QUESTION OF THE WEEK!!! [08-26-01]

[kmcclary]

Hi!
I am Keith, with a local robotics club in Ann Arbor MI, and we're looking for a spare control system (and/or Victor and/or Spike modules) that are collecting dust somewhere to help some rookie teams get started.

We have a club mission to start FIRST teams at EVERY local high school in Ann Arbor, MI area that currently does not have one. (...which right now is ALL of them!) We are launching a Huron High team this year, and hopefully will continue for the next several years at an introduction rate of one high school per year! (We'll next tackle starting LEGO League teams at the JUNIOR High Schools! )

The biggest problem we face is the rookie team's massive learning curve. As things are set up now, they won't get their hands on their first control system until kit pickup, which is crunch time. IMHO, trying to learn about this thing THEN, at crisis time, makes things especially difficult for a new team.

To try to solve this problem, our club would like to build a "generic mule" with an arm and a few "simulated auxiliary devices" (i.e. light bulbs or small motors spinning a disk) out of wood, angle iron, and some scrap toy jeep motors. We could then loan this platform out to each new rookie team in the fall before their first contest for educational, programming, and practice purposes. They'll then know what it's about BEFORE they get their kit! Once through their first contest, they can return the mule to us to loan out to another rookie team!

To make this work though, we need to obtain an unused FIRST control system! If anyone has a SPARE control system they'd like to donate to our effort, that would be WONDERFUL! This would definitely find a home giving local rookie teams actual hardware and software experience BEFORE their first contest!

Does anyone have a spare system they'd be willing to donate? An older system would be fine for THIS purpose! You'd be doing a great service for us and the furthering of FIRST at new schools.

If you are one of the older FIRST teams, that have spare systems collecting dust (or even subsystem PARTS like a surplus Victor module, Spike module, joystick, or WHATEVER), PLEASE consider helping us make a Stone Soup FIRST controller for our mule. ANY official parts would be welcome! Contact me here by private reply, or via direct email at:
NOSPAM_acti@provide.net (Taking off the "NOSPAM_", of course... )

adTHANKSvance!

- Keith McClary, FIRST Liaison, YAAARC