Ftc Kick off 2008

[dtengineering]

Originally Posted by lilstogi11

Our FTC teams will gladly bring extra polycarb and aluminum to events for teams who wish to try new things or need replacements.

Any details in regards to what type of polycarb and aluminum we can use? Specifications?

That is a generous offer on the spares... it wasn't the raw materials that I was alluding to, however, it was the machining and manufacturing that may be difficult to do within the confines of an FTC pit and timeline that is my concern.

I wasn't able to find any specs, but I suspect all will be revealed on Saturday. Trust FIRST to drop a little tid-bit of info to build the excitement... they excel at that!

Jason

[gblake]

I would like to applaud DTE's comments; and add even more emphasis to the ones that express concerns about the potential problems that can take root in an FTC competition that opens the "custom parts" door too far.

Here are the sentiments I expressed in a similar on line conversation a while ago (back when Vex Kits were being used):

...
Access to moderately sophisticated machine tools and/or human expertise on a "have" team will mean that they can replace many of the bulky, frustrating parts in the Vex (change that to Tetrix now) product line with high strength, light-weight, precisely-crafted, small parts.

Oh so many times, when building a machine using the Vex parts, I have wished for a small latch, or a small pulley, or crown gear (available now), or a small distance sensor, or an rotation encoder that measured direction [available now], or a.... What has kept me from pulling out my remaining few hairs is knowing that every other team on the planet is in exactly the same boat as me and "mine", except for getting to use our team's unique set of brainpower.

If you open FTC up to handcrafted and non-Vex commercial parts, you will start seeing robots that are as complicated as mechanical watches and as sophisticated as compact interplanetary probes. Those will come from the "haves", and will be marvelous to study and see in action; but I doubt the "have nots" will feel inspired......
...

Once the rules are announced, if you Tetrix kit users out there see a need for concern, let your FTC Affiliate Partner know how you feel so that they can get the message to the people who need to hear it (CD discussions are great, but they aren't an official channel into FIRST HQ).

Blake

[ttldomination]

My questions/concern, is that these metal/polycarbonate are for robot aesthetics, which is basically looks, so will these parts be able to come "out" of the footprint? Which is interesting.

AND YEAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Team 1261 has been psyched and prepared for 2009 season since we got eliminated from the GA tournament's semi finals.

[gblake]

Originally Posted by ttldomination

... these metal/polycarbonate are for robot aesthetics, which is basically looks, ...

Like the OP said, the announcement on the FIRST web page says the new Award will recognize "teams who come up with creative ways to use this material in functional and aesthetic ways".

To me, that says the parts may be used in ways that improve the robots' game-playing. That is far different from "basically looks".

Blake

[gblake]

Originally Posted by gblake

Once the rules are announced, if you Tetrix kit users out there see a need for concern, let your FTC Affiliate Partner know how you feel so that they can get the message to the people who need to hear it (CD discussions are great, but they aren't an official channel into FIRST HQ).

Regardless of where you lie in the all-standard to all-custom spectrum; after carrying out the important activity of discussing and testing your thoughts here; please remember to cast your vote where it counts the most: Tell it to your FTC AP.

[ttldomination]

Anyone know when we'll be able to buy extra parts?