Virtual Team Forum

[Andy Baker]

Originally posted by JVN
Indeed.

Any "adult" enginerds willing to champion this cause?

John

Sign me up... I'll push this one. You college nerds deserve credit too.

Andy B.

[Mike Schroeder]

Originally posted by weedie
Intentional damage deff. needs better clarification; especially with a large object on the field, blocking drivers' vision, and not knowing that the robot was even there, let alone dead.

acctually from the matches i saw, the refs took into consideration which side of the feild it occurd on, if it was your side of the feild and you can see it nicely, then they called you, if it was on the other side of the ramp, then they wouldnt do anything... atleast from what i saw

[JVN]

Originally posted by Andy Baker
Sign me up... I'll push this one. You college nerds deserve credit too.

Andy B.

Thanks Andy.

Now, can you talk in the 3rd person, and add on your newest title?

"Woodie Flowers award winner, Andy Baker thinks that..."

[Madison]

Originally posted by JVN
Thanks Andy.

Now, can you talk in the 3rd person, and add on your newest title?

"Woodie Flowers award winner, Andy Baker thinks that..."

Or, "Hi, I'm Andy Baker. You may remember me from such awards celebrations as National Champion, 1998 and The Woodie Flowers Award, 2003."

[Matt Leese]

Originally posted by Andy Baker
Sign me up... I'll push this one. You college nerds deserve credit too.

Andy B.

Why did I immediately think Andy would be the best person for this job when I first saw the suggestion of it?

Matt

[Andy Brockway]

I am not able to attend any forums. I do have two areas that I would like addressed.

Batteries - This seems to be a perennial issue. I think FIRST should either crank down on enforcing the two battery rule or make it easier to procure additional batteries. Those of us that have been around have enough of the 'newest' Exide's, but what about the rookies or 'low-buck' teams.

Pit Crews - I would like to see a policy that allows the pit crews to join the drive team during Finals matches. With the close timing between matches I would like my most experienced techs available to fix the robot.

If anyone can champion these issues, I would appreciate it.

Andy

[Matt Leese]

Originally posted by Andy Brockway

Pit Crews - I would like to see a policy that allows the pit crews to join the drive team during Finals matches. With the close timing between matches I would like my most experienced techs available to fix the robot.

FIRST was allowing seven team members onto the field area for the finals matches at nationals this past year (unfortunately, they failed to mention this to the field volunteers which added much confusion when I tried to shoo people away). Possibly not quite what you're asking for but it's pretty close.

Matt

[T967]

the complaints about intentional damage are valid. I was not aware there were alot of intentional damage calls at other regionals. If anyone's been to St. Louis they know that the rule is very loose. The only way to get that call is if you really do destroy the bot on purpose for no apparent reason. Also in st. louis if you did damage a robot trying to accomplish the game you weren't penalized, it was that way in Houston also. (IN our division anyway. Like I have said, if you try to get away with 1/8" aluminum bar for protection you are taking a risk.

some suggestions for 2004:
hold nats somewhere that specializes in many kinds of entertainment. ex. epcot

The games are meant to be a headache don't lawerize them.

MORE MORE MORE freedom with materials, this includes many things like pneumatics, electronics, etc. (auto mode could get better with more electronics options.)

keep cheapening costs

the games are getting better-this years made you think alot and kept you on your toes.

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally posted by Andy Brockway


Batteries - This seems to be a perennial issue. I think FIRST should either crank down on enforcing the two battery rule or make it easier to procure additional batteries. Those of us that have been around have enough of the 'newest' Exide's, but what about the rookies or 'low-buck' teams.

It appears that next year, we'll be able to use any batteries from prior seasons:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...threadid=20921

[Joe Matt]

We've always used the previous years batteries for testing and the new 'fresh' batteries for the competition.

Also here is a potential concern:

-Can FIRST help teams start off-season competitons? As in giving discounts for field components, telling us where to find materials, etc? Can FIRST help endorse some off-season competitions (as in an offical off season competiton vs. an unoffical one).

