why Team XYZ decided to fully scrap their original 6-week creation and replace it with a carbon copy of the Week 1 winner? (I know this would be a nightmare for the judges, but let's face it, real world companies like defense contractors have to put up with that kind of stuff.)

Anyway, I'm voting to "Leave Things As They Are", if for no other reason than it makes it easier to compare the 2016 teams to their 2006 (for example) counterparts. And also to prevent the inevitable FIRST alumni from sitting on their rockers on the front porch moaning that "When I was on the team, we had real challenges, none of this 'never stop building' nonsense." ("Back then we had to cut the aluminum with our teeth, and wind the motor armatures by hand!" )


Thanks for listening, everybody, and here's to a great season!