On photographs and FVC competitions...

[ManicMechanic]

While there may not be agreement on the posting of pictures during the season, one thing that I would highly encourage is the more posting and sharing of designs off-season. How I would have loved to see some of the photos that are appearing now (or last year's equivalent) over the summer! Our team is in this for the learning (we are not expecting to be competitive this year -- simply being picked by an alliance at all would make our day), because we are so far behind.

What would be extremely desirable for us is for close-ups and documentation to show us how certain elements (lifters, conveyer belts, shooters, etc.) are constructed by posting several photos at intermediate stages of construction, so we can reverse engineer on our own -- again not for a specific competition, but for learning.

I speak not only for ourselves, but for about a dozen Vex teams (no prior FLL, Vex, or FRC experience), that are drying on the vine. The kits are bought, the funding for registration raised, but when we volunteered to organize a league, no one was interested because they were so far from being ready. Having to re-invent the wheel (or at least the drive train) without guidance is so time consuming that it discourages all but the most persistent user.