First Year Team Assistance - MOEmentum: FYI

[Mr MOE]

The following is the first of several notes which we have sent out to rookie teams. Some of the information is not as timely for the kickoff, but following notes will be. We are maintaining a distribution list of first-year teams (or others if you are interested) to send these weekly notes to.

If you or your team is interested, please follow the instructions below to be added to the distribution. More info will be available on our website (www.moe365.org) shortly.


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Introducing - MOEmentum: FYI (First-Year Infobase)
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Team 365 (Miracle Workerz/MOE from Wilmington, Delaware) wants to
assist first-year FIRST teams as they experience the full range of emotions
going through their first robot build season. Team 365 (MOE) is starting our
6th year in FIRST and, like other teams, has found it to be an incredible
experience. As any first-year team probably knows by know, it is also a
very challenging experience. Fortunately, through the FIRST community, there
is ample assistance.

Many teams have found their first year as a team to be rather challenging on
several fronts. "MOEmentum: FYI" is our way of helping first-year teams
progress through their first build and competition season. Each week, we will
send an e-mail to 2005 with a summary of the current week's tips and resources
along with links to the full text or dcoument on the MOEmentum: FYI section of our
team's website (www.moe365.org). This information will be organized by time
frame relative to the build season, and will be permanently archived for reference
at any time of the year. Our next e-mail message will inform you when the website
content will be available.

MOEmentum: FYI will be primarily comprised of tips from our student and adult
team members to help you focus on specific areas of importance during the time
frame we are sharing the information (i.e., pre-kickoff, week 1, post-ship, etc.).
In conjunction with these tips, we will include documents which our team uses
to organize our activities. Feel free to use them as you wish.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact any of our
MOEmentum: FYI collaborators:

John Larock - MOE 365 Team Coordinator
John.A.Larock@usa.dupont.com
William Enslen - MOEmentum FYI Coordinator
Bill_Enslen@dadebehring.com
"Action" Joe Perrotto - MOE Technical mentor
Joseph.A.Perrotto@usa.dupont.com
Carlo F.- MOE Student Leader
cdjr320@comcast.net

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You have received this e-mail because you are listed as the
primary contact for a first-year FIRST Robotics team.

If you would like to stop receiving messages from MOEmentum:
FYI, please send a blank e-mail message to
William_Enslen@dadebehring.com with the word REMOVE as the
Subject.

If you would like to add anyone as a recipient of these messages,
please send an e-mail to William_Enslen@dadebehring.com
with the word ADD as the Subject, and include the e-mail
address(es) to be added in the body.
____________________________

Good luck to all teams, especially First-Year Teams!

MOE 365

OFFICIAL FIRST COMMUNICATIONS / INFORMATION

*. KICKOFF ATTENDANCE - you should know how your team will view the
kickoff. You may have representatives travelling to New Hampshire
and/or team members participating in a regional kickoff event. This
information was due to FIRST in early December.

*TIP* It is usually convenient to have a number of students at a
regional kickoff event. Your team members will get a chance to
interact with other FIRST fanatics, share in the excitement, see the
kickoff broadcast, and interact with components of the playing field.

*TIP* If your team members are attending a Regional Kickoff event,
each person will need to complete a FIRST Release Form. This
form is available on the KICKOFF link on the FIRSTwebsite
(www.usfirst.org).

* OBTAINING KIT OF PARTS - you should know how your team will
obtain your kit of parts. You will probably be picking it up at a Regional
Kickoff or having it shipped to your school / location. Typically,
the quickest way to get hold of the kit is to pick it up at a Regional Kickoff.

* KICKOFF WEBCAST - NASA is webcasting the event for individuals
who are not attending any official Regional / New Hampshire kickoffs.
The webcast information is available from the KICKOFF link on the
FIRST website. Those who can pick up NASA Satellite Television
can also view the webcast without the delay problems of buffering.

*TIP* MOE suggests you plan to videotape the webcast if possible.
Information flies by quickly. If you have the capability to do so, it will
allow you to review important information with your team later.

TEAM ORGANIZATION

* KICKOFF ATTENDANCE - we recommend making kickoff attendance
mandatory for all team members and that there are plans to view the
kickoff as a team.

*TIP* By issuing tough rules/policies up front, it is easier to determine
which students (and adult mentors) are really committed to this program.
It is likely that most, if not all, of your team members have never been
through this process before and do not truly realize the commitment required.

*TIP* MOE 365 requires each student to sign a Student Contract document.
Just by requiring students to sign their name to something might cause them
to step back and think about what they are committing to.

STUDENT CONTRACT


* WORK LOCATION - by now, you should have determined where you will
meet to build the robot. The work location should be known by all team
members and should have access to the tools & equipment you will use.

*TIP* Having a procedure to access the work location may be a good idea.

* BUILD TEAM ORGANIZATION - it is important to consider how you will be
organized as a team when you actually build the robot. Most teams break
the larger team into sub-teams with specific tasks and responsibilities.
This depends greatly on the size of your team.

