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

[Dan Petrovic]

Bring earplugs of some sort. It gets VERY loud.

[fnsnet]

Originally Posted by nycpunk

spend the extra money to get yourself a comfortable pair of safety glasses that wont give you a headache if worn for 3 days straight (there is a reason why people wear them on their heads, because they are either uncomfortable or put their eyes out of focus and gives them a headache)

I'm gonna get some slack for this but

remember not even coke, Pepsi, mountain dew, sprite, bawls, jolt cola, your caffeine drink of choice or even pure speed is a comparable replacement for good ol' cowboy coffee (coffee brewed blacker than you have ever seen, left hot in the machine all night, cooled then microwaved and drunk without any milk or sugar)

mmmm.. cowboy coffee..

[EvilMonkyPirate]

[quote=fnsnet]NEVER FALL ASLEEP AT A FIRST COMPETITION (PICTURES! )QUOTE]

I fell asleep at competitions all the time when I was younger.(I have 3 older siblings who did FIRST before me.) But since I've joined the team I've only fell asleep at one. We have pictures of it somewhere. But for a school project I had to carry around a baby doll that cryed all weekend. Which if you ever have to do that. Don't pick a FIRST filled weekend, you'll need more sleep then the kid gives you. It fell asleep at River Rage this year and I fell asleep a few miutes later. Blechers I must say, aren't all that comfy.

as for things you should know...

*Don't bring a fake baby to competitions, people think the thing is real and give you dirty looks especially if most people around you in FIRST know your entire family.

*Sleep is key...remember that always.

*Friends in FIRST become family throughout life. The bigger your family the more fun FIRST will be for you.

*The robot is important but remember that cheering for your robot is even more.

[Jay Trzaskos]

Don't worry, everyone forgets #33 one time in their FIRST career.

You WILL become addicted.

Christmas gifts will soon become plane tickets to Atlanta instead of PS3's

Going to extra regionals to watch is NEVER a bad thing.

Your second year in FIRST is your first year as a mentor. Always be open and willing to teach any skills or knowledge you have.

JT
229

[Billfred]

One that I just thought of from thinking back:

Wear jeans, but bring shorts.

There's truth to this statement: I was field coach this year at Palmetto, and I had my jeans on. I was absolutely dying on Friday from the heat of competition (and the heat of the stage lighting on the field), so during the lunch break I ran back to my room, luckily right by where we had lunch, threw on the first clean pair of shorts I could find, and started walking back to the Colonial Center. Granted, this almost made me late for our match--we were the first after lunch--but I was much more comfortable afterward.

[KTorak]

Originally Posted by Billfred

One that I just thought of from thinking back:

Wear jeans, but bring shorts.

There's truth to this statement: I was field coach this year at Palmetto, and I had my jeans on. I was absolutely dying on Friday from the heat of competition (and the heat of the stage lighting on the field), so during the lunch break I ran back to my room, luckily right by where we had lunch, threw on the first clean pair of shorts I could find, and started walking back to the Colonial Center. Granted, this almost made me late for our match--we were the first after lunch--but I was much more comfortable afterward.

Very true. It may have been freezing at GLR outside, but Me, the other driver, and the coach all wore shirts inside the competition becuase we couldnt stand beingin pants and dying on the field.

[Eric W. Jones]

-The robot is never really done until the end of your last competition

This was especially true for 1646 last season. It looked like a different robot at Atalanta from the one we unveiled at the open house at the end of the build season.

-Expect everything to break on the robot at least once

three competitions, seven omni wheels.

[i like dirt]

-Always expect the unexpected

[Eric W. Jones]

-never, ever count anyone out, especially based on their placing

we were third or fourth from last at nationals and were picked for finals (even though we were eliminated in the first match)

[Redo91]

finish your robot BEFORE you ship it, not in the morning before the competition

[hallk]

you can never have enough zip ties

bring a dry earse board- nice to cheap track of matches, to do lists, who you borrowed from/loaned tools to

mulitples of tools-makes work go much faster

[Dylan Gramlich]

Originally Posted by hallk

you can never have enough zip ties

bring a dry earse board- nice to cheap track of matches, to do lists, who you borrowed from/loaned tools to

mulitples of tools-makes work go much faster

whiteboards are also great for strategy and planning out matches! we have found this effective for 2-3 years now and that way u can refresh peoples memories before a match on what everyone is doing.

[Tottanka]

* When (and im saying when cause i know it will happen) youll stay for the night in your workshop testing and building the bot, make sure u got FOOD and COFFEE, you might actually suddenly notice u r starving to death...

*if the game item is a ball or something' u cant NOT play with it' just watch out hitting others precious stuff...u dont want any conflicts in your team ...

*DAve Lavery is massing with your head, but he must be taken seriously, evry word of his might be a lue that changes your machine...

*Be exposed to as many sides of FIRST as you can..if ur a programmer' u can be in the Chairman work part of your team in before the bot is ready, or before the team has any idea what it needs of you

*Remember' as friendly FIRST Competitions are, its still a game, and the other side wants to be a winner just as much as you do, adn just like you, they will do everything for it...

*Life is a game of chess' always look a few steps forward' and never be surprised, that the way of a true champ...

*Help others as much as u would like to recieve help from others..

*Girls are smarter then boys (and im a boy saying that).

* Never ever let a high school female student BUILD your robot, women are there to give orders to us, slaves...

*HAve your team organized well, many different parts like: Program team' Building, Webby, Public Relations, ANimation,. Each one of those must have a leader, and they all have to be organized together. A good FRC team is actually a small bussiness.

* People, no metter how uneducated they might be' will always find your machine intersesting, and will always ask questions u dont expext them (quote: "What on earth is that thing?"; "That's a robot?";"What's a robot?":"hm..erm...how do i anwer this question????"

[Rick TYler]

A week of testing is more important than a week spent cramming one last feature into your robot.

[Steve W]

Make sure that your batteries are :
1 - Charged
2 - fastened securely
3 - plugged in

and most of all, that your robot is turned on!