-Make rules WITHOUT loop-holes. Have them open-ended yet very specific on what you CAN'T do.

[Madison]

Originally posted by JosephM

-Can FIRST help teams start off-season competitons? As in giving discounts for field components, telling us where to find materials, etc? Can FIRST help endorse some off-season competitions (as in an offical off season competiton vs. an unoffical one).

Well, FIRST makes their fields available to teams for use in off-season events. I would imagine that the current arrangement, which includes software and electronics, is cheaper than if a team were to attempt to build it from scratch.

...and official off-season competition would be... a regional. FIRST is very much focused on the show. That will always be the difference between an off-season competition and a regional.

-Make rules WITHOUT loop-holes. Have them open-ended yet very specific on what you CAN'T do.

Well, uh, it's pretty well impossible to make rules without loopholes.

[Mike Schroeder]

Originally posted by JosephM
We've always used the previous years batteries for testing and the new 'fresh' batteries for the competition.

Also here is a potential concern:

-Can FIRST help teams start off-season competitons? As in giving discounts for field components, telling us where to find materials, etc? Can FIRST help endorse some off-season competitions (as in an offical off season competiton vs. an unoffical one).

-Make rules WITHOUT loop-holes. Have them open-ended yet very specific on what you CAN'T do.

well how is this, according to FIRST last night at the forum, there will be no new batteries,chargers,compressors and edurobotics kits for vet team, and you can use any years batteries
FIRST does promote off season competions, atleast they put them up on their web page last year... gotta find them though

[Ben Mitchell]

Originally posted by T967
the complaints about intentional damage are valid. I was not aware there were alot of intentional damage calls at other regionals. If anyone's been to St. Louis they know that the rule is very loose. The only way to get that call is if you really do destroy the bot on purpose for no apparent reason. Also in st. louis if you did damage a robot trying to accomplish the game you weren't penalized, it was that way in Houston also. (IN our division anyway. Like I have said, if you try to get away with 1/8" aluminum bar for protection you are taking a risk.

some suggestions for 2004:
hold nats somewhere that specializes in many kinds of entertainment. ex. epcot

The games are meant to be a headache don't lawerize them.

MORE MORE MORE freedom with materials, this includes many things like pneumatics, electronics, etc. (auto mode could get better with more electronics options.)

keep cheapening costs

the games are getting better-this years made you think alot and kept you on your toes.

The problem is that if costs are cheapened, where is the money going to come from?

And how can FIRST stop teams from lawyerizing rules?

It's only natural to find loopholes and exploit them. Unfortunately, teams also exploit the volunteer nature of judges and referees to their advantage. Anyone remember 2002 with the "no tape measures allowed due to entanglement" home zone strips, and a few rather entanglement prone mouse bots not getting called on?

[A. Snodgrass]

Actually Im against the creation of an award strictly for college students. Let me explain why: I see too many college students not being able to balance well college and FIRST mentorship as it is!
With the new drive to push college students as mentors and to get their colleges involved in FIRST, and the time they devote to the program, how do they have time to seriously split their lives. College is a little different then the workplace, and frankly I think it is a place to prepare ALL of us to be better mentors. This is not to say that you shouldnt mentor or volunteer, but it is to say that there needs to be balance. Also Ive seen students who have devoted too much time to this program while in college get burned out, sometimes from both first and college.
Also why should college student mentors be considered any more special then the rest of the mentors who put in so much time and effort?

[Madison]

Originally posted by A. Snodgrass
Also why should college student mentors be considered any more special then the rest of the mentors who put in so much time and effort?

Why are the rest of the mentors, save engineers and teachers, excluded from The Woodie Flowers Award?

So, perhaps it isn't unwise to recognize a college student who has done exemplary work to inspire high school students, while still maintaining a level of minimum performance in their own classes.

The incentive to be a good mentor for our teams is strong; almost too strong, sometimes. Perhaps, by offering such recognition, maybe with a scholarship attached, it'd offer additional incentive to avoid burnout.

In the business of inspiration, you don't need a degree.