Team 217 - Thunderchickens

[kylelanman]

This is not directed at any team in particular just something that I heard from a spectator at the WI regional while walking to launch.

"It is a lot like pine wood derby, you can tell which ones the kids built"

After a quick at robot rules I do not see thing that specifically says the parts are suppose to be built by the team. The only thing I see is that the price even if donated has to be accounted for in the BOM.

I would say you can ask anyone that has seen one of 2481's robots is it student built? They would say yes. It is rather obvious. The robot is almost always made from angle aluminum stock and bolted or welded together if time allows. It shows cosmetically but it gives the student a much bigger feeling of accomplishment when the team goes as far as it did this year or last. Trying to build a robot with out the latest and greatest tools and by ourselves that is able to out compete the sponsor built ones is what drives our team to work as hard as we do during the build season. So as far as we are concerned if teams want to have there sponsor build parts or all of there robot and ship it to them then it is there prerogative. It simply gives the teams that build there own bot a bigger feeling of accomplishment in the end.

Edit: I did not read the beginning of this thread. I just came in on the end talking about sponsor built robots. I'm in no way saying that 217 did not build there own robot. I have no clue. I'm just stating my opinion about sponsor built robots.

[IKE]

Originally Posted by kylelanman

"It is a lot like pine wood derby, you can tell which ones the kids built"

I tend to disagree on this point. Just last year, a team I have competed with and against for 6 years told me that they always like competition because the kids finally get to work on the machine. I was floored as by looking at it, I had assumed all of those years that the kids built that one. This mentor assumed that our machine was "pro-built", so I had him come up close and see what's under the vinyl. There are a ton of teams that I thought were professionally built that it turns out, just use a lot of CNC and automation. Kids do the CAD and design, a machine shop runs the Waterjet/CNC... cut out the parts, and the kids bolt it together.

We have been a team that the kids do 90+% of the fabrication, but I am begining to question what is more important: Teaching a kid how to wink a hole so that the bolts go through, or using automated fabrication and teaching them better design skills?

So can you tell by looking "which ones the kids built"? After 6 years, 2 teams, and helping dozens of other team at competitions, I learned that I can't tell which ones the kids built vs. Adults. Ironically I thought I could my first 2 years in the program. Differentiating facts from assumptions is one of the most important things anyone can learn.

P.S. For what it is worth, I swung by a 217 practice and was thoroughly impressed the kids were working on and practicing with their practice robot essentially on their own. Yes they were supervised, but it was the kids making repairs, running the drills (actual plays like a real sport), and were really functioning on their own. It sure didn't look like it was the first time either.