Ah, the offseason. So many things that you can do. I am going to divide this list into 2 parts: robot and team.
Robot
- Prototype new drivetrains
- Prototype new building methods
- Train students to use tools
- Train students to use Cad/code/wire
- Build things that your team will find useful. My team has built a cart, wire rack, and battery charging station.
- Build an outreach bot (T-shirt cannon?)
- Perfect your competition robot from the previous year.
- Hold a competition to see who can CAD the best ___________. (I would fill that blank with either cart or chassis, but you can use your imagination)
Team
- Attend offseason events
- Fundraise
- Recruit new members
- Demo your robot to sponsors
- Demo your robot to your school administration
- Demo your robot to your school's students
- Let students who aren't in robotics drive the robot
- Start up and help new FIRST teams (jrFLL, FLL, FTC, or FRC)
- Create new tutorials for other teams to use (see Simbot app or Miss Daisy's Team in a Box)
- Hold team bonding events. My team has done bowling, paintball, and a video game party.
I'm sure there are about ten thousand ideas that I have had that aren't on this list, but This is what I could think of off the top of my head. Most of it is pretty basic stuff.