Question to all Robot Designers...
 

Are you all suffering from insomnia? Do you keep thinking of ways to design that robot while your still in bed? I just wanted to know if I'm the only one who gets up from bed at 1am suddenly wondering if the drills is more efficient at high or low gear.

(i actually got up just to look).

-anton

ps: pls gooddd, make it all stoppp!! the evil voices in my head!

I wish I could say it was just you... but... I have the same problem! I was up until 3am last night (morning!) debating the finer points of the drill motor transmission with fellow FIRST-addicts. This is maddening I tell you! MADDENING! ;)

(In case you didn't find out, ye ole spreadsheet on the screen says the transmissions are 10% more efficent in high gear.)

I think I'm sleep deprived all ready ...
 

I finally started keeping a sketch pad and flashlight on the nightstand ...... ;)

I don't think I've gone to sleep any time before 1 AM due to designing since the kickoff.

1am is when I usually go to bed. It doesn't help that I keep having drive train ideas all the time.

The 1am trend seems to be a FIRST-wide epidemic. It's been my average bed time as well... some force keeps me at my computer until the wee hours of the morning searching for random FIRST information. Perhaps there was some sort of drug in the kit....

WOW, I hate to copy everyone but 1AM is about the time for me. And I am sure all of you agree we go surfing through this forum a little to much lookign for ideas. I think it will be a great competition this year. Good luck to all teams. From the ComBBAT 21 Team. And of course, me, Mike.

P.S. I now have a sleeping bed on the floor so if I fall out of my bed with the "next best idea" I dont hurt myself in the process.

1am...
 

Yeah, I know, it seems spooky, we all going to bed at the same time and all, but we have a spiffy new motor that needs a spiffy new transmission! I'm up to the wee hours of the night designing drivetrain and debating strategy with myself, and I don't see that stopping anytime soon.

!?!?
 

WOW !
do all of you people spend all day on this robot thing ???
we do maybe 3 hours every day after school, thats about it...
how much time you guys spend on this ???

Martin
907

Re: !?!?
 

Judging by your team number, I'll assume you are a rookie team.... Give yourself the 6 weeks.. by the end, you'll know :D

Well ComBBAT spends 3 hours a day after school monday thru thursday. Then 6 hours on Saturday. Also any additional time that might be needed. The reason we stay up all night is thinking of good ideas and/or working on stuff at home. At least that is us. To win this thing remember you have to eat, drink, walk, sleep, think, and talk F.I.R.S.T.

Advantages of a technical school...
 

We at 550 are students at Warren County Technical School, NJ, so we do robot-related activities six hours a day during school, every day. We meet for two hours after school every Tuesday and Thursday and sometimes Monday and Wednesday, in addition to 4-10 hours each Saturday and an occasional team lunch. We have every tool that we need to use close at hand, every day, whether it be a hammer or a CNC milling machine. The team core is a group of around a dozen students, but there are at least 100 students involved in our program. Planning and such is done generally individually and then discussed within the week. We're a lot better organized now then we were a year ago when we were just begining to get a feel for FIRST. I'd suggest that a rookie team finish design and strategy by Monday, January 14, so you can get to building soon. Best of luck to all.

-Dan, who really knows what it feels like to be a rookie team.

I am a fresmen that loves my sleep, but since this weekend, I have gone to bed at 12 (sorry). You really don't have a life for 6 weeks. I sped 12 hours at school, then go home, eat, do homework, reasearch for FIRST, go on the boards, and then (mabey, if something I like is on) watch TV. If something I don't like is on, I put in a tape of last years reagional to research. See, no life. As if I had one before FIRST;) :p ....

usually i get to bed at a decent time, but i make sure i fall asleep thinking about designs, that way my subconscious unravels stuff the whole night and when i wake up i have answers. I know this doesnt sound too believable but try it, just keep thinking and youll drift off that way. The subconscious is the more intelligent part of the brain anyway

We have that problem licked! We think in our sleep. Multitasking at it's finest!
Al

It is all very exciting though....huh?
 

Yes, it is true that sleep becomes a very precious commodity....but you have to admit that all of this gets pretty darn exciting!

Many of us on team 811 have closed up shop every night this week at 11:00pm....and I have not climbed into bed until after 1:00am every morning. (I have to get my ChiefDelphi forum "FIX" before I go to sleep :D )

-Quentin

sleep?
 

So much talk of thinking of ideas during sleep and of waking up from sleep with an idea.

How do all of you have time for sleep?

