Hybrid Challenge-No Robot Left Behind

[Bharat Nain]

Originally Posted by Michelle Celio

I, for one, do not accept.

So, you're at your first ever FIRST competition, and a semi-established team comes up to you "Hey, you don't have a hybrid mode? Here use this pre-built one!". So they load the code on to your robot, and explain to you what it does or how they wrote it.

How important do you think this code is to the freshman? Do you honestly think that this freshman is going to sit down between the end of this season and next builds-eason and learn how to program for another possible hybrid mode since what they know from a FIRST Competition is that the "harder" code will just be handed to them?

Originally Posted by Waynep

Veteran teams (or any team with a robot) that are attempting to do something in hybrid: it is my challenge to you to work before and at the regionals to ensure that NO ROBOT GETS LEFT BEHIND in hybrid; everyone DRIVES at the very least and attempts to cross one or two lines. Just giving the team the proper code does not fulfill the challenge. I fully expect you to help them understand the code (whether you enable them to dead reckon or use an IR remote to move), answer their questions, leave them with the confidence and knowledge to continue to improve their efforts and know you will be there to help them if questions arise, as well as to leave your door open to anyone seeking advice.

Forgive me for using you as an example Michelle, but you represent a vast majority of rookie team's thought process. I am actually very glad you made this post because it is a valid school of thought. If you don't mind Wayne, I would like to extend the Hybrid Challenge based on my explanation below.

Since 2004, my team has always encouraged me to help other teams get their robot working in autonomous and tele-operated period. At every regional I have been to, I can proudly say that I have helped at least 2 teams with their robot whether it is in programming, electrical or mechanical. On the surface, this is gracious professionalism and all is going well. But the truth of the matter is, every so often, there is a team who says exactly what Michelle is saying. They do not want the help. If they do take the help, I have to leave them feeling as though I was completely wrong and somehow they were the magic in getting their autonomous mode up and running. More than half the time, I choose to let them be because I could be doing other things in the time I could be *trying* to help them. It is also not wise to mess with anyones ego either. Sometimes they are best left to their misery. It also saves you the frustration and negative emotions that come with that.

The problem in most cases is the lack of expertise and experience. If they knew how to do it, don't you think they would have done it already? I refuse to believe that time is an issue. There has to be 5 minutes in the whole day to write 30 lines of code. There are many times I seeked outside help for programming also. If I knew what the problem with my code was, I would have fixed it already. But the issue is I did not so I listened to people who said they could help. I could have easily put an ego shield on and said "I am on team 25 and we won x amount of regionals". When I took the help, I realized what was going on and then went on to make the code better.

I am not excited about those people though. I am excited for the ones who will gladly take the help and initiative to learn what works and how. For those of you who know what I give rookie teams, it is really autonomous in its simplest form. Absolutely simplest. I never hand them the code. I sit down and write it with them and explain what every line is (and there are only a few, I assure you). There are only about 3 or 4 things they need to understand in order to write a successful autonomous mode. In 100% of the cases, those who chose to listen and learn, went ahead and modified the code to do something better if there was room for improvement. What I just said is very profound because it represents the spirit of learning something new and taking it to the next level. This year, depending on the situation, I would write enough code to make their robot go forward, and let them figure out how to make it turn left and so on. I have no doubt in my mind that those who want to do better in competition will do better. With the new knowledge acquired, they will take it to the next level and thank those who helped them. And right after that they will show signs of what is called excitement which indicates that they are having fun. For rookie teams who are going to only one regional, this could be a major portion of making their first year seem successful. Hybrid mode is a big deal this year. 4 points for crossing a line is a huge bonus. Many rounds will be won just because of hybrid mode and helping a rookie team through this will indeed make them feel a whole lot better. Contrary to what everyone tries to say, it is about the game and it is about performing well because the game is the glue to this organization and it is what makes people are so many different levels (students, teachers, engineers, corporate etc) come together. Helping a team win even one match might help them stay excited until the next season.

HYBRID CHALLENGE EXTENSION
With Wayne Penn's given permission, I would like to extend the Hybrid challenge. If you are a rookie team or a team who has limited resource and time, I strongly urge you to keep an open mind to those who can teach. I urge you respect the success of others and learn from it. I urge you to glorify their help by taking it to the next level. I am never tired of helping teams (even though my team always comes first), but sometimes it is really good to be thanked for helping. I remember once at Palmetto regional in 2005, a team made me a neat little tether/programming cable with multiple connectors on each end. We needed one since we had only 1 left. This is called sharing resources.

I thank you Wayne Penn for providing all the inspiration and I thank you Michelle for boldly representing a point of view most people would be afraid to.