Does your team read the ENTIRE FIRST manual?

[Uncrash]

I'd like to say I read the entire manual, but thats a tedious task.

And time consuming.

However, information is shared well enough so that everyone knows what their build/construction parameters are, and we have copies for any reference the team needs.

Also, the drive team is well-versed in what does and does not cause fouls. That in itself is one of the most important principles stressed.

That does not mean, though, that our driver is a pacifist on the field...

[raymaniac]

I personally do not read the entire manual, just some of it (Game, Robot, Arena, Awards). So I just have a basic understanding of it, but I'm on animation, I don't need to be an expert on all of it.

[Danielle H]

On 393, we print and give out copies of the manual to certain people who are in charge of at least skimming the entire thing and knowing its contents fairly well. There are some of us that are in the process of reading the whole thing and keeping up on the updates.

I know that I get the updates, print them out, and give them to our manufacturing head, the head engineer, a website person, the team captain, and I keep a copy. We'll then read them and update our manual accordingly.

We have a copy of the manual that stays at the school called the "2007 FIRST Bible." We keep it in case those of us that have a copy of the manual fail to bring them to a meeting.

Though not all of us read the entire thing... the entire team is pretty much required to be at least familiar with any and all sections that pertain to their specific sub-team... or else we could have some major problems come Week 6....

[Sean Marks]

I personally have read the majority of the manual. our team has 2 people that read the whole thing.

[Danielle H]

I'm one of.. I think, 4... that read, are reading, or have read 99.9% of the manual.....

[Arefin Bari]

Alright, I will be honest. We don't have that many members on team 1345 who reads the whole manual. We mentors assign a kid or two to read the whole manual so we can get answers very quickly when we need it. Personally, I read the whole manual ONCE, I particularly pay attention to the game, the robot and the arena sections of the manual. Other sections, I just skim through. There is a manual sitting in the classroom, so whenever we need it, we have it right infront of us.

[FoxWil]

We arent readers we are doers.

[Tytus Gerrish]

I have never actually read the manual. but when a question arrises about something devious I'm trying to get away with I do a quick crl+f on the pdf and see if I can make my evil schemes matearlize

[imax48236]

I read most of the manual, and printed out a nice copy of it for the team to share. I suggest that other teams do this, it is a valuable tool for our team as a quick reference if we need to check a rule.

With color images, fancy tabs and its own binder, our rulebook pwns.

[JaneYoung]

My post isn't a response to any made - it is something I have been thinking about for awhile. It's a lot of money to lay out for a team to participate in an extraordinary competition called FIRST and to not read the manual or understand the significance of the manual is wasteful. The manual is what keeps the train on the tracks, on schedule, and running smoothly. Without the manual, there is no FIRST competition. So if we don't spend some time studying the rules and understanding them, we are not getting the full benefit of the competition and the money invested. We are doing a disservice to ourselves and to our sponsors by not putting everything we have into the competition.

Reading the manual, reading the updates, using the FIRST Q&A - are ways of investing wisely. If one person is the rules guru for the team, that's great but everyone on the team should be encouraged to familiarize themselves with the process of reading the manual. It is a sound investment.

[coko19]

we assign people different parts of the manual to read so one person isnt burdond with it all

[Ericgehrken]

I myself am the rules master for team 195. I had to read the entire manual. Now everyone asks me questions about the rules because they didn't read the manual. I think if you want to be a part of a team then you should read the entire manual before doing anything.

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

We give a rules test on The Game, The Robot, The Arena, and The Tournament to every team member (including animation, vex, financing, website, etc.)

Are there any repercussions to "failing" the test? We'd been considering soemthing like that.

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

It is a sound investment.

Darn it Jane, there you go being the voice of reason again! THANK YOU!


I said it once, I'll say it again: How can you design something without knowing the specifications?

Don

[raymaniac]

Originally Posted by Don Rotolo

Are there any repercussions to "failing" the test? We'd been considering soemthing like that.

If you fail the test, you get to take a different one. If you take it 5* times and still can't pass it, you don't get to go on any of the trips.

*I think. I'm not exactly sure about the number.

[Pavan Dave]

Originally Posted by Setsanto

I have read the entire manual, as I'm the sort of rules guy on our team, but every one else on our team is supposed to read 6 7 and 8, as they pertain the most to everyone.

I have read the manual from cover to cover once. I think that on our team most of the people are pretty familiar with the rules but do not read from cover to cover because some parts are not as necessary depending on what you do on the team and usually the other sections like awards and stuff are answered by veterans so my answer is that 100% of the team does not read cover to cover, but almost every member is familiar to at least Section 6, 7, 8.

Pavan.