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Unread 30-03-2007, 22:02
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EricH EricH is offline
New year, new team
FRC #1197 (Torbots)
Team Role: Engineer
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Rookie Year: 2003
Location: SoCal
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Re: Against all odds...

Quote:
Originally Posted by ForgottenSalad View Post

1. We currently do not have power tools or machines, or even a 'shop'.
2. Finding a mentor. I can't think of a single teacher at our school with the kind of background needed. I could provide much mentorship, but I would need help.
3. Funding. Small school, small endowment. We would have to be entirely sponsored and/or out-of-pocket.
4. Time. During build season we would have short of 2 hours a day on weekdays, 3 if we worked through dinner, with MAYBE one day of the week where we would do FIRST instead of sports and could get 5 hours in. We would have 5 hours Friday 12-16 hours on Saturday and 1 or 2 hours on Sunday. Is it possible to build a robot in this timeframe?
5. People. We would have a small team. It's seen as 'nerdy' so the interest for something like FIRST here is low and I'd be lucky to get 6-10 people.
6. Parental support. Many students board and are not local. It'd be hard to get local support from the parents because of this.

The few things I see going for this is FIRST provides huge scholarship opportunities and I see that as a huge selling point for the program to a boarding school. Also, I've matured a lot in my leadership through FIRST... I think having FIRST at a school is a huge bonus and is a great idea for this reason. All advice, input, etc, about this situation and starting a team is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
You've got time enough, if you manage it right. We've got 10 on our team and we run a similar schedule for six weeks.
As for mentoring, if you can do the more technical aspects and get help from a nearby team, you would pretty much just need someone to handle the administrative stuff (aka a NEM).
Space is one of the big hinderances, but I have heard of teams building in a classroom. Theoretically, you only need hand tools.
Your biggest problems are going to be funding and parental support. Try to get the school's head people on your side and you have a better chance of getting both.
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Past teams:
2003-2007: FRC0330 BeachBots
2008: FRC1135 Shmoebotics
2012: FRC4046 Schroedinger's Dragons

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