[Joe Johnson]

Hi ChiefDelphi.com!!!

I'm back after a long time away.

And I'm a rookie again. No really, my son's high school is going to have a FIRST team this coming season. It is going to be a challenge because the school admin has agreed to front us the entry fee for our first regional. Beyond that, the team is going to have to fund raise for itself or find a sponsor to do the heavy lifting.

In the mentor dept. it is going to be me and a physics teacher plus anyone else we can suck into the FIRST Robotics Vortex.

So... ...pretty much I'm on a typical FIRST Team now. I am excited but I scared to death too.

So much has changed... ...and that is where ya'll come in.

I am going to need help, lots of help, filling the gaps in my FIRST IQ. I used to be pretty smart in this area but it has been years since I've been responsible for a team. I really need help getting back up to speed.

I plan on starting a series of threads over the next few weeks and months as I get my team stood up and we start competing.

Before i do that, I need help figuring out what I don't know.

As background, I was founding mentor for Chief Delphi (Team 47) in 1995 and remained a leader until 2004 when I started my own company and had to focus on that 24/7. Over the years, I've been a judge at the Championships and at Regionals as well as a judge advisor at a District competition in Michigan. I also helped out Ursa Major (Team 2849) in their 2nd year, but I was mostly just an engineering resource and left the team things to others.

Here are the threads I plan on starting:

• Robot Building
  • Chassis
    • Bumpers 101<<what is the DEAL?!
    • Tires Choices <<I love grippy tires. what are the best today
    • Shifting vs. more motors vs. some other magic
    • To Swerve and Protect: how important is going sideways? Omniwheels vs. Mechanum vs. Steerable Drive?
  • Electronics and Control
    • Wiring changes in the recent years
    • The New Controller (and by New I mean cRIO, not the NEW NEW controller)
    • Classmate and Operator Interface Best Practices
    • Jaguars Vs. Victors << is this still a thing?
    • If Jaguars, is CAN worth the bother?
    • Labview Vs. Java Vs. C++
  • Motors in the FIRST kit <<what's new
  • Pneumatics Keys to success in a less restrictive world
  • FTC minibots Really????
  • The Essential Material List
  • The Essential Toolbox List
  • The Essential Equipment List
  • Batteries Best Practices

• Team Stuff
  • Rookie Grants 101
  • Shipping in the Bag & Tag World
  • What to read to get up to speed and to stay in the loop
  • Picking a Team Name << current best thoughts on this subject
  • Team organization << anything new to say on this?
  • Budgets << more is better of course but let's get real.

I KNOW that most of these have been covered many many times on ChiefDelphi.com before. I need help finding the best of these threads AND I need pointers to the best resources that cover these topics.

So... ...look for these threads. I will try remember to put [DFTF] in the title to help folks find them in the future.

In the mean time, help me decide what other threads I need to start.

I've got a lot to learn. Help me know how much.

Cheers,
Joe J.