Looking for White papers and other useful info

[Japper]

In an attempt to bring up the knowledge base of our rookie team during the off-season (and before next year's challenge), I am looking for white papers or other useful information in which I can use for curriculum. I plan to develop training for our team with hands on sessions with the information gained from such documents.

Can anyone send me a link of where I can find any and all useful information for this purpose?

I am interested in anything related to the design, build, choosing certain drive trains and chassis components, as well as tricks and tips of the various robot's systems, and all other aspects of the First competition including information on the admistrative aspects and what is required to raise funds and to achieve certain awards, etc.

I have downloaded some of the docs from the US First and IFI sites but I am sure that there must be much more good info out there...

Thanks in advance!

[Tom Bottiglieri]

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/

There is a HUGE amount of user posted content in there. You can find papers on different topics by using the paper search function or tags. Read away.

[Lil' Lavery]

http://www.usfirst.org/community/frc...t.aspx?id=1110
http://www.usfirst.org/community/frc...t.aspx?id=1112

You may also want to attend conferences held at the Championship Event, Manchester Kick-off, and many local kick-offs.

Some papers I have found helpful:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/1443
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/1682
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/1836

Also, if you have any questions about drive systems, don't hesitate to PM or email me. I'll be glad to help you guys out with anything I can (online of course... I'm a bit far).

Good luck!

[RoboMom]

And don't forget www.firstnemo.org Look at the "resources" page
NEMO (non-engineering mentor organization)

[Japper]

Thank you to everyone for all of your valuable information...

Does anyone know if First has any online courses on any of the tools or
applications of the parts that they supply?

It would be nice to see what curriculum is out there and available for other teams to pick up some knowledge and training in the off-season...

Also if any of the established teams out there have any training info that they would be willing to share, all would be appreciated.

Thanks

[lukevanoort]

Some more papers that may be helpful:

Universal Drive Systems This paper covers many of the various drive systems around. Its a tad out of date (no mecanum) and doesn't go into a lot of detail, but it is a GREAT paper to start with. There also used to be some very nice drive system papers on the Innovation First site that supplement this file quite well, but they nolonger appear to be there.

C Programming and Autonomous Modes for Newbies This paper provides a great introduction into C.

For manipulators, the "Designing Competitive Manipulators: The Mechanics & Strategy" ppt found in the 2006 Championship workshop archives (Second link Lil' Lavery posted) is quite good.

For electrical things, the whitepapers at Innovation First's website will give you the basics of the Victors and Spikes, and the wiring diagram that FIRST puts out every year will give the overall view.

And last, but certainly not least, the Guidelines, Tips, and Good Practices document that FIRST has along with the manual every year is an excellent source of general stuff about building/designing your robot.