One thing you learnt this season

[Paradox1350]

I learned that you should never let an electrical engineer tell you how to mechanically assemble something. Ever.

[Yan Wang]

I learned that I will need a whip next year for keeping the electronics and pneumatics groups on schedule.

[Shu Song]

Very funny Yan...

I learned to not have so many things to do during build season. Really let my team down. But we still got everything done; so it's good.

[Rick]

dont trust anyone over 30 or any team under with a number less than 200! hehe

[Collin Fultz]

1.) Check the top of the drill press before using
2.) Clamp down aluminum while using box (mitre) saw

(I have a thumb to show for both...)

[geo]

I learned that new members are good for cleaning the room and cutting metals

[jacob_dilles]

red metal means its hot.

[Bill Gold]

I learned that being the lead mentor, one of the designers, a fabricator, a delegator, a shipping liaison, and a 20 year old “college” student (among other things) should never be attempted ever again by anyone. I learned that whenever I bought my team sodas they would, without exception, be found at random places in our room in various degrees of fullness. I’ve learned that despite my wishes and hopes, a team without faculty and/or administration support is doomed to fold, despite the machining and engineering resources it may have. Oh. I also learned how to use a lathe and a milling machine last fall, but I guess that doesn’t count because that wasn’t the build period.

No, really, I'm not disappointed...

[matt111]

56 tooth sun gear with 3 20 tooth planet gears will NOT fit inside a 96 tooth internal gear


ps. u need 2 or 4

[bigqueue]

Originally Posted by TeknoBramha

Tell us one important thing you learnt this season

I learned that Loctite eats thermoplastics......
The entire controls system is made of Thermoplastic!

The entire robot control system costs about $1500 (including FEDEX)!

Use Loctite very carefully!!!!!

[Paradox1350]

Originally Posted by Bill Gold

I learned that being the lead mentor, one of the designers, a fabricator, a delegator, a shipping liaison, and a 20 year old ?college? student (among other things) should never be attempted ever again by anyone. I learned that whenever I bought my team sodas they would, without exception, be found at random places in our room in various degrees of fullness. I?ve learned that despite my wishes and hopes, a team without faculty and/or administration support is doomed to fold, despite the machining and engineering resources it may have. Oh. I also learned how to use a lathe and a milling machine last fall, but I guess that doesn?t count because that wasn?t the build period.

No, really, I'm not disappointed...

I know this is a 'what we learned' thread, but I disagree with that. Our mentor quit during week 2 and our school administration told us that we couldn't go on because they were worried about the "Integrity of the school," and we still completed a bot.

So I guess I learned that every snag can be overcome.

[KenWittlief]

Captain: where is your drill sargent?
Platoon: Blooooooooown up sir!
Captain: am I to understand you men completed your training on your own?
Platoon: thats the fact jack!

-Stripes

[ejthe4th]

I learned one can never trust the PR department to do anything, and if they do do something, it's almost always late.
I also learned that one cannot trust someone to work on the 'bot who has never touched the 'bot before.

[Bill Gold]

Originally Posted by Paradox1350

I know this is a 'what we learned' thread, but I disagree with that. Our mentor quit during week 2 and our school administration told us that we couldn't go on because they were worried about the "Integrity of the school," and we still completed a bot.

So I guess I learned that every snag can be overcome.

I don't mean to be offensive, but what your team went through this build period and what my team has gone through the past few years sound like completely different experiences. You're on a rookie team, right? It's understandable that your mentors might burn out as rookies. It's a really hard game, and it's always tough doing this for the first time. It's also understandable that the administration in your school might find it easier to just give up when it faces a little adversity. 258 has been around since 1999, and should have had a foundation in the faculty / administration by now. An example of our on campus presence (or lack thereof) was when I went to pick up our 3 free pneumatic cylinders from the school's office, the school secretaries had never heard of the school's robotics team. Without faculty / administration support there is no new blood infused into your team. We have more students on our team from the San Jose Unified / San Jose City College: Middle College program than we do from Lincoln High School, where our team was started and meets. For the past 3 years we've had a high point of 8 high school students on our team. No offense, but building a robot isn't a major obstacle to overcome no that there are kit provided gearboxes and prewritten code. My team's mentors (5 college students, 2 engineers, and 2 machinists) could design and build a robot for our team, but as my team has discovered the past few seasons, getting more kids on the team and getting faculty / administration support doesn't necessarily follow from building a successful robot. In my opinion, we're talking about apples and oranges here. I stand by my original statement.

[Frank(Aflak)]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

one thing I learned this year;
is that punctuation is important;
and if you fail to use it properly;
you get errors; /*mistakes*/
where you dont expect them;

don't stand in line with the garage door spring when people are trying to take it off.

And, um, don't start putting 13 hour days in until you have to, or otherwise you will be wanting to go home at 6 on the night before ship. And your grades will look like you've had a serious case of senioritis.