Rookie Team Tips!

[libinator]

Hey everyone!

I'm a student of Grand Haven High School, and we finally got a team officially together! I would greatly appreciate it if you guys would give us any tips to make our first year a success!

[EricH]

1) Find a mentor team, if you haven't yet.
2) Read the Manual, as soon as it is released (you can start now, even--some sections are already released). There are NO unimportant sections, just sections that you don't need as often.
3) Regarding 2), pay careful attention to size/weight limits. Build 1" smaller than the size, and budget weight carefully to avoid the dreaded "We're 20 lbs over!" at the event.
4) Team Handbook and Team Business Plan. Between the two, they can save you a lot of trouble later and make life a whole lot easier. Also consider putting a Chairman's Award submission together--you can't submit it electronically, and you aren't eligible to win the award, but it does help with Rookie All-Star and future Chairman's submissions. If you have a NASA Grant, I believe that having one of those submissions is also a requirement for that.

[JaneYoung]

A thread discussion with a member of another rookie team started in CD a couple of days ago and it is providing some great tips, suggestions, advice, and helpful links. Take some time to read it and look through the links, esp. the FIRST website and NEMO. Also, take time to look through the different fora in ChiefDelphi. You can do searches by using key words that will lead you to topics such as this and others that you are interested in. Welcome!

Jane

[JosephBurns35]

our team 2487 started in 2008 the biggest thing that you have to recognize as a team is the goals you want to accomplish in the competition and how to complete them. also as a rookie team keep it simple. use the kit bot and make simple but effective mechanisms that are easy to fix and simple to build.

[Brandon_L]

Our biggest rookie mistake:

We were so happy about just having it being able to drive around, and we had separate groups to develop and come up with ideas for seperate parts of the bot. We ended up with a box on wheels with ball manipulators bolted to the side of it. Basically, my advise, find a strategy that you guys think you should use, and design your robot to play for that strategy. And design the robot as a whole, with everyone on the same page.

Don't be afraid to ask veteran teams for help! Last year was my team's rookie year and we had no clue what to do. Luckily there was a team that has been around for awhile in the next town over that could help us, and if there are no teams around you there is always here!!

[rcmolloy]

Get to know the how FIRST works before venturing into anything too crazy. Most importantly, embrace the experience that FIRST will give you the first year and have as much fun as possible. Whether you end up 9-0 or 0-9, you guys tried your best during your first year. Trust me, you'll come around and get it one day.

If you guys have any questions ask all of us. Were here to talk about FRC and provide help where it's needed.

Good Luck this Year!

[KrazyCarl92]

Originally Posted by Michaela3229

Don't be afraid to ask veteran teams for help! Last year was my team's rookie year and we had no clue what to do. Luckily there was a team that has been around for awhile in the next town over that could help us, and if there are no teams around you there is always here!!

They are in Michigan, so there's bound to be helpful nearby veteran teams!

To avoid problems where not everything is thought out before building and different groups being on different pages, it is always helpful to design the robot on CAD. Even if you only have little CAD experience, it can make all the difference when nobody thought about how attachment A might interfere with mounting manipulator B, and then all you have to do is fix the virtual problem by clicking and dragging before it becomes a real issue and the build is delayed due to lack of planning.

Also, don't take a bite bigger than you can chew. In some games, it is better to do one important task very well rather than many tasks decently. You just might fill in a niche for a very good alliance that allows your team an opportunity to align with some experienced teams who have designed a robot to do everything well.

Pay close attention to penalties as well. It is very important to make sure that your robot cannot commit any infractions that will be of detriment to your alliance, because many teams will pick up on that very quickly when scouting and this can usually lead to your team being left out of eliminations.

Make sure that everyone on your team understands what Gracious Professionalism (referred to as "GP" in many cases) means and how important it is. This is what sets FRC apart from other robotics competitions in my mind; the overall community spirit of teams all around the world working toward a common goal of inspiring leaders in science and technology while competing against and alongside each other to play a game. The FIRST community is held together by this common mission and the GP of everyone who is involved in FIRST.

Focus on sustainability. Make sure that you lay strong foundations for the team to continue in the future. Unfortunately, many teams are unable to continue being a part of FIRST due to lack of resources, so it is important to be aware of your teams ability to sustain yourselves into the future and to work very hard at making sure that your team can participate for years to come.

Good Luck and have a wonderful 2011 season!

[Zholl]

Keep a good attitude. This is a big part of the idea of Gracious Professionalism which has already been mentioned here, and if you can get the attitude down, then GP is a really easy thing to do. A good deal of why my team made eliminations our rookie year had a good deal to do with the impression we'd made on team 399, not how good we were on the field (we were actually pretty bad as far as our record went). The would have been absolutely right to have picked another team over us, one who was better suited to playing at that level, but instead they graciously allowed a rookie team to have the opportunity to have that experience

Also, make sure you enjoy what you do. Learn from what you do wrong, don't just dwell on it. It's not simply the number of trophies a team takes home or a winning record that makes a team successful, but whether you can overcome the challenges you face. If you and your teammates can come out of your first season with a feeling of having done something great, and a feeling of community and fellowship, even if you don't come home with "honor and glory", then that'll be all the success your team will need.

