Robot in 3 Days 2017

[MooreteP]

Originally Posted by KSPRUL

I'm sure this will be an unpopular perspective....but here goes.

As a long term supporter of FIRST and as a mentor of FRC teams in the New York area I find myself reminiscing for a time when students could not just browse for an answer to the challenges set by FIRST.

No disrespect meant to the engineers and mentors taking part in robot in 3 days. Just my 2 cents.

So what would be a preferable source for inspiration?
These are high school students and it is the 21st century where each of us can browse the equivalent of the Library at Alexandria in our hands.

What did your students do in the patinated past for the answers that you reminisce about? Popular Mechanics? The Encyclopedia Brittanica?

Credited to Isaac Newton but possibly from others: "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."
All "fresh" ideas are likely plagiarism in one form or another.
Isn't everything we invent/create a product of everything we've heard or seen?
Listen to Aaron Copland's symphonies.

The Ri3D program is an efficient program to introduce students to the engineering design process in an educational format (YouTube) that has become the "new normal".
They do a good job documenting their thought processes, design iteration, and manufacturing. It all occurs in that crucial week after Kickoff.
Although anecdotal, I believe their presence has improved the level of competition in FRC.

This is a resource that I am grateful for.