pic: FTC 339's ("1114 Simbotics") Robot

[basicxman]

congrats simbotics, remember me, team 168 who was pushing your robot at the start of one of the first matches, heheheheh, i enjoyed that it was hilarious watching me driving your robot with my tiny one, BTW did we get penalized for that?

[Pat Fairbank]

Originally Posted by basicxman

congrats simbotics, remember me, team 168 who was pushing your robot at the start of one of the first matches, heheheheh, i enjoyed that it was hilarious watching me driving your robot with my tiny one, BTW did we get penalized for that?

No, we never actually needed to penalize anyone for rough play. A couple of warnings were given out (one to your team, IIRC) but nothing beyond that.

- Pat, the head referee

[fredliu168]

Very well designed robot, and very nicely implemented. I also must agree with your first alliance pick, I thought it was very wise to choose a very consistant robot.

Good luck in Atlanta.

[Techno-Turkey]

Couldn't they just edit out 189's robot?

[basicxman]

Originally Posted by Pat Fairbank

No, we never actually needed to penalize anyone for rough play. A couple of warnings were given out (one to your team, IIRC) but nothing beyond that.

- Pat, the head referee

unless you told my brother, the taller one, i never remember getting a warning, i did not mean to harm simbotics robot BTW, merely just stop them from getting to the goals

[basicxman]

BTW i was mainly defensize because i knew once someone got a hold of 6 rings and got a chance to dump them ona 24" the opposing alliance was done, i was about 2 seconds off from stopping them

[Pat Fairbank]

Originally Posted by Techno-Turkey

Couldn't they just edit out 189's robot?

If I had known that 189 didn't want the picture posted, I wouldn't have uploaded it in the first place. I agree with the reasoning of FTC teams who choose not to show their robots and respect their wishes; I'm actually sitting on a pile of close-ups of 1114's 'bot that I took at their practice facility.

I checked with 1114 after taking that particular photo and they were fine with it (I didn't count on the other teams having concerns); Matt (the driver) even claims that he put the trophy right in front of the manipulator on purpose.

[njamietech]

I agree with people in FTC wanting to hide their robot...

But doesn't it violate the whole concept of gracious professionalism to do so. I think it also violates gracious professionalism to steal someones idea without their permission.

[BHS_STopping]

Originally Posted by njamietech

I agree with people in FTC wanting to hide their robot...

But doesn't it violate the whole concept of gracious professionalism to do so. I think it also violates gracious professionalism to steal someones idea without their permission.

Very true. Although, we kind of touched on this when our team posted pictures of our robot (FTC 546) a few weeks back. We didn't fear that people would "steal" our idea, per se. Frankly, we really didn't mind other teams getting inspiration from our design: FIRST isn't all about keeping your robot a secret from the rest of the world (although it is perfectly understandable if that's how you would like to keep things), but it isn't about taking ideas from other robots, either.

We figured that, if there were teams out there who would sacrifice originality and the engineering process just for the sake of winning, those teams probably need to learn more about what FIRST is about. Teamwork, even between competitors on and off the field is what really counts. Just posting a picture can be a valuable source of inspiration for a struggling team, which is why we think it's important not to keep your whole robot "under wraps." However, for the sake of the competition, it would probably be best to just post "teasers" instead if you're looking to provide inspiration to other teams.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by njamietech

I agree with people in FTC wanting to hide their robot...

But doesn't it violate the whole concept of gracious professionalism to do so. I think it also violates gracious professionalism to steal someones idea without their permission.

There are few businesses in the world that don't have a few things they're working on in secrecy. Look at Apple or any auto maker, and you'll see them keeping everything about their upcoming products as secret as possible. The ramifications can be huge--imagine if the Zune folks knew what Apple is working on in their iPod division right now--meaning that until it's ready to ship in final form (read: at the Championship), secrecy is a valid approach.