What FIRST has taught me V.RookieYear

[Validius]

1. What a Mill is.
2. TONS about materials
3. Practical engineering applications
4. Lots of friends
5. C
6. MOST IMPORTANTLY OF ALL: Teamwork. we were a small team but everyone was VERY different. I had only known one team member before i joined.

Yes, i was inspired, i cant wait to go back next year and do even better. I have made it a project to give demonstrations for other students for the past 2 weeks.

Oh yea... Once ur a driver, you never go back!!

[David V]

You're programmer, engineer, and driver? Just how many people are on your team? It's cool that you took the time to actually think about what you learned over the year. Let's hope that next year will be just as productive for you

[Tom Bottiglieri]

Originally Posted by David V

You're programmer, engineer, and driver? Just how many people are on your team? It's cool that you took the time to actually think about what you learned over the year. Let's hope that next year will be just as productive for you

I program, machine some, help assemble the bot, and I am the drive team coach..

Yet.. theres many people on my team who put in just as much if not more work than I did, just in one specialized area. Without them we wouldnt have a robot. My team has been given such a great oppurtunity the in the past two years because the students are able to design and build the robot, right in the high school. Now.. while our bot may not have the most sleek or effective parts, it does well and I am happy to know that everyone who put something into it learned big time.

So pretty much what I have learned this year is:

- Work as a team, everyone benefits.
- Trying to cram about 8 weeks worth of systems development into 2 days DOES NOT work
- Programmers shouldnt touch machine tools, unless they are CNC

[Dorienne]

Wow..my rookie year..seems so long ago. LOL back in '03. Shocking how time flies sometimes.

But I learned so much from that. I didn't do anything on the robot..haha, still don't. I learned infinite things from FIRST despite what I didn't do, but here are a few:
a) business skills
b) confidence in speaking and in myself
c) what teamwork truly is
d) how to write a press release (hehe)
e) FIRST is the most amazing program there is. Period.

I'm so glad you learned a lot, Mark. Welcome to FIRST...it's addictive.

=P

[JamesBrown]

Just to add my 2 cents

I learned
1) Dont assign the job to the only person who doesnt know how to do it.
2) If you need something ask some one always has it
3) Dont be the only one who can fix part of the bot that part will break when you are at an alliance captains meeting
4) The only way to win is to communicate
5) Don't Let the Cyber Knights borrow your power strip (just kidding)

I was Team Captain, Designed the contol system, Did most of the electronics, all of the programming and alot of the fabrication and building (you get to do every thing on a small team)

[thoughtful]

10 Things I learned

1) Respect from your teammates is the best feeling you will ever experience
2) Trust your sub-team leaders to do their job well.
3) Let go and relax, you dont have to do everything youself
4) Dont be afraid to assign team roles based on commitment
5) Have a couple of people specialised in every aspect of the robot
6) Always communicate! dont let your team members lose hope.
7) Say thanks to your mentors once in a while
8) Improvise. If everything went along with the initial plans then there would be no challenge in FIRST.
9) Never worry about what you could have done, take pride in what you already accomplished.
10)FIRST is not just about robotics, engineering or technology. Its about values greater than that:teamwork, sacrifice and continuous effort.

[Katy]

4 Years of FIRST has taught me...
...electronics say black + red = fire
...programmers say black + red = = fire
...both types of weirdos will attempt to tell you "disable off" turns the robot on
...just because a tool could do the task it doesn't mean it was made to do it twice
...wash your hands before you eat
...plan where the battery will go
...make your directions very clear
...always stay up on your tetnis shot
...always have a plan "b." Having a plan "t" never hurt anybody.
...people our age can change the world
...growing up is optional. Taking responsibility isn't.
...Gracious Professionalism makes the world a better place
...I want to be an engineer

[KathieK]

Check out this white paper: All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in FIRST

[Validius]

Originally Posted by Tom Bottiglieri

- Programmers shouldnt touch machine tools, unless they are CNC

HEY! I'm the programmer in training. If i leanred Machine tools before C (but not programming in general) then that doesnt apply..... right?

I fabricated lots of stuff that made its way onto the final bot. and i didnt loose any body parts either :-D

[Mike]

What I learned:
Don't take the camera out of the case, and then leave it near the battery terminal.
If it's sparking and smoking, it's most likely hot, don't touch the aforementioned camera.

[Validius]

Originally Posted by David V

You're programmer, engineer, and driver? Just how many people are on your team? It's cool that you took the time to actually think about what you learned over the year. Let's hope that next year will be just as productive for you

there are about 6 people who REALLY worked on the bot all season. I am driver, i am part of mechanical and electrical and i'm programmer in training (i know BASIC and Perl, i just need to brush up on C).