Lessons Learned - The Negative

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by MikeReilly

I now know that you can't be truly competitive without massive hours and generosity by mentors and sponsors, and enough money for a twin robot and preferably a second regional.

This is something that does need to change. The most competitive teams often have the most cash. Attending four regionals and building a second robot certainly improves your chances of winning. But many/most teams don't have this opportunity.

Change 1: Limit the number of regionals that teams can attend, perhaps to two. (There are cross-pollination advantages to attending more than one)

I also did not like the extended build season this year. While it was common in FVC to rebuild your robot, this gets brutally expensive and time-consuming - and somewhat unfair - in FRC.

Change 2: Eliminate fix-it windows completely - you build during 6 weeks or at a regional only. Hard to enforce though, especially for software.

The on-screen font for the score was hard to read via webcast, with 8 and 6 and 2 all looking alike.

Change 3: A larger or more optimized font for on-screen display.

As for Rules: Yes, they are cumbersome, and the GDC sometimes shoots itself in the foot, but they are doing an excellent job already; who am I do request more excellence? All I ask is that the GDC be proud of this year's game, as it did throw a lot of teams for a loop and leveled the field.

Originally Posted by BurtGummer

Is team 2753 a rookie team who has never participated in FIRST?
.....
who built the robot? I can guarantee it wasn't the students.

I can vouch for 2753 as being a student-built robot. And they are FRC rookies as defined by FIRST. Just because they are one of the most awesome teams ever - and genuinely nice people, too - don't jump to conclusions.

Originally Posted by BurtGummer

Wiring colors? I'll be honest, I had no idea because I didn't have the time to sit down and read a rule book, and other students assigned the task did not complete it.

If you did not have time to do it right the first time, did you have time to do it over? Sorry, that is no excuse at all. Did those students feel any repercussions of their failure to complete their assignment?

Just ask Nick from 1676 if he felt any repercussions from his 3.5" high 1/2" wide team number plates he made...

Originally Posted by AlexD744

Maybe a system where the average of your scores determines....

Yes, we call it a scouting system, where we look at what each robot does, rather than what an alliance does. In this way, luck has very little to do with anything.