2016 Kickoff - Stronghold on CD - READ ME NOW

[Foster]

As you know, the 2016 FRC game Stronghold is moments away from being released. This is your guide to CD across the day before Kickoff and for the 6 critical days after kickoff. The few points listed here will make your and more importantly my life all of us here on CD lives much better.

The first week is hectic. Lots going on, lots of swirl, lots of activity. Chief Delphi can be a great resource. But like any power tool if you gum it up with swarf and debris it grinds to a stop and isn't useful. Remember, you are not the only one using CD, many of us use CD.

1) When it's announced go to the FIRST FRC site and download the encrypted game manual. There will also be a test file, to see if you can do the decryption process. Test this out. Then do those two steps (download and test) with all the other members of your team. In the past, FIRST has asked us to NOT rehost the manual on our own servers.

2) At Kickoff FIRST will release the password to the game: "Ju$tL1k3Med3iv3kT1me$". There are two dozen people people poised to be the first to post the password. Don't be one of them, just wait a few seconds after you see it on the kickoff video. Like in most years someone will fumble the password entry. Don't reply "Help it does not work for me!!" In the time it takes you to do that the poster has gone back to fix the post, the right password is now there.

3) Unlock your copy and your team member's copy of the rules and read them. Slowly, carefully, word by word, taking your time as if it was the last corndog of the summer. Read the rules front to back. And when you are done with the first pass read it again. Slowly. Maybe read it out loud as a group, with one person reading each rule and moving around the room. Or read it to the cat. Once you are done with the second full pass, think about what you have read. If you completed both reads in under 20 minutes, consider reading the rules in backwards order.

Remember the rules are "An overview of the game", "How to score points", "things you can use to build the robot" and "some of the things you can't use on the robot". It does not cover how you are going to play the game (aka strategy) and what the robot will look like (aka design)

At this point you have many questions. "Can we use sharks with lasers?" Time to break out your number one tool, that 64 oz can of "Common Sense". So, NO, this is not the year of the water game, the sharks will die. If drinking the can of "Common Sense" didn't get you that answer don't post your question on CD, go ask a team mate that has read the manual. Have them use their can of "Common Sense" and their DEEP READING OF THE RULES. Did you come up with the answer? No? Try a 3rd team member.

4) OK, so maybe a legit question. Next step is to check CD. Look at the top of the screen. See the orange bar with Portal, User CP ...? See where it says Search. Click Search, see the box to put key words in. Try 2016 Sharks Lasers. No hits? Reword: 2016 R26 Lasers. No hits? (There is one, I just tried it. Did you spell shark correctly?)

It could be that it's a really weird question. Next scan the recent posts list to see if someone has posted something that may be about your question. Look at the posts and see. If there is a thread, consider replying to it, if not maybe a new thread.

5) Think about what you are about to write. Think about four things:
-- How can I ask my question so it's clear what I'm looking for
-- What part of the rules triggered my question, get that rule number and maybe the words ready
-- Where did I look for the answer and did I find something close
-- Did I really read all the rules carefully? Is now a good time to go back one more time?

6) Posting time!

Write your post. Be complete with your question, what rule, what other answers you found that may be close, etc. Use Capital Letters when needed. All sentences need nouns and verbs. You are a high school roboteer you should be able to write four to six sentences without dropping into leetspeek.

Remember your post will be seen my thousands, best foot forward. We all want to help you, so as much detail as you can give helps us help you.

Pick a good subject line. -"Help Stuck" very poor. "Stuck on R23 Help" poor. "Sharks and Lasers in R23" better. "R23 - Are sharks with lasers allowed in the moat?", much better.

6) Check spelling, grammar, etc. Submit. Now go do something else. Do not sit and refresh CD over and over. Do not post after an hour a reply "Hey, need help here!". Other people are busy, they may be researching the question, looking at CAD drawings of the moat to see how big of a shark, etc. Give them some time. Maybe go back and read the rules again?

7) If this is truly blocking you from progress, the look at answering other threads while you wait. Do you KNOW the answer? Can you cite something that will make your answer better. YAY! Then read all the posts in the thread. Do the current set of posts cover the answer? Will you adding your post really add value? If so, post your answer. Be complete, be detailed, cite why you think this is the answer. "If you check R26 you will see that there is not any water in the moat, the shark will die. And if you check R123 about human players, you'll see that sharks would not be included in the criteria. " Remember to check Capitalization, use of nouns and verbs, etc.

I used a rule question as my example. Rules questions are normally the first few days. Remember "The Posts On CD are Opinions Only". If you have a real rules question, ask in the official FIRST forums. (And ask yourself what the reason is they don't take questions in the first days?" Did you read the manual?!?

Technical Questions.

First thing with tech questions is the same search process in step 5. What is the problem, where did you look, what did you find, are things close that you can use to do what you want?

But first:

CD is full of very smart people willing to offer advice.

CD is full of people that think they are very smart people that are willing to offer advice.

CD is full very nice people willing to offer advice.

