Before we start - PLEASE read the Manual!

[dlavery]

Before the season starts, we would like to take a moment and pass along a plea from practically all of the game designers, FRC leaders, lead mentors, lead team engineers, competition inspectors, referees, judges, and (most likely) your team mates.

Once it is released PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE read the FRC Manual!

The Manual is packed full of important information that pretty much everyone on the team will need to know. While not everyone will need to know every chapter intimately (e.g. not everyone on the team will be involved with shipping the robot, so not all of them will need to study the "Robot Transportation" chapter), there are a few sections that all will need to know and understand. Everyone should be sure to read – and probably re-read –the "Arena," "Game," "Robot," and "Tournament" chapters.

If you do not become reasonably familiar with this material, you will have endless problems during the season. These can range from wasting your and other people’s time repