Rookie Team Tips!

[Bethie42]

-Paperwork for robot shipping is very important...if it is a bag-and-tag event, there is a special procedure to be followed but supposedly bag-and-tag is very popular [our team is looking forward to our first b & t this year...heh]. If it is a traditional [ie FedEx] event, paperwork is also really key: if your mentor/coach doesn't have the right papers on hand, your robot may not be delivered to or from the event.

-Make sure consent forms are filled out. We've had unhappy times running around the day of a regional trying to get late consent forms in....your team won't be allowed into the event without them. Have students fill out the online consent forms!! in STIMS.

-Bumpers: our coach says that bumpers are the single most annoying thing about FRC. There are strict regulations as to how big bumpers can be, whether they can be in one piece or articulated, etc. At our regional last year a rookie team showed up and their bumpers weren't right..I think maybe they didn't HAVE bumpers. It was a big delay and nuisance to the team to get the bumpers fixed.

-Don't be afraid to ask for help at your regional. As you'll notice if you attend an event before yours, the pits are always filled with loudspeaker announcements for teams who need tools or parts. Most teams will take a huge amount of pride in helping another team, especially a rookie.

-Like someone above me said, don't neglect the social aspect of competitions. It is always good policy to get familiar with as many teams as you can at an event. Last year we spent an hour in our hotel lobby chatting with a team who was actually from our area, comparing scouting data and such, and we've been so happy to partner with them in several things since.

-Which leads to scouting, a subject near and dear to my heart, as I started out being our team's scout. If you have even one spare person whom you can assign to watch matches and take notes all day, do it. Scouting teams are usually >4 members but I've done it successfully alone for several years.
Even if you don't wind up 'needing' your scouting data [ie you don't get to pick alliance partners] it WILL come in handy. Before every match, I try to brief our drive team on what they can expect from their opponents and alliance partners. When possible, we also try to arrange a strategy beforehand, based on knowing the strongest teams on each alliance.

-Know your own strengths. If your robot is a lot better at scoring than defense, tell your alliance partners! If your autonomous mode does best in a certain starting position, tell them that too. We have usually found that other teams are very willing to work with us to arrange the best strategy for everyone.


Welcome to FRC! Hope you guys have an awesome first season

[Robert Cawthon]

Just slightly off target, I found that our rookie year was not as difficult as our second year. We actually did fairly well our rookie year and because of that, we set a high bar for the next year and, as the saying goes, bit off more than we could chew. As a result, I have determined that the most dificult part of design and build is to decide that your design isn't going to work and then to figure out whether to modify the design or to scrap it completely and start over. The first year, keep it simple. Watch out for the second year.

[Chris is me]

Pick your strategy before you do any robot design.

Find the one objective you can most easily do very well that contributes to an alliance and be the best robot you can be. The games have many tasks, but you are not alone on the field. By no means do you have to do all of them to succeed. You will be far more valuable as a master of the "wrong" game task than a terrible juggler of every game task.

Ask for help, early and often. Don't worry about "losing a competitive advantage" when doing so. We're all smart people, we've probably all thought the same things already and made the same mistakes, so learn from your peers.

[libinator]

Thanks everyone for your input! We just finished building are cart a few minutes ago actually everyone is getting pumped up for kickoff!

[Wayne TenBrink]

We are just up the road and would be glad to do what we can to help out. Send me a PM (private message) with information on how I can contact one of your mentors.

See you soon!

[dexo568]

As a member of a 2010 rookie team, I cannot stress one thing enough: Learn as much as you possibly can. Surf wikipedia. Talk to other teams. Read the forums. The more you know about robotics before you start building a robot, the less stressful it's going to be.

[Bill_B]

I have attempted to transfer the salient wisdom from this thread (so far) into a slide show that separates the main topics into about 40 slides. I hope this will be useful for offline presentation at a team meeting of rookies or otherwise interested parties. Bring your own refreshments.

