Freelance FIRST

[Madison]

This weekend passed, at the SBPLI Long Island Regional, I was asked by their advisor to no longer support Team 810 because I refused to apologize to her for the comments I made in this thread.

I am appalled and ashamed at the way our guest was treated, and my posts were the culmination of several months of frustration, anger, pain and sadness as a result of my involvement on Team 810. The details of this are considerably more involved than many people know and are more a result of personal prejudice and inappropriate comments and behavior than any common team politics. So, please refrain from making any comments about such team politics, as you most assuredly don't know all of the facts.

I did everything I could to lead by example, both by my actions as a mentor and by my actions as an individual. I don't expect that the students should follow in my footsteps as their advisor so fears, but that they will take with them the impact I have had despite the adversity that I face. I wanted, above all else, to show them that they didn't have to sacrifice dignity, self-respect, individuality or conviction to succeed. Just as FIRST was started with the notion of presenting engineers as an alternative role model, I wanted to take that noble goal one step further and introduce them to worth of engineers and all humanity. I wanted to exhibit to them the importance of understanding that we can't all understand one another, but that our input and achievements -- and our failures -- hold no greater significance than those of anyone else. We're all equal, even though it doesn't always seem that way.

I may not have succeeded. I can't be the judge of that.

So, now, with those events behind me, I'm re-examining my involvement in FIRST and trying to decide how I want to approach my future involvement in this program.

I've been considering the notion of operating as something of a FIRST mercenary, if you will. That is, I would be willing to make myself available in any capacity to any team that requires assistance. If a team is overwhelmed, or lacks engineering support, or just has some ideas for an off-season project that need guidance, I would make myself available to help them.

Is there a market for such people? I understand there may be some hesitancy to turn over part of your robot's design to someone you've never met, and that's not something I can provide an easy solution for.

Similarly, I've thought about creating a series of turn-key solutions for FIRST teams. Just as CD has its White Papers, I've considered maintaining a website that acts as a depository of off-the-shelf robot components. That is, I would sit around all day thinking stuff up, designing it, creating drawings and a bill of materials, and posting it to the web for anyone to use. The primary difference I see that separates this from a White Paper is the possibility of publishing 'unproven' design concepts. Where team's often post White Papers of robot components they've already used, I'd also be interested in developing new designs and concepts for daring teams to try.

Is this something anyone would be interested in? Or, does it step on CD's toes a bit too much with regard to their white papers?

Finally, I could just go off and start a team; or maybe join an existing team. I've already had some offers along these lines, and I appreciate each of them. It seems that in my community, I have a reputation for being some amazing engineer -- but, I doubt that my skills even approach those of some of CD's more acclaimed, educated users.

So, honestly, with my history of achievements and failures, controversy and success, would I be the sort of person you'd welcome to your team?

I once had a pie in the sky vision that FIRST teams would accefpt any volunteer help, especially where the person was dedicated, driven, and experienced. I have now been taught otherwise, but I'm curious to learn exactly how ubiquitous the sentiment of my former team is amongst other FIRST teams.

Any advice or criticism is welcomed. I'm really a bit lost now that I don't have any real function or reason to be in the FIRST community. Thanks for your time.