Robotics "Hitchhiker's Guide"

[MrRogersRedux]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the boards. Happy to be here.

Anyway, I'm relatively new to robotics, and I think it would be a good idea to have a collection of threads that can explain some important essentials of robotics to noobies like me, something like a "Hitchhiker's Guide to Robotics."
Can anyone here suggest some good threads to include for something like this?

Thanks.

[Allison K]

Originally Posted by MrRogersRedux

Hi everyone, I'm new to the boards. Happy to be here.

Anyway, I'm relatively new to robotics, and I think it would be a good idea to have a collection of threads that can explain some important essentials of robotics to noobies like me, something like a "Hitchhiker's Guide to Robotics."
Can anyone here suggest some good threads to include for something like this?

Thanks.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/announcement.php?f=16

Those are some good threads about how to use chiefdelphi to it's fullest extent. As for other good threads, it really depends what you're interested in. Try searching for something and see what you come up (Drive Trains, Game Strategy, Fundraising, etc.)

~Allison

[Mark McLeod]

You might start with the topic specific forums located at:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums

Some of the more technical ones usually have sticky threads always located at the top on the most common issues.
Josh Hambright also produced something along the lines you are looking for, collections of the most interesting threads, in a couple of the heavily trafficked areas. His lists are stickys in their respective forums.
In the Electrical sub-forum
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=33430
or in Control Systems
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33473

I'd also take a look at the FIRSTwiki located at:
http://www.firstwiki.org
It's more in the style of a Hitchhiker's Guide.

[phrontist]

Don't Panic.

[Pat McCarthy]

I believe that 365 "Moe" has exactly what you are looking for.

http://www.moe365.org/moementum.php

This is their guide for people new to FIRST. It covers all aspects that you might be looking for. They should just call their guide "42".
Other than that, you can fill in anything that is missing by looking through the Chief Delphi Forums.

[Mike Schroeder]

it all depends on what you like to do...

for example, i like electronics, but not programing, i dable in drive systems and mechanics, but animation is way too confusing for me, i do NEMO stuff (nonengineer mentor organization), maybe ur the teams award writer and want info on differnt chairmens award submissions, so all in all CD has way too much information, and for that it should be shut down... i mean umm if your looking for it and its FIRST related then chances are you will find it just search for what your looking for (see link in my sig)

there was a movie about baseball and some crazy guy and everyone knows the line that i am about to say

IF you searchg for it, IT will come

[KathieK]

Welcome to Chief Delphi and to the wonderful world of FIRST robotics!

Be sure to check out the White Papers section (there is a link at the top of each page in Chief Delphi to it) - Here you will find many, many papers contributed by teams, students and mentors on a variety of technical and non technical subjects. There are lots of papers directed at rookie teams that you might find helpful as a rookie member of a veteran team, such as what to expect at competitions, tips for pit setup at competitions, mechanical and electrical tips, team organization ideas, Chairman's Award entries, etc.

If you are a mentor dealing with the non-technical areas, PM me and I will tell you more about NEMO (Non-Engineering Mentor Organization).

[Joe Matt]

http://www.firstwiki.org

It's like Wikipedia, only for FIRST.

[sure_smile]

whoa that was creepy...
somehow i managed to see 'Robotics "Hitler's Guide"' instead of "Hitchhiker's Guide"...almost as creepy as the time I thought all my zip ties disappeared

[Erin Rapacki]

Always carry a white towel.

[Joe Matt]

Originally Posted by Erin Rapacki

Always carry a white towel.

I thought it was just ANY towel, not just a white one.

[phrontist]

Originally Posted by JosephM

I thought it was just ANY towel, not just a white one.

Actually, it's any towel, but the preferred color is blue.

[George1902]

To paraphrase Douglas Adams himself...

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an FRC hitch hiker can have. Partly it has great practical value - you can wrap it around you for warmth as you await the start of a regional in the cold morning hours; you can lie on it out in the sun during your lunch break; you can sleep under it up in the stands; use it to cover electronics while drilling or grinding; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of Big Mike (a mindboggingly stupid animal, he assumes that if you can't see him, he can't see you - daft as a bush, but gives very ravenous bear hugs); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if another FRC participant discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a cordless drill, a tape measure, electrical tape, zip ties, surgical tubing, allan wrenches, socket wrenches, electrical connectors, PWM cables, spare pneumatic cylinders, etc. Furthermore, the FRC participant will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have "lost". What the FRC participant will think is that any man who can go through a six week build period, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

It's been a while since I've read the novels, but that's what they say as near as I remember.

[mechanicalbrain]

HA i laugh at your towel! No the most important tool is duct tape. Simply put what can't it be used for! You could even make a towel out of it. By the way i love that quote. Terry Pratchett is the one writer who has inspired me the most and is probably the the source of most of my disorders!