After Coming Back From The LA Regional: My Thoughts On FIRST

[GaryVoshol]

Picking of alliances is similar to professional sports drafts. You pick a player who you think will work well with your team, whether or not that player is the highest ranked or not.

And the atmosphere of sporting events is far beyond just what goes on the field/court. The cheerleaders, announcers, team mascots, gimmicks at time-outs or halftime, music, singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", etc - what does any of that have to do with the game? It doesn't, but it makes the whole experience into entertainment. That's also one of the goals of FRC. Sure, sometimes things go a little overboard or get sappy. But a FRC competition isn't meant to be like a symposium reading engineering papers either.

Sorry if the event didn't meet your expectations. But were you at all inspired during the whole season, from kickoff through build to competition?

[davidthefat]

Funny thing was, I was playing Madden on the Laptop half the time.. LOL if you seen me, you probably will recognize me... the big asian guy with a buzz cut playing madden

[Cory]

Originally Posted by davidthefat

Team 330? You had a beast of a robot this year, but IDK, the announcer guy made it seem so unprofessional for me...Yea sure his job may be to entertain, but he was acting unprofessional IMHO... Do you see DARPA Grand Challenge announcers doing that? I think not

To be fair you are thinking of the MC, not the announcer. I don't know who the announcer was, but I thought he was fantastic. very knowledgeable about the game and the robots. I was not a big fan of the MC.

[Vikesrock]

Originally Posted by davidthefat

Teams are willing to help and give stuff out, but in the end, their sole purpose is selfishness. All they want is points and reputation.

You may have had an experience this weekend that led you to believe this, but I guarantee that this is not true for most of the teams in FIRST. Take this for example, those teams had no points or reputation to gain, all the judging has already been completed by that time. They had nothing to gain by making the gesture that they did, and in fact could have been eliminated because of it, but they did it anyway.

It was more like a fashion show than an actual robot competition. All the teams were trying to advertise their team by wearing stupid costumes and decorating their pits.

If you asked one of these people why they were singing or dancing or dressing a certain way you would probably find that it has very little to do with advertising their team. FRC regionals provide an environment for students (and professional engineers) where it is perfectly safe and acceptable to "let loose" and sing dance, wear funny hats, and generally have a good time for a weekend.

I would suggest, as others have in this thread, that you give FIRST at least one more shot. I will also suggest however, that FRC isn't for everyone. It's perfectly fine to decide that this competition isn't for you. There are many other science, engineering, and robotics competitions that may be more what you are looking for.

My school is not very rich, I know that the "richer" schools got a lot more funding than us, but I am not complaining about that. I seen some AMAZING robots this regional, unfortunately its the only regional we can attend, since we lack the funding. Well since our school is not very rich, our sports department lacks fancy uniforms and equipments.

Most of the "richer" teams do not get funding from their schools. They get it from a combination of corporate sponsors and fundraising such as car washes, bake sales, etc. Most or all of these teams work very hard for what they have.

Since I am in Football and Track, I seen professionalism. We show professionalism by not talking with our mouths but the scoreboard. IDK, I think FIRST competition system is not the best system... In before flames. I am sure there are people out there with similar ideas...

In football and track, the goal is to win on the scoreboard as you have stated. In FRC the most prestigious award is earned off the field. FRC is about changing the culture and our most prestigious award recognizes that. The Chairman's award is earned with your mouth, not on the scoreboard.

David-

Think of the competitions like a High School football team. No matter how awesome you are, you won't get national attention. It's High School. It's about learning to be athletic, and honing yourself and your team. High School football is more about the team than it is about the winning or losing.

FIRST is the same way.

[alicen]

i personally don't agree with your opinion, but we're all entitled to our own.

FIRST is out there to get students excited about science, math and technology careers. The best way to do that is by showing how much fun you can have doing it. Who really wants to go end up in a job where they're not going to have any fun at all? Most people don't.

There are actually some awards that are based off the numbers (highest rookie seed award) but the majority are based off of how well the team presents themselves and tells their story. Which you end up having to do to get into both college and a good job. --> very important in the professional world.

As for the "costumes" many of the things i think you're calling 'unprofessional' are mascots and cheerleader type costumes. They're made for the sole purpose of cheering their team on, just like football and most other sports. As for shirts and jerseys, it makes finding the other students on your team ten times easier, especially is a crowd of thousands of students. Remember in kindergarten, when you had to wear a specific shirt to go on the field trip? same concept, but also so that other teams can recognize where you're from.

MC's -like a DJ at a dance party, they're meant to entertain and keep people excited and moving (back to the point of not making things seem boring)

also, maybe you didn't have a good experience because you spent the majority of the time playing a video game i agree with most of the others, you should give FIRST another shot, an open mind is the best kind to have.

[MagiChau]

Originally Posted by davidthefat

Funny thing was, I was playing Madden on the Laptop half the time.. LOL if you seen me, you probably will recognize me... the big asian guy with a buzz cut playing madden

You could try giving FRC a shot by not playing a video game for a lot of the time? Teams would slam down on the vast disinterest shown by going all the way to competition then spend a lot of time looking at a video game.

[Grim Tuesday]

Originally Posted by davidthefat

Funny thing was, I was playing Madden on the Laptop half the time..

I think that this perfectly describes your problem: You were not in to the game, so you didn't like it.

