New Poll! (6)

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Posted by Mike Kulibaba.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Student on team #88, TJ², from Bridgewater-Raynham Regional and Johnson and Johnson.

Posted on 10/28/99 8:28 PM MST


In Reply to: New Poll posted by PollMaster on 10/28/99 8:06 PM MST:



There are tooo many teams not to have allainces. If people were upset with the number of qualifying rounds you got this year, it would be even worse if you don't have allainces. That's just my opinion. But i do like the idea of every robot for themselves but it would be tough

Kuli Team 88

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Posted by Lora Knepper.

Student on team #69, HYPER, from Quincy Public Schools and The Gillette Company.

Posted on 12/10/99 4:34 PM MST


In Reply to: Too many teams posted by Mike Kulibaba on 10/28/99 8:28 PM MST:



I like the alliance system. I got the chance to make friends with people I would have never even talked to before. Plus, there are WAY too many teams to run a single team system. We'd be in competition for a week, just for the qualifing rounds!! I know that my team (69) is split on the idea of alliances, because so much is riding on luck...but isn't the idea of FIRST to learn, meet new people, and above all...have fun? The real question is did you have FUN working in an alliance?

Lora
Driver~Team 69 (Quincy/Gillette)

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Posted by Daniel.

Coach on team BORG (Berkeley Operational Robotics Group) from Berkeley High School sponsored by (working on the sponsor, too).

Posted on 12/11/99 10:56 AM MST


In Reply to: Re: Too many teams posted by Lora Knepper on 12/10/99 4:34 PM MST:



The real question is: Did you have FUN working in an alliance?


Oh yes. Very much fun indeed. In fact, I had FUN working in an alliance with YOU! You guys were great in florida, though our alliance obviously underestimated your robot. I must also say that you guys SHINED at rumble (I used to be on GRT #192 if you haven't figured out why some member of a rookie team would be saying this). Anyway, I look forward to possobly working with you and your team again in the future!

Best of luck with your robot this year!!
-Daniel

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Posted by Andy Grady.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Coach on team #42, P.A.R.T.S, from Alvirne High School and Daniel Webster College.

Posted on 12/11/99 10:58 AM MST


In Reply to: Re: Too many teams posted by Lora Knepper on 12/10/99 4:34 PM MST:



I must say that one of the biggest plusses about alliances is the fact that you get to work with other teams. I met many people last year during competition because of alliances, which is really cool, and I hope to meet even more this year if there are alliances again. Just to touch on one other thing that Lora said, I don't think it would be impossible to not have alliances, you could have a 4 team free-for-all. Its been done before,
Good Luck,
Andy Grady, DWC/Alvirne

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Posted by Beccy Rigden (Duct Tape).

Student on team #166 from Merrimack High.

Posted on 11/1/99 2:12 PM MST


In Reply to: New Poll posted by PollMaster on 10/28/99 8:06 PM MST:



There are just as many bad things about alliances as there are good things. Although there are valid arguments for both sides I often find myself caught in the middle of it all. Does it really make a difference? I know from personal experience that bad luck often reigns being paired up with robots who do not move, or that aren't feeling well at all. I have also been on the team that has to shake hands with the alliance as human player and say 'Hi. I'm all you've got today. Our robot is kinda broken.'

Beccy
co-captain team #166

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Posted by Andy Grady.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Coach on team #42, P.A.R.T.S, from Alvirne High School and Daniel Webster College.

Posted on 11/1/99 6:25 PM MST


In Reply to: New Poll posted by Beccy Rigden (Duct Tape) on 11/1/99 2:12 PM MST:



Beccy,
You bring up a good point, however there is one thing about alliances that put a bright side on that situation. Some of the best parts of the competition came when a less fortunate team was our partner and we ended up winning. Seeing the faces of the people on these teams that were not accustomed to winning often, especially when they had played an important part in the victory, was priceless. Good Luck to ya,
Andy Grady, DWC/Alvirne

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Posted by Fran .

Other on team #166, Team Merrimack, from Merrimack High School and Unitrode/R.S. Machines.

Posted on 11/3/99 8:46 AM MST


In Reply to: Re: New Poll posted by Andy Grady on 11/1/99 6:25 PM MST:




There is just as much bad or good luck without alliances.......even when you are on your own you could have good luck and be seeded with non working robots or the infamous placebo where you are guaranteed not to be last OR maybe you have the bad luck of being seeded with all the top killer machines.....I personally like alliances, it reduces the extremes on luck and develops camaraderie. I'm gonna bet that by really having to observe how other robots function, many teams learned a lot they could apply to their own work.....it also provided more jobs for those that did not actually build but love game.

Fran



: Beccy,
: You bring up a good point, however there is one thing about alliances that put a bright side on that situation. Some of the best parts of the competition came when a less fortunate team was our partner and we ended up winning. Seeing the faces of the people on these teams that were not accustomed to winning often, especially when they had played an important part in the victory, was priceless. Good Luck to ya,
: Andy Grady, DWC/Alvirne

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Posted by Steve Shade.

Other on team #7, Firestorm, from Parkville High School and Black & Decker / AAI / Raytheon.

Posted on 11/3/99 5:32 PM MST


In Reply to: Re: New Poll posted by Fran on 11/3/99 8:46 AM MST:



I agree so far with what is being said about alliances. However, we look at the technology and see how that advances, but in addition to the advances, there are social effects. Last year I was a Senior and the Head Coach of my team and I didn't understand the importance of alliances. Now I'm at the University of Maryland: College Park, and yesterday Dr. Mark Sagoff presented my Science, Technology and Society Colloquium with a lecture entitled 'The Fox, the Hedgehog, and Nature.' The most important thing I got out of the lecture is that in many cases engineers are considered to be 'foxes', always looking for a technology fix to solve every problem. The fox solves problems in many ways by looking at each individual problem. The hedgehog unlike the fox, looks at the whole picture and makes the decisions based upon the big problem. Alliances fit into this picture by making teams look at the game as a whole. As the #1 seed in Philly, the times that my team did better in matches was when our alliane worked together on a strategy that was based upon the overall goals of the game, picking up floppies, pushing the puck, getting on top of the puck, raising 8 feet ect. and not planing out exactly what we were going to do. We had an idea, but stayed flexable and looked at the whole game. I think alliances are important because the future of our society won't just be new technology solving ecconomic, social, and enviromental problems; it will be the incorporation of technology with a more universal approach. From my experience, I see alliances as a way to look at the game from a different perspective by asking the question 'How does our robot fit into the game when we are allied with another team and are against two other unknown, in most cases, robots?' I believe alliances are important to broaden our thinking as engineers and the possibilities of the game. Society is effected by our actions, and our actions have more than technological effects. Sometimes we have to think beyond the competition to see what we learn but not always realize it until 6 months later.