I have been involved with FIRST for 4 years with 2064 and 558, and before that watched my cousin work his way up on team 237. Over the years, I feel that FIRST has effectively ruined some things for me. I’ll elaborate, with the years. Keep in mind, I was 9-12 for the FIRST few years listed here.:
2001
I now have to balance on any see-saw I find…anywhere
I wondered for years why our schools didn’t have those nifty ball bins!
2003
I never want to have anything shipped…ever again, those poor crates!
I learned to appreciate regular lighting, and to this day still refuse to use camera flash if I can!
The idea that a DDR pad sent robots crashing around ruined that game for me!
2004
I just gave up on chin-ups in Gym.
Dodgeball got a lot scarier for me…dumping all those balls!
2007 (My rookie year!)
I finally found a use for Binary math! And I USED it
Tic-Tac-Toe just wasn’t as fun
I used the scoring system to breac tic-tac-toe ties
I wanted a lift kit on my car to get up on any ramps I could find
I painted a white ring on my pool tubes so nobody took them
2008
I hated universal remotes
I had an easier time finding the remote on my robot than on my couch
I felt that NASCAR would be more entertaining with giant blue balls falling from the sky.
I grew a new appreciation for the Dung Beetle (see 558’s 2008 bot for details)
2009
I fear my bathtub…it’s the same material as regolith!
I have a new reason not to wear white after Labor Day
I learned why purple Neon goes UNDER the car and not on top of it
I want, no, need proximity sensors on my trailer. I hate unwanted cargo.
Have you ever seen a robot skid towards you, and can’t do anything about it? I hate the outpost.
I only wear black or gray shirts to robotics, my vision code tends to chase shirts!
All balls should be solid, period
Willie Wonka now creeps me out (our theme that year)
2010
I feel that if there were more balls on the field, people may actually watch soccer
My robot now knows how a flipped turtle feels.
I have a new appreciation for segways
I need to ball-proof my workspace at home, too
every time I walk up to an autmatic sink, I expect a light to turn on. If I can do it, why can’t they?
I’m looking into mechanum drive for my car, would make parking a LOT easier!
I need to adopt a small child for fundraising purposes, they’re quite effective!
Does anyone have anything else? I want to compile a list. It’s always kinda fun looking back on things like this!
2010 (rookie year)
when anyone says dogma I now jump a little (the only rule that applied to Human Player (me) this year pretty much)
I now engage in arguments about rules as recreational activities…and I always win
2010: Bike brake cables and powered car antennas scare me…
-----*internal monologue :[just 2 more inches. come on. no!]
-----driver:remember that time we didn’t hang?
-----Human player(me):<disappointed and annoyed>yes
*because it was neither the first time this has happened nor was it the first time I had been asked this
2010- Whenever someone says, “Why the #ell would they do that?”, I automatically lay out a logic matrix in my mind according to Prisoner’s Dilema to see if there is a loophole in their behaviour that causes the seemingly bizarre action. This tends to lead to rolled eyes and disappointing glances from my wife and friends…
2009- Reminded me that simple solutions are often the best after watching our custom trajectory, dual roller, turreted, multi-chambered 30 ball holding with anit-jam software, swerve driving, traction controlled robot get destroyed by a Kit-chassis with a tall gear, and overhead bin with dump gate. KISS
I learned that in 03 with Stack Attack as a team leader. Tried to get our robot to do to many things, and it did nothing well at all. Now as a Mentor I stress simple designs, especially with the resources our team has. Last 2 years we have had very few mechanical issues and have a competitive bot, maybe not the best, but one that always gives you a chance to win.
I can’t look at mailboxes without assigning a team name to the address numbers.
1:11 is Wildstang O’Clock.
I can’t go through the toy department of any store without considering all toys as potential game objects. I then think of how to manipulate all of them.
2009:
-I now hate Wal-Mart a little more (they stopped selling moon rocks about two months before January and we had to call stores all over the country to scrap some)
-I have a new respect for drifting
2010
-I suddenly love magnets and everything about them (I guess you can say I’m ATTRACTED to them…anyone? Anyone?)
-I’m considering going to Vegas using capes as bargaining chips
-Psh, forget chin ups. I’m just going to wrap my legs around the bar and curl up.
I hate tic-tac-toe now. I haven’t played a game since 2007.
2008:
I’ve become obsessed with keeping our designs simple. We couldn’t even go around in circles correctly? Wow.
2009:
Regolith. 'Nuff Said.
Also, what’s the score? Oh wait…
I agree with Kelsey, I’m not too much a fan of Wal-Marts now. We’ve got the largest store in Ohio, and we still can’t find a darn moon rock?
2010:
Burned CIM Motor Syndrome.
Speed bumps are now seen as opportunities to go faster, not slow down! :eek: (Don’t worry, I don’t drive… yet).
Any mythological story that involves a trident is considered banned reading for me.
Random numbers make me go insane. At this point in my FIRST career, I’m starting to see bus routes or addresses, and trying to associate a team name with them.
I hate VisualBasic…the SQL database would be excessive for this, so I’m doing it all by hand. This could take a while, I’ll make another thread on it later!
2005 Tetrahedron is now an established word in my vocabulary.
Vision systems are the key to Autonomy.
2006 Shooting something from a Robot is now a standard, that’s all I want to do.
Vision again really should be working.
2007 Bummer, only human players can make ringers by shooting/throwing.
12" double lift is not as simple as you would think.
See, Vision is still key to good Autonomous, don’t you get it?
2008 Big balls are fun, and pop easily.
OK, the need for vision was not crucial. Setting highest score in Autonomous at Davis was achieved with a Gyro and encoder.
Going to Hawaii the week of competition was a bad idea. Getting text updates on how it was going was OK, but being there would have been better.
2009 Barfing robots rule!
Traction control is a must. Driving on ice can be fun!
Vision worked perfectly, only robot to score autonomously at Davis and Cal Games.
Whenever I see LabView being used on Discover Chanel programs, I smile.
2010 I will NEVER look at kicking a ball the same way again.
Vision was excellent for autonomous, but ball control is King.
Scoring from all three zones in Autonomous mode, priceless!
Robots can dance… and score in the process.
