Rookie team, wish I had that list!

[Jessi Kaestle]

Everyone has already posted a whole lot of great advice when it comes to the Robot and tools.

When at a competition what I wish I knew when mentoring younger teams, and also see now as a Volunteer is how important a cohesive look is when it comes to being remembered, both by Judges and by teams who might be an alliance captain. It doesn't have to be fancy, just something as simple as everyone wearing the same shirt, and if possible not white, as then you might blend in with the volunteers.

[jgerstein]

There are lots of good responses here, but here's one more:

The parents want to help. They may not know how they can help - many of our team parents didn't - or even that you need help, but if you reach out to them, they can be an amazing resource, whether or not they have engineering experience.

We've had engineering parents helping for years, but when we started doing serious outreach to non-engineer parents, they came to the rescue in so many ways: helping with communications, guiding students on the business side of the team, helping the students make reversible bumper covers, and building field elements were just a few of those ways.

[hardcopi]

Extra controller, during the heat of competition controllers sometimes break and as we found out in 2014... Best Buy doesn't open until 10 and no matter how much you knock they will ignore you until 10.

[Chief Hedgehog]

Your own team's experience will be the best arbiter for building your tool kit.

But that being stated, start with the simple and build toward what you need for each component/build. Once you build a 'must need' list, contact a local hardware store or manufacturer and see if they can donate or help you purchase a tool cabinet and the tools to fill it.

As you build your robot, keep the hardware in mind. This will help to build the tools you need.

[cpernat13]

The advice people have listed on here is great! I have a few things to add as an alum of a FRC team and as a mentor.

-Engage students during the competition. Yes, you will have a few students in the pits, but you will need to make sure that the other students who are not in the pits have something to do. A great use for this is a scouting team.
-Have dedicated students who will communicate with other teams at a competition. The value of creating friends and alliances with other teams before final alliance selections is essential.
-Don't start building immediately after getting the game. Plan for at least a week about the strategy and what you want to accomplish, and then get into how are you going to accomplish it (i.e. what will your robot do).
-Make sure to bring food to a competition, and also have a rotation for those who are eating lunch. During my first year on FRC, my mentors did not factor in food at the competition. Since I was part of the pit crew and we were having robot difficulties, I (and the rest of pit crew) did not eat lunch one of the days since we spent the lunch break working on the robot. What we learned from this experience is to have 2 groups in the pit (lunch 1 and lunch 2). Send lunch 1 out of the pits right after your last match before lunch (with food you already have or a parent has as lines for food at competitions are very long) and give them 15-20 minutes to eat. Once lunch 1 returns, send out lunch 2. This system allows for people to be in the pits at all times if needed, and it also makes sure that everyone gets food for the day.
-Try to find as many sponsers as you can from a variety of fields. My team does not have many tools in our shops, but we have sponsers who will help
us out if we need something more complex done.

I hope this helps! Good luck with the build and competition season!!