Should teams be pushed to make higher quality robots?

[Koko Ed]

I would like to see teams be pushed to make a more quality FIRST program (more school involvement, community involvement, help to strengthen the local and national FIRST scene and such) then I would "just building a quality robot". FIRST can only become stronger when teams strive to lift up the program and not just build the robot and leave it at that.

[Madison]

My experience -- all 7 years of it, if you can imagine -- has been that teams that produce robots that have a high polish in design, fabrication and function have a better understanding of process than do teams that haphazardly and aimlessly assemble a robot. Both deserve to be proud of their efforts and, undoubtedly, both have learned something new that they did not know yesterday, last season, or last year -- but they're proud of different accomplishments. In other words, some teams are proud of pulling through at the eleventh hour, and others are proud for not having to stay awake for three or four days in order to meet their goal. Ultimately, there is no absolute arbiter to determine which accomplishment is better than another.

Where I'm concerned, process trumps ingenuity. A successful process that can provide a solution that is reliable, safe, cost-effective and on-time is far superior to a solution that prioritizes unorthodoxy and originality -- especially at the particular expense of reliability and safety. Students with a better understanding of process will be better equipped to handling projects of increased scale. Burning the candle at both ends to finish a project may be possible when you're surrounded by 30 students in a classroom, but it becomes less feasible when you're working beside 500 professionals at a company, each of whom have families and homes they must attend to.

Is process inspirational? Well, no. It's boring, actually. Process is built around meetings and approvals and budgeting and performance-review. It slows things down because it requires that we first explain and justify our intended course of action to others. Whether the others understand that action is almost inconsequential, as much of the value comes from simply slowing down and reexamining the decisions we make and their impact. I work fast alone; I work better in a group. Working with a group and explaining to them everything I do forces me to be more thoughtful and honest about my ideas. This benefits everyone and, where FIRST is concerned, usually results in robots that work. Is there anyone here who believes that fielding a robot that functions as designed and reliably so is not inspirational? It's certainly more enjoyable than spending six weeks on an ingenious gizmo that, come competition, doesn't work as advertised -- no matter how clever it looked on paper.

[slickguy2007]

It is not always possible for teams to create a robot that is "visually pleasing", but isn't that really apart of the challenge? It is difficult enough to finish the robot on time and some teams (including my own) have made adjustments that make the robots less professional looking. You know what though, I am glad we made those changes because it allowed for us to get a great robot functioning and competing despite its less lack of beauty. FIRST, however, does recognize a team's ability to make the robot neat, organized and more "professional" by awarding the Motorola Quality Award.


As for teams not working hard enough, I graciously disagree with that. Especially now, when companies are not able to contribute as much as they use to, it is unfair to point fingers and claim that due to lack of funding or resources a team has not been working hard enough. The challenge was not meant to be easy, if it was meant to be easy it wouldn't be much fun.

I really don't like seeing fights on CD, so lets please lets not continue this.
In Sanddrag's defense, I don't think he meant anything disrespectful by his opinion nor do I believe that he wanted to start a fight. It is glorious year 9 for me in FIRST and I admit that I still have a lot to learn about myself, my team and GP. I <3 FIRST!

GO FIRST!!!