American Robot Episode 1

[Rob]

I have noticed many people commenting about our facility. We think it is great. We have lots of workspace and enough room to make about 70% of the field (the columns get in the way). We have lots of neat workbenches built out of elements from past fields. While the navy can provide us with this great facility, it can also be a pain though. The building is on a Navy Base which has tight security. Because of safety regulations, we cnat have any real machinery such as a mill or lathe in the facility. We do all of our machining in the basement of a volunteer who is unfortunately only around on the weekends.

But we couldn't trade this facility for anything. It is great, especially for long or large meetings. having the portion of a field set up is great for practice as well as planning strategy. We feel very privaleged. We share the playing field with the other teams in RI because they do not have large facilities at their disposal.

For those of you who do not have great facilities, you should contact other local teams. Other teams may have resources that they can share. Several teams working together can save alot of expenses by sharing. If FIRST continues to grow, the only way to get teams the resources they need will be through sharing. Try and see if anyone around you can help you out!

Rob