I'd also encourage you to get the students on your team out and talking to people at competition if possible, whether that means taking shifts in the pit or whatnot. There are some great friendships to be made at these competitions, and it's hard to find them when you keep to yourself staring at a laptop all day. If you can't get out during the comp time, then at least get out to the social or just talk to teams you share a hotel with. A lot of my favorite experiences in this program have been meeting interesting people from all over the place, something which a lot of us nerd-types don't normally get

I know my suggestions are less logistical and more idealistic, but I'd hate to see a rookie team get so caught up in the logistics of the team that they don't even realize what makes this program so great

[BJC]

Read these:

These will help get you started thinking with an engineering mindset and will set you ahead of many other teams right away making you more competitive. (There is always a very simple but extreamly competive way to play the game. You just have to find it.)

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/2250

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/2303

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/2175

This should give you a general idea of a very talanted team's season:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/2360

Oh, and this may help too:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/1469

By the way, these are all on this website. Go to the top of the portal and click CD-Media. It's full of great stuff it would benift you to read.

Good Luck in your FIRST Season!

[Retired Starman]

1. Try to find a close-by team that is willing to give advice. There is a lot to the culture you can pick up from another team, plus they will fill you in on things you need to know that aren't clear in the rules and official papers. (Last year I inspected several rookie teams that did not know to bring a cart to transport their robot from the pits to the field). If you don't have a team locally, find one somewhere else and Skype them every day or so. Discuss your plans and problems with them.

2. Don't be too ambitious building your first robot. Find one thing in the competition you feel is important and that you can do well, and design your robot to do that job. Be a "one trick pony" and you will do well your first year.

3. Plan out your season. Six weeks seems like a long time at the first, but every day not used to its fullest is a day you can't recover at the end.

4. Ask lots of questions, and consider answers carefully.

5. Analyze the game and come up with a scoring strategy, then built your robot to meet it.

6. Aim High! Make your first-year's goal to win the Rookie All-Star Award. Get started on it NOW. That's more important than having the best robot on the field.

7. READ THE RULES! Then read them again. Read them every day.

7. Have a great time, enjoy yourselves, learn much, and look me up in St. Louis.

[EricH]

Something that can really help, if you have the resources: Build part of the field so you can practice on it. Make sure you know the differences between the practice field and the official field; that can give a good strategy idea from time to time.

The other thing is to try to figure out what everyone else will be doing. See, if everyone is building robots to shove whatsits into a goal, and there are also widgets on the field that nobody's really paying attention to, sometimes you may want to build a widget bot. Being the only widget robot on the field can be a real advantage when it comes to noontime Saturday and alliance selection.

For example, in 2004, there was a bar to hang on for 50 points. 5 robots in the country could slide along it and deny it to other robots (a 100-point swing, potentially), and one would just go up and block it. I don't think any of those 6 missed eliminations at any event they attended that year unless they were malfunctioning for some reason. One of them made it to Einstein.

Or be really good at one thing (most of those robots I referenced earlier, or 469 this year), so good that you can't be overlooked come selections.

[Karibou]

I don't think that I can add much more to the robot aspect of the competition, so it looks like I'll be touching base on everything else.

Sponsors: Find them, even if you already have some. Money is such a nice thing to have, especially come build season. Even if a business can only donate $50, it adds up. Can drives are also supposedly great fundraisers. Talk to local businesses and see what they can do to help out. Donating products is usually helpful as well. If a pizza store can't help with funding but can provide pizza for the team...that's one less meal to buy.

Competitions: I notice that you're attending a week 3 event (West Michigan). I know that you're a bit far away from Traverse City, Flint, and Waterford (which are locations for week 1 and 2 events), but if possible, gather a few teammates and mentors and go one of those events. Your first event will be a lot less scary, and you'll be better prepared if you see what other teams have brought with them and what other teams are doing. If you don't have a chance to get to an event, look into watching one or two of the webcasts. You won't be able to see the pits or anything like that, but you can still get a general idea of what the competitions are like.

Robot bagging/transportation: Read the rules carefully. Read them twice. Three times. Plan out your un-bag sessions wisely. Know how you're getting the robot to and from the events: will it fit in the back of a minivan? A truck (I don't recommend this - MI weather is rather sketchy, especially on your end of the state)? Will you be renting a U-haul? Know this before the week of the competition. Additionally, DON'T FORGET to pack safety glasses in a very easily accessible location. You won't be able to unload into the pit without them!

Spirit/Image: Everything that the team does at an event reflects upon the team. Make sure that everybody associated with the team knows this. Be courteous and friendly. As Zholl mentioned, be social. Friendships can work wonders, and interacting with geeks that you haven't spent the past 6 weeks almost living with is a really fun experience. Additionally, try to avoid sitting in the stands looking bored (which I see a lot of rookie teams do). Get into the competition. If your team isn't playing, pick a team on the field and cheer for them. Cheer really loudly for your team, at the appropriate times.

Finally: have fun! FIRST is truly what you make it. Welcome to the community, and I look forward to seeing your team at West MI!

[Sunshine]

Two very important and simple guidelines........

1. Use the KISS method. Keep It Simple Students

2. Decide to do ONE thing and do that one thing the best you can. Remember that you will be in an alliance and if you can do one thing better than others you will stand out from the crowd.

[,4lex S.]

Do as much prototyping as you think you can fit in. If you can build something out of wood, drill guns and random stuff, and it works well, you have both a clear design (so everyone is on the same page), and a proven design (more so than a CAD model).