Should FIRST expand beyond robotics?

[EricH]

Yes... And no.

No because they're very successful with robotics as it is. Sticking with what works is the easiest path, and one that should work well.

Yes because robotics is easily seen as "Oh, you're a nerd/math whiz/waaayy too smart for me", so you probably want something else.

As for what to expand into, I can think of some high-school level science/technology competitions already in rocketry. What about a design-your-own R/C airplane event? Given a stock plane type, modify it any way you like to accomplish an objective (speed, lift, maneuverability). It'd probably be less expensive overall (my Aero Design team, which builds fully custom planes, has a budget lower than just about any FRC team's), has a built-in mentor field, and can be as easy or as hard as the teams make it.

[delsaner]

Originally Posted by EricH

No because they're very successful with robotics as it is. Sticking with what works is the easiest path, and one that should work well.

Agreed. You should not fix whats isn't broken. The only kind of expansion I have in mind would be to either start new teams which we (FIRST Teams) have been doing throughout the years, or a start of a new field of competition, like an addition to FRC, FTC, FLL, etc. It could be a scientific discovery/research project that each team does, or something like that. Until we have thorough idea that we KNOW will work, I recommend keeping FIRST they way it is.

My thoughts.

[Andrew Schreiber]

I honestly have to say no.

Right now FIRST needs to sit back and determine what their goals are. Do they want to grow the program in the United States/Canada or do they want to grow the program outside of the Americas? (This is mostly and FRC problem) Doing the latter will take considerable man power and time. IF FIRST does not commit to expanding outside of the Americas it would be possible that FIRST could expand into other markets but I think this would be among the gravest mistakes FIRST could make.

If they do they need to go after a completely different set of people, do not go after the obvious future engineers. They should target the more athletic crowd. Perhaps with competitions involving designing running aids, javelins that fly better, or the like. Show the students that instead of working harder they can work smarter.

[548swimmer]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

If they do they need to go after a completely different set of people, do not go after the obvious future engineers. They should target the more athletic crowd. Perhaps with competitions involving designing running aids, javelins that fly better, or the like. Show the students that instead of working harder they can work smarter.

This would pull in the same group of future engineers, only the more athletically oriented ones. I am an excellent example of this. I swim for my high school team, rock climb, run, and lift weights. I am also a co-leader of the CAD team. I'm sure there are many students ouit there who are in a similar situation.

I don't totally disagree though. I think that expanding FIRST to a more real-world application would challenge students more. Perhaps each team would have to come up with a better way to accomplish some everyday task. The parts would be done soely in CAD, and then submitted. These parts could be jud ged (sorry, my friend clicked it) on ease of production as well as whether or not they accomplish the task.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by 548swimmer

This would pull in the same group of future engineers, only the more athletically oriented ones. I am an excellent example of this. I swim for my high school team, rock climb, run, and lift weights. I am also a co-leader of the CAD team. I'm sure there are many students ouit there who are in a similar situation.

Yes we occasionally get them but if we were able to take the stereotypical football player and show him that he could be a better player by using his brain wouldn't we all be better off? Hopefully someone smarter than I can come up with a challenge to draw in THAT sort of person.

[548swimmer]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

Yes we occasionally get them but if we were able to take the stereotypical football player and show him that he could be a better player by using his brain wouldn't we all be better off? Hopefully someone smarter than I can come up with a challenge to draw in THAT sort of person.

I'm all for that, though creating an engineering challenge for the non-mechanically minded will prove to be extremely difficult. I agree that FIRST should investigate a challenge like this though.