*TIP* MOE 365 is very fortunate to have about 35 student team members
and 15-20 active adults. Before kickoff, we survey the students on their
areas of interest and assign sub-team leaders (adults or students)
to each of our work teams as soon as possible.

SUBTEAM ASSIGNMENTS


* MEETING TIME - your team members should clearly understand when
you will meet during the build season.

* COMMUNICATION PROCESS - ensure that you have at least one way to
communicate to all team members. Think about general communications
and emergency communications (i.e., meeting cancellation due to
inclement weather, change in meeting time, etc.)

*TIP* MOE 365 uses e-mail as our primary communication method. Ensure
that all team members have e-mail access and determine who updates your
distribution lists when students change their e-mail addresses (they love to
do this).

*TIP* If possible, set up a phone hotline where students/team members can
call into a pre-recorded message with urgent and recent information (i.e., if
a meeting is cancelled due to weather).


BUILDING OF PLAYING FIELD COMPONENTS

* IMPORTANCE - if possible, the best way to focus your robot design is to
construct components of the actual playing field with which you plan to have
your robot interact. Are you planning to build a full-playing field, a fraction of
the playing field, or certain components? Obviously, this decision depends
greatly on space and cost limitations.

*TIP* If possible, it is very valuable to at least build key field components
(goals, parts of ramps, etc.). The quicker this is accomplished, the better
perspective your team members will have regarding the real functionality of
your robot.

*TIP* MOE 365 assigns a group of willing parents to acquire building materials
and build parts of the playing field. This provides an opportunity for parents to
participate and does not interrupt the flow of brainstorming strategies / robot
functions, which is what the students/adult mentors are doing in parallel.


*TIP* The FIRST Pre-kickoff Bill of Materials has been released. Here it is.



TEAM ACTIVITIES POST-KICKOFF

* UNDERSTANDING THE GAME - it is critical for your team members to clearly
understand the game prior to starting to build something. Think about how you
plan to have every member of your team understand the game. It could be by
talking about it as a group, requiring them to read all FIRST documentation, etc.

*TIP* There are times when FIRST may modify or provide additional
clarification of the original game rules. Realize that whereas only a handful of
people designed the game, now literally 10s of thousands of people see it and
are all asking questions.

*TIP* Ensure all team members know where to find the game rules and review
them.

* HOW MUCH DO YOU PLAN TO DO ON SATURDAY AFTER THE KICKOFF -
the game will take some time to sink in, as everyone starts processing it internally
themselves. Do you plan to ensure an understanding of the game that day? Will
you begin brainstorming immediately or wait a day. It is important to know your plan
prior to kickoff.

*TIP* MOE 365 spends the remainder of our time together after the kickoff broadcast
collectively understanding the rules of the game. Once we are fairly confident that
most team members have a solid understanding, we begin to brainstorm strategies.
We reconvene on Sunday to focus on strategies to play the game.


*TIP* While you may want time for all of this to sink in, you will need to work quickly
to determine what type of strategy you plan to use.

* BRAINSTORMING PROCESS - getting all your team's ideas out on the table to
determine how you will play the game is more important than building something
at this stage. Determine what type of process you will use to get the team to agree
upon a strategy to play the game, which will lead into what functions your robot
needs to have to implement the strategy.

*TIP* Getting consensus on a strategy may be one of the toughest tasks you have
in the first week of robot build. Try to determine a method you believe will be
effective with your team. It is important to understand how much participation your
students and adults will have in the process. Whatever you do, select a process
and stick with it. Credibility is important.

*TIP* MOE 365 has used a modified collaborative brainstorming/decision making
process for most of our FIRST experience. It has been effective for the size of our
team. The following document describes the process.

BRAINSTORMING PROCESS EXAMPLE



KEEPING CONNECTED WITH THE FIRST COMMUNITY

* WHAT'S GOING ON - once the kickoff hits, an army of roboteers will be mobilized
in the Americas and overseas trying to determine how they can best build a
robot to play this game. Lots of ideas and questions will be floating around. It
will be advantageous for your team to be connected to this information barrage.

*TIP* Assign at least one team member to check the Chief Delphi site
(www.chiefdelphi.com) daily (or even multiple times per day) to process all the
information which will be shared in the FIRST forums. This resource will be
invaluable to your team going forward. All team members should know this site
very well.

*TIP* Sign up multiple team members for the FIRST E-Mails Blasts which are sent.
These will include the infamous TEAM UPDATES sent by FIRST to clarify rules
and provide additional information. If only one person receives these, they may
not be communicated to your team in the most efficient way. The TEAM UPDATES
are archived under the DOCUMENTATION section of the FIRST Robotics website.

*TIPS* The competition documentation should be available immediately or not
long after kickoff. Make sure your team members know where to find it. Ensure
someone on your team reviews the rules thoroughly. The time spent doing this will
be worth it later.