Looking for Resources for Beginners

[AndyH]

Our team is lucky to have lots of new team members this year. We've already lost a few, though, and when we ask them why they aren't returning, many of them have commented that they are overwhelmed because they "don't even know what people are talking about." I believe that many of these students really want to learn about robotics, and they will pick it up quickly. They just need to have a chance to get some background. Can you suggest any good books, DVDs, etc, that would give them a place to start? We can build a "reference library" for our team. Thanks for the ideas!

[Gary.C]

Our Team Site has many resources

Solidworks Tutorials (http://www.team1323.com/Pages/Solidworks%20tutorials.html)

http://www.team1323.com/index.html

Look under resources

[rsisk]

You've already found the best resource, ChiefDelphi. I have learned an incredible amount of robot related information on these forumns.

Somebody also recommended this book as being exceptionally prescient this year:

http://www.amazon.com/FIRST-Robots-High-Behind-Design/dp/1592533663

[MrForbes]

And your returning team members and mentors are your best resource! How about putting together your own tutorials, or informal short class sessions? You know a lot...share it, but in a way that is tailored to the audience.

[ZInventor]

You've already found the best resource, ChiefDelphi. I have learned an incredible amount of robot related information on these forumns.

AGREED

I've found that the FIRST community here on CD Has been great...

the best part being that you can post a question, and have at least a few great replies by the next day (at the latest)

-Z

[mplanchard]

Andy

Any large design project can be overwhelming, the key is to break it down into smaller projects and ask question on this forum.

I can ship you SolidWorks software - we don't do a download. Please fill out the sponsorship application at
www.solidworks.com/SponsoredDesignContest.

Marie

[Jon Stratis]

For a truly cohesive team, i would stay away from "required reading materials" - When a student joins a team, the last thing they want to do is sit in a corner reading a design book just so they can understand what everyone else is saying.

What we did on the Robettes in the past has really worked out well, and has naturally grown each year. Our first year, we started off at kickoff, and had a heck of a time bringing everyone up to speed. The second year, we spent 3 Saturday mornings going over the different engineering disciplines (Mechanical, Electrical, and Programming), with small projects designed to teach them something about the discipline and to get them familiar with the terminology. Finally this year we expanded out into a whole summer/fall program, meeting once a week and working on projects. The mechanical team built some shifting transmissions, which our team hadn't done before. The electrical team explored some sensors and then decided to create an LED sign for the pits (If you're at the Kansas City or Minneapolis regionals, stop by and check it out!), and the programming team wrote a pretty intelligent and rather elegant autonomous mode for last years robot, and then went on to work on a scouting application. The summer and fall were low pressure situations, where the team could spend the time to educate all of the team members, and as a result we've noticed great things during the build season so far.

I know it's a little late to go back and do something in the fall for the team, but i would still encourage you to spend some time working with the new members to bring them up to speed, instead of just pointing them to some resources to read.

[Cynette]

We try to pair up the new students with veteran students.

Make sure the veteran students know that it is part of their responsibility to make sure the new students are engaged and understand what is going on. Emphasize to the new student that they can ask as many questions as they want. It develops good team skills in both sets of students. The veterans have to learn patience and how to teach what they know to the other students. New students learn how to ask for help (thats actually a skill I think a lot of students lack).

As mentors, we then are on the look out for the new student who looks disengeged and try to refocus him / her. We also watch out for the veteran who is totally exasperated from working with a why, why, why student. :rolleyes:

[amariealbrecht]

You should have your returning team come and give a tutorial to those new members...have them tell stories about the competitions, the judging, and whatever else they think is unique to the FIRST Robotics Program. Does your team have subteams? If yes, then have the new members walk around and see what each entails, if not then talk to them about what each team does. I think if they are willing to learn, you will have an abundance of interest.
Alicia Albrecht
Electrical Subteam
The Robettes 2177
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me amariealbrecht@yahoo.com

[ZInventor]

http://riverdalerobotics.com/?resources_newteam

our site has some good resources for new teams, especially for marketing...

there's a few sample forms, letters, and stuff.

hope this helps

-Z