The guy who started FIRST is famous in some circles for bagging on combat robots (like Battlebots) because it was too violent. Didn’t really grasp the idea of how difficult and interesting of an engineering problem it really is to build a machine to beat the snot out of another machine that is trying to beat the snot out of yours. It is violent, but not for the people. Only for the machines. It is violent like a tornado is violent – in “physics” sort of way.
It is a much more realistic and unilimited design problem than FIRST, that is for sure.
Plus, it is more captivating. Watch vehicles put balls into a bucket, then watch some machines try to violently dismantle each each other and see which you think might interest students in engineering.
FIRST is a great warm-up for Battlebots. Do a couple years of that, then drop me a note and I’ll show your kids how to have more fun than they have ever had in their lives.
