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Re: No Mentors..
In our first year I was the only adult on the team of 12 students. We had NEVER seen an FRC event, had NEVER seen an FRC robot in person, and had only met one person with FRC experience, once, for an hour, the previous spring (before we even knew were were going to enter FRC.)
And we... well... we did about as well as you'd expect. We got our butts kicked! At least for the first day or so until we figured out what was going on. We were doing okay come Saturday, and then went on to win at least one FRC every award each year for the next six years. So don't panic. Where you are going is FAR more important than where you are right now.
Based on that experience, here is my advice:
1) Build simple. There are usually multiple ways to score. Pick the easiest one, and do it as well as you can.
2) Follow the instructions and build the kitbot as early as you can. You'll be given the parts and instructions to build a decent drivetrain. Use them. You can get fancy next year.
3) Don't be afraid to use wood. Baltic birch plywood is a wonderful building material.
4) Don't assume that engineers have some special knowledge that makes them better at building an FRC robot. If you've got a shop teacher at your school (maybe you ARE the shop teacher...) then you've got a technical expert. Maybe not an expert at labview programming, but surely there is a techno-geeky kid or two in your school who can follow some instructions and get the machine up and running. Our first programmer figured out how to write autonomous code on the plane to Toronto for our first tournament....
5) Machinists, millwrights, welders, mechanics, and any number of tradespeople can offer practical advice and often assitance beyond what you might get from many deskbound engineers. FRC is a hands on game... find some hands on people.
6) But whoever you get involved, don't let them talk you in to building a complex machine. Focus on sturdy, reliable and simple... start early, work hard and leave time to test.
And whatever you do... READ the RULE BOOK. ALL of it! Especially the tech inspection parts that give size and weight limits.... build under size and under weight.
Oh... and have fun. You'd be surpised how far you get by working hard and having fun.
Jason
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