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Kickoff Procedure?
What is your team's Kickoff procedure? Does your team go to a webcast? Do you gather together and watch? Do you guys watch at home and meet in the afternoon? Do you guys camp out until kickoff? What do you do leading to, during, and after kickoff? How do you discuss your robot's design or strategy? What happens from the moment the clock strikes midnight on the day of kickoff until you start putting your hands on material?
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Re: Kickoff Procedure?
Hi Pavan,
My old team used to do things this way: before kickoff:
In Israel, because of the time difference:
next day:
*long exhale* wow that got me excited just writing that down!!! I hope I don't get a heart attack at the kickoff! :ahh: -Leav |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
OK, so basicly here's how it goes for my team, at least, that's how it went last year and hopefully this year it will go even better.
Meet about 2 hours before the Kick Off Webcast in NASA TV in our school at the auditorium. Start brainstorming about the game clue till it begins, some team bonding. Later on, view the kick off untill the end, all together. When it's over about 5 people with good English/Internet abbilities goes to a computer and starts downloading the game video, and inserting the code for the PDF files. This team fully translates the game animation that night, so by tommorow morning we have prepared a 30 minutes presentation in Hebrew about the game, in order to show it at the Israeli Kick Off. (we add both suntitles and an hebrew voice). The other people meanwhile brainstorm on possible designs / stratagies etc... The next morning about 4 voulenteers meet at about 6 am and go to the kick off's location to help there out with the kits/ registration etc.. 2 of them are the once that will be making the presentation. The other once from the team go to the kick off just as all teams are. Have the presentation in kick off, meet all the friends etc... When back, start building the chassis with wheels for the programmers to have fun (this year probably also cmucam2 on it and the IR transmitter). Start building the game field. Split to teams and from there on its all known. Liron, out. |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
IUPUI is nice enough to host a kickoff party for all the area Indiana teams. We munch on some nice breakfast, win IUPUI-themed prizes, and watch the video on a very big screen in their large lecture hall.
After that, we head back to school where we discuss the game and how it should be played. At that point, we don't look at particular designs; we just try to understand the game. We take Sunday off, then come in on Monday refreshed and full of ideas for our first brainstorming session. |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
The highlight of our kickoff procedure is usually getting there in the first place. It seems there's always an ice storm, snow storm, ...
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Re: Kickoff Procedure?
We all gather at the kickoff location to watch the webcast. After the webcast the students have a brief meeting with some of the mentors and we talk about the game, past robots, and possible ways to complete the task.
Right after this period we usually split up into groups and discuss robot ideas over lunch. Right after lunch we usually gather and our whole team has to COMPLETELY AGREE on EVERY part of our robot, so if I want a crab drive along with 99% of my team, I will have to convince the remaining 1% to convert OR the other person would present their argument and would either sway us over or we would eventually sway them over. Than after we have each system figured out we decide who is going to be on what part of the team: controls, programming (formerly a subgroup of controls), upper body, and base. After we break up into these groups and start our building. |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
Historically, we've all gotten down to USC, watched the Kickoff, collected the kit, inventoried it, printed off the manual, and had everybody scamper and start reading and thinking.
This year, with the move to Clemson, the four members of the team going will all pile in the Billfredmobile at about 6:00 AM (if not earlier), drive two hours to the Kickoff, collect the kit, and go from there. |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
I will attend the kickoff in Columbus Ohio which is a four hour drive and then return to meet with team leaders to inventory and print manual. We meet as a team after school on Monday to start everything rolling.
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Re: Kickoff Procedure?
