Hello FIRST community!
My team has reached that point in the season where the excitement of kick-off has worn old and the end is too far away... so far away. We have reached the build season's slump.
It has gotten to a point where I feel that my phone and email have become hotlines for the disenfranchised members from my team as well as mentors from other teams.
I dread this time of the season - it can disable the best of teams. FRC is a like sprinting a marathon (not my words - but a former student's analogy).
How do we cope? Well, here is what I have been telling other mentors (please note that this was written for a couple of rookie teams we are working with):
If needed, take a short break to reboot. "
have you tried turning it off and then on again" comes into mind here.
Please note, the (new) students have no idea what they were getting into, and the veteran teams sometimes forget how taxing this season truly is for rookies. So lets go back and prioritize your season.
- Organize a team (students)
- Gain funding
- Find coaches
- Find the tools
- Establish a name and logo
- Attend a kick-off
- Breakdown the game, read the manual, and formulate a strategy
- Prioritize the needs for your team
- Design a robot
- Get a driving frame.
- Program the drive train
- Fabricate a manipulator (gearage, shooter, climber, whatever)
- Program the manipulator
- Test the robot
- Optimize the robot and code
- Go back to your priorities and adjust as needed
- Record the advancements/downfalls.
- Repeat steps 11-17 until bag and tag on Feb 21
If you have survived to Step 11 - you are already a success!
Yes, there are other aspects to the team I did not address - but those areas not as difficult to manage than the build teams issues are (imho).
How do you other teams reboot from the mid-build season doldrums/setbacks?