If you post a technical question, you will get many answers back. You should look at the answer given to see if it makes sense. "Yup, we use the wires we cut off of discarded lamps to wire our robot, go for that". Yikes!!!

If you answer a technical question make sure you are giving out complete and current information and in within the current constraints. While yes you may have tons of experience in coding Java for web based e-commerce solutions, programming a robot in Java is a little different. Be helpful, don't add to the problem. If you are kibitzing, maybe wait a day and see if someone answers that really has an answer. If not you can try "Well I've never used 'GlacticStick Glue' (tm) on a shark, but I did stick a flashlight on my brother with it and it was on there all day"

That's it, just a few things to make your CD experience across the next few weeks great. Help us out helping you out by helping us out!

Now go read the rules!!

[JesseK]

You don't know if this is not the year of the water game. They may have water-filled game elements, making them extremely heavy and dense.

More seriously, most of that is well put.

[rclothier]

Should the second "k" in Ju$tL1k3Med3iv3kT1me$ actually be an l (ell)?

[Foster]

Originally Posted by rclothier

Should the second "k" in Ju$tL1k3Med3iv3kT1me$ actually be an l (ell)?

/sigh, I misspelled medieval also.... Correct passsword is "Ju$tL1k3M3d13v4lT1me$"

[GaryVoshol]

Good ideas on how to ask a question.

And you'll have much better responses if you word your question like, "Rule R47 says .... does that mean we have to use a blobbermasher on our robot this year?"

Don't ask, "I haven't had time to look, but someone on our team says a blobbermasher is required. Anyone know?

Remember, the rules are searchable too!

[rsisk]

AND if you ask a question and find an answer through a means other than the thread you started, do us all a favor and come back to the thread and post the solution.

Nothing worse than finding a thread that describes the same problem you are having only to get to the end of thousand posts to find "Thanks, got it fixed" as the last post.

[Conor Ryan]

0) Download and install software already available through the Virtual Kit. Be prepared for more installs immediately following kickoff.

3.1) Download and install new 2016 National Instruments Kit and appropriate programming software.

[Foster]

Originally Posted by GaryVoshol

Good ideas on how to ask a question.

It's long, but the How to ask a smart question guide by Eric Raymond is great. It was updated last year to tell how to ask on StackOverflow (a software resource)

The real thing is that Google is your friend! Google does a great job of indexing CD, so it's a good way to search things here.

Originally Posted by rsisk

AND if you ask a question and find an answer through a means other than the thread you started, do us all a favor and come back to the thread and post the solution.

Nothing worse than finding a thread that describes the same problem you are having only to get to the end of thousand posts to find "Thanks, got it fixed" as the last post.

Oh yea, I had one of these over the break. Except mine said "Oh, it turns out it was an easy fix". /sigh

[asid61]

Very nice guide, hopefully it will come in handy for those new to CD.
Oftentimes I see the problems are not with the people who have spent the time to read the manual thoroughly, but rather people who are in a rush to start building. A guide like this one, only much shorter (and containing a link to this one) could be helpful towards helping them preemptively.

[GreyingJay]

One of the things we should be learning -- as people in general, I believe, but definitely in STEM disciplines -- is how to ask questions and gather information in a useful, structured way.

I don't know if we're becoming lazier or more entitled or simply not learning how to ask good questions. But the types of posts that the OP is attempting to stave off -- the types of posts that are inevitable, I guess -- are symptomatic of this lack of willingness (or ability) to think things through and use reason and logic.

Maybe it is part of this culture of instant gratification. I want the answer, and I want it now! I don't want to search for it, I don't want to think, I just want someone to tell me.

Common sense, isn't.

[ollien]

Originally Posted by Conor Ryan

3.1) Download and install new 2016 National Instruments Kit and appropriate programming software.

Has the NI software been released yet? I can find the classmate images but I can't find the download to install it on our own computer.

[Ari423]

Originally Posted by ollien

Has the NI software been released yet? I can find the classmate images but I can't find the download to install it on our own computer.

I don't think so. IIRC it isn't usually released until Kickoff. In previous years you got a physical CD with an activation code printed on it in the KOP.

[Foster]

Encrypted Manual is up for the game

2016 Stronghold Manual Page

[Hallry]

Direct links to encrypted files (right click, select "Save Link As"):


Game Manual: http://www.firstinspires.org/sites/d...manual-enc.pdf

Field Drawing Package: http://www.firstinspires.org/sites/d...s-2016-enc.zip


Kickoff Kit

Gray Tote Checklist: http://www.firstinspires.org/sites/d...y-tote-enc.pdf

Yellow Tote Checklist:http://www.firstinspires.org/sites/d...w-tote-enc.pdf

Drive Base Kit Checklist: http://www.firstinspires.org/sites/d...se-kit-enc.pdf

Separate Items Checklist: http://www.firstinspires.org/sites/d...-items-enc.pdf

[MrRoboSteve]

Excellent post.

If you follow Foster's instructions regarding writing a post, you'll often answer your question before submitting it.