The Honor Code of FIRST

[Dan Richardson]

Originally Posted by Tom Bottiglieri

I think my vagueness was confused for something else. Let me clear it up.

FIRST is supposed to inspire and prepare kids for a life and career in a science based profession. The last time I checked, the world wasn't "fair". People lie, cheat, and steal to get ahead in every aspect of life. I'm not saying this is justification to go out and break the rules; it is nothing even close to that. With that being said, people really just need to worry about themselves and their team. How far are you willing to push while still feeling comfortable? In reality, this is a question that only YOU are able to answer, and if you break the rules then prepare to suffer whatever consequences await.

What I do not like hearing about is the "vigilantism" that is going on at competitions. I don't care if someone broke every rule in the book... One team has absolutely no right to touch another teams property. Seriously, it's just a game. If everyone could just worry about how much fun they are having rather than how much they disagree with other teams, the program would be much better off.

Tho I conquer with the statement is always good to push the envelope I believe you have to stay within the rules and if you don't you better be prepared to face the consequences by whoever they come from.

If a team breaks every rule in the book then you better make sure they are held accountable. If you don't you taint the validity of the program it becomes a free for all the program disentegrates. Its absolutely foolish to just let teams go unchecked.

The fact of the matter is often times those responsible for enforcing the rules don't know them. Often times ( not every case ) robot inspectors, referees and field managers make up their own rules or don't know the specifics, mainly because they are improperly trained. Now granted many of them are innocent mistakes maybe a rule changed from year to year and made an honest mistake, but I strongly believe its responsibility of teams and volunteers to resectfully and properly rectify these problems. Otherwise the teams you compete against are cheated out a fair and balanced competitions.

I learned an important rule of thumb this year, as much as you want teams to do the right thing often they do not. Now acting like a vigilanty and pulling wires out of a robot to break it would be bad. Going through the proper channels approaching them with the rule book or making the robot inspector aware of the issue, that is what should be done. Many broken rules are accidental, misinterpretation of a rule, or failure to get all updates. But when faced with their rule breaking in the middle of competition its their reaction to this confrontation that reflects heavily on their honor and their integrity. If they refuse to acknowledge the rule, then it should be brought to the proper authorities, if they still fail to acknowledge I believe they should be disqualified from the competition and should be disqualified from all played matches.

I know this post is not as much about the key to the honor code which reflects on "fix it" windows and pre season building, but it is no less important. We all know teams do not follow the code and build parts before season, teams may even build entire drive assemblies preseason. Its unfortunate but true, do their need to be more checks and balances? Possibly, but within the current construct of FIRST I believe it to be nearly impossible.

Cheating is huge, in real life it can get you thrown out of your sport and quite possibly land you in jail. A rule is a rule whether you like it or not, what gives your team the right to pick and chose while the other 1350 teams have to follow it. So whether it be by the FIRST volunteers, or the FIRST community, teams need to be held accountable. If teams follow this advice and ignore the rules, accountability and integrity, I believe that this program would self implode quicker than it would be "better off."