We need a second build season

[Validius]

One season per year isnt enough.. Perhaps FIRST should start an "all wood except for drive motors and wheels" league. all i know is that it has been less than a week since ship and i am already craving more FIRST action.

[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.

[the_short1]

i think a simple solution to your problem is this: more offseason events.. . and unofficial first tournies.. . ide definately be interested in that..

[sanddrag]

We are currently in build season #2. Practice bot. Doesn't look like it'll get done before Phoenix, but we'll get it done before LA.

[Rick TYler]

You want another build season? OK, how about this -- sponsor an offseason tournament exactly like the current one, except that robots can only weigh 95 pounds, and can only be 32 inches long and 22 inches wide. That will pretty much mean replacing any current FRC robot with a new one, but play a proven game. Let me know how it turns out! I just finished my 9-10 PNW nap and am going to bed....

[DCA Fan]

Another season? No thanks, I value my sleep and sanity. Which I have somehow misplaced.

Rather, I think we need more offseason competitions, especially in the summer.

[Chrispy393]

I can relate... I went through withdrawl very badly the first couple of days after the build season. Next week we leave for competition so it'll be okay! A second build season would be lovely...I think. It was our first year with another team (morristown hs 393) so we made bonds with people from another school. It was nice because now they are some of my really good friends and we attempt to keep in contact outside of robotics. After this is over, we have IRI in the summer...around July. I've heard it's a butt load of fun so I can't wait.

[Taylor]

Well I hope that if there is a wood-based second season, it doesn't involve water. We've had enough trouble with our wooden prototypes warping beyond belief on dry land.
Treat this as another vote for non-FIRST robotics - VEX, FLL, BEST, etc. I know that for the CyberCards, we really got the freshmen pumped about building and competing, and VEX kept the veterans' fires stoked. Personally, as a first-year sponsor, designing and building the VEX bot helped me organize the FIRST build sessions.

[GaryVoshol]

We have another season locally - OCCRA. It was set up to be simpler than FIRST, to attract teams that might not have the resources to enter FRC.

Robots are all student-built. There is no autonomous mode; teams can use the controllers with little or no programming. There are limits on the kinds of tools that can be used, so you don't need a fancy shop.

I would challenge teams that think they need more to investigate setting up a local competition, and invite new schools into the fold. Some of them may get so excited they join FIRST. It's another way of doing our "homework" assigned last year.

[irishninja]

My team has a saying...

Robotics never ends.

We have meetings before build season, during build season, after build season, after regionals, even during the summer.