Questions at demos

[EricH]

I was wondering what are the most common questions that are asked at a demo. Also, what do you answer to each?

[Conor Ryan]

At the Last Demo I got a lot of (yes we were at a Middle School):
-What kind of weapon does it have?
-Can I drive it?
-Where can I get one?
-Can it kill anyone?
-How Much was it?
-Do you guys miss a lot of school?
-Cool! What does it do?
-Haha, that's funny. (Runs away)

And a couple of other questions. Teachers and other adults had more advanced questions on the power supply and the different mechanisms that we had in our robot.

[SURVIVORfan44]

616 recently went to a convention with a lot of technology companies and one of our sponsors was there and we carried last year's robot along with this year's robot. They had door prizes and we were demonstrating the robot at the same time they were announcing the winners. Well the announcer told us that we could use our 2005 robot to lift the prizes up in the air. (Using the scissors lift). It was neat, the person who won would come up and we'd lower the scissors lift and they would grab the prize.

The people would ask, what does it do? And then they would ask more technical questions as well. Our sponsors came up and asked if they could drive the robots--no hesitation there, they are the ones who helped us so we didn't mind letting them drive what they helped make. It was neat, our sponsor saw what we did with their financial help.

[Dorienne]

At the demos we do, a ton of people ask "What does it do?" or "What is it for?" After I explain it, then they ask "Is it for some kind of Battle Bots competition or something?" Gosh that question bothers me.

[sanddrag]

At the JPL Open House, we were asked a (in my opinion) really dumb question:

"What is it?" Just plain "what is it?", not "what does it do?" or "what is it for?"

And we were asked this several times by several different people. And this was at a place (JPL) where technically inclined people go! That day my overall view of the general public really went down on the technical competancy meter. It's like, the big sign says "FIRST ROBOTICS" and you got here using your map that lead you to the "FIRST Robotics Demonstration" and you are inside an institute that is famous for building robots! How can you ask "what is it?" !!!!!

[Bcahn836]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

"What is it?" Just plain "what is it?", not "what does it do?" or "what is it for?"

That has too be the most common question we get at demos, other than is it like battle bots.

[Marc P.]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

At the JPL Open House, we were asked a (in my opinion) really dumb question:

"What is it?" Just plain "what is it?", not "what does it do?" or "what is it for?"

And we were asked this several times by several different people. And this was at a place (JPL) where technically inclined people go! That day my overall view of the general public really went down on the technical competancy meter. It's like, the big sign says "FIRST ROBOTICS" and you got here using your map that lead you to the "FIRST Robotics Demonstration" and you are inside an institute that is famous for building robots! How can you ask "what is it?" !!!!!

This very question is exactly what giving demos is all about. It's hard to believe, but the people involved with FIRST are a very small fraction of the general population of the world. It's only natural that the majority of people have no idea what FIRST is or what it stands for, or what's involved. By providing demonstrations and explanations for what these "things" are, and what the intention of the program is, people can walk away more informed and potentially start new teams and help FIRST grow. People asking "what is it" probably have no idea what those mechanical contraptions are for, or why they are picking up relatively large triangular shaped doohickeys. In other words, they don't see what the practical purpose is, and so ask "what is it." It's your job as a FIRST participant to inform people what FRC is all about, not just on the game level (scoring, time limits, etc), but on the program level (6 weeks of design, teaching engineering and project managing skills to students, inspiring students to pursue engineering/technology/science careers).

The other big questions are the Battle bot questions. It's easy to chastise the question at first, but think about it for a minute. The only major robotics competition nationally televised is what? Battle bots. People have the most exposure to robots chopping, hacking, and burning each other, and so make that connection when looking at FRC robots (which do often look very similar in appearance). And again, it's your job as a FIRST participant to explain what's really happening. I know it can get repetitive explaining things multiple times a day, but remember not everyone knows what you know, and the best way to help that is to be patient and spread the word.

[dhitchco]

When doing demos of your robot in the off-season, make sure you are PROACTIVE by doing the following:

1) Tell people (before they even ask) that "this is NOT BattleBots. Each year the robot has specific tasks to complete and we only had six weeks to design and build the robot to do those tasks"

2) Tell people (before they even have a chance to ask) that "this is part of an international competition amongst 1,000 high schools and was created by Dean Kamen, the guy who invented that 2-wheel Segway transporter used by the Post Office".

