Food for thought

[KathieK]

Originally Posted by cjbonez

Just out of curiosity i was wondering how many teams actually build their own robots. Because ive asked around at a lot of competitions and it seems that most teams ship out their robot to be built for them, or even jsut designed for them. I found this ironic considering the spirit of first is about learning and doing things yourself so why do so many teams ship out their entire robot or the majority of their robot to be built for them? because my team's entire robot is hand made and i think that says something about our team. Just some food for thought.

First of all, welcome to ChiefDelphi!
The debate about student-built vs. mentor-built robots occurs each season on ChiefDelphi and usually has the same results - there is no "right way" to model a FIRST team. Every team is unique. FIRST's goals are not to "teach" but to "inspire" - if you are inspired to appreciate science and technology by building the robot yourself, wonderful! If you are inspired to appreciate science and technology by observing professionals at work, wonderful! There are lots of threads on CD on this topic - instead of adding more to this one, do a search and find one already posted. And after reading through it if you feel you have more to offer, please add to that one.
I'm an alum from Baldwin Senior High School so I wish your team success this coming season!