Advice for starting a new team

[Xufer]

Well for the 2006 season the sponsor from my old team decided to fund a new team, I will be volunteering on this team we are going to have an organizational meeting next Tuesday and i am wondering what advice you all have for organization of rookie teams. What do you see as the main priorities for a new team? (assuming fund raising is not an issue) Any and all advice is appreciated.

Thanks

[Zoheb N]

one of the biggies is KISS... you can't stress this enough especially to a rookie team because they have the whole belief that the robot has to be complex.

[Bharat Nain]

Originally Posted by Xufer

Well for the 2006 season the sponsor from my old team decided to fund a new team, I will be volunteering on this team we are going to have an organizational meeting next Tuesday and i am wondering what advice you all have for organization of rookie teams. What do you see as the main priorities for a new team? (assuming fund raising is not an issue) Any and all advice is appreciated.

Thanks

1) Get a bunch of kids on the team and when you do, keep them interested
2) Get engineering support.
3) Introduce all people the the concepts of FIRST and the different aspects of the competition
4) Direct their attention to some work. Different kids will find their place on the team this way. Some will like web design, others will like to design the robot.
5) Take care of non engineering stuff. I'd suggest joining NEMO(Non-Engineering Mentors Organization). PM Jenny Beatty for more information.

And words of advice.. if you cannot get a whole lot of engineering support, keep your robot plain and simple for the first year. MAKE SURE the students on the team enjoy the year because that is what really counts.

-Bharat (After watching/mentoring so many pre-rookie and rookie teams)

[RoboMom]

Originally Posted by Bharat Nain

5) Take care of non engineering stuff. I'd suggest joining NEMO(Non-Engineering Mentors Organization). PM Jenny Beatty for more information.

-Bharat (After watching/mentoring so many pre-rookie and rookie teams)

Better yet, PM KathieK re: NEMO. She also is assisting with team development in Conn.

[Jason Kixmiller]

The "White Papers" feature of CD has great resources relating to team organization, competition, etc. I would suggest checking out the "Team Organization" section of the White Papers.

[Xufer]

Originally Posted by Jason Kixmiller

The "White Papers" feature of CD has great resources relating to team organization, competition, etc. I would suggest checking out the "Team Organization" section of the White Papers.

Do oyu have any suggestions as to which are more through than others ?

[OZ_341]

You can also try our FREE "Team in a Box" DVD/CD set. You can read about it at the order site. We have also just added segments with advice from Teams 103 and 67.
Many teams have used it across the nation and around the world, for team organization, rookie training, general orientation, sponsor presentations, and many other uses.
You can order through www.team341.com just click on the "Team in a Box" banner and scroll down to the order form.

Good luck!

Al Ostrow
Team 341

[Beth Sweet]

Originally Posted by OZ_341

You can also try our FREE "Team in a Box" DVD/CD set. You can read about it at the order site. We have also just added segments with advice from Teams 103 and 67.
Many teams have used it across the nation and around the world, for team organization, rookie training, general orientation, sponsor presentations, and many other uses.
You can order through www.team341.com just click on the "Team in a Box" banner and scroll down to the order form.

Good luck!

Al Ostrow
Team 341

You people are online way too early in the morning...

Yes, I would second this suggestion. Although we did not receive ours until after our rookie season, while looking at it I said, oh, we could have used this this and this... Also, if you have any questions, feel free to pm me or email me at bethsweet-at-gmail.com

[fnsnet]

Originally Posted by Beth Sweet

You people are online way too early in the morning...

Yes, I would second this suggestion. Although we did not receive ours until after our rookie season, while looking at it I said, oh, we could have used this this and this... Also, if you have any questions, feel free to pm me or email me at bethsweet-at-gmail.com

We're just to dern ready for the season to start... we just can't sleep.

[Nitroxextreme]

One of the most important things that is commonly overlooked would have to be parental support.

They are there to pick people up, bring in food, provide support, and make sure that you don't loose your head.

[KenWittlief]

I think the number one priority is: no matter what it takes make sure you ship a robot that runs (does something) and will pass inspection. Nothing deflates a teams moral more than showing up for their first regional with a fancy statue.

[TheAnsweris42]

My team just started this year, haha, and absolutely no one has any experience at all in FRC, so we're flying a little bit blind, grabbing as much advice as we can. So far all we really have nailed down is that we should, primarily, get something simple that we are certain we can get to work before worrying about the vision system and the like. I'm wondering what you guys think our priorities should be, as far as getting systems up and running. So far we've decided to get the drive train and the basic controls working first off, because we can score as long as we can move in this game. What else should we be focusing on at this point?

[KathieK]

Originally Posted by TheAnsweris42

What else should we be focusing on at this point?

From a non-technical standpoint, your NEMs (Non-Engineering Mentors) should be helping your team:
keep track of deadlines, gather paperwork (permission slips, emergency forms, FIRST release forms, etc.), get school board permission to take your team out of school for competition, plan travel/transportation/hotels/meals, contact local media, etc. The NEMs can join NEMO (Non-Engineering Mentor Organization) where they can get suggestions and support from other team mentors who are doing those same things right now. See http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/pa...le&paperid=499 for more details.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by TheAnsweris42

. I'm wondering what you guys think our priorities should be, as far as getting systems up and running. So far we've decided to get the drive train and the basic controls working first off, because we can score as long as we can move in this game. What else should we be focusing on at this point?

You're off to a good start. Try kitbot for a decent running robot. Also, read the manual. The whole thing. AT LEAST once, probably closer to ten times or more. At this point, focus on those, then later (once you have a working drive) figure out how you can improve your scoring (shooter, collector, pusher) and get working on that.

[Carol]

If you haven't checked this out yet, try MOEmentum: FYI - First-Year-Team Infobase. It contains weekly tips of where you should be in the build process and offers resources for additional help.

The official description: Each week, we send an e-mail to 2006 first-year teams with a summary of the current week's TIPs and resources along with links to the full text or document in this MOEmentum: FYI section of our team's website. This information will be organized by time frame relative to the build season, and will be permanently archived for reference at any time of the year.

(It isn't limited to rookie teams - anyone can use it).

http://www.moe365.org/moementum.php

Subheadings for this week's column (check out the link above for the full content - previous weeks columnns were discussed preseason and kickoff hints)

Week 1: Robot Build - Concept Feasibility
TEAM ORGANIZATION
EVALUATING TEAM MEMBER COMMITMENT
EFFECTIVE USE OF MEETING TIME
PARTS INVENTORY / TRACKING
PARTS ORGANIZATION
PURCHASING ADDITIONAL PARTS / SUPPLIES
ROBOT DESIGN/BUILD
SUB-TEAM BREAKDOWN
PLAYING FIELD / GAME COMPONENTS
STRATEGY / COMPETITION TEAM
STAYING CONNECTED
TRAVEL LOGISTICS
TEAM DINING
FIRST COMPETITION AWARDS
RESOURCES
Robot Build Excel Spreadsheet
Robot Build Microsoft Project file (requires Microsoft Project software)
Competition Team Evaluation Matrix