pic: Sneaky at Gen Con

[Ryan Dognaux]

Originally Posted by Steve W

So what you are saying is that if its only a little penalty then it is OK as long as you are not caught. If I were to use the Nothing-But-DeWalt solution on our robot and used 6 Fisher Price motors then that would be OK as long as I didn't get caught. No one can see the motor inside the case so it is OK. The only penalty that I face is that if caught I would have to change out the motor before my next match. No big deal so I guess that makes it OK.

Are these really the standards of most FIRST participants? Maybe I will post a poll to see.

lol this is ridiculous. Steve, you're basically saying that breaking a rule in any sense is the same. Which I can understand I guess, but there are varying degrees and levels here. Have you ever drove over the speed limit? Even just a bit? If so, you've broken a rule. Yet nearly everyone has done that at some point or another.

My point is, there are many rules that exist. And everyone has broken a rule at some point in their life. Even intentionally, and a lot of times it's not a big deal. Bringing a drink into a convention center to avoid paying outrageous prices is one of those rules that, in my opinion, isn't a very important one. In a robot competition, following rules to the T is obviously necessary, but that just isn't the case for every single other aspect of life.

And these guys weren't even attending the convention! The chance that they would actually buy something is slim to none. I think we might be a little stir crazy, build season is still a few months away. Let's chill out and not jump all over 1501 for doing this or even make a big deal out of it for that matter. We should be praising them for doing this demo, not bashing them.