We need a second build season

[tiffany34990]

it seems like it's not--but those that create the game well yeah...sorta need a while do figure them out. besides we all still are always usually doing something w/ FIRST--so it never ends for me yet and the action will soon happen...

[MasonMM]

Here is Houston was have the Houston Robotics Education Program (HREP). This provides Houston with year round robotics competition from grades 3-12. Although they are not all FIRST sponsored competitions, each competition is a building block of a pyramid that ultimately ends with the FIRST Robotics Competition. Maybe next fall you could get one of the competitions outlined in the HREP going in your area, allowing you to fulfill your want to have more competitions. Maybe you could even start some of the competitions for the elementary school level for those younger kids that think just like you and want more competitions.

[JagWire]

yea, I'm digging the idea of more competitions. i only wish i'd gotten on a team before my senior year!! i feel gypped! (I'm on a rookie team). i feel lost now that i have no robot to build on!! I'm going to have to go through rehab to learn how to hang out with my friends again... and to do homework...

[Greg Marra]

Why not start up a VEX team during the off season? It would give you a chance to prototype different systems, and it's a really good platform to learn programming on. You can even build a VEX model of your 2006 robot and drive the two alongside each other (awww, how cute).

Why not begin a First Lego League team at an elementary school in your town? Introduce kids to the principals of engineering and get them excited to join the FRC team when they get to high school.

There's a lot of things you could do besides build another full sized robot.

[Stuart]

hmm an all wood firstish robotics game in the fall. . hmmm . . BEST

not as glamourious but its fun. team 1745 has done BEST for the past . . 10ish years.

[IraJason]

All I can say, even though the robot is finished, there is still a lot more to this game to be occupied with. It's time to practice with practice robots(if you got em) or mock ups so human players can play the game well, create spares and other materials during the FIX IT WINDOWS, and of course, SCOUTING! I know i'm looking forward to seeing a regional beforehand to see how the game is played. You can also spend your time watching the webcasts, if you want to go that route.

That and there are a whole bunch of different off season events for teams to go to once competition is over. It's probably not the same as spending another six weeks to build another robot, but its still a fun way to use your competition robot and see other teams from your area.

Don't stop thinking about this season yet... its far from over.

[Erics626]

Originally Posted by Stuart

hmm an all wood firstish robotics game in the fall. . hmmm . . BEST

not as glamourious but its fun. team 1745 has done BEST for the past . . 10ish years.

We do BEST also, and have done quite well in it. We enjoy it a lot, and it is a great learing tool for new kids to the robotics team. We also participate in BotBall. And Vex is also always fun.

[MishraArtificer]

Have you considered driver training during the offseason using the funnest things to drive on earth?

RC!
www.towerhobbies.com
They even have robots. Whee!

[Vogel648]

Honestly, after one season, I'm burnt out on programming for a month or two, then I start working on projects that we might do things similar to next year.

[JaneYoung]

I understand the initial purpose of this thread but I would just like to present this thought.

The 2nd build season is the season of building the team. Time well spent.
Building the team occurs during the intense build after Kick Off and into the competition season, that is true - but team building at others times as well, can be fun, creative, developmental, and worthwhile. It can be through outreach (my personal biggie), fundraising - always needed and fun to do, team building events, off season events/competitions, promotional development, demonstrations to sponsors, future sponsors, future team members, community centers. This, to me, is the 2nd build season. Whenever you can fit it in. Just a thought.
Jane

[Ben Martin]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

I understand the initial purpose of this thread but I would just like to present this thought.

The 2nd build season is the season of building the team. Time well spent.
Building the team occurs during the intense build after Kick Off and into the competition season, that is true - but team building at others times as well, can be fun, creative, developmental, and worthwhile. It can be through outreach (my personal biggie), fundraising - always needed and fun to do, team building events, off season events/competitions, promotional development, demonstrations to sponsors, future sponsors, future team members, community centers. This, to me, is the 2nd build season. Whenever you can fit it in. Just a thought.
Jane

That's very much how my team thinks. We'll try to do many or all of those things during the "off season" where we're not designing/building the robot.

This year is different, however. We're building another robot for a future team to use at the IRI. We plan to use this time for the seniors to pass on the knowledge they have obtained over the years to new members. They won't touch the robot, but they will instruct us. This will especially help the students who will be joining the team in May. Everyone will benefit.

[JYang]

For our team, the seniors started SECOND (seniors combating nothing to do). It is like a mini-season with kick-off at 6:30 and a deadline to build a robot to respond to a game.