Some Rookie Advice (Wait, no we're the ones that need it so...eh nvm)

[Vikesrock]

Sounds like you could use some MOEmentum

[jee7s]

This is a list of a few thoughts that come to mind:

1. Make sure your team is communicating.

2. Standardize.

3. Ask questions first, build later...but not too late.

4. Write things down.

5. Think things through.

6. Play to win -- make sure your robot accomplishes the tasks of the game.

7. Practice and test.

8. Remember it's a marathon, not a sprint.

Hope that helps somewhat.

[MagiChau]

You may or not heard this but, at least make sure your robot does at least one thing well whether it is hanging tubes, running with tubes or playing defense.

[Colin P]

I'm also a team leader of a rookie team this year, and it is a handful.
Just try to keep in mind that the most important thing to accomplish in the rookie year is good team structure. Having a good robot is nice, but it is most important for you to set up the team to ensure future success.

Mentoring rookie students is an uphill battle. As much as I want to give them control over the robot and what goes into it, they simply do not know how a FIRST robot is made. The big problem I've had this season is trying to have them build a good robot without controlling them too much.

It's very helpful to have a veteran team to ask for assistance. Team 857, Superior Roboworks, has been giving me some great advice. Any veteran team would be more than happy to assist a rookie with anything.

It's a lot to handle, but it's such a great experience. I'm so happy to have had this opportunity. Once the dust settles, I think we'll all be feeling a lot better.

[Alex2614]

Hello, I am from FRC team 2614 from Morgantown, West Virginia. We were a rookie team in 2008, coming from an area where teams have folded due to everything from lack of funding to interfering with basketball, so we know how hard it can be to start and sustain a team. Here's some advice on an organizational/sustainability standpoint:

-Communication is the biggest. I have seen many clubs/organizations (outside robotics) that have died because of lack of communication. Our team has an email ListServ that has proven to be an immensely helpful tool (we are getting approx. 20-30 robotics emails a day on a slow day).

-Keep your community informed about what you are doing. Write to your local paper and explain what FIRST is (I'm assuming there are no other FRC teams in your area?). Write to your local businesses and invite them to see your progress (and get some spare change on the side). Hold an open house before ship date to demo the robot to the community. There are endless possibilities, but if you can get your community behind you, that's a big factor in sustaining a team.

-Keep all members involved. Specialization is the key. While you don't have to have a strict specialization setup (we don't), it is a good way to keep everyone involved in something.

-Brainstorming before building. We just started cutting metal last weekend. Weigh pros and cons of everything several times, and draw everything out beforehand. Planning is everything.

-There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking a "rookie" approach to the game. We did that our rookie year, and ended up winning a regional as a passive and defensive bot. From what I have seen, rookie teams that don't try to tackle every aspect of the game (i.e. Maybe not getting all three rows, etc.) have done much better than rookie teams that try to do everything. I'm not saying your team does not have the capability, because I wouldn't know. I'm not trying to be judgmental, but it's just what I've seen. Every team was a rookie once before, right? They all know what it's like and understand.

-Getting advice from older teams, just like you are doing with this thread, is very important. At competitions, the other teams are more than willing to help with anything. We've just about built whole robots for other teams at competitions, so no amount of help is too much to ask for. Go around and ask them to explain how their machines work and why they chose to tackle the challenge the way they did. You can learn A LOT from these discussions and pictures of their machines.

As far as problems we have run into, I can't think of anything that would have changed anything drastically. There is a lot of little stuff that we eventually overcame. It's all a part of the experience, though.
Our rookie year, we met as a team for the first time the day of kickoff. There were 11 of us and 2 mentors; we didn't know each other, as we came from two cross-town rival schools. We had no idea what we were doing. We were just a disorganized group of high school students that met together over the weekends. But we emerged as a close group of friends. We ended up winning not only the regional, but also the Rookie All-Star Award as well. We ahve grown substantially since then. Anyway, I apologize, I didn't mean to ramble about my team. But what I'm trying to say is that anything is possible. If we could do it, you can do it. And, you have succeeded even if you come home without a single trophy. You became a part of the FIRST community, and had a great adventure and learning experience. That takes some serious effort and that alone deserves great recognition. It will only get better from here.

I'm sorry I wrote so much, but I hope it was helpful. Welcome to FIRST, guys! And good luck this year! Feel free to email me if you have any further questions at alexkstout@gmail.com