Ken Patton's comments

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Posted by Greg Mills, Engineer on team #16, Baxter Bomb Squad, from Mountain Home and Baxter Healthcare.

Posted on 5/17/99 6:46 AM MST


In Reply to: Ken Patton's comments posted by michael bastoni on 5/13/99 7:11 PM MST:



:

I have to agree that sustainability or the lack there of is the single largest problem facing long time FIRST programs. If we spent anywhere the time you guys do it wouldn't work here. We try to keep it as close to a 'six-week project' as possible. We only have a few after hour classes in the fall and those are centered on teamwork and leadership. We only introduce students to engineering and make no attempt to educate them. Our Chairmans Award submission is typically started about the second week of the robot build time (we have never won but have been finalists for four straight years). The animation project is 100% student driven which keeps us isolated from that task. We put our robot in the box on the shipping day and quit for awhile (we were Number one seed in the two regionals that we attended and were drafted in the first round at Nationals). The fund-raising is handled by the students and their parents. We try to limit our repeat members of the team and keep the team size to about thirty. This insures fresh bodies every year.

Is our team successful? I think that we are very effective in inspiration and that is our only goal. We inspire the students by spending time with them for six weeks and letting them see what and how we do. For us the 'build time' is far more important and inspirational than the 'competition'. It is almost a let-down when the build time is over. The competitions serve as a way to end things and give something to work for but they are not the heart of the program. We have almost a new team of students each year and they all get to experience the program in the same way and that includes brainstorming a new challenge and seeing our ideas put into a working robot. If the game stays the same then we have lost what our program is built on.

Each FIRST program is run differently and what works for one may not work for all. I don't want a longer season because it is the down time that allows us to get ready and 'do it again next year.' We could not sustain an effort like you describe. I think a smaller ongoing program is better than a large effort that dies because it gets out of control. We all have to make decisions about what is right for us and our programs.