Starting new team, need suggestions...

[Peggy Painter]

I am starting "my" second FRC team and am making a list of things done right/wrong the first go-around. I am planning our first information/invitation meeting to be held next month.

Would like suggestions from all those adults & youth who have started teams.

If you could jump in the Tardis and go back to the beginning what would you do differently?

Thank you,
Peggy Painter

Y Bridge Robotics 4H/FIRST FRC Team
in rural Galena, Missouri

Former director of Team 3784, Bit by Bit 4H/FIRST FRC Team,

[wesbass23]

From a competitive standpoint, don't try and do too much your first year. A lot of first year teams try out some elaborate designs or bite off too much and end up not being able to do much in a game. If you focus on a few of the simpler aspects of the game (for example just picking up and dropping the ball in this years game) you will most likely become a huge asset to your team. That and having a solid drive train will make you an excellent third alliance partner for some of the top seeds (unless you are 2056 this is where most rookies are picked at a regional if at all). This is my plan at least if I ever have to leave my team and start a new one.

[NotInControl]

1. Get parents involved as early as possible. Invite them to meetings and keep them engaged. They will be the catalyst which keeps students involved.

2. Even if you can't afford to do more than one in-season event, try to do many cheap off-season events. As you build your program, it is important to keep interest alive. Students who have never experienced FIRST will loose interest fast. The way to change that is to keep going to events.
The other reason is, you spend so much time build a robot, at least spend the time to enjoy it. If you can afford to do more in-season events, then do it. Many 1st/2nd/3rd year team do a single event, and that is not enough to get experience in my opinion.

3. Driver practice! - if you want to be competitive, you need your students practicing on how to drive your machine. We typically hold driver practice 3 days a week where they run through basic runs, communications, and what-if scenarios. A rookie team that can drive, will always be on any scouters watch list. Must practice driving before going to your event. Asign or have tryouts for the student positions, and have a mentor as the coach. They should be running drills frequently during the week to build driver confidence and communication between the student and mentor drive coach.

4. Pick out the awards and go after them. Look into Rookie-All star, and Rookie Inspiration awards. Find out what it takes to win them, and focus on getting them. Talk to other teams that have won them in your area or on chief (you can look winners up on FIRST or on thebluealliance). Going after awards is a smart way to spend your first year. Especially since those awards are just for rookies.

5. Take advantage of Rookie Grants for FRC. Look into the FRC website for more info on this.

6. Get experienced FRC mentors to help. They will help your program take off fast. If you can not find experienced mentors in your area, then keep your rookie build season open/public to the FRC community though videos or a build blog and ask questions during build. Many mentors and teams love to help other teams and Chief Delphi is a great place to get such help.

7. Start cadding robots as soon as your program can support the extra work. It is a great teaching tool off-season, and allows better production in-season. If you can find a machine shop or machinist in your area that is willing to help machine parts, that would be even more awesome.

Just my 2 cents.

Good luck,
Kevin

[Tmeziere]

Get as many sponsors and mentors as possible. I am captain of a rookie that only had two mentors and struggled because of it. Also, execution and strategy are just as important as having a good robot.

[EricWilliams]

I have not personally started a team, but I have been a student and mentor with three vastly different teams, and can offer my views from that perspective.

Originally Posted by NotInControl

1. Get parents involved as early as possible. Invite them to meetings and keep them engaged. They will be the catalyst which keeps students involved.

This, in my opinion, will get you more miles than any of the other many strategic initiatives you'll need to execute on taking on the forming of a new team. It will pay off in spades, however you choose to do it: encourage a non-engineering mentor group, personally invite parents to meetings every chance you get - especially that all important first meeting and every one after that, create a parents only mailing group, ensure there is parental representation in all major decisions, etc. Logistics, organizational sustainability (financial and in terms of student retention), excitement/enthusiasm in the stands - these are just a few of the myriad of challenges that are best solved utilizing an engaged parental support base.

There are already lots of wonderful suggestions on this thread. The fact that you have the humility and enthusiasm to start this discussion, to me, means that you're already well on your way to a fantastic team. I wish you the very best of luck on your endeavor.

[philso]

Originally Posted by EricWilliams

This, in my opinion, will get you more miles than any of the other many strategic initiatives you'll need to execute on taking on the forming of a new team. It will pay off in spades, however you choose to do it: encourage a non-engineering mentor group, personally invite parents to meetings every chance you get - especially that all important first meeting and every one after that, create a parents only mailing group, ensure there is parental representation in all major decisions, etc. Logistics, organizational sustainability (financial and in terms of student retention), excitement/enthusiasm in the stands - these are just a few of the myriad of challenges that are best solved utilizing an engaged parental support base.

Some parents might say that they "are not engineers" or "are not technical". You can point out that one does not have to be technical or engineers to help with things such as helping to feed the team members, making travel arrangements and fundraising.

[mrnoble]

This is a great question.

My personal and team experience has not been one in which having lots of mentors has been helpful; rather, having one or two dedicated and knowledgeable mentors is much better than pursuing ten who show up sporadically or promise much more than they can deliver.

