Who is building 2 robots

[Joe Johnson]

I cannot see how we will ever choose not to build a second robot given the following conditions:

#1 Chief Delphi is committed to fielding a robot that is competitive
#2 Autonomous Mode is a major factor in the game
#3 We have to ship our real robot to the competitions (what I mean is we don't have the real robot someplace we can actually practice automonous mode from the ship date until the Championships)

With the exception of our 1st year in FIRST (when I didn't know better) and last year (when the above 3 conditions were met), I have been perhaps the strongest advocate of build one robot.

Historically this has been my advice to our team or any team that wants to be competitive:
#1 Pick a design direction early
#2 Build it as fast as you can
#3 Practice/program before you ship.

Assuming Autonomy is here in 2004, this is what I recommend to teams that want to be competitive:
#1 Think about designs & construction methods in the off season
#2 Prototype as much as #1 you can before kickoff to find your mistakes before kickoff
#3 Give #1 & #2 you can now design a robot that is as mechanically simple and robust as you can
#4 Design in the electronic hooks you need (feedback, custom PCB, sensors, etc.) to be a top shelf autonomous team
#5 Build TWO robots
#6 Ship one robot on the shipdate (practically undriven)
#7 Program and practice and practice and program for 8 weeks with the second robot to make sure your drivers can drive without thinking and that your robot does what is needs to during the Autonomous period.

I don't want to come off too high and mighty here, but I think, frankly, that most of the above is beyond most teams in FIRST.

This is one of my main reasons for opposing continuation of the Autonomous Experiement. In essence it is a reverse Robin Hood scheme: It makes the advantage of resource rich teams ever greater while making it even harder for resource poor teams teams to be competitive.

Autonomous Mode is the death of "FIRST is a 6 week program" idea. It has always been somewhat of a fib, but Autonomous Mode turns it into a WHOPPER.

Joe J.