It seems to me that the more people attend build sessions, the more fun they have at competition. How often did you attend? Were you one of the people who shows up once a week, or when you were there did you just play Madden?
I don't mean to insult, or accuse, but as I have seen from my team, the amount of fun is directly proportional to the amount of work you do.

This was my first FIRST attendance, and I was amazed by how much fun I had. I feel sorry for you.

[Rion Atkinson]

I didn't read very much past the OP. So if I am restating something... Well. I frankly don't care.

You say that we are "Selfish" if that is true. Why, in the middle of mass chaos of our robot not working, did I take time out to help out any time that asked? Why, when our programmer was deep in his work, did I request that he go help another team? Out of selfishness? Or selflessness?

Unproffesional to be selfish? Sense when?!? Why does you team get money from the state, sponsors, ect. Because they want smart employees! It is NOT out of the bottom of their heart. (Most of the time) So before you say that everyone is selfish and unproffesional. Take a look at the reason WalMart buys from China instead of the USA.

[davidthefat]

Originally Posted by ZonChau

You could try giving FRC a shot by not playing a video game for a lot of the time? Teams would slam down on the vast disinterest shown by going all the way to competition then spend a lot of time looking at a video game.

The problem was Robotics Club was fun until the middle of the competition... There was no more bugs for me to fix, no more stuff to put in, all the problems were hardware, so I had to spend my time somehow... I was a "driver" so I had to be in the pit till our turn, so I couldn't go watch...

[XaulZan11]

Originally Posted by davidthefat

The problem was Robotics Club was fun until the middle of the competition... There was no more bugs for me to fix, no more stuff to put in, all the problems were hardware, so I had to spend my time somehow... I was a "driver" so I had to be in the pit till our turn, so I couldn't go watch...

Maybe you could have spent your time helping out another team with their non-hardware problems? Or spent your time cheering on other teams. Or helped the scouts. Or made some friends on other teams. This is how other students (who enjoy the competitions more) spend their time.

[davidthefat]

I guess I just went to the competition with a sour taste in my mouth, the code was messy, so I got in trouble by my mentor for that... and we had problems first 4-5 matches, the class mate was broken and had to be reformatted. We were in the match that the field wifi system went hay wire or something. Our robot didn't respond a match. The IR sensor did not work in autonomous mode so our robot drove into the tower and we got a penelty for crossing the line. It was the only regional we could go, so I know this was the last time I had to work on the robot, I was not in a good mood. When it worked, it was fantastic little robot. Just pissed why we didn't make the finals... Just regret is all I remember from the competition.

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by davidthefat

I guess I just went to the competition with a sour taste in my mouth, the code was messy, so I got in trouble by my mentor for that... and we had problems first 4-5 matches, the class mate was broken and had to be reformatted. We were in the match that the field wifi system went hay wire or something. Our robot didn't respond a match. The IR sensor did not work in autonomous mode so our robot drove into the tower and we got a penelty for crossing the line. It was the only regional we could go, so I know this was the last time I had to work on the robot, I was not in a good mood. When it worked, it was fantastic little robot. Just pissed why we didn't make the finals... Just regret is all I remember from the competition.

After being in this nine years, I can say if this little bit of unfortunate times is all you've experienced, you're doing just fine. ;-) Next time, check out some other team's robots, an figure out how they do what they do. Meet some people, make some friends, and have a good time. When your own team isn't doing as well as you'd like to, there's still plenty of fun to be had in other ways.

Your FIRST experience is what you make it.

Also, if your team is willing to raise the funds, I'd like to remind you that the fabulous Indiana Robotics Invitational will (I think?) be taking place in July. Team 980 from not too far away has gone every year. You might consider proposing to your team that they apply for this event.

[IBdrummer]

A lot of the most spirited/weird/out there teams are that way because they embrace FIRST, but not only the spirit side, also the professional side. As a FIRST alumni of 233 I wish my team was the most spirited and colorful out there this weekend, but I know for as much effort they put into being spirited and cheering, they put at least ten times that into being professional. Judges like color because it shows enthusiasm for the competition and equally important to them is knowing your robot. FIRST might not always make sense to an outside observer; and trust me I'm no fan of the BCS (even if it helps my team out...Go gators!), but you have to look past the colorful outfits and screaming teams to get the real point of FIRST, Inspiration. If they have all these kids screaming at the top of their lungs for science and technology, then they're doing something right. FIRST changed me from a lawyer to a mechanical engineering student in college and that is something I will never forget.

In terms of the finals, I know my team as well as most others have a pretty good system down for ranking teams, in which team color isn't a factor. Yes, opinion matters and in selections sometimes luck plays in, but we've picked teams that were plywood boxes before because we thought they were the best team.

If you're a football guy, I'm surprised you aren't a driver (maybe you tried out, idk), but that's probably the best position for a guy who is competitive. I knew thats what I wanted to be, so I went for it, and if you haven't tried it, you might want to go for it because there is nothing funner than being on that field. Just some of my experiences/suggestions, but either way, I hope you give FIRST another shot.

[davidthefat]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

After being in this nine years, I can say if this is the worst you've experienced, you're doing just fine. ;-) Next time, check out some other team's robots, an figure out how they do what they do. Meet some people, make some friends, and have a good time.

Your FIRST experience is what you make it.

That is true, but I always been taught, get in, get out, get the job done and just say good game, nothing more, nothing less. Always know what your job is and your team mate's job. But I guess that does not apply to FIRST then...