Robotics "Hitchhiker's Guide"

[KathieK]

Welcome to Chief Delphi and to the wonderful world of FIRST robotics!

Be sure to check out the White Papers section (there is a link at the top of each page in Chief Delphi to it) - Here you will find many, many papers contributed by teams, students and mentors on a variety of technical and non technical subjects. There are lots of papers directed at rookie teams that you might find helpful as a rookie member of a veteran team, such as what to expect at competitions, tips for pit setup at competitions, mechanical and electrical tips, team organization ideas, Chairman's Award entries, etc.

If you are a mentor dealing with the non-technical areas, PM me and I will tell you more about NEMO (Non-Engineering Mentor Organization).

[Joe Matt]

http://www.firstwiki.org

It's like Wikipedia, only for FIRST.

[sure_smile]

whoa that was creepy...
somehow i managed to see 'Robotics "Hitler's Guide"' instead of "Hitchhiker's Guide"...almost as creepy as the time I thought all my zip ties disappeared

[Erin Rapacki]

Always carry a white towel.

[Joe Matt]

Originally Posted by Erin Rapacki

Always carry a white towel.

I thought it was just ANY towel, not just a white one.

[phrontist]

Originally Posted by JosephM

I thought it was just ANY towel, not just a white one.

Actually, it's any towel, but the preferred color is blue.

[KenWittlief]

I was going to say a clean towel, esp to events :^)

[NoodleKnight]

I second the wikipedia.
Actually, it would be ideal if someone (or maybe a bunch of people) make a hitchhikers guide to robotics on FIRSTwiki.

[mechanicalbrain]

Originally Posted by NoodleKnight

I second the wikipedia.
Actually, it would be ideal if someone (or maybe a bunch of people) make a hitchhikers guide to robotics on FIRSTwiki.

Yeah i heard a couple of people talking about this. If anyone wants to start a group to make one i would love to contribute.

[dez250]

Originally Posted by mechanicalbrain

Yeah i heard a couple of people talking about this. If anyone wants to start a group to make one i would love to contribute.

Linked on the main page of ChiefDelphi.com, www.FIRSTWiki.org

[mechanicalbrain]

Originally Posted by dez250

Linked on the main page of ChiefDelphi.com, www.FIRSTWiki.org

Yeah but thats not guite a hichhiker guide. Also it would be nice to add a crisis wiki where people can add suggestions for specific areas (like wiring or making carbon fiber rods ect...) and ask for help. This has been talked about before and it would be nice to combine the two ideas and actually make one.

[MrRogersRedux]

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions.

I've been to the FIRSTwiki a few times, but the thing is that if you're completely new to the world of robotics (i.e. you barely know a typical FIRST robot's anatomy and parts), you have a really hard time finding topics that'll help you. My idea was to create more of a centralized guide of the basics, a place where if you want to quickly get through the basic aspects of things like pneumatics or programming, you could easily go through a few important threads really quickly. A few specialized subforums here have that, and there are a number of very informative white papers, but it can be hard to get around for a total noob, and not everything's there. A good "Hitchhiker's Guide to Robotics" could make tenderfoots like me into semi-knowledgeable roboteers quicker and easier than through searching blindly.

Also, thanks for pointing out the MOE website, that's an interesting comparison to the way my team runs the building season.

And yeah, it can be ANY towel

[NoodleKnight]

If I did start one, who here would be willing to put in some useful knowledge?
I think the general concept is to touch every important aspect of FIRST robotics then give a link to a more complicated/thorough FIRSTwiki article or anything that may help.

[dez250]

Like Ken said above why reinvent the wheel. Over the past many years FIRST has put on workshops at both the Kickoff event and at the Championship event. Many of these resources have been saved and hosted on the FIRST Team Resources page. The Following links are to the 2002-2005 Kickoff workshops, and the 2004 and 2005 Championship Conferences documents. Other Information and resources are available on the Team Resources page too.

Kickoff Workshop Presentations

Presentations from the 2004 FRC Championship Conferences

Presentations from the 2005 FRC Championship Conferences

[Noah Melamed]

Originally Posted by phrontist

Actually, it's any towel, but the preferred color is blue.

Don't forget to soak it in vitamins