-smokescreen

i understand
 

only a few days later, well actually a day i believe, i posted that message....and now i truly understand....today i (not backing missing class) i skipped4th and 5th periods, tahts 2.5 hours and tehn after school 4.5 hours....i came in early in teh morning as well...so that mankes about 7 hours...im going crazy....and our exams start next week !!!!!!! Now i know what people mean when they say they are overworked....we got our base FINALLY.....love the material :) ... hey how many people on average on your teams.....we got 10 productive people including me, and bout 7 people who refuse tobe productive, well if internet game sites are productive than they are the most productive of all :)
well its only 8pm, but im getting up early tommorow so i can get to school to work on the bot...i should be sleeping by 10 :)
nite*

Matin
907

Long Hours at GRT
 

Well, I dunno, maybe its just the west coast or something, but we at GRT have been sticking around about 7-8 hours a day after school on weekdays, and then the classic 14-16 hour-a-day weekends. We're a bit more time-intensive, and certainly some members are here more than others, and it varies depending on responsibilities. For example, much of the team was dismissed last night at around 7:00, but around 12 of us were debating and designing until 12:30am. It's just so much fun, we'd rather not get home.

Oh, standard bed-time is around 2:30am. I have homework, too, ya kno...

I am in a rookie team, and really feel the excitement of this competition. I know the importance of devoting yourself to this competition and I am glad to do so. But how do you weight between schoolwork and this competition? Which one is more important?
And also, What kind of classes you guys have? No one has AP or honor classes, in which the teacher give you ton of homeworks everyday?

thanks
AL

hehe. no ap or honors? far from it. Half the senior members on our robotics team are in 1-2 ap courses, the others are mostly in honors. We have one junior even taking senior honors courses. You just have to keep 1 thing in mind... School is work. Robotics is fun. If robotics becomes work you may as well be studying. I can't study for 15 minutes without nearly falling asleep and checking my watch 4 times... Yet I am currently, and have been for 2 days, running a 100 to 104 degree fever. I am still up until 1-2am checking websights, writing down ideas, making drawings, etc. Its all in the dedication and determination. For a rookie team in the first week or two it can be hard to understand (last year was our rookie year). Wait till you hit weeks 4 and 5... And you will especially feel it right before the shipoff date over february break.

Heheheh, I have 4 APs, and I'm in Calc 3 at a local university. What do you mean homework? :o

(Btw, average bed time for me has been 2:30-4:30 am the past week)

:D hahaha... what a dedication to science!!! I really admire you guys, and I can also feel your passions to science. I agree with you guys, and that is mighty true... would you like to give me some advices on how to handle the muttering of parents when they saw you up at 2:00 am? or they don't care about it? just curious..

Mine just sort of stopped caring... been doing this (staying up late) for too long... I'll hear about it the next day but I usually just zombie out the door *shrug*

haha.... thanks for sharing.... i think i should act like you guys, in order to pursue my passions... thanks again.

i have been working on norhing but the animation....


here is my day:

1. sadly awake to the realization that i have skool

2. go to said skool for 3 hours, leave for work.

3 get to work {NASA VIZLAB} work on poster or whatever

4. leave work, go to skool, work on bot

5. go home, play with lightwave on opening scene of animation

man

i have stopped hangin out with my friend! FIRST ownz meh!

oh yeah

i am in honers, doesnt mean i will pass it

hahaa.... :D interesting.. 4 hr of school is way more better than 8 hr of school...

On a serious note, all of you FIRST-aholics are going to catch alot of flack from "friends", family, and others for putting in all this time and effort. At some point, it will be enough to make you second guess yourself. You'll start thinking "perhaps I should have a more balanced life and do other things besides work and FIRST and other projects. Maybe with a "balanced life" I'll be satisfied and happy." My advice: Forget that non-sense! Just give in and go full bore! You know you're doing the right thing! And it's all worth it! You're helping yourself and everyone you contact by participating in FIRST projects and starting FIRST teams. If you try to go partway (part FIRST, part other stuff) you're only going to get mad at yourself later for slacking off when you finally decide you were right in the first place and go all out FIRST-crazy! Keep thinking, keep sketching, keep driving, keep building, keep testing, keep thinking, keep going! Figure out that shaft coupling, that drivetrain, that motor mount, that tracking mechanism! You're not going to change much as you get older, so you might as well get good at driving hard and following through on a plan 'cuz you're going to be doing it for a good chunk of your life (the rest of the time you'll be sleeping.... slacker! :) So, make sure your friends are FIRST-aholics, convert your family, keep moving forward, and only look back when it's time to do an After Action Review to learn how to do it better the next time. People will follow you, you just have to be willing and able to lead them and this is the best thing going! FIRST is like life, if you can figure out how to do well at FIRST, you can figure out how to do well at life.

whew!

