Hey kroll, I'm Wil, Web Presence of Team 422 out of Richmond, Virginia here.
Remember that everyone is always behind, but everyone also knows the final goal: February 22nd. Right now, you need to put together some benchmarks so your team is on the right track. If your team has not started building yet, don't worry! Most teams (mine included) carefully spend the first two weeks building prototypes of our ideas. Hope you all are hitting the drills and saws soon though.
There are some experienced teams out of the Hampton Roads area that should be eager to help you with a more physical presence. When I saw Southern Virginia, I figured me and some team mates could drive out to see how you guys were doing on a closed shop day. However, it's hard to cut out a 4 hour round trip drive during exams.
If you don't mind, take some pictures and upload them to Chief Delphi. Include some blurbs on your progress. For example, don't just say "We can't put together the electronics board!" Describe the problem that is holding you back.
Even though I'm only a student, I'm sure that I could round up some mentors on my team to help. In addition, there is a wealth of knowledge both in archived threads on CD, and the grizzled ancients/beloved mentors from some great veteran teams. We aren't just focused on the progress of the bot; we are also focused on the progression of the team's knowledge base, a key to sustainability.
However, the robot is still important. If you have not finalized a design yet, make sure it can accomplish the task at hand. In fact, it's time to break out my three tier list for robot design.
1. Robots that accomplish the primary goal
2. Robots that operate to fill secondary roles (role players)
3. Robots that are broken/invisible
You want to aim for tier 1, prepare for tier 2, and AVOID tier 3. Get the C-base and other assorted parts together to make sure you cna at least get a good kitbot running.
I'm going to cut it short for now, since I'm tired and have tests to study for (gotta keep up the grades to keep up the build), but feel more than free to contact me personally at
thomaswpayne@gmail.com if you have any questions. Responses will not be immediate, in order to confirm accuracy. I don't want to tell you the wrong stuff. If you are interested in any other contact info, feel free to email me.
I also assume I will be seeing your team at the VA regional. I would be happy to stop by, and bring some other members along, to exchange pleasantries and information, and lend out a metric kit if necessary.
I wish your team the best of luck! Remember what FIRST is all about (hint: it's not supposed to be Freaking in Really Scary Times)