VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN TEAMS

[jspatz1]

This is a fabulous idea! Imagine having dozens or even hundreds of teams to call on for help at a moment's notice! Imagine having immediate, effective help with the same kinds of problems you would otherwise post on CD and wait days for answers. With a live list of all teams participating, the possibilities for immediate, tangible help from multiple teams would be wonderful. Participating teams could establish a habit of always logging in during their working hours so they are available, or even outside of working hours if a team member enjoyed being "on call." Portable cameras could show views of mechanical problems, see robot behavior, look at parts, look at wiring, share screen views of programming code or CAD, or just provide face-to-face collaboration. You could even show off your latest milestone, or just take a break and socialize. Teams could post information in their profile such as their specialties of expertise, their working hours, specific problems they have helped with, etc.

I would vote for Skype. It is very widely used, very easy to load and run, is lightweight running in the background, shows a realtime list of who is online, and connections work very well across PC-Mac platforms in my experience. Skype is now beginning to be available on smartphones, and multiple user conference calls are in beta and will soon be released. Whatever the choice, one platform would need to agreed upon so that everyone is on the same page. As far as I know video call clients are not yet as cooperative as IM clients.

A screenname convention could be established so that a team's name is predictible, such as "frcteam.1986", and you can locate them without knowing their name.

Let's not let this idea get away. It could be easily organized right here on CD. The software is free, and cameras are cheap (get one with the microphone built in for simplicity.) It could be a quantum leap in the amount of collaboration (collabortition?) that takes place within FIRST. If I were heading a rookie team, I would be all over this.

PS: For those not familar...video call clients such as Skype, Fing, oovoo, are totally free, and only require a webcam and a broadband internet connection. I am not familiar with others, but Skype is simple to install, works great with about any inexpensive webcam, and you talk for hours for free. Its crazy but true.