[ahecht]

Originally Posted by coreyjon

OK, Since I've known about VEX, I've wanted to start a team. Being in Atlanta, and scoping out exactly what the kit's where like, and what was possible really got me pumped up about this new system. Only one logical thing to do - Start a team, and get even more young kids hooked on FIRST, Science and Engineering.

That's a great plan. WPI has been doing something similar recently using the Robovation kits, and we have had great luck getting local schools, who could otherwise not afford the cost and time comittment of FIRST, involved in robotics. As you can see in my signature, I was a coordinator for the WPI-EBOT program, which this year recruited 6 teams from local public schools, trained teachers at those schools, and assisted teams throughout the competition season. Because VEX was not finalized when we were doing this (and because the VEX season is too long and interferes with the FRC season), these teams all participated in the pre-FIRST-season Savage Soccer competition that WPI has been running since 1995.

The Plan: I plan on contacting local middle schools, and getting in tough with the technology teachers, as they are the most likely to be interested, and would be able to pass the word around the school, and find the kids who are most interested in such a program. I also plan on hooking up with the local Lego league teams and to see who might be interested in crossing over.

One piece of advice I would have is to always approach a school though its principal. Although the principal will likely not be involved at all in the program, it is important that they fell that they are involved (and if you can make them think it's their idea, all the better). Don't forget that a principal can shut down any program in the school for any reason, so it is critical that you have them on your side. The pricipals we talked to were all very enthusiastic about starting such a program, and referred us to the appropriate people (either a vice-principal in charge or technology or a technology coordinator).

The Resources: While the middle school tech teachers are doing their thing, I plan on finalizing who exactly will be mentoring, and start to set up the infrastructure to support a team.

You know what they say about teaching someone to fish? Because the VEX kits are so user friendly, you would probably have better luck mentoring the middle school teachers so that they can run their respective teams. Don't forget that the VEX season (and in fact the VEX regionals) will coincide with the FRC season, so mentors would likely find it hard to do both. This would also give the schools the option in the future of incorperating VEX into their classes.

When we created the WPI-EBOT program, the goal was to be able to recruit other organizations to act as EBOT "nodes" that could start robotics teams in their local areas. WPI-EBOT would provide you with promotional materials to bring to schools, training materials for the teachers, miscellaneous support, and the Savage Soccer game (if you choose to do it in addition to FVC), and you can focus on getting the schools involved and supporting them.

As I mentioned above, your teams could also participate in the Savage Soccer competition. The competition is designed for a 3-4 week build season, a new game is released in early November, and we hold the competition in early December (so that we are done by the FRC kickoff). You are more than welcome to use the game we develope this coming year, and if your can't drive up to Worcester for the competition, running your own small competition is cheap and easy (since we have essentially zero budget, or field usually costs $10-$20 to build). And, because Savage Soccer ends well before winter break, nothing says you can't do both it and VEX, which is exactly what three Mass Academy teams did this year.

The Question: Who has started their own teams, be it a VEX team, or a FLL team. I am still trying to hash out what exactly the infrastructure should look like. I want to plan it around a business structure, and run it like a corporation. I'm still unsure of all of the costs, and I am wondering about sponsorship.

Starting a FIRST team and starting a VEX team are quite different in my experience. I don't know yet what FVC will charge teams to register, but assuming you just pay for two kits per team, that is 1/10 the cost of FRC (and at that price, paying teachers overtime is a much more significant expense than the competition itself). While most school budgets have already been set by this time of year, it might be worthwhile to approach the schools and see if they have the funding to support such a program. For EBOT, which cost around $1000 per team because we used the Robovation kits, funding came from sources such as technology grants, professional development money, and other sources. Also, the fact that FVC teams (like FLL teams) can reuse the kits means that schools will be much more willing to pay for the kits.

Also, the small size of a VEX team (4-8 kids usually) means that a lot of the organizational stuff becomes immensely easier. For WPI-EBOT, we mostly left that stuff up to the schools, and it wasn't a major burden. Organizing a FRC team is much much harder.

You can check out the WPI-EBOT website at erobotics.org to get an idea of the traning materials and the game that we used. If you need any help, advice, or more information, feel free to email us at ebot-at-wpi-dot-edu.