Pre kickoff week:
Make sure 100% that all simple and basic (yet important tasks) (to be expanded in a moment) are done: - Team Mangment: The sub-teams and members, mentors and parents know everything that needs to be known (roles, missions, deadlines, application and tools to use etc.) - Equipment: Make sure the lab is secured and has all the basic required equipment (computers, drills, saws etc.) - Get ready for kickoff: Make sure place to watch kickoff is secured, be it at another team's school auditorim or at one of our members house. Make sure papers, pens, pencils, clipers, ink, printers, scanners etc. are preparid, as well as food (a couple of snacks and sodas about 60 small sand' and 7 1.5Lt drinks). Kickoff day: If at another team's place, get there an hour or two before (with coordination pre-event). If at our own member's house, the member must make sure a day before/ on the day of the kickoff that the NASA TV webcast works (with the screen that the team will be watching). Members will come to either of the two places before the kick off (which usually begins at 17:00 Israel time (atleast that's what it was last year)) make sure that preperations for sitting places, the food, drinks and rest of the equipment are set. - Once all members are present, a short rebriefing of what's going to happen, what to expect and what should every member do along the kick off viewing. - Watch kick off till it's end. Notes to be taken. - Once password is out, print all of the important documents first (The robot, The game, The arena, The tournament and others). First copies of the documents will be given to (a) specific sub-team(s) to go over them. After there are enough copies of all the important documents, give them to each sub-team, to start looking for important notes, rules and missions for each sub-team. Info will be shared in between. That's where the Brainstormin starts. Strategy starts straight away with understanding the game fully, overviewing the kickoff videos (the animation and demonstration) and working on game strategies (whatever the sub-team can do. It's very probable that they'll continue their work the following day after the Israeli Kick off). Some teams that their work won't be much of a nessecity for the following 12 hours will build a minature model of the field (arena, game peices and robots). The other sub-teams take the notes from the important documents about their own sub-team. They will work on understanding the notes and discussing details related to their role, in relation to that note (meaning, if a role says this part is not allowed, they should disscuss what that means and what can they do). Israeli Kickoff: This year, we're really (no kidding) close to the FIRST Israel office, so we'll be helping with the volunteering for the kick off, the registartions of the teams and their receiving of the kits. We'll get our kits, walk (yep, it's that close) back to the lab, open the kits, check all the parts are there, intact, no sirious damages and are approved to work with. The deal should take no more than 2 and a half hours and by then, the strategy sub-team and other mechanical teams will be working on planning the designs. From there on, it'll be telling our whole build season schedule. :) Nir. P.S Sorry if it's too long :o |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
190 typically sends a group to Manchester to attend/present workshops, go to the founders reception and watch the live kickoff. The rest of the team is back at WPI watching the webcast. Following that, those at WPI immediately begin straightening up the lab and preparing for the arrival of the KOP.
When the Kit arrives, a few people split off to build an approximately 1:12 scale field, while the rest inventory parts. Then we go play CRUD The following day, we meet just before lunch, review the game release video, eat and then being brainstorming 971 sends 4 members to the local San Jose kickoff to watch the webcast and pick up the KOP. The rest of the team wakes up later and joins the returning 4 at school to view the kickoff video and begin KOP inventory and brainstorming. Somewhere mid-Sunday I put a long-distance call in to 971 to discuss anything I've learned about the field and how it moves/reacts/works, and answer any questions they might have about it. |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
Watch kickoff at a remote location with other teams. (We usually host.) Sit down with anyone else who wants to and do a little "what stands out to you" session. Break for lunch. Spend the rest of the day playing the game with humans as robots (full scale, if possible) and strategizing, after a full reading of the rules. Repeat the next day, and try to narrow down how to win. Ideally, we figure out how to win in the first couple of days. Oh yeah, and inventory the kit somewhere along the line.
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Re: Kickoff Procedure?
We usually send 4-5 people to the remote kickoff at San Jose State (Teacher, myself and other mentor, and 1-2 of the top students)
The rest of the team meets us back at the school where we inventory the kit, and then talk about student contracts, rules and guidelines for working in our lab, procedure to gain access to NASA, etc. Then we show a tape of the kickoff, explain the game details to anyone who has questions, and begin brainstorming of basic robot strategy. We stress that this point is not where you say "I think we should have a double jointed arm that picks up the tubes like this and puts them on like so" but rather figure out WHAT we want the robot to do. How comes later. After that we bring a smaller group of students to our lab at NASA to begin building the field, and brainstorming specifically how to accomplish game challenges. In the past two years there hasn't been much debate as to what the best way to play the game was, so immediately after returning to the lab we got into the specifics of how to do things. It sounds like a lot of teams don't work too much on Saturday. We go straight from 6 AM to pretty deep into the night. I think we all got tired and went home at 11:00 or midnight last year. |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
A few members of our team go up to Richmond to attend the kickoff there and pick up our kit, and the rest of the team meets at one of the schools we're based out of and watches the kickoff on TV; after the kickoff is over we brainstorm and eat lunch (always pizza). In previous years, Sunday was not used and we started to refine ideas on Monday with the goal of completing the design by the end of that week. (didn't work out last year, somehow we overlooked the 72x72 rule and discovered on Thursday that our design wasn't legal. That forced us to start over, after a fashion. (the idea remained the same, just drastically different proportions)) This year, we will have a limited Sunday meeting (experienced build team members only) to refine the concepts from the Saturday brainstorming and do a more in-depth analysis of the game in order to go into the build season with a better idea of where we are headed.
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Re: Kickoff Procedure?
The team will go to the remote kick off at IUPUI while I and my son go to the kick off in Kokomo to collect the kits for us and a couple of other Indy teams.
