Look at the Big Picture

[Rick TYler]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

But as will all things, experiences may vary. Perhaps you have competitions that you are in that have outstanding rules, and if so, please share with the rest of us.

To answer this question: the Vex Robotics Competition. I think they are as good as FIRST's GDC, as a rule, but that's no surprise given who is at IFI (Jason Morrella, Karthik, JVN, etc.)

The battery ruling strikes me as odd, and I'm not fond of the cutesy names given to some of the game elements of this year's FRC game, but I wouldn't pillory a group that has the long-term track history of the game design committee. In my book, the GDC is one of the great treasures of FIRST.

Perhaps it's time to eliminate the traditions of the "build season" and shipping the robot in a sealed crate. I left FRC a couple of years ago to build a team focused on FTC, and now on the Vex Robotics Competition. Without the pressure of the build season and its attending hoo-haw, the students on our team are able to spend more time trying ideas, doing spiral design, and generally refining their machines.

This thread is about "how should we respond to elements in the game rules that some people don't like" and not one about comparing different robot programs, so I don't want to go there. I am suggesting that the six-week build and ship adds what might be an unnecessary level of rules and hassle. Just saying...