This forum is, more than anything else, a vehicle by which people can enjoy the free exchange of ideas and participate in equal measure in conversations born of their passions and interests.
Years past I could afford the indulgence in time to participate frequently in these discussions and even author a thread or two. Now I can only steal the occasional moment ( not tools or laptops though!) to quickly read what the wonderful kids, and dedicated teachers and engineers have to say about the hard work of learning and doing engineering.
I enjoy reading how people, through dialog and discussion, work out the discord and conflict born of passion and the desire to both create and be a part of something they hold to be special and important….the desire to be purposely and productively engaged in the pursuit of designing and fabricating “A better way to do something.” Whether that something is a better way to go about the process of education, or a better robot to play a game…or even….a better game for a robot to play….
And this is my segue* into a new thread……
I am compelled by my appreciation of ALL robotic sports to offer an additional opinion with regard to issues introduced by Raul in the Kidnapping Opponents Robots discussion.
Personally I applaud FIRST’s willingness to introduce a sports like competitiveness to the game. I sense from the response that the current FIRST participants have lost their taste for any form of contact in the sport of robotics, and that their concerns are about “Angry people”, “Bad feelings” and “Damaged Robots”….
While those are certainly legitimate concerns… “Angry people”, “Bad feelings” and “Damaged Robots”….have been a part of FIRST since back when it was played in a high school gymnasium at Manchester Central High School…those were heady days for sure!
I know of a robot that was deliberately entangled by an opponent so another opponent could win…(1x1x1) and while that team had “Angry people”, “Bad feelings” and a “Damaged Robot”….they endeavored to work hard, fix it and continue to play the game passionately, and they went on to win rookie of the year….see, those people sucked it up because they bought into The Game. I’ve seen dozens of other teams do the same thing.
Robotic sports like FIRST and BattleBots are not about the ROBOT…or even about your feelings. These sports are about learning to live in a very very unregulated world…to survive and to thrive in the diverse, dangerous and complicated environment we’ve created on this planet……and to do it with élan!
I desperately want to believe that people who play this years FIRST game will not cry, will not whine, will compete to the best of their abilities by designing and building robust robots and taking the risks of fielding it against other teams willing to take the same risks…see that’s the point.
In FIRST and in BattleBots…everyone reads the rules and makes the decision….to play, or not to play. That decision, once made SHOULD be enough to prevent “Angry people”, “Bad feelings” and “Damaged Robots”….The decision to play is an exercise in choice….
And I believe this years FIRST game honors some very important choices…it honors those heroic, non whining choices made by heroes who everyday put themselves in harms way so we can all enjoy the freedom and luxury of playing these robotic games…Those people who put themselves in harms way by rushing into burning buildings, or fighting criminals late at night in our city streets while we lay safely in bed dreaming of new robot designs….or those men and women who take up arms in defense of our freedoms…who play by some very very difficult and dangerous rules…and what they play is decidedly not a game….and these people don’t whine.
They don’t whine because they made a choice, and they accepted the consequence of that choice….
I am proud to know that many of the engineers that help these kids…and that many of my students who have participated in FIRST and BATTLEBOTS are presently engaged in engineering systems for the defense of this nation…very very proud of them. The reason why so few of our fighting men and women were spared in Desert Storm and Afghanistan is in great part because of our nations technological superiority….
Please children of FIRST recognize this irony….do what you will with it, that’s your choice…but recognize the irony that to be gentle, to play nice is a good thing, but the ability to have it that way is paid for in the currency of the lives of the people who ensure and defend our safety….
Our team is one of those you glibly refer to with a “BattleBots mentality”…I find it to be fun, exciting and throughout the games, we share camaraderie and friendship and laughter and good spirits with the other contestants because we recognize that we all made the choice to participate…and strangely, after three seasons, I have never witnessed “Angry people”, “Bad feelings” even though there have been tons of “Damaged Robots”.
To those FIRSTERS to whom this message makes sense, I invite you to design and build fast, strong robust robots, and to play the game well and with dignity and within the spirit of the rules and the purpose to which you have chosen to commit yourself…and then, If you want to…throw some armor plating on your bot’ and bring it over to a BBIQ competition and have some fun….after all…you can’t use it again anyway!
Love and best wishes to all FIRST participants
Mr. B
*Segue
1.) To make a transition directly from one section or theme to another.
2.) To move smoothly and unhesitatingly from one state, condition, situation, or element to another:
