IFI vs FTC? Both offering competitions for next year!

[ManicMechanic]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

Just curious to why you, or anyone, would make a decision either way before we even know the full details of the new platform and Vex's competing competitions.

If our team were just graduating out of FLL, it would be a tough call, but the fact that we have $1K+ of Vex equipment biases us heavily in the Vex direction. That initial kit was hard to come by -- one kid basically gave up a robotics camp opportunity and diverted the funds into Vex equipment for the school.

On an annual budget of about $500, having a low registration fee is a big plus for us, and expanding our team of 7 students (and growing) into 2 teams actually looks practical for next year (much needed, as 70 fingers tend to get in each others' way ) Money isn't the only consideration, but it's an important one for a low-budget team, and Vex has the potential to deliver a reasonable experience for considerably less.

Beyond IFI's "official" events, the lower cost also will allow us to increase exposure to robotics in our area: 2 other local Vex teams plan to expand in the same way as ours, and we are looking to form 10 teams from the 3 and hold local events. Being able to hold low-cost events locally, we're more likely to snag neighborhood spectators and pick up even more teams.

We wish FTC well and hope that it gets quality teams to continue doing what it does best. Who knows, if we get more money and the students are itching for a change, we may be back.