The team breaks for lunch while one group scurries to print the manuals. We will meet up again after lunch at school and strategize until 4:00 or 5:00. This year we are going to coble up whatever simulation we can of the field and try to play the game with human as robots. We rest on Sunday (that’s the theory I can never not stop thinking about the game) and hit the ground running on Monday afternoon. |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
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Of course there was no snow or ice that year just for the sake of irony.:rolleyes: |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
Our team has two factions. One of them stay at our school/robotics location and watches the web cast while filling up on breakfast danishes and coffee, and the other attends the local Kick off and Picks up the parts from VCU. The group that goes to the kick off usually arrives an hour or two earlier to get good parking and to speculate.
After watching the Webcast, and recieving our parts we discuss our ideas while checking out the field elements that the VCU team concocts. Then we discuss some more on our ride back home while the other group at the home base prints out 4 or 5 game manuals for the team to look over. When we get back home the team discusses the game as a whole and includes discussion of what major things we may need too work on (Camera, IR sensor, special mechanisms) and then split up in to multiple groups with at least one veteran and one mentor. The groups then spend about 45 mins looking over the rules and coming up with crayon sketches and designs of what we want and how we want to accomplish our goals. Afterwards we reconvene and present our ideas.. then, We take votes on simple things such as Maneuverability or Pusher and narrow down concepts to three work-able designs.. finaly,... we get some lunch, chow-down, and talk about how sweeeeeet the game is! :D after that it gets a little shady... ;) |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
most of our team will stay at our home school (the Hamilton Career Center) and four people (including myself this year) will take the five mile trip to clemson and get the kit of parts. we then reconviegn at the school and talk strategy and how we want to go about playing the game. then we begin building that day, then pretty much everyday after that... but everyone knows about that. and we dont have those horrific weather problems in SC... for the most part:D
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Re: Kickoff Procedure?
Our team hosts a kickoff at home, since our regional one is three hours away. We send a small group to the regional one, usually of new students or ones who haven't gone before. The rest of us gather at our shop around 9:30, and watch the webcast together, then immediately get to brainstorming and strategizing. This year we've invited the rookie team sponsored by WVU, 2614, to come watch and brainstorm with us, since they're the only team that's really in our area.
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Re: Kickoff Procedure?
Our team attends the NJIT kickoff, finding out the new game, getting parts, attending workshops, etc.
After, we return to our school, go into the cafeteria, and analyze the game by creating "human robots," assigning people different robot attributes to get an idea of how the game will play out. Following this, we gather together and list thoughts of different categories (size, offense/defense, etc.) on a white board. In this process, everyone has an equal voice and we eventually the attributes we want and our laundry list in order of priority. Oh yeah... and somewhere within this exciting frenzy, we find time to eat... |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
Our team travels about 15 minutes to a Technical College for Kickoff to be with other teams from Wisconsin.
We pick up our kit of parts We head to school for lunch ordering Pizza's while we review rules of the game and scoring methods (30 minutes) We assign homework to come up with defensive and offensive strategies (15 minutes) We take inventory kit of parts as a group (30 minutes) Break into groups to go over KOP items (1 hour until...?) Controls team mount the RC with power for programming team. Mechanical team go over drive train motor options (order gearboxes immediately) Programming team installs software and program the RC with default code. Form special purpose teams and discuss manipulator needs/strategies. Our goal is to finalize our strategy and robot rough plans at the next meeting (3 days later). Students, our forum, emails and class discussions are all very busy for the next three days. |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
Our team has a group of 4 go to manchvegas and go to the live broadcast and get the KOP the rest of my team goes to one of our alumni's house and watch it there and EAT PANCAKES!!! then we all go back to our school and have or Collabritive design session. This is the one that one of our mentors got from a presentation done by team MOE 365 at the champ in i think '05. it works out really well and is a lot of fun.
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Re: Kickoff Procedure?
Pre-kickoff: 68 has been prototyping and speculating for a few months now, so we've gotten to mess with the ideas we wanted to explore during build 2007. We aren't having any meetings during break (all the way up until 1/5) because so many people were on vacation. We meet at GM, pile into 1 or 2 fleet vehicles, and (usually) slide our way to the Novi (I think) local kickoff.