When I figure out how to link the CD media page with it to here, I will do that, unless, of course, someone beats me to it. meanwhile, search "rookie" tag, or just look for recent stuff.

[RoboMom]

When NEMO was started I think the first resource paper was "18 Hints for Rookie Teams." Probably needs a little updating, but lots of good information in the NEMO resources section thanks to the collective wisdom of the teams. http://www.firstnemo.org/resources.htm

Encourage one of the adults (technical or non-technical types welcome) on your team to join the private NEMO forum. See the website for more information.

[Jeff Pahl]

1) Buy a good scale

2) Use aforementioned scale frequently

3) Have someone calculate how many 1/4" holes you have to drill in a piece of 1/4" thick Al to reduce the weight by 1 pound, then ask them if they really think that is the best way to fix being overweight when they get to the event.

4) See #2 above

5) Make bumpers part of the design concept from day 1, not an afterthought.

6) Do not allow the metal shavings created during #3 above to fall into the cRIO.

I really wish more veteran teams would also do the above.

[Ian Curtis]

Originally Posted by Jeff Pahl

3) Have someone calculate how many 1/4" holes you have to drill in a piece of 1/4" thick Al to reduce the weight by 1 pound, then ask them if they really think that is the best way to fix being overweight when they get to the event.

Protip: Buy or borrow a hole saw and a can of WD-40 (yes, I know it is not a "real" lubricant... but personal experience indicates it gets the job done).

Have the entire team read the manual, have someone who's really into it keep up to date on the Q&A. Ask questions when you get stuck. Have fun!

[Al Skierkiewicz]

There is one thing that I stress that has not been said yet. As a rookie, have a driving base by the end of week one or at the very least sometime in week two. Once you have a driving base, let your drivers practice with it regularly. Put out objects to practice maneuvering around. Push chairs in front of the base to act like other robots.
As Jeff hinted, make sure your bumpers are firmly attached, at the right height and made out of the materials listed. 3/4" plywood, pool noodles, covered with a heavy nylon fabric, covering the robot perimeter, with no hard parts in the corners. The bumper rules are not negotiable.
Then practice some more.
FIRST provides a lot of info for teams and adds to the list all the time. In addition, there will be weekly (or more often) team updates that change the game and the robot rules. We will inspect for the latest rules changes at each event, so you must keep up to date on those rules.
Ask questions, either on the FIRST Q&A or here. The Q&A is the only official answer but non-specific questions or questions about robot components will get you answers here. Just learn to believe certain posters know what they are talking about, while others might only be opinions.

[KathieK]

Listen to the recordings of the FIRST Senior Mentor calls for teams:
http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr....aspx?id=10124

If you're sending someone to FIRST Headquarters for kickoff, have them register to attend the workshops held on Friday: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr....aspx?id=15787 Can't make it to NH? Click on the title of each workshop to register to view the webinar for that session!

If you're going to a local kickoff event, make friends. Networking is one of the most critical, and oft-overlooked, aspects of a successful FRC team. Even if you're not going to a local kickoff event, host a get-together with some light refreshments and invite neighboring teams to stop by. Network, network, network. And then once competition season begins, scout. And plan your marketing strategy. You have to market yourselves; unless your robot is absolutely stellar, you'll be competing against all the other teams to get the attention of the top 8 who will be choosing their alliance partners. So before you bag (or crate) your robot, take a picture of it. Take one of it with the team, too, wearing their team t-shirts (more on that, below). Create a simple Word doc with the robot picture on it along with a list of things the robot can do. DON'T EXAGGERATE. Just state what you can do well. Leave copies in your pit in case a team comes scouting and you're not there.

