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Posted by Fran .

Other on team #166, Team Merrimack, from Merrimack High School and Unitrode/R.S. Machines.

Posted on 1/17/2000 6:30 AM MST


In Reply to: Drivers and Field Team posted by Susanne Krussell on 1/16/2000 8:02 PM MST:



I agree that it's tough when therobot getscompleted late but we have rigged last years robot to practice drivers and when we have a driveable base(no arm) we start practicing. So far every year has not been too much of a battle because 1 student stands out as being outstanding and everyone else wants that one to drive with the others being back up. If our robot has the arm controls separate then we swap students for that but when alliances were created so were the new scouting jobs and that satisfied the need of many to participate on a closer level. Some students prefer coaching just so they are down on the floor close to the action so we change our coaches witheach round.

Many years we have shipped a robot not knowing if it would work....last year we had 1 week to practice but only about 1 day with the arm....this year the new group of engineers say we will have more weeks because they will start building sooner.....I hear they're ready to start machining parts so maybe it will happen......the only down side was less student involvement ondecision making because it was determined that too much time was spent trying to get too many people to agree on something and building never happened til the 3rd week......but I have found that the students who really really want to be involved find a way to be there all the time(like Kate did when she was on our team)

Fran
team 166




: Reading the comments about drivers prompted me to think back over the past 2 years that I've been involved with FIRST. You all are assuming that every team actually finishes their robot in time for kids to actually practice! Hasn't happened to my team yet, but by golly,it will this year. Tryouts are a great idea, but knowing how the kids react and behave under pressure is important. Another factor is which kids are on the construction team, and of those, who really has their heart and soul (and hands)in the project? And hey, let's not forget 'hand-eye' coordination! And seniors. It's a tough call.