Remember that thread? [12-02-04]

[Ken Leung]

Hi Everyone :-).

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I skipped last week's Remember that thread? so everyone can focus in celebrating the holiday (Ok ok, I was busy making turkey and mash potatos and forgot it was Thursday already ).

During last week's Thanksgiving celebration, the AndyMark.biz thread caught my attention when it kept resurfacing in the portal everyday. After 20 minutes of reading I realized it's the idea of sharing your experience vs. individual creativity, a topic that's been around since the beginning of alliances.

So, to bring some prespective into this, I thought I might spotlight a similar discussion back at 99' about sharing robot designs. When you read the thread, please keep the following things in mind:

1. Since 1999, there have been numerous publication of transmission designs, robot pictures, competition videos, controller codes in this and many other teams' website. Last year's competition was just as exciting, if not more than the 1999 competition.

2. When competition comes, are you going to cover up your robot so no one can see it, or are you going to answer questions when students want to know how you build your robot?

3. Many veteran teams are giving workshops out there teaching others how to run a team, how to program the robot, and how to build drive systems. Does that mean there are hundreds of identical teams out there because of those workshops?

As you've noticed, these are slightly different ideas than ones discussed in the AndyMark.biz thread, and that's the way I want to keep it. I think it is healthier if people can consider the bigger picture and think about things differently.

Without further delay, I present this week's "Remember that thread?":

Another idea looking for comments - Posted by Joe Johnson, Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9504

Enjoy.