2014 Lessons Learned: The positive

[Christopher149]

Having a power outlet at the drive station. Convenient for those with or without a classmate.

[Chris Hibner]

How could I forget this:

Playing "Grand Finale" of 2112 by Rush as the music during one of the Einstein matches. That was brilliant.

[notmattlythgoe]

Mobility

This so much. I thought that putting something in to encourage everybody to attempt something in autonomous was a great addition. Unless something was wrong with a robot I don't remember seeing very many robots that didn't move in auto this year.

[BrendanB]

Divisional awards- While a lot of people were disappointed that teams wouldn't be recognized on Einstein for their achievements or their win would be clouded by having 4 overall winners of certain awards, it was nice to see more teams get recognition for their efforts compared to previous season! There are so many good teams/robots at these events!

No unbag checks at Champs was great! Not only was it nice because our unbag form was with our group at arrived at 7pm but also because it wasn't needed. It was nice to be able to open the crate and open the bag at the same time as it made load in less stressful trying to chase down inspectors. Last year we even had one inspector make us wait 30 minutes after we grabbed him so as to not give our team an advantage over teams still walking in the door.

The closing ceremonies were great! Time was utilized effectively and time that usually was quiet with music was filled with commentary and the team interviews after a match which made it feel more like a sporting event.

45lbs of witholding was nice! It allowed teams to improve more throughout the season and the already low level of competition on the field would have been lower without it with teams able to work on more between competitions.

Loved teams being able to submit Chairmans at multiple events.

It was nice to have a field with game elements easy to build at home! Last year's pyramid was a tough element to build properly.

All day qualifications on Thursday was a great addition to the WCMP as well as opening earlier on Wednesday.

The practice field was handled well with having lots of balls on the field. Initially I was concerned about how the fields would shape out but it worked well for teams.

Districts in New England!

[Caleb Sykes]

The display of teams' rank next to their number on the game screen display. This is a useful piece of information (especially near the end of quals) that the audience should know. I am glad that this was added for 2014.

[Libby K]

Originally Posted by BrendanB

The practice field was handled well with having lots of balls on the field. Initially I was concerned about how the fields would shape out but it worked well for teams. !

Are you talking about at Championship?

In MAR, you had to bring your own ball from home to the practice field or you had nothing to play with at the districts.
IIRC this was fixed for DCMP (or teams just left their balls there.)

Anyway, my positives:

1.) Frank. I'll say it before, I'll say it again. He is amazing. (Despite the lack of free corndogs). He is ALWAYS there for feedback from teams. I introduced him to 1923's Dean's List winner, Michael, and Frank's immediate response was: "Congratulations! Now tell me what you think about the season." That kind of recognition (hey, this is a kid who gets it, let's see what he thinks) is exactly the kind of thing EVERYONE on FIRST staff needs to have. He's responsive, he listens, and he addresses the concerns of the community. Every organization needs a Frank, but let's keep him for a while, ok?

2.) Submitting for Chairman's at multiple events. Awesome.

3.) Shortened Einstein without losing the excitement.

4.) Hall of Fame booth in the middle of the pits at WCMP. I hope it's a bigger display next year, but a step in the right direction.

5.) The introduction of YPD. Hopefully nobody ever has to use it for anything truly serious, but it's important to know that it's in place.

I agree with a lot of the stuff above me, but some of it I didn't get to see/experience in person, so I won't comment.

I know we all had our gripes about this game, but overall the 2014 -season- was pretty alright.

[cdogcdl]

A game with no safe zones and where simpler robots could contribute to scoring. I felt that the lack of safe zones made defense very necessary. The fact that every robot could be involved in offense/scoring but all be doing something different opened the game up to tons of strategy where you could be playing a different part in each match. This game also had very intense moments where tons of game-deciding points depended on a single finishing action (scoring the ball and ending the cycle).

[Chris is me]

Being able to unbag the robot for demonstrations after ship day was phenomenal. We could immediately show off the beautiful, professional looking machine we had spent weeks making, rather than just talking about it or demoing a partially functional old robot. Big help.

Frank has been an incredible "face of FRC" that has been transparent, honest, and always willing to listen. He is a large part of why I have such hope for the future of FRC.

Chairman's at multiple events was fantastic. Totally changed the game and gave our presenters a chance to improve.

Lots of Championship changes went very, very well. Fourth robot was awesome, awards in division elims were awesome, Einstein was very watchable.

The increasing number of Robot in 3 Days projects and COTS solutions for robots is very nice to see and is definitely raising the competitive floor. A distinct middle tier of robots is now the norm at events.

In spite of RI3D, there was a reasonable amount of design diversity this year which was cool to see.

I'll think of more later.

[DonRotolo]

Frank. Keeping in touch with his customers, recognizing and addressing issues, even admitting he made a mistake (and making it right).

Keeping the 112" perimeter rule (and not the sizing box).

2 new Districts.

It's a little mixed, but the game. I like how no one robot could win it by themselves, don't care how good you are - you need your alliance partners. But, of course, it made for some discomfort among the powerhouse teams.

FMS. It actually worked this year, hardly anyone had comm issues, what a pleasure.

[wasayanwer97]

A lot. (Most of these have probably been mentioned already.)

1. Mixed point for most people, but I loved the need to work with your alliance partners and the depth of strategy it provided. 1 game piece is the way.

2. Working FMS. Thank goodness.

3. Honesty and transparency from HQ.

4. Champs webcasting was pretty good quality.

5. Auton length was good. So was the mobility option.

6. The low goal. Combined with assists, there was still an easy way to score well and stay in the game without the need for too much technical finesse.

7. Sticking to the sizing perimeter.

8. Stacking Curie. #CurseGoesPoof

9. No ability for a chokehold, or for 1 bot to solo.

10. Much better kitbot.

11. Multiple event chairman's.

[tStano]

Prolly all been said but:

1. Mostly Working FMS

2. Auton was of a great length(although, this isn't a 'one size fits all' thing, it'll be different next year)

3. Mobility

4. Short field reset = TONS of matches. Awesome.

5. "FIRST is the coolest, freshest, dopest, most amazingest experience in the world."

[Navid Shafa]

Originally Posted by wasayanwer97

2. Working FMS. Thank goodness.

Originally Posted by tStano

1. Mostly Working FMS

FMS/FTP problems have been an issue throughout the season. It was a fairly big issue again at champs.

I would have expected instead to see this in the thread Lessons Learned: The negative

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by Navid Shafa

FMS/FTP problems have been an issue throughout the season. It was a fairly big issue again at champs.

I based my comments on the four events I attended. In all of these there were no major issues related to FMS*

*Well, unless you count the shortened match timer at Mt Olive district - but this was as much a human error as an FMS thing.