3) Tell people that your school learned a lot from the experience in being part of FIRST and that you REALLY need their help!

***Moral of the story: This is like an industrial trade show. You are there to SELL yourselves to the people seeing your robot demo. Don't let them ask the "dumb questions" like battlebots, etc. Be proactive to them; not reactive.

[EricH]

330 was at JPL as well, and the two most common questions: "What does it do?" and "How long did it take to build it?" Usual responses: "It takes these things called tetras and puts them on bigger ones. Just like what they are doing in that big tent over there. *points to demo tent* Have you seen them?" For the "how long": "Six weeks." (from the person who asked) "That's fast." or "What??? That little time?"

For those who always get Battlebots questions, try saying something like, "No, more like Monster Garage or Junkyard Wars." Explanation: Monster garage is a show where some people get a car, a challenge and a money limit. They then have to turn the car into something, say a cop car into a cop car donut shop. Junkyard Wars is a show where two teams are given an objective, then choose how they will do it, then have one day to search through a junkyard for parts and build something to do the challenge. They then compete for one team to win. (Does either of these sound familiar? ) These are more like what the competition is really like, and many people should at least have heard of them, if not watched one or the other.

[Meyerman]

when we were demonstrating our robot to the pre k-2nd grade kids, when i asked if they had any question the first question was "how do you get to there" and i told them "a school bus of coarse!" and he was satisfied with the awnser i wasnt really ready for that question but it was good for a laugh or two. mainly people ask to drive it and we always let them, and other do ask where to buy one or how much it cost.

In my experience with community demonstrations, our most common questions tend to be along the lines of "How did you manage that?". As suggested above, at elementary and middle school demonstrations, we give a brief overview of the team, [tangent] much like the cute little presentations that colleges usually have in regard to their undergraduate admissions [/tangent], followed by allowing students to drive one at a time, while the others ask questions. At larger events, we simple scale this up (Much thanks to all the teams that come out to lend us a hand, erm, robot, each year at the NBC tech expo).
A brief presentation can do away with what some call "pointless questions". Practice, practice, and 9 out of 10 opinionated people agree that elementary students are a prime practice ground for public speaking skills. They're very forgiving.

On a side note to an already growing response, we did have one elementary school student ask us one time a set of questions that was along the lines of, "What is the gear ratio of your drive train?", "Is it possible to do trig with the processor you have, or do you use something else to approximate it in your autonomous?". The moral, be prepared to answer any question.
For more information on how we set-up our community outreach programs, including demonstrations, visit our website, or give me a PM.
[plug] Miss Daisy's "Team in a Box" DVD and CD set has a section on giving community demonstrations. You can request a copy by also visiting our website [/plug]

[Andy A.]

A very common question I've been asked is: How long does the battery last?

I've no clue why, but I guess it's an attempt to ask something technical of a technical person and not look silly. Everyone understands batteries dieing, not so much the inner workings of a Victor.

I usually respond 20 minutes before stuff stops working at a typical demo, less if I'm driving. It only has to work 2 minutes at a time, and probably less then an hour total so the 'bots aren't made for longevity or efficiency. The motors usually overheat before the battery drains down, so the battery is rarely a limiting factor.

-Andy A.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Andy A.

A very common question I've been asked is: How long does the battery last?

I usually respond 20 minutes before stuff stops working at a typical demo, less if I'm driving. It only has to work 2 minutes at a time, and probably less then an hour total so the 'bots aren't made for longevity or efficiency. The motors usually overheat before the battery drains down, so the battery is rarely a limiting factor.

-Andy A.

20 minutes is about right, particularly if you don't consume a lot of power. 330 once ran for 45 minutes on two batteries, and the only reason we stopped was overheating (and our time slot for the demo was over).

Total time per event: 2:00 * 9 (approximate average round number)= 18:00 for a typical event where you don't make it to finals. If you are in the final rounds, 18:00+ 2:00 * 6= 30:00 minutes. For one event, that's the approximate maximum. For more than one, multiply by the number of events.

So the bot runs for up to 30 minutes in competition, but add another 30 or so for official practice, and probably about an hour for any other practice, and who knows how long at demos and offseason comps. Maybe as much as 10 hours of run time, grand total?