Help for Rookies

[Tim Delles]

I thought maybe all of the verteran teams in FIRST could give some advice to some of the Rookies participating this year. I was think that we could share how our teams decide what kind of robot we will build, what kinda of mechanisms we will use, how to select drive team, etc.

For those interested my team breaks up into groups, headed by veteran team members that brainstorm the best way to score points, or what will make us the most likely to win a match. We then decide on how to do what we want, for example the same groups come up with quick sketchs and designs of mechanisms such as arms, and claws.

Don't know if anyone will use this to try to help other teams but i thought maybe i could try this and see if anyone wants to reveal any 'secrets' behind their success, in order to make rookies a little bit better.

[Cory]

Best and shortest advice I have:

Do ONE thing and only one thing, and do it well.

Many veteran teams try to do too much and end up with one robot that might do a few things but is mediocre at best. If you do one thing, consistently every time, your robot is probably going to be a lot simpler, you'll play in more matches because you won't be fixing it all the time, and you're going to be a valuable part of any alliance.

Cory

[Tim Delles]

I must agree with you on this, or atleast say that what we try to do is make a mechinism that can do multiple things if we need it to, such as last year we decided to make sure we could hang on the bar, and with this we simply added a claw to our extendo and we could also minipulate the 2X multiplier. make sure to Keep It Simple.

[Wayne C.]

There is no single way to be successful but a few ideas are:

1. keep things as simple as possible - better to work well on simpler things than be broken all the time

2, the team needs to come to consensus on design- not everybody needs to be overjoyed at the decided on design but all need to agree that they will support the building of it.

3. listen to everybody- but defer to the experts (your engineers) for advice in construction. It only makes sense for the people who know engineering to offer the ideas on what or how to build things. The non-experts can include their ideas obviously but the experts should be listened too for the "how to" advice for design and building.

4. Take time to work on building your team. When you have a good team and everybody enjoys being on it the robot building will be much more fun and more productive.

5. Ask for help- there are plenty of us happy to lend a hand or idea. You don't need to do things alone in FIRST


Feel free to drop a line...

WC

[ClicheCow]

Know the limits of build time. Six weeks seems like a long time, but if your a new team, and especially if your a smaller team, time will run out quicker than you think. Don't bite off more than you can chew, and don't try to make major design changes too late in the season unless you have to. Remember that the most complicated design is not always the best design.

Also, be aware that the rules change as the build season progresses. Check the FIRST website for the team updates regularly, otherwise you might be building for a strategy that is no longer allowed.

[Kyle]

Money is a huge thing to think of during build, its something that alot of students dont think of and it can send give teams money problems before comps. always rember that there is some way to raise money. IF there is any team that might need help with fundraising just e-mail IM me or PM me and my self or other members of MOE can help you think of ways to get money or supplies.
BUT REMBER TO ALWAYS HAVE FUN.