Re: FIRST cribs - A chance?
 

Re: FIRST cribs - A chance?
 

The new building is very nice, obviously, and we've got quite a bit more space to play around in. The atrium is more than large enough to hold a full-sized playing field, but we don't think Bill and friends would appreciate that very much just yet. We're working on it. :)

Re: FIRST cribs - A chance?
 

Jealousy.:rolleyes: and you continue to make me even more jealous by the time I write this :o

Re: FIRST cribs - A chance?
 

wow! thats really great... how did you get the pinball machine?! xD

Re: FIRST cribs - A chance?
 

OK Madison, your crib's ridiculous :cool: (fo shizzle).

Seriously, how many teams does Microsoft sponsor? Do any other teams use the space at Bldg. 99?

Re: FIRST cribs - A chance?
 

I think we'd have to have a long discussion about what it means to "sponsor" if I'm to properly answer the first question. Microsoft has donation-matching and money-for-time programs in place that can benefit any non-profit organization. We're certainly not the only team to take advantage of those programs, but we are, to my knowledge, the only team for which those programs provide the majority of our support. So, in that sense, we're the only team sponsored by Microsoft stateside. 759 in UK was sponsored by MSR Cambridge, as I recall, though.

That said, we're consequently the only team working on campus. We are fortunate to have the support of a senior researcher at Microsoft Research and he gives us access to his lab -- the Hardware Devices lab -- in the evenings. We've been talking about getting another team going and sharing our space with them, but because of this big move, we opted to wait until 2009 before trying to do that since we have so much work of our own in getting settled and adjusting to the new space.

Re: FIRST cribs - A chance?
 

Thanks for the explanation. :)

It's not like Microsoft isn't already doing a whole lot for FIRST -- sponsoring a regional is a huge commitment! Seeing the workspace your team uses just made me think of the tremendous growth opportunity. However, I think your team is wise to take things slowly when it comes to mentoring/sponsoring another team (didn't you post on that subject a while back?) so that the growth leads to sustainability.

Re: FIRST cribs - A chance?
 

We were planning initially on starting a second team of our own and entering two robots into competition, but the entry fees remain such a huge chunk of our yearly budget that it's not really feasible. We were hoping that we could manage it because we'd be saving money on additional travel expenses and things like that, but coming up with an extra $15,000 isn't easy. We were also working with a local group and trying to get them signed up, but since we didn't feel comfortable providing them with a home this season, they had nowhere to build a robot. We'll get them next year, I guess. :)

Re: FIRST cribs - A chance?
 

Wow. All I can just say, is wow. I like our workshop no doubt, but Krass, you make me want to move up to Seattle and "find a team!" Seriously though, nice place.

I'm working on creating a section of our site for FIRST cribs. I'll post a link when it's done...

Re: FIRST cribs - A chance?
 

Maddison, any chance you guys could film the whole campus and create video of it on youtube or FIRSTObjective and post the link here? That'd be really great!!:D