101 Things I Wish I'd Known Before My First FIRST Tournament

[Katie_UPS]

Is it me, or did they use the ideas in this thread for the list on NEMO?

[matt91]

I have to say one of the most important things when at the Competitions is ALWAYS check and recheck the robot BEFORE a match, because we all know that a robot that dies after autonomous mode does a whole lot.

NEVER SNAP PLEXIGLASS!!!!
Trust me last year we had about 30 seconds to replace the wire that fed power to the distribution block, and there were so many people around that i could not properly access the area and ended up ripping the plexiglass off the side and ripping apart my thumb. Fun times (NAWT)... But bet your behind that that wire still got changed out!!

Also the head electrical person should ALWAYS carry the following (cargo pants are MADE for this!)

-Zip Ties
-Wire Cutters/ strippers
-PWM cable
-Pocket Knife
-Electrical Tape

[gorrilla]

dont get emotionaly evoled with anyone on your team(most of the time)

[RoboMom]

Originally Posted by Katie_UPS

Is it me, or did they use the ideas in this thread for the list on NEMO?

Indeed, a paper with this title in on NEMO, and credits ideas posted in 2005-2006 on chief delphi and Rick Tyler right at the top.

http://www.firstnemo.org/PDF/first_competition_tips.pdf

[xxsumz]

Rest your throat if your gonna cheer your team on...
Don't come on an empty stomach, if you do don't forget money
Scout the competition...

[Nate Laverdure]

Originally Posted by RoboMom

Indeed, a paper with this title in on NEMO, and credits ideas posted in 2005-2006 on chief delphi and Rick Tyler right at the top.

http://www.firstnemo.org/PDF/first_competition_tips.pdf

I hope NEMO doesn't mind derivative work. Here is my take (pdf attached; 28.3 KB) at a condensed and edited version of these 101+ hints. The document is titled "FIRST Best Practices: Team Behavior during Build Season and at Competition."