pic: The Triplets are Coming To Atlanta!!

[Cory]

Originally Posted by mtaman02

wasn't there a rule that says you can't have more then one robot that looks the same - oh wait neva mind that was if the team built 2 robots identical and used them both at the regional, if im not mistaken that was last year or the year before that.

No such rule exists. FIRST to this date, has been completely passive about collaboration.

[IMDWalrus]

Originally Posted by Cory

No such rule exists. FIRST to this date, has been completely passive about collaboration.

So far.

If this gets out of hand, though, FIRST will change the rules. I know that there was a lot of discussion on the site when the first two identical robots were revealed during the 2004 season, and I'm a bit surprised this hasn't drawn the outrage that that thread did.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by IMDWalrus

I'm a bit surprised this hasn't drawn the outrage that that thread did.

I'm not. I don't mean this in a derogatory manner to any other teams that have collaborated, but simply put, no teams that have collaborated were as successful and in the public eye as much as 254/60.

Two powerhouses collaborating? that's a no-no (In the eyes of most)

Two lesser known teams collaborating? Sure, go for it.

Similarly, in 2003, at Sacramento, there were two teams with identical bots. Now why did people not care? Because they were rookies (or second/third year teams), and they didn't do all that well.

[Karthik]

Originally Posted by IMDWalrus

I'm a bit surprised this hasn't drawn the outrage that that thread did.

The reaction has actually been very positive at both our two regionals. When Team 1114 founded NiagaraFIRST.org and decided upon the collaboration, the goal was not to give our teams a competitive advantage. We did this because we wanted to spread FIRST throughout the Niagara community. We saw the amazing impact FIRST was having on the students from 1114, and we wanted to share this with others.

We knew we that we did not have the mentor base or the funding to start a new team with out stretching 1114 too thin. Using a common design, and engineering and manufacturing approach allowed us to minimize costs and mentor load. Sharing the mentor expertise, equipment and tools, and the workload of manufacturing and assembly enabled us to reap economies of scale.

Most importantly, we were able to seamlessly pass on the lessons we had learned about FIRST. I'm not just talking about the engineering lessons, but we were able to teach the new teams about gracious professionalism. For most rookies, GP is something that they only fully understand after their first season. They learn it by experiencing at the competitions. In our case, by having 1114, 1503 and 1680 working so closely together, the lessons learned we passed along. This collaboration allowed 1503 and 1680 to skip the steep learning curve. They were two rookie teams who stepped into their regionals with poise of veterans, and were able to start spreading the values of FIRST to other rookies!

So, why hasn't there been more outrage? It's pretty hard to argue with a business model that allows for resources to be used effectively and results in three times as many students being inspired, and three times as many communities being excited about FIRST.

More inspired students, more community involvement, less drain on the mentors... Sounds pretty swell to me!

[Shu Song]

I agree, I think that what 1114 did for these two rookie teams is great. If we were to ever help start a team, I would like to collaborate with them the the first year.

I see this becoming a norm, that for every team started, there is another team to mentor them. I would love to see that happen.

[Chris V 1503]

Hey all, I'm one of the drivers in the niagarafirst.org teams. I'm with team 1503, really all I can say is that with 1114 mentoring us we did pass a large learning curve, it helped us to learn these things alot quicker and made us able to come up with a robot that is actually way better than I had expected at the beginning of the year.

Each team between us has their own driving styles, for example: our three teams have a arm system that all we have to do is push buttons on the controllers and on a button box that we had made and it would do picking up tetra's off the floor, from the auto loader and even a loading position for the human player. It also has the ability to cap goals with these buttons, including the centre goal. The system also had it so we can manually do things incase something was wrong with the program or the robot. Anyone who was at the Toronto Regional would of seen these buttons being used. Myself, I no that 1114 loves to use these buttons, as does 1680 although I don't. At first I found them confusing, at times I still do, especially when your in a match and your being pushed and you have to cap at the same time. But the way we think when we are in a match is totally different. Like as said above when 1114 tipped 1503, when we are in a match against each other, we treat them as they are just a regular team to us. Off the field and at home we work together, have fun together, and even argue together at times.

But I'm am glad we had 1114 to mentor us, I learned more than I ever thought I would in a single year being with them instead of being on our own.

[Stephen Kowski]

I had heard good things about these bots, but I was EXTREMELY impressed with 1114's performance in Archimedes....so I assume the others were just as solid. What an impressive job done by the NiagraFIRST.org alliance. Wow!

[Mr. Lim]

We were cheering on the 2/3 NiagaraFIRST alliance too! They didn't make it out of the quarters, but who couldn't cheer for 1503 and 1680 hooking up to make a run for the big prize. Two rookie teams with such great potential.

What a successful year to all three teams!

Friendly rivalry between 188 and 1114 aside, we're looking already looking forward to working with (or against ) you all next year!!!

-SlimBoJones...