FIRST giveth and FIRST taketh away.

[archiver]

Posted by nick237 at 1/16/2001 10:25 PM EST


Engineer on team #237, sie h2o bots, from Watertown high school ct and sieman co.


In Reply to: aye, it's freedom vs. regulation...
Posted by Anton Abaya on 1/16/2001 12:09 AM EST:



It would seem that every one except me feels that FIRST has changed the rules for the best and I bow to the majority. What upsets me and makes me peeved is that I spend days working on a plan or theory only to have FIRST change things a few days later.
I spent three days working on a system that incorporated a 34 1/2" wide goal base and when I was finished FIRST changed it to 36 1/2", scrap three days of effort. By changing the base size how did that make things more even?
I spent time working on a scoring system that had the 1.5 doubler at +1 second, then it becomes +16 seconds
That change will only help teams that are experienced and can take the pressures of the game, this change is not equal for the rookie teams.
These are some of the things that make me speak up and sure I love FIRST and for all that it stands as any other team does but I dont have to stay silent when I need to express my concernes.
Nick237

: i feel your pain.

: on the other hand, there might be an underlying reason why FIRST changed this rule. I can only speculate on that one.

: but if you think about it, FIRST has several constraints when designing a competition and such constraints I guess are to regulate the freedom and make sure teams do not get unfair advantages. But here are a few of the things i often think about when I ponder on what FIRST has made for us this year (or every year).

: 1. Fair and Competitive Gameplay, FIRST wants both veterans and rookies to have an equal opportunity to build robots that are not based on experience with the FIRST competition, but more of one that brings out talent and engineering design to its fullest.

: 2. Students, because it is a high school competition, I imagine FIRST trying to design a comp. that need not be that complicated and would not be so big an engineering problem that h/s students are scared away.

: 3. Continuous Gameplay... let's face it, for FIRST to become even bigger than what is is already, it needs MORE public & media attention. The only way it can accomplish that is to make a competition that will bring lots of cool looking bots that look good on TV!

: 4. It's their 10th year! They're trying hard I'm sure. With their office in New Hampshire, this non-profit organization is doing the best they can to celebrate their 10 years. They're keeping things to themselves so as to surprise us. They almost always do.

: 5. Eh... From my experience, the real world will have rules that change, lawyers that are irritating, managers and adminstration, politics, etc.... they all get in the way and are constraints to the building / fun process... But hey, it's the only way we can all be happy right?

: The adjustment of the score system was a bum. I had a feeling it was an easy score for us. But in reality it's an easy score for everyone, so not much was really lost. It's just an added challenge that I cannot wait to engage!

: -anton