Parents, students and mentors change a great deal each year. Some years, we have parents with trucks who can haul us everywhere; other years, parents who plan meals make life more pleasant. The inverse is also true (this year, meals are sparse).

I have found that the greatest asset is actually a well-thought out mission statement. For our team, it has helped tremendously as different people come to the team with their individual baggage and assumptions. We are a collaborative group, with adults and students working together to reach solutions. We have had years where adults wanted to take over, and having a clear mission made it easier for some of them to get with our plan, and for us to remove others altogether since they didn't agree. We've also been able to articulate this to parents/sponsors/competitors who look askance at groups like ours where students aren't allowed to flounder while adults stand by smiling and nodding. When they say, "aren't students supposed to come up with all the ideas on their own?", we can point to our mission. This is just one example of how a clear mission has helped us.

Probably the second most helpful thing is a supportive school administration. I have seen firsthand how difficult it is when the school administration doesn't like or trust the team, and it is really destructive. When kids and parents know they are valued for being in FIRST, it makes a real difference in morale.

[Jacob Bendicksen]

I'm on the left coast, so I have absolutely no idea where Galena is in relation to St. Louis, but if it's at all possible you should try to get some prospective sponsors/mentors/students(?) to champs next month. It's been said earlier in this thread, but I think it bears repeating: once people have an idea of what FIRST is, they're way more likely to keep doing it next year.

Building a robot 'just cuz'? Not too many people will stay with the program.

Building a robot that's your entry into a magical world of Cheesy Poofs, Simbots, scholarships, Andy Baker, Segways, and internships? I'm in.

[Bill_B]

I've been thinking a lot about batteries in the last couple of weeks. Do not let the ratio of one battery to one automobile color your thinking on how many you need. I think you need at least four to be reasonably certain you can get decent performance from whatever machine you make. Take care of them by not overworking the one in use just because you're having fun. If you're going to have an hour of practice driving time, don't let any of your four batteries work for more than 15 minutes before getting them hooked up to your charger.

sorry - too detailed? You came to the right place for help with FRC. One of your first responses to an FRC-related question, technical or otherwise, should be "let's look and see what's on C D."

[Tmeziere]

Originally Posted by Bill_B

I've been thinking a lot about batteries in the last couple of weeks. Do not let the ratio of one battery to one automobile color your thinking on how many you need. I think you need at least four to be reasonably certain you can get decent performance from whatever machine you make. Take care of them by not overworking the one in use just because you're having fun. If you're going to have an hour of practice driving time, don't let any of your four batteries work for more than 15 minutes before getting them hooked up to your charger.

sorry - too detailed? You came to the right place for help with FRC. One of your first responses to an FRC-related question, technical or otherwise, should be "let's look and see what's on C D."

So true. The first day at the San Diego regional we did two practice matches. In both of them our batteries where duds. Luckily a couple of veteran teams helped us out and we were working correctly in no time. So always check all of your batteries before arriving at a regional.

[Mcomer]

Peggy,
Being a 4H team, will you have any ties into the school district to assist with resources like space to work or access to a shop? Being a small town will generally make it easier to gain community support but the smaller school district will be scared off by budget. I agree that getting key people to a FIRST event is critical to get the buy in to what you are wanting to do. Their first comment is usually, "I get it now", after attending a FIRST event. Camdenton 4H LASER 3284 will help in any way and are only 90 miles away. We would welcome you to our program to host potential mentors, students, administration, or sponsors if you can not get them to Championships. Let them visit with our students about the value of adding a FIRST program. Our school offers all 4 progressions of FIRST. In a district of 4,200 students, 1 in every 20 students is involved in FIRST. We have to use a lottery in the elementary schools for our FLL programs. So I know it can be done in a rural setting with no industry.
The MO State Fair in August would be another good opportunity to visit and view FIRST teams in a relaxed atmosphere when school is about to start. There is also the National 4H robotics conference being held in September in Farmington, MO. Please contact me so we can visit in more detail. I would love to see another team started in rural Missouri. mcomer@camdentonschools.org or laser3284.org

[AllenGregoryIV]

Take a look at our Illuminations Guide. It documents a lot of things we think rookie things should know.

Read through the threads started by Dr. Joe. Drinking from the Firehose

Also if you have any questions feel free to PM me, I'm always happy to help young teams get started.

[Bmarshall645]

We were a rookie this year our self and we even won the rookie all star award at the New England W.P.I District Event. Just start off with a basic idea for your robot and don't over think your ideas just start basic so you have a robot that works. I would focus on the Rookie awards sense you can only win those your rookie year. Our robot this year just picked up the ball and pushed it into the low goal we did basic ideas so we were not overwhelmed. If you need any ideas or more information about the awards and how we won them you can contact us on here.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by DiefChelphi

http://team4element.com/
This team has been around since the very first game, Maize Craze. Perhaps you can get advice from them.

Team 4's first year was 2006 actually, an offshoot of team 22.

[Woolly]

www.simbotics.org has some great insights into robot design, strategy and scouting. Introduce this to your team members early.
Also, drivetrain, drivetrain, drivetrain. Every year the most important thing on your robot is your drivetrain.