Absolute beginner looking for resources

[JesseK]

I would start with the rule book about the 2007 game. I know it's dull, but if you know the rules like the back of your hand it's extremely easy to design a robot that already takes every rule into consideration -- including weight, dimensions, etc.

The second thing I recommend you do is go to Moe365's website and look at their rookie resources, particularly noting the schedule. We didn't follow that schedule intentionally our rookie season; our rookie season just happened that way. It can definitely help you realize the time constraints on everything.

The third thing I recommend you do is get someone who is willing to spend a few extra hours a week on CAD. Sure, you can use 80/20 for everything on a bot but good luck keeping it all under the weight limits -- Inventor & Solidworks have easy-to-follow tutorials and nearly anyone can begin work on simple parts right after the tutorials. Plus, there are libraries of FIRST cad parts (www.firstcadlibrary.com) so you don't have to spend hours making them -- just putting it all together. This will end up saving you vast amounts of time during your integration phase of your season.

Good Luck!