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Unread 25-09-2011, 12:21
Andrew Lawrence
 
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Re: New FRC team in Inglewood, CA?

Quote:
Originally Posted by seinchin View Post
Hi all,

I teach Algebra 1 and Physics at Animo Inglewood Charter High (in Inglewood, CA), and some students there are interested in starting a FIRST team. At the moment, I have a solid group of students who are very excited and driven, but not much else. Administration is generally supportive, but they only learned what FIRST is a few days ago. I was on a FIRST team in Ohio (1014) in high school, and then mentored that same team through four years of college at Ohio State, so I'm not completely clueless on how to run a team. However, my knowledge on starting a new team and being in charge of a FIRST team in general is a little fuzzy.

What I know:
Start-up costs are high. We'll want a NASA grant.
I need 15-30 students.
We need sponsors.
We need a place to work.
We need parent support.
We need admin support.
We need veteran teams to help us!
Another faculty adviser so I can sleep during the build season.
What a successful FIRST team looks like and does

What I don't know:
How to find sponsors/a place to work.

To find a workplace, ask your administration. Look around the school on your own time for any unused rooms. If your school doesn't seem willing to provide, then you may have to start from a garage. But don't fret! Companies like Microsoft and Apple started in garages! Invite your administration to some competitions, and show them the really good robots, and what FIRST is about. Then tell them the big awesome robots were made in on-school shops. That was enough for our team. As for sponsors, use your resources! If you have a team member who knows a guy who knows a guy at some tech place, call them up! Send them fliers, do what it takes to at least get your name out, and what you do.

What veteran teams there are in the SoCal area and what the FIRST culture is like here.

Veteran teams in SoCal....Wow. You are lucky enough to have some of the best teams in FIRST available to you. Anywhere from 330 to 1717 (my personal favs), you will be sure to find a veteran team who will be happy to help you/

Anything about wiring (ok I can solder, but I don't know what to solder where!)

Again, use your resources. If someone's dad's friend can do wiring, ask him to help, if not teach the team how to wire. There is a HUGE resource out there that I can personally say helped our team tremendously: The internet. There are loads of information to find there! Also, if you get a mentor team, you should ask them.

How to register . . .

My mentor usually does this, but i believe it's on the FIRST website. Not sure

Programming (as in, I've programmed before, but not for FIRST)

Resources resources resources! If you know a programmer, get them as a mentor! I don't know about SoCal, but here in NorCal we have workshops hosted by WRRF each year that teach everything you will need to know for a robot.

Any advice from you veterans out there? Anybody in SoCal want to help us out?

Just have fun with it. Learn what you can, have the most fun than anyone else, and remember, "you get what you celebrate" (Dean Kamen). And for all the things listed, there are awards for, so don't think if your robot isn't as good as some of the others, you can't win. In fact, I don't think it's possible to loose in FIRST. Team 256 is not in SoCal, but if you ever need our help, we'd be happy to give it. The folks here at ChiefDelphi will help you with whatever you may need, too.

Thanks
Good luck, and we hope to see you excel!

Last edited by Andrew Lawrence : 25-09-2011 at 12:23.
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