Kickoff: Whatever you feel like. Just take the info in somehow. I sit with my laptop on in front of me, doing something mindless, like Pocket Tanks... Scramble to write the PDF code down (they showed it for a second..literally..last year) and crack the manuals open. I start reading on the way home. Post: Pick up lunch on the way back to GM. Major brainstorming time in the meeting room--argue, draw, sketch, argue some more, ponder, theorize, read the rules, ponder some more, and try to convince the team that your design is the best. (for me: shudder because they are designing a robot that will be a major PITA to code...) Inventory kit of parts; I get my hands on the electrical portion shortly after this (it's like Christmas, except much, much cooler). First week is prototyping/design week. Every day we meet and get as much done as possible. Then we go to our usual Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday meetings until ship, where any free time we might have goes in the shop... That's about it. JBot |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
This is the Robo-Lion's (team 2199) second year competing.
Last year (rack and roll) a select bunch went to the kick off. After the kick off everyone met over at someones house and we started discussing the rules and procedures of the game. We ran through a complete game (and used paper plates as robots, and pretzles as tubes) to make sure everyone understood the basic idea of the game. Afterwards we started discussing the nessisary functions the robot needs to perform. We then came up with different classes of robots. We came up with four: the defensive bot (a pushing bot), pure manipulator bot (just an arm to move the tubes), a ramp bot (can lift two robots ) ,and a hybrid (the rampbot with a manipulator). We then started breaking up into little groups as to what class we as a team want to build and ideas of how we can build it. After much debating we looked at our limitations as a first year team and said we would build a pure manipulator bot because we wanted to have fun and actually play the game. This year we will basically do the same thing only we will have the rest of the team watching the web cast at someones house while the select few (which I will now be part of because I am a co-captain this year) is at the kick off. Obviously we will decide again what the classes of robots are and decide what class of bot we want to do. Also different this year, We will be getting two KoP so we have more parts this year. See you all this year, Aarnat |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
Let's see. 115 usually sends a couple people down to the remote kickoff in San Jose. They pick up the kit and watch the live webcast. One of our advisors records the live webcast at his office to show later at the full team meeting. By 11:00 am, all the officers and people who were at kickoff are back at school to inventory, print a full game manual, and set up for the 1:00pm full team meeting. At 1:00pm, after the full team arrives, we show the game animation and any key speeches. Then, an alumnus and former president Patrick Wang gives a game analysis to get the brainstorming started and we go from there until about 5:00 to 6:00. During build, we meet almost everyday. Pre-build we have trainings to get the members up to speed in all the divisions.
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Re: Kickoff Procedure?
We all meet at the school and then we split into 2 teams.
Team 1, about 3 people, goes to the kickoff in Manchester (only about an hour away). Armed with a digital camera and a tape measure, their job is to look for the little things that weren't highlighted that may be an issue as well as pick up the KoP. Team 2 will watch the kickoff on the web and then we will break into sub teams and come up with 2-4 strategies (not designs). These teams will prioritize the goals and set strategy only. When team 1 returns to the school we'll have a pot luck luncheon/dinner and present each of the different strategies (no decision will be made at this point as we want the students to mull over each of the different ideas). Before we leave, we will inventory the KoP and make a list of missing parts to be sent to FIRST on Monday. Within 2-3 days full scale mock-up models of robots that would perform their strategies are created out of cardboard. By the 1st Wednesday we will vote on the strategy we want. |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
we watch the webcast at the county college(ccm)
then go over strategy and some ideas of how the matches will go. the next day we have a meeting on robot design and strategy. /*:yikes: */ |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
Most of our team gets together to watch the Kickoff via the NASA channel or the webcast. A few memebers will go to the local remote Kickoff to pick up the Kit.
After Kickoff we sit down and read the rules. Then we simulate the game in a variety of ways. Some simulations are tabletop versions of the game. Other times we use people to simulate robots. The purpose of thses simulations is to determine one thing. "How do we guarantee we will win the match?" We want to know what the field needs to look like at the end of the mach to ensure victory. This process can take up to several days. Then we figure out how to make the field look the way we want it to at the end. We probably have several ideas on how to do this up front but we work to find the best one. We will also prioritize game tasks and figure out which ones are more important. For example, last year we decided that hanging tubes was more important to us than lifting robots, so we worked the arm and gripper first. We didn't perfect our ramps until our second regional. This strategizing process can again take up to several days. It can take 10-14 days for us to finalize a concept. On the other hand once we have a concept, design and fab go full bore and we get a prototype running within days if not hours. The prototype also gives the software guys something to play with. In addition, if we should get bogged down in fabrication for our real robot, we could ship the prototype and compete with that if we had to. It wouldn't have our traditional blue and yellow, but it would be well tested. |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
The TechnoKats, along with our sponsor Ivy Tech, host a kick off for 36+ teams at Ivy Tech. Usually everyone for the TechnoKats and area teams are there while only a few can come from other teams (due to space available). It starts off in the hall right before the webcast starts, we receive a speech thanking the sponsors and letting everyone know what is going to happen. Then when the broadcast starts, everything is good until just before the game, usually right around the time that Dave makes his appearance, and then the video will begin to lag (never has failed in the past). After the video is over, we get our kits and teams are able to use classrooms to start planning. The Technokats usually get the second hall where we have lunch, then begin discussing what just happened with the announcement of the game.
