Team Update #13

[dtengineering]

I agree there has to be a limit of some kind on the amount of time that goes in to building a robot.

The six-week build period limit has worked for FRC for years, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it is the optimal solution.

For instance I have had several people interested in being involved as mentors with our team and ask what kind of committment is required. When I tell them that it is pretty much a minimum of four hours per day, 4-6 days per week for six weeks straight they tend to shy away. The committment is just too intense.

We've tried having mentors come in twice per week during build, which seems to be a committment that people are willing to make, but that generally results in an unfulfilling experience as it is very difficult to play a meaningful role in the design and prototyping stage on a part-time basis.

So if there were a way to reduce the intensity of build by spreading it out over a longer period of time, I could see several benefits. Yes, there would be challenges, but a longer, less intense build would make build period disruptions such as school exam periods, unusual weather events, shipping and customs delays, and even unique events like having the Olympics smack-dab in the middle of build easier to accomodate (many schools around Vancouver, for instance, have been shut down for the past two weeks... had ours done so, too, we may have had to pull out of FRC this year). <edit 3: Andymark, Banebots, VexPro and other common FRC vendors might appreciate having their business spread out over a longer period, too.>

I think as FRC increases its international presence we also need to keep in mind that not all school systems around the world are in session in January and February. Admittedly the majority of the teams are in North America... but wouldn't it be great to have the sort of international involvement that VEX and FLL have? We probably won't get that if we schedule build exclusively for their summer holidays, or New Year's week.

I don't presume to know the thoughts of the FIRST executive, but I don't think we need to fear changes that they might propose for the build season. A six week build is one solution to constraining demands on mentor's time, and team resources but it is certainly not the only one, and possibly isn't the optimal one.

Maybe its time to try something different...

Jason

<edit 1: Bryan... you aren't alone. I think even those who love the intensity of build season can relate.

edit 2: Maybe this is morphing into something that should be a new thread on it's own right... >