Besides, you'd just spend your time playing Quake or Starcraft anyway ;) -Joe

Ya, that happened this Wednesday.
FIRST has become an appendenge to my mind. Something that does what it wants and fluctuates with what you think. I spent all of Algebra 1 doodling concepts of our 'bot.

quake owns j00!

-q3god

I must say...
 

queake 3 isn't too bad, but to be honest, Quake 2 is the bet first person shooter i have seen........Q2 RULE.....
gotta go....playing hockey for a few hours and then tommorow (saturday) going in to school at 8am......get some of the bot done....


cyah

No FIRST meetings this weekend! Waiting for parts to arrive!

Imma go snowboooarddinnnnggg!!

-anton

A normal day in the life of a Senior FIRST student

During the Week

6:00 am Wake up for School
8:00 am- 2:30pm School
2:30 - 4:00 pm Homework
4:00 - 10:00 pm FIRST
10:00 pm - 12:00 am Research for FIRST and finish Homework
12:00 - 1:00 am Relaxing time
1:00 - 6:00 am Sleep

During the Weekend

7:00 am wake up
8:00 am - 4:00 pm FIRST
4:00 pm - 8:00 pm Homework
8:00 pm - 10:00pm Relaxing time
10:00 pm - 7:00 am Sleep

Any questions ROOKIES???


ALSO the last week is called crunch time and you are most likely going to work for about 12hrs at a time your first year!!! ENJOY and welcome to FIRST!!

Sleep???
 

What's sleep?? I don't recall ever going to bed ever. All i remember from last year was at the meetings on weekends, i was the first high school student there and last one to leave. And AP classes, LOL, i have 3 of those this year and i don't know if i am able to do any homework anymore. All I know is that any free time I have at school, I would be in the robotics room listening to our "engineers" discussing about the robot and adding random useless comments into the discussion.

Jeff

homework?
is that like when you bring parts home from the shop to finish overnight??

Wao.. I am really impressed by your schedules, so does FIRST have your meaning of life in it?
just curious.

AL

You guys actually have engineers at your school??? You also have a classroom dedicated to FIRST??? If so that is impressive!

We have dont have a room for FIRST we have a garage in which everything is stored and a machine shop in which we have aprox. 20ft by 5ft work bench.

Also our team has 2 engineers on it. One Mech. Engineer and One Elec. Engineer. the Elec. Engineer advises on the wiring and writes the code. The Mech. Engineer helps us with the designing of the systems. Then we have the 3 machinists that take our drawings and make metal chips and produce the final product.

And as for "Does FIRST have your meaning of life in it?" I say no FIRST is my meaning of life.

Any questions?? :D

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Martin
WOW !
do all of you people spend all day on this robot thing ???
we do maybe 3 hours every day after school, thats about it...
how much time you guys spend on this ???
Martin
907


How can u do that
do ur engineers build the robot
we go every night til 9 30 - 10
and on weekends
sat 8-9 to 9
sun 1- 9

Yea
 

Monday - Thurday we are usually at school til about 10 (or 11 or 12 depending on how late in the build it is!) Fridays we are there til whenever our teachers feel like going home (usually 11 or 12 after the first week). Saturdays we meet from 9 am - ? (again, usually 11 or 12 depending how many weeks/days/hours we have left!) and on Sundays we meet from 1-8 (or 9 or 10...)

:D

If you are so busy designing you are up till 1 am, why are you wasting your time replying to this! There's motors to gear and ball to move!

hehe


me:

go to skool, at 6

get to skool, sleep though math and CISCO or english and guitar depending on day.

go to work, render stuff, post on hardforums, cheifdelphi, and the newtek forums.

go home

open up LW, work on animation


UNTILL 2 IN THE MORNING

FIRST is my life
 

My team doesn't spend that much time working, I'm probably the only FIRST-o-holic on my team. I'm stressing my brain out trying to keep my grades up and I'm up on avereage 12-1 a.m., my parents don't know I'm up that late either. FIRST is my life, if I weren't at the meetings everyday I'd be at home on my lazy behind. FIRST is also an excuse to get out of the house and away from home. I'm normally the last student there because I dred going home. When this 6 weeks is over, I'll be bored to death until regionals come. I love FIRST and I want to be somehow involved for the rest of my life.

Re: Question to all Robot Designers...
 

YOU SLEEP?!? :p

s-l-e-e-p? what is this? how is it pronounced? what does it mean? is it at all related to throwing tomatoes at flamingos?