Create a team identity. Stick with it, don't change it from year to year. Choose a color scheme, a team nickname, a mascot if you want. I don't recommend using a school mascot because if you should decide to include additional schools in the future or become independent of your school, your previous team identity may no longer be desirable... Lots of well-known teams are known by their identity - MOE wears the brightest green known to mankind. Miss Daisy has daisy hats. Buzz is the yellow smiley face. Everyone can easily name teams in their areas by their team identity. Some teams keep the same general color scheme but may slightly customize their t-shirt designs/button designs each year to match the game theme. But you'd still know them at a glance from a distance. This really is a big deal so give it some thought. Whenever I see crowd shots in the FIRST videos I'm amazed I can identify so many teams - strictly on the basis of their apparel and colors. And before choosing a name, Google it to see if any other FIRST teams (especially in your area) have the same name.

Have questions? Contact your local FIRST people - VISTA, Senior Mentor, Regional Planning Committee chair, or Regional Director - they should be aware of your presence but may not be aware that you need help.

[Koko Ed]

As a lead que at events let me give you a tips when at the event itself.

Make sure and use the pit time constructively. The pit is not a place to hang out or screw around in. Any team members who are not being useful in the pits should be sent to go sit in the stands.
Have two or more team members thoroughly go over the schedule and document EVERY MATCH your team is in and make it a point to be early to each match if your robot is properly functioning. The time you spend waiting in line is time spent strategizing with your alliance partner about what you plan to do that match.
* And on that note: HAVE A PLAN! Don't be like far too many team that hit the field and drive haplessly around for two minute doing nothing of any value or worse costing their alliance a victory with boneheaded mistakes.
* Read and understand the rules.
* Do not allow the drives team to leave the building. If you have to get the, lunch send someone to get them lunch but do not give them the opportunity to miss matches. God forbid your absence cost an alliance partner. Teams are scouting matches and notice more than just how your robot performs on the field.
*Make sure your batteries are fully charged when you come to the field. And try not to have to do any major programming while in line. We are not going to wait for your program to upload.
Please please please please please take care to place your cart in the proper place where they belong. Do not leave it in front of the gates or where the referees stand to watch the matches or anywhere in the middle of the floor. The carts are a hazard and someone could get hurt by them. Be a responsible team and assign a member of your drive team to make sure that the cart is placed where it is supposed to be.
*pay attention to what the field staff tells you to do once you enter the field of play. Particularly the FTA. It is everyone's responsibility to make sure the event runs smoothly. Not just the field staff. Following instructions and paying attention to where and when to line up and cleaning getting on and off the field is paramount to this.

[demosthenes2k8]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

try not to have to do any major programming while in line. We are not going to wait for your program to upload.

THIS.
If you DO try to do that, expect your alliance partners-and your team-to be rather annoyed at you. Even if it's a change they ask for, tell them "not until we have a LOT of downtime".

[EricH]

Another at-the-event tip: Get inspected early. At Arizona last year, the pit closing was extended by half an hour so the very busy inspectors could get to everybody that was ready (the line was out the door). There WILL be a late rush to get inspected--but anybody showing up at 10 AM got at least a partial inspection right away. Those that didn't...

For the vets and multi-event teams: if you have already been to an event that year, show up as soon as your robot is out of the crate if you have no modifications to make. It makes the inspectors' life much easier--and then you can go hang out in the filler line all day and get more practice. Or, almost as good, show up and tell them the modifications and what will be affected.

Bumpers: Not only do you have to have them solidly mounted, but they must also be readily removable for size/weight checks. This is non-negotiable. If you're spending 30 minutes removing bumpers, you are taking too long. (Hint: showing up to inspection with bumpers off the robot makes the inspector's life much easier--bumpers on the scale, robot on the scale and in the sizing box, and if you pass both, bumpers on whenever you want to after that.)

Pre-inspect. If possible, find your friendly local veteran team and ask if one or more of them can go over your robot with the inspection checklist before you crate/bag the robot. Pre-ship scrimmages should have a few inspectors. While their decisions are not final or binding on legality of X, they can highlight trouble spots for later or immediate work. (Note: "But so-and-so says this is legal" or "But it passed at Y event" does not fly with the competition inspectors. We've heard it before, and pay no heed, especially if the event did not have official inspectors.)