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| View Poll Results: Did VEX need to request permission from FIRST for Clean Sweep? | |||
| Yes, sure VEX needed to ask permission |
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6 | 11.76% |
| No permission needed |
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45 | 88.24% |
| Voters: 51. You may not vote on this poll | |||
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#1
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Re: Did VEX have to say Pretty Please?
I assume that IFI had prior knowledge of the patent situation that FIRST was going through. Out of the entire world their are only 5 other robotics competitions that have more than one robot out at a time, and 3 of them only have one on one. Since FIRST and Vex are built on similar principles I would assume that worked something out. Remember that the IP that IFI established a few years back that allows all FRC competitions to run...the IP I am speaking of is the "On, but disabled" function that FRC robots use. I'm sure they worked something out.
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#2
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Re: Did VEX have to say Pretty Please?
Temporary tangent:
Quote:
This is a relevant side-bar discussion, as multiple robots competing simultaneously is a significant element of the "Coopetition" patent claim. The existence of other competitions with similar characteristics, particularly those that pre-date the patent claim, will have a bearing on just how enforceable the claim may actually be. -dave . |
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#3
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Re: Did VEX have to say Pretty Please?
Quote:
However, I too agree that the discussion of "multiple robots simultaneously" is one that has some bearing on this discussion for sure and I thank Phil for bringing it up. Quote:
I've seen it. I couldn't agree more. Quote:
..and, if you look REALLY REALLY close the seeds for this have been planted. A few years ago I had the pleasure of being a part of this: http://www.tsarobotics.org Sadly, there once was a lot more content there than you see now. The list of attendees was a who's who from the robotics education/competition world. Key folks involved in Botball, FRC, FLL, the old FVC, Bots IQ (they got rid of the word "battle" on purpose because they felt it sent the wrong message) were there. I think people involved in MATE were there too, but I'm not sure. Some were national reps, some were regional reps, some invited guests, some there in an "official" capacity, and some not. All were hand picked for specific purposes however. Jeff Seaton spoke, Vince Wilczynski spoke, Alex Slocum spoke. Several more collegiate Robotics Educators spoke. Robin Shoop was there, so was Dan Larochelle and his boss from Intelitek. So was Donn Griffith. Other large corporations such as DuPont had reps on site. The whole thing was "put on" by the Technology Student Association and funded by an NSF grant. It's interesting to note that TSA does not currently have a pure "Robotics Competition" as a part of their national events, but they clearly see the value and some of their regional and state chapters have begun to adopt some VEX initiatives, etc. The aftermath of that collective effort produced this document: http://www.tsarobotics.org/roboticsframework.html "The Standards-Based Competition Curriculum Development Framework" So, although this was a seemingly one-time event, look at what it produced and look at what is possible. Also know that some relationships that were previously non-existent or somewhat contentious before continue today in a positive way. There are things your team and organization can do to help grow these relationships. Our team is fortunate enough to be a part of a larger club that is also home to a TSA chapter. Because of that, wonderful stuff like this occurs: http://www.tsaweb.org/LMHS-Portable%20Inspiration http://www.usfirst.org/who/content.aspx?id=11844 I also had the privilege of helping to edit some of the content for robotevents.com - specifically the mission statement is what I'm most proud of. Here's a home where all of these organizations can "get together" if they so choose. It was also very encouraging to see representatives from other robotics competitions (including FRC from the Dallas Region) in the vendor/display area at the VRC World Championship in Dallas a few weeks ago. I bet lots of teams and organizations on these boards do similar things and I bet there's lots more other teams can do locally to help bring these groups together as well. Now, if someone can figure out how to line up all of the planets to bring all of these organizational leaders and key players together in an official capacity, with a slightly wider focus than the previous Robotics Education Symposium had, you'd earn an even BIGGER cookie than the one Pat Fairbank received. Those of you who know me know I'm really into the Randy Pausch efficiency thing and there's no one task that I'd like to see accomplished more than our mission of inspiration for the socially conscious designers of the future. The model Dave proposes IS the best one and there's some evidence to show that it's possible and it CAN work. For now, I'm choosing to be an optimist about these patents and will believe that they will never be enforced in ways that would slow the progress of our mission until I see otherwise. Let's make this happen. Namaste. Last edited by Rich Kressly : 13-05-2009 at 20:23. |
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#4
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Re: Did VEX have to say Pretty Please?
The patent made slashdot today. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/13/2220203
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#5
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Re: Did VEX have to say Pretty Please?
Judging the current CD and slashdot response, it would appear that FIRST needs some major PR to patch this one up, or at least make some clarification as to it's intended purpose.
I too am not a patent lawyer. As a logical thinker, I am puzzled by the purposefulness of a patent such as this. Enforcement of the "idea" would have detrimental effects on FIRST. It may just be a flag in the ground, a "we got here first"-type statement. Again, clarification would be lovely. |
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