Re: Where do you meet?
 

The Rochester City system sounds pretty nice, all-in-all.

Re: Where do you meet?
 

I guess that would be bag day now.

With regards to build space, we used to work in a room in an engineering building at a local university, until they discovered that the professor was using it as a storage room (half of it at least, the fact that we were using the other half didn't count I guess).

Since then we have been in our school's maintenance room. Basically, it is a thermos combined with a Faraday cage. The noise from the fans can make it hard to talk, depending on where people are standing, and the radio only works because somebody wrapped a wire around the antenna and put the other end through a hole drilled in a two-and-a-half foot pipe wrench , but there is a drill press and a place to put the robot.

Other benefits of this location are the fact more people seem to be aware of our existence and there are no issues with people getting to meetings (at least for team members who attend the school).

I hope you are able to find a more permanent home that works well for your needs.

Re: Where do you meet?
 

A bit more info on 1640's moving techniques:

Finding Space
We found our first non-school district building--smack in the middle of the 2008 build season--when a mentor spoke about our predicament at a town meeting. A local family offered us their stable for the duration of the season. This was actually a great location for us (not that we would've been picky).

So think about what kind of space you actually need: work room, storage, electricity, clean computer areas, access times, parking, restrooms. Remember you can bring your own heat and light if necessary. Some things (programming, CAD) can potentially we in separate places. Be as conservative as you like, but not unrealistic. Have a few different plans (best case, ok, lowest acceptable, etc). Write this up and advertise it. People may be surprised that they can help!

Here's our current writeup. This is the intra-team version; we cater it to each potential sponsor. This even applies to when you go to your own district. Most of our 6 locations came from the district, but they were pretty diverse.


Actually Moving
We've done this a lot now: upwards of 10 at least partial moves in 4 years. The first several were done solely in minivans. Now mentors have trucks and the team has a trailer, plus we get in-kind donations to move the really big stuff.
Tips:

1. Don't move things you don't need. This is a good spring cleaning opportunity. Try to keep an accurate inventory.
2. Keep what you move as assembled and organized as possible.
3. Label everything. Then label it again. Take pictures if you like.
4. Call in backup. Try to give yourself enough time, schedule it, and don't overload people. Other teams might even be willing to lend a hand.
5. If you're going into storage first, consider what needs the easiest access. Also remember what needs climate/rodent/etc control. Also consider access (loading dock, door width) to these areas. Generally, robots prefer walk-in finished basements to garages.
6. Also for storage, make a list of where everything is and send it to everyone. Keep it updated.
7. If you're maintaining your own space, remember to work things like heat, electric, cleaning supplies, etc into your budget.

Re: Where do you meet?
 

A few years ago we lost our build space (formally provided by a sponsor- we've yet to secure a build space at school) a few months before build season. The whole team was on the lookout for a new home and, thanks to one of our students, we ended up in the basement of a church in town.

It was fate- the church had recently been renovated and had extra space to fill, and some of the church staff had engineering experience and once they found out about FIRST, they were eager to lend their support. They told us we could make the basement our build space. Only problem was the basement was filled up with stuff. But they agreed to let us move our stuff in there if we cleaned their stuff out.

So we did. We took a day as a team and cleaned out their basement room, leaving us with enough room to store our stuff and set up a decent build space. It wasn't the best place for building robots, but we made it work and I will be eternally grateful to the church for taking us in.

We stayed in the church basement for two seasons. Fortunately our team then gained a new sponsor, who lets us build in their building.

I would just encourage anyone who finds themselves in this situation to think creatively and be flexible. You never know what might happen until you ask. Good luck!

Re: Where do you meet?
 

For the entirety of 134's existence we have been working out of a classroom and a small storage closet where the school's electrical panel is.

Re: Where do you meet?
 

Team 316 has enjoyed the generosity of Salem Community College for many years. They have provided us with a dedicated workshop for our projects and allow the Team use of any classrooms upon request, even allowing access when the College is not in session. Currently they are clearing an adjoining area that will double the size of our shop.

Re: Where do you meet?
 

The mall is extremely interested in having us there. They are in the midst of a re-development so many of the spaces are empty and we are hoping that we can attract more people there for them and us.

Re: Where do you meet?
 

Initially in 2006 we were building in the school, but quickly realized our assembled robot would not fit through the door. Our very gracious coach allowed us to move it to her home and their attached garage for 3 years until she retired. This worked out every well because we had the garage, a large meeting area(the living room), a very large kitchen and a office to work with.

When she retired we were both homeless and coachless. My parents and I opened up our home and external(heated) garage for the team my senior year. This worked out decently, we would have some team members working in the house and others in the garage. When I graduated they became homeless again because my dad kicked us out due to personal conflicts with a few people (both students and mentors).

Another member's family opened up their workshop to the team where we were housed for 2 years. This was our least favorite of all homes, although it worked out decently for build. There was a small wood burning stove to keep us warm(and send us home smelling like smoke). Our main issues was that there was no internet nor room for the business side of the program. That student graduated this past year so we became homeless again.

Due to the fact my brother is now a freshman we are now back at my house for hopefully the next 4 years. We finally achieved getting a robotics class created in our school so their has been talk of building us our own workshop to house the class and the team but that is many years off.