How does your team spend the Kickoff afternoon?

[Rafi Ahmed]

Team 4's whole team is going to watch the kick-off and then spend most of saturday at our school brainstorming and we're doing the same thing on sunday.

[sciencenerd]

After watching the kickoff at our remote kickoff location, team 1318 goes back to our school and brainstorms on everything from design to robot construction ideas until 6:00. Generally, during this time we send random mentors on shopping trips to Home Depot/Lowes to buy different hardware for game objects or whatever.

[Bcahn836]

Team 836 sends a few mentors to NH and a few students parents and mentors to the local kickoff. The rest of the team goes to our electronics mentor's house and watch the live web cast, eat food, and start to analyze and dissect the game. afterwards just hang out play games, and celebrate all the great things F.I.R.S.T has given us.

[Jay H 237]

Two mentors from 237 drive to NH in the morning, attend the kick off and drive back home. The rest of the team on Saturday will be watching the kick off from the satellite or internet feed, some may also watch it in small groups and come up with ideas.

On Sunday we hold a potluck lunch at a local church where the students, thier parents, the mentors, teachers, engineers and others involved with the team can eat and talk about the new game. We will also show a recording of the kick off. A mock playing field (see below) of the new game has also traditionally been there also so people can get an idea of the game and try some strategies.


On Saturday, if I'm not working and I won't know that until Thursday or even Friday, then I'll watch the kick off on the internet. If I'm working then there's nothing I can do. I'll miss the kick off plus the mock field will have to wait until later Saturday.

Every year after the kick off I've built a mock field for the team to display. I've always used the same base pieces, they just get repainted and new lines drawn if needed, but the end zones and other objects are built from scratch every year since they change. I'm normally working on it from the time the kick off ends until later on at night and then hopefully finish it in the morning before the pot luck. I will have Elgin give me a hand this year, I know he felt left out last year, plus it should get done a lot quicker and I won't have to rush the next morning.

On Sunday I will be at our potluck. Basic brainstorming will begin then but we really won't get into it until Monday.

[ducttapehaxor]

On Sat 1712 sends the entire team to a local kickoff site (royal assault) then we get buses back to our school and break up into groups of 3-4 to brainstorm ideas, then on Sun we take the day off allowing everyone to think individually about the various ideas, on Monday we make final decisions regarding the robot.

[Rabbit222]

We're sent home after watching the live broadcast at our local theater. During this time, students are advised to start brainstorming and have their ideas fresh in their minds for Sunday, the day we really start working. Of course, it is recommended to get plenty of sleep, but during build, I never sleep!

[Sepsis900]

321 usually has any members that can show up for our remote kickoff do so. After that, we go to a few workshops and usually all leave together by 4:00. Somebody usually donates their house for the evening, where we all go and discuss the game, ways to score, our strategy, the possible strategies of other teams, and if we have time, some general characteristics of the robot. Unless the meeting is particularly inconclusive, we stick to the strategy we set down here. (arguing about design and strategy 4 weeks into the competition used to be a big problem in the past)

What we do is we of course watch the kickoff, the after we talk about it and kinda of brainstorm alot of ideas. We also brainstorm the next day too...a whole lot. So the first two days are brainstorming and brainstorming, and oh yeah, brainstorming. Then after the two days of brainstorming we usually start building away and stuff..and everyone on the team has to read the rule book and all that stuff.

[JamesBrown]

does any one remmeber what time the actual game is usually announced (the animation is played) My managers called a mandatory staff meeting on saturday at 11 at work and I was wondering what the odds were Id be able to catch the animation before then. FIRST site says that the kickoff is from 10-12 with kits being handed out at 11 does any one know where in there the animation is, I know it is towards the end but I dont remember how close to the end.

[MChapman]

Team 176 as a collective team will be at Hamilton Sunstrand in Windsor Locks, CT watching the kick-off from the webcast. After that is over we go out to lunch then head to the shop. Saturday and Sunday are days of brainstorming ideas for a robot, and getting to know the game an rules a bit better. then as the week approaches we're there every night but fridays.

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

Team 461 has done this a few ways in the past.

The first option has been a Team Kickoff at the school, with a strategy and design brainstorming session immediately following. We have tried to discuss the following aspects before going into robot design specifics:

1) What do you really need to be effective in a match?
2) What things to offense, defense, etc need to focus on?
3) What should be the role of the human player?
4) What combinations of scoring give the highest output?

After we discuss these points and others regarding game objective, we sometimes break into parts. However, this year things will be done a bit differently.

Purdue FIRST is hosting a large kickoff party at the Class of 1950 lecture hall on Purdue campus. So a few teams will be there in the morning to watch. After that, teams will do seperate strategy. I will be hosting a Saturday evening dinner/brainstorming party at my house to watch the kickoff and brainstorm between members of the team. The next day we start real brainstorming stuff. That Monday there is no school for WLHS (Students from 461), so we will brainstorm then too.

[Pat McCarthy]

67 usually attends the local kickoff, at Novi HS (home to team 503). Afterward, individuals who wish to attend workshops do so. Generally, we take the weekend to digest the game and individually come up with what we think about the game. Then we reconvene on Monday and Tuesday to discuss the following subjects:

• Breakdown what other teams will be doing during a match.
• Decide, based on those results, what we want our robot to accomplish.
• Sketching on an overhead projector and taking suggestions from anyone on the team, come up with the basic mechanisms to allow our robot to do what we want it to.

[mikeday51]

Team 1350 sends up our 3 team captains while the rest of the team watches from home. Then we get back to home base (brown university) and take inventory. Finally we go home and let our brains ferment the new challenge....

[Denman]

Well, as i remember, we spend a few hours (its at 3pm here...) discussing stuff. Then us older people headed down to the pub for a drink and a relaxation whilst thinking and discussing stuff...


shame i'm going to be at work until 4pm on saturday....

[lukevanoort]

We send a few members off to Richmond to get the KOP, usually they are selected on the merits of their trunk. The rest of the team shows up at one of the teacher's room and watches the kickoff, followed by brainstorming, then pizza, lots of pizza.