What we expect to see from FRC/FIRST in the next 5 years

[Allison K]

Originally Posted by DampRobot

It's weird to say, but there might soon be a day when there's a Vex version of FRC.

Personally, although there are a number of things FIRST doesn't really do right, I'd much rather have a non-profit like USFIRST organize my robotics competition that a company like IFI. I have mixed feelings as to whether or not competiton will really improve things, as once you buy into either Tetrix or Vex, you tend to stick with that system.

Just a note, I would do some research rather than make a judgment based upon for-profit or not-for-profit status. The VEX competitions (both the VRC and VEX IQ) are organized by the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation (REC) which is in fact a not-for-profit organization. Secondly, just because FIRST is a not-for-profit organization doesn't mean that nobody is profiting off of their programs. How many teams do you think buy LEGO equipment to participate in FLL? And that's not even going into all of the companies that supply FTC kits. Thirdly, regardless of whether the organization is for-profit or not-for-profit making money is not a bad thing. There's a bias against the term "for-profit" but how else is a company supposed to continue to exist if they don't support themselves? All companies, regardless of their status, must generate revenue to cover expenses and continue to expand in order to fulfill their mission.

[PayneTrain]

FIRST seems to be evolving to look like a lot of things in life, to the point where I can introduce a metaphor that will elicit groans and confusion, but will satisfy me and maybe a few others.

The James River runs through Richmond, VA and some of the topography of the land allows for a number of "watering hole" public parks to spring up and thrive around it. One of the most popular is Belle Isle. It offers a varietry of activities from walking trails to laying out in the sun all the way up to jumping between the rapids and of the dam and jumping off of the very high-hanging pedestrian bridge into the water below. FRC is becoming like the island.

With the smaller dimensions and the kind of game available to play, in addition to the growing district system allows for teams of all shapes, sizes, interests, and goals to get as much out of the program as possible. The game this year allowed for average teams to compete at a high level if they wanted to, as evidenced by results at a lot of events. Still, the best teams were able to dive into the real beauty and complexity of this year's task: the dimensions were so small, a lot of teams simplified, but the best teams packed as much power as they usually do in the smaller footprint. The objectives in the competition were so starkly different and presented such unique challenges, average teams committed to building great, simple mechanisms while powerhouses could manage to pull off both challenges with elegance.

With districts, teams can elect what mountain they wish to climb. If they are just in it for the matches at the qualifier level, so be it. If they want to make the big stage, they can push themselves mechanically, financially, and strategically to reach a goal far more attainable than a lucky draw in to CMP at the average regional event.

I also think FTC will grow at a rate faster than FRC as HQ and the global board of directors (in addition to local boards) are not identifying FTC as merely feeders or intermediaries, but programs primarily designed to positively affect the students involved. FRC is clearly transitioning to not only being about the team, but acting as an agent of change, which is a trend that will likely continue. FTC programs will catch on at the middle school level more, and FTC will have a bigger presence at CMP in the future.

I hope and expect FIRST to continue building the positive trends that are already established this season.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

I'm going to cheat, I'm going to say what I WANT to see.

Focus on documenting impact: We're an expensive program and right now it's difficult to prove that FTC/VEX/BEST/BunnyBot type programs are not as effective from a cost perspective.

Return to emphasis of partnering with industry: Looking back through FIRST's history teams that partnered closely with local industry were revered. Now many within FIRST revile them. I'd like to see HQ go back to comments about how this is not some science fair, this is a "professional sport" and we need trainers, we need experts, we need professional analysts and strategists. I'd love HQ to come out and say "Teams like 67, 1114, and 254? They get it!"

District Reorganization: Districts are a stop-gap measure to decrease apparent costs to teams (5k => 8 matches is bad, 5k => 24 matches is less bad) and it's wonderful for that. The problem is it's crap for changing our culture. It IS a bunch of nerds in a high school gym. It's not as awe inspiring as full size events used to be. I don't know what the solution here is but it needs to be investigated. (Of course, some of the Regionals are pretty badly run and I'd be embarrassed to bring higher ups or politicians to them too)

Decrease in Robot Size: I think this year's robot size decrease should stick. It opened up the field a lot and led to more exciting energetic games.

All of this, with one caveat: Districts, while potentially lacking the wow factor, do add one big thing for changing the culture: getting it spread into more parts of the culture. It is very hard to expose people locally to FIRST (especially at larger-than-SCRIW scale) when the Palmetto Regional is three hours away in Myrtle Beach.

[Mrcope9]

In terms of FRC...

1. A more global league. How bout more teams from Mexico, Canada, South America, and more in Asia and Europe where we can see different robots based on different technologies around the world.
2. More opportunities to qualify for CMP. Louisiana is in an area that makes it hard to travel to more than 1 regional. Most are 5,6,7+ hours away, and the past few years, bayou reg. has been dominated by teams from florida and texas. I would like to see a district in the southeast, or another regional in louisiana, mississippi, alabama, or north florida.
3. KOP options. Some rookie & 2nd year teams need a structured KOP, but older expirienced teams could use vouchers, or a more "advanced" version.
4. More profesionally built bots. I want to see exciting robots that make us say WOW!! My team has been a part of some zero to zero matches, & it is not a fun expirience for a young team working their butts off.
5. Notoriety. Period. The students, mentors, volunteers, and sponsors of FIRST deserve to be given the recognition they have worked for, because this is how young people make the world a better place.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Libby K

They do; it's called the Hall of Fame.

That said, I think the HoF, as well as the Allaire Medalists and our Dean's List winners need a lot more recognition from the FIRST side. Why bother having a HoF if you're going to stick them in a corner at the Championship? These guys need a BIG presence on every stage we can give them.

Hopefully that will continue to get better over the next few years.

Then you're right, FIRST needs to make it much clearer that these teams are to be emulated. (As well as teams like 33, 469 and other non HoF teams) This constant bashing of highly successful teams (on the field and off it) sickens me and FIRST, frankly, FIRST needs to come out and be Frank (heh) and say that teams are free to use whatever resources they can find. Or, you know, whatever the heck they want to come out and say. Just stand by something and freaking yell it every kickoff and put it in the manual. We need to fix this "well, we TRIED but [XYZ Team] had those [expletive] engineers down at NASA build their robot for them" attitude.

Originally Posted by Billfred

All of this, with one caveat: Districts, while potentially lacking the wow factor, do add one big thing for changing the culture: getting it spread into more parts of the culture. It is very hard to expose people locally to FIRST (especially at larger-than-SCRIW scale) when the Palmetto Regional is three hours away in Myrtle Beach.

I never said those were coherent. Frankly, there's a lot of conflicting things that need to happen and navigating that is hard. But you are completely right.