This is were there is a fine line, you can provide models as a base, but not instructions, or models for the final product
Are we reading the same thing? It says you canât provide a model, not even as a base. Read the yellow box. Adults can, but should lean away from (definition of the yellow column), providing primitive pre-made mechanical design learning tools.
How do you make the jump to a fully functional competitive robot model as a base?
If you use the base in a competitive robot, that is what I ment
But adults are not allowed to provide that model.
Exactly, which the high schooler in question is classified as adult as stated in a post above.
I may be misunderstanding you. Here you say that you (adults?) can provide a model as a base. Do you mean a primitive model or a competitive model?
Again, I donât have answers for what should and shouldnât be. The point I was trying to make is that things need to evolve given how things change over time. The Vex universe feels like Blockbuster, it was great in the early days, but didnât evolve as things changed around it and eventually went extinct.
Regardless of your feelings about the Lipperverse or whatâs on social media, I think that highlights that there is a deficiency in learning content and this why kids go out and end up with peg holing robots, because thatâs all they had. If you donât like it, then supplement it with something else, which is where Iâm trying to point out that things need to evolve in the Vex universe. Wether you think their content crosses the line or not for competition, they arenât doing anything illegal in the real world. So they can keep providing educational robot designs until they turn 100. And the second they stop, someone else will start doing it.
This is what I was saying, it is ok for an adult to maybe give a suggestion or a part that doesnât function, but gets the idea across.
Where do you find/sign up for the competitions that are not in the season?
Iâve done a camp for a few years. At first I did some Facebook advertising and a couple of other spots, but eventually they come to you. Iâm sure that they have no trouble filling their camps.
Mine is actually full for the summer already. You end up with a pretty big email list / word of mouth for your marketing⌠Which is true in any business.
They have a business. Their business is their business. Having RECF calling them for other than âHey thanks for helping roboteers become excited about STEMâ would be hugely inappropriate.
TBH, I think what the RECF should do is take the two winning robots from every season and build the step by step instructions to the robots. (Assuming they are different, maybe pick two different designs) This would get most teams a start on how to build more complex robots. The designs on the VEX site are pretty simple.
There isnât any kind of complex mechanisms books for VEX like there is for Lego. So there are not really alternative catapult designs that are VEX oriented. The new V2 kits with their cams have Lego type parts, so there could be a cross over that way. I know from using this series of books: Lego books by Yoshihito Isogawa
that Iâve been able, and helped roboteers make some more complex systems.
Maybe a focus on how to help all roboteers get better vs making one company stop what they are doing is a better path forward.
In my experience, the Hexbug kits are a great source of mechanical ideas for VEX IQ. Not all of the parts transfer completely, but some of the ideas are pretty epic.
They are! I have most of them and have built the ones that I have. Some survive to be models, most end up as parts. The front loader scoops made pretty good holders for ball in this years game.
If you want your kids to learn some additional mechanisms directly from Vex parts, I suggest them look into the Hex Battlebot replicas. Definitely shows what possibilities are with vex parts. The kids I mentor get a lot of ideas from these.
Cheers
All events have a head judge.
Iâm not trying to pick on anyone here. Foster and I agree 99.9% of the time and I really respect and admire the impact that he has had on robotics in his area and elsewhere. In every sense heâs a role model and I could use a few of him here in Florida.
I just donât like the idea of adults driving the design process. When half of your teams give up on their own ideas because a video comes out in early in the season it rubs me the wrong way. That type of effect is typically felt in Mid-December when some of the national tournaments happen, so the kids had a few months to try and work it out themselves. I think that the lack of variety in designs is partly because we saw a double catapult clear the field so early in the season. It would have been a lot worse with the dump bots. I had a team at the summer camp that would shoot the 5 balls from the corral into the high goal consistently in under 15 seconds with a flywheel shooter. And then I never saw a better shooter for the entire season. Maybe I could have just built a really good shooter bot, cleared the field in 45 seconds, and then the kids would know that it was also a viable solution.
It looks like I am participating in an effort trying to hold back a dam that is already leaking in a thousand places. We could just let the dam burst, and we would see every IQ game come out with crazy scores by mid July. It happened this year and made them change the game (as it was to easy). If thatâs where weâre going, then so be it. But, the students wonât have the chance to come up with their own ideas at all, they will just be selecting from a menu of robots. That will still be a great experience for the students, I just donât think it will be better than what we had.
Wow, can you post a picture? I built a shooter, but discarded it because of the unreal speeds that I got the omni wheels in the shooter up to. I also think it was why I had balls coming apart. It was a safety hazard, Dan hates to hear from me anyway, but really doesnât want to hear âHey Dan, our latest robot ripped a finger off of a 4th graderâ
I want to change the tenor of this conversation to âare we able to inspire loser roboteersâ Iâve held a number of events with small numbers of teams and the roboteers and parents are pretty excited (disclaimer: I do IQ for elementary only, I transition middle school into âbig robotsâ aka VRC. ) I have about a 70% retention rate from Elementary to MS, even though 1/2 of the teams and roboteers donât win anything.
At the early point in my FVC/VRC my experience I was a huge fan of qualifying as many teams to Worlds as I could manage (Noted by @chuck.glick @ChuckGlick in the Discord) I realized about year 4 that while going to Worlds is an awesome experience, trying to win at Worlds is not. Winning is a lot of pressure on 5th and 6th graders. Meeting people from around the world is cool. Winning is stress for 3 days.
For the same money to send a single team to Worlds I can run 3 more local events. So I now do that. I buy awards at my local Crown Trophy and some of the awards are waist high on the roboteers.
I make a huge effort to walk the pits, âAre you having funâ is my #1 question. (You want to see scrunched faces, ask âAre you inspired?â ) Fun to most roboteers does translate into life choices. As a side note, I was the 1974 winner of the Delmarva âI want to sit in a cubical all dayâ contest.
Sankeydd and I are shoulder to shoulder on âWe want to inspire roboteersâ The gap is around winning. I think the Lipperverse is trying to straddle the win/inspire line.
Peer pressure sucks. It starts early âLittle Foster just started walkingâ âWell my Cynette started walking at 7 monthsâ to people that rail on the guy across the street that has better grass than they do. Only 11 roboteers will be Worlds winners, the other 3000 will not. But I want to have a way for the 3000 to be proud of what they did. âI AM ROBOTICUSâ (apologies to Kirk Douglas)
Even better,
Took him 17 seconds in this one, but I recall him doing it faster.
has to be one of the best flywheels iâve seen very impressive