We need a second build season
 

One season per year isnt enough.. Perhaps FIRST should start an "all wood except for drive motors and wheels" league. all i know is that it has been less than a week since ship and i am already craving more FIRST action.

Re: We need a second build season
 

it seems like it's not--but those that create the game well yeah...sorta need a while do figure them out. besides we all still are always usually doing something w/ FIRST--so it never ends for me yet and the action will soon happen...

Re: We need a second build season
 

Here is Houston was have the Houston Robotics Education Program (HREP). This provides Houston with year round robotics competition from grades 3-12. Although they are not all FIRST sponsored competitions, each competition is a building block of a pyramid that ultimately ends with the FIRST Robotics Competition. Maybe next fall you could get one of the competitions outlined in the HREP going in your area, allowing you to fulfill your want to have more competitions. Maybe you could even start some of the competitions for the elementary school level for those younger kids that think just like you and want more competitions. ;)

Re: We need a second build season
 

yea, I'm digging the idea of more competitions. i only wish i'd gotten on a team before my senior year!! i feel gypped! (I'm on a rookie team). i feel lost now that i have no robot to build on!! I'm going to have to go through rehab to learn how to hang out with my friends again... and to do homework...

Re: We need a second build season
 

Why not start up a VEX team during the off season? It would give you a chance to prototype different systems, and it's a really good platform to learn programming on. You can even build a VEX model of your 2006 robot and drive the two alongside each other (awww, how cute).

Why not begin a First Lego League team at an elementary school in your town? Introduce kids to the principals of engineering and get them excited to join the FRC team when they get to high school.

There's a lot of things you could do besides build another full sized robot.

Re: We need a second build season
 

hmm an all wood firstish robotics game in the fall. . hmmm . . BEST

not as glamourious but its fun. team 1745 has done BEST for the past . . 10ish years.

Re: We need a second build season
 

All I can say, even though the robot is finished, there is still a lot more to this game to be occupied with. It's time to practice with practice robots(if you got em) or mock ups so human players can play the game well, create spares and other materials during the FIX IT WINDOWS, and of course, SCOUTING! I know i'm looking forward to seeing a regional beforehand to see how the game is played. You can also spend your time watching the webcasts, if you want to go that route.

That and there are a whole bunch of different off season events for teams to go to once competition is over. It's probably not the same as spending another six weeks to build another robot, but its still a fun way to use your competition robot and see other teams from your area.

Don't stop thinking about this season yet... its far from over.

Re: We need a second build season
 

i think a simple solution to your problem is this: more offseason events.. . and unofficial first tournies.. . ide definately be interested in that..

Re: We need a second build season
 

We are currently in build season #2. Practice bot. Doesn't look like it'll get done before Phoenix, but we'll get it done before LA.

Re: We need a second build season
 

You want another build season? OK, how about this -- sponsor an offseason tournament exactly like the current one, except that robots can only weigh 95 pounds, and can only be 32 inches long and 22 inches wide. That will pretty much mean replacing any current FRC robot with a new one, but play a proven game. Let me know how it turns out! I just finished my 9-10 PNW nap and am going to bed....

Re: We need a second build season
 

Another season? No thanks, I value my sleep and sanity. Which I have somehow misplaced.

Rather, I think we need more offseason competitions, especially in the summer.

Re: We need a second build season
 

Re: We need a second build season
 

Well I hope that if there is a wood-based second season, it doesn't involve water. We've had enough trouble with our wooden prototypes warping beyond belief on dry land.
Treat this as another vote for non-FIRST robotics - VEX, FLL, BEST, etc. I know that for the CyberCards, we really got the freshmen pumped about building and competing, and VEX kept the veterans' fires stoked. Personally, as a first-year sponsor, designing and building the VEX bot helped me organize the FIRST build sessions.

Re: We need a second build season
 

We have another season locally - OCCRA. It was set up to be simpler than FIRST, to attract teams that might not have the resources to enter FRC.

