title
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Related thread:
… I don’t know, honestly. I hope it does.
Private-results poll:
- You think FIRST will survive 2021 financially
- You don’t think FIRST will survive 2021 financially
0 voters
Public results poll:
- You think FIRST will survive 2021 financially
- You don’t think FIRST Will survive 2021 financially
0 voters
This has already been covered. I don’t think it needs a new thread to cover the same topic. The answer is still “I (we) hope so, but we don’t know.”
mm my bad
let’s try a new title
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OK, working with next title:
What’s the question here, exactly? If Manchester HQ collapses, what’s next for FIRST / comes after FIRST? Likely IP liquidation - perhaps to Vex.
edit: I’d like to note this is purely hypothetical, and this is not my actual belief of what will happen - see public poll above.
I wonder what would happen with all the Program Delivery Partners…
Vex acquisition sounds terrifying.
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Honestly sounds more interesting than terrifying. Would the Vex GDC take over? Vex game design is unironically really good.
not lately
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If FIRST runs under (which they probably won’t) then teams will likely convert to similar programs (VEX, BEST, OCCRA) or some homebrew competition. Meanwhile multiple groups will start to create their own FRC v2. Those programs will start local and slowly grow, eventually linking up where the culture and competition style is similar until we have one or more large-scale, FRC-esque competitions. I would vote for whatever system Zondag architects.
Suppliers like AM, REV, and VEX all have incentive in their products being legal for competition but running competitions is a separate business (for reference, the RECF runs VEX competitions).
VEX and VEX IQ competitions would likely take over the “market share” that FTC and FLL had. REV and AM also make products for FTC so would be in a position to work together on an FTC-replacement. While VEX is great for schools with little to no tools, AMREV could fill the niche of being a low-cost robotics program that uses the same skills (machining) as FRC but at a fraction of the size and cost. FTC technically fills this niche but isn’t given enough attention by HQ to make it a compelling program.
Sphero’s new competition would also likely capture the FLL and FLL Jr. audience.
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I doubt Vex would bother with the brand. More likely, they and RECF would start a VexPro Robotics Competition of some sort and the rights to the FIRST name and such would probably end up going to FIRST Global and they might try to resurrect some stuff (FLL, FTC) from there.
I’ll take Recycle Rush every year over a monopolized part list.
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I think this is the key… didn’t see my answer in the other thread so I"ll post the idea here:
There is a lot of intertia still behind FRC. Teams have mentors, students, recruiting organizations, sponsors, suppliers, tools, parts stockpiles, and a whole lot of other things all oriented toward making FRC (or FRC-like) robots. And, most importantly, people who genuinely want to keep doing that.
This actually creates a business opportunity: a definite hole that it would (to some extent) make financial sense to fill. Just position yourself to be on the receiving end of that inertia by investing in something which teams will sign up for, well,
Even better if you’re a non-profit which acts in the best interest of the participants, rather than try to make as much money as possible. Still, since there’s at least the potential for monetary gain, I’d trust someone will be there to fill the void.
Now, what would actually come? I expect it to look very similar to FRC, with similar rules and similar looking robots and similar time scales. The scope will just be scaled back to whatever can be run at break-even (or profitable) levels.
Longer term, it’ll either fizzle out as the inertia dies down. Or, it’ll generate its own inertia and keep growing and evolving, just like the FIRST of today does.
TL;DR: Probably not much, because money.
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Presumably a monopolized parts list would not be one of the changes in question. I love Vex game design, but the freedom First gives us in terms of part options is one of FRC’s main draws for me.
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The only FRC v2 we need is Mr.N’s competition.
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Blacktop Aerial Assist here we come.
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I’m probably missing the intent of this phrase, but is FIRST Global a separate entity?
Yeah, FIRST Global is its own organization. They have ties like being started by Dean Kamen and having FTC teams as the country representatives, but it’s separate.
Established by the founder of FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), FIRST Global is a separate US-based 501(c)(3) not-for-profit public charity that provides the framework for an olympics-style robotics challenge — the FIRST Global Challenge.
About FIRST Global
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Oh man my wife would be so stoked, but my daughter would be so bummed (and then maybe my wife wouldn’t be stoked)?
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OK… I’ll admit that tic-tac-toe with robots is kinda dumb.
However, I still think that Vex game design is better than First game design in 2 pretty major ways:
- The games are simple, and easy for non-competitors to understand.
- They aren’t constantly shoving a theme and/or storyline down your throats.
I’ll always have a soft spot for Vex games since they’re what I grew up with, even if I do think FRC, in particular, is a better option than say, Vex AI or Vex EDR .
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You take that back right now!
2005 is one of the best FRC games of all time (and also my favorite 217 robot of all time)… and I’d love to replay it in the modern era.
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