Starting new team, need suggestions...

[Jacob Bendicksen]

I'm on the left coast, so I have absolutely no idea where Galena is in relation to St. Louis, but if it's at all possible you should try to get some prospective sponsors/mentors/students(?) to champs next month. It's been said earlier in this thread, but I think it bears repeating: once people have an idea of what FIRST is, they're way more likely to keep doing it next year.

Building a robot 'just cuz'? Not too many people will stay with the program.

Building a robot that's your entry into a magical world of Cheesy Poofs, Simbots, scholarships, Andy Baker, Segways, and internships? I'm in.

[Bill_B]

I've been thinking a lot about batteries in the last couple of weeks. Do not let the ratio of one battery to one automobile color your thinking on how many you need. I think you need at least four to be reasonably certain you can get decent performance from whatever machine you make. Take care of them by not overworking the one in use just because you're having fun. If you're going to have an hour of practice driving time, don't let any of your four batteries work for more than 15 minutes before getting them hooked up to your charger.

sorry - too detailed? You came to the right place for help with FRC. One of your first responses to an FRC-related question, technical or otherwise, should be "let's look and see what's on C D."

[Tmeziere]

Originally Posted by Bill_B

I've been thinking a lot about batteries in the last couple of weeks. Do not let the ratio of one battery to one automobile color your thinking on how many you need. I think you need at least four to be reasonably certain you can get decent performance from whatever machine you make. Take care of them by not overworking the one in use just because you're having fun. If you're going to have an hour of practice driving time, don't let any of your four batteries work for more than 15 minutes before getting them hooked up to your charger.

sorry - too detailed? You came to the right place for help with FRC. One of your first responses to an FRC-related question, technical or otherwise, should be "let's look and see what's on C D."

So true. The first day at the San Diego regional we did two practice matches. In both of them our batteries where duds. Luckily a couple of veteran teams helped us out and we were working correctly in no time. So always check all of your batteries before arriving at a regional.