Robots are all student-built. There is no autonomous mode; teams can use the controllers with little or no programming. There are limits on the kinds of tools that can be used, so you don't need a fancy shop.

I would challenge teams that think they need more to investigate setting up a local competition, and invite new schools into the fold. Some of them may get so excited they join FIRST. It's another way of doing our "homework" assigned last year.

Re: We need a second build season
 

My team has a saying...

Robotics never ends.

We have meetings before build season, during build season, after build season, after regionals, even during the summer.

Re: We need a second build season
 

We do BEST also, and have done quite well in it. We enjoy it a lot, and it is a great learing tool for new kids to the robotics team. We also participate in BotBall. And Vex is also always fun.

Re: We need a second build season
 

Have you considered driver training during the offseason using the funnest things to drive on earth?

RC!
www.towerhobbies.com
They even have robots. Whee!

Re: We need a second build season
 

Honestly, after one season, I'm burnt out on programming for a month or two, then I start working on projects that we might do things similar to next year.

Re: We need a second build season
 

I understand the initial purpose of this thread but I would just like to present this thought.

The 2nd build season is the season of building the team. Time well spent.
Building the team occurs during the intense build after Kick Off and into the competition season, that is true - but team building at others times as well, can be fun, creative, developmental, and worthwhile. It can be through outreach (my personal biggie), fundraising - always needed and fun to do, team building events, off season events/competitions, promotional development, demonstrations to sponsors, future sponsors, future team members, community centers. This, to me, is the 2nd build season. Whenever you can fit it in. :) Just a thought.
Jane

Re: We need a second build season
 

That's very much how my team thinks. We'll try to do many or all of those things during the "off season" where we're not designing/building the robot.

This year is different, however. :) We're building another robot for a future team to use at the IRI. We plan to use this time for the seniors to pass on the knowledge they have obtained over the years to new members. They won't touch the robot, but they will instruct us. This will especially help the students who will be joining the team in May. Everyone will benefit.

Re: We need a second build season
 

For our team, the seniors started SECOND (seniors combating nothing to do). It is like a mini-season with kick-off at 6:30 and a deadline to build a robot to respond to a game.

Re: We need a second build season
 

Thank God for OCCRA then,

Re: We need a second build season
 

Agreed. :)

Re: We need a second build season
 

The FIRST sponsored Green Machine Competition or FIRST fuel cell rather; was basically a second build season for us. It started right before FRC build season and even overlapped into the first couple weeks. It was a lot to handle in addition to training all of your recruits to get them ready for build.

when you use offseason to do things like (just to name a few):
-introducing freshmen to VEX
-teaching recruits how to machine and such
-working on/finishing up offseason projects
-working on scheduling and setting dates
-fundraising
-volunteer work


It would be quite a challenge to have a second batch of 6 weeks of build. Of course i get that everyone would love a challenge to try to do it all; but honestly, thats a lot you're going to have less valuable time for.

Re: We need a second build season
 

In case anyone hasn't noticed, this is a rez of a thread from 2006.

Re: We need a second build season
 

Looking for something to do?
In this geographic area, there are demos almost every week at some event for the next couple of months. This Sat. it's "RobotFest" at Northrop Grumman. Space Day at the Air and Space Museum. Women and Minorities in Engineering and Manufacturing. Sally Ride Space Festival Day.
Get out there and do demonstrations.

FLL opens next week. Think about helping start a FLL team.

And then there is the "off-season." http://www.firstnemo.org/calendar.htm

Re: We need a second build season
 

Luckily (sort of) we're still working on stuff. We're making a few contraptions for relay for Life events and car-washes and the such. Plus we're going to be starting our off-season project soon.
With FIRST, our season never ends. I would suggest making things and going to events (like Relay for example) or maybe making something with old robot parts. Thats always fun.

Re: We need a second build season
 

If you were to build an all wood robot in the fall, you could use it as a piece of fire wood for a special occasion once the wood contracted in the winter.