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Re: Kickoff Procedure?
1923 attends the local kickoff hosted by our gracious neighbors, 1403. This year, we will be sending one mentor to Manchester. After kickoff, the team meets back at the school, gets the kits together (inventory later, AFTER we get a design-- this makes it so we're not distracted by the shiny robot parts, and forces the team to FINALIZE on a basic design before that date we need to tell FIRST if we're missing something- finalizing can be a problem for us).
Back at the school, we strategize. What's the best, most reliable scoring method? Defense methods? What can WE as a team accomplish? (we have very limited resources, and by "very limited", I mean a classroom, hand tools, and denied access to the school's shop.) ...and all that jazz. This can go late into saturday, and we start fresh on monday with heads full of ideas and notebooks full of designs to consider. All this talk of kickoff is getting me SUPER PSYCHED! :) |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
Four team members (maximum for each team) go to the live Kickoff, usually 3 students and one mentor.
The rest gather at a nearby high school and watch the webcast. We all meet at our school, go over the rules and eat. Then we start human simulations to get a better understanding of how the game works and what the rules are. Strategy comes from the feeling of what the team would like to do. This year, they all felt that making a ramp bot and playing defense would be boring, so we went with scoring. All-hands brainstorming will happen the day after kickoff where anyone can submit their ideas. There are no debates or anything, the design team (about six students and two mentors) just absorbs what everyone says and gets to work the following day. |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
612 sends down a van full of students and adult mentors to VCU for kit pickup, while the rest of the team watches the webcast on a projector at school
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Re: Kickoff Procedure?
If you are going to NH for kickoff tomorrow and Saturday, be sure to bring your consent form with you: http://www.usfirst.org/community/frc...nt.aspx?id=418
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Re: Kickoff Procedure?
86 reserves one of the big conference rooms at JEA to watch the webcast. Every student is required to attend.
4 of the mentors go to Manchester to attend kickoff. |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
9:00 am: The school library slowly fills with the team members and caffinated beverages in a 1:1 ratio.
10:00 am: After finally getting the webcast up we sit there and watch it, many of my less enthusiastic friends have started to doze off by this point... 11:00 am... ish: With rules in hand, and the libraries circular tables occupied by about 5 groups everyone starts talking and eating lunch until about 12:30. At this time most of our crazy ideas start to come out. 12:30-3:00: The team starts to decide on how to play the game in the best possible way, the groups each present their strategies and the great debate begins... 4:00 pm: A final conclusive strategy is likely decided on and the KOP is inspected (thanks to one of our mentors yearly pilgramage to the Ontario Science Centre Kickoff) We all go home with plans for Sunday, as our design will begin then. |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
Since 2004 our team gathers at the local diner at 6:15am, we eat breakfast
then we go and gather again at the high school, organize who is driving which students and then proceed to SUNY Stony Brook to watch the webcast. We all then go home for an hour, and met at then high school to read the rules together. Then everyone goes home for the night to think about designs and re read the rules Sunday we met at our Library at 1:30pm to present our thoughts and ideas, we make lists of pros and cons, and by Weds have our "final design" which is then drawn in inventor by our cad team thats pretty much how our Kick off weekend has gone since 2004, before then we had a webcast at our school, and watched from there, but we like getting together with the other Long Island teams to watch the kick off |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
1930 is gonna head to RIT (home of the FLR) and watch the webcast with a bunch of other Rochester area teams.
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Re: Kickoff Procedure?
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Re: Kickoff Procedure?
In the past, 1379 has had a few go to the local kickoff hosted by SPSU (about 30 minutes away) with the rest watching the webcast from the school, and then we spend Saturday analyzing and starting to brainstorm. This year we're changing things around a little and having people watch the webcast together, get a copy of the critical sections of the rules (Game/Arena/Robot), and then come back Sunday afternoon to start brainstorming. This allows the team leaders to bring the KoP back to school and inventory/organize and at the same time gives everybody a chance to full read the rules before starting any work. That (hopefully) eliminates brainstorming ideas like "If we make a wedge on the bottom of the robot, we can flip the other bots over."
That's the idea, at least. If nothing else, it's one last night of possible sleep before my brain gets totally overloaded with robot ideas. I like some of these ideas about simulating the game. Strategy has always been one of our weaknesses in the past. |
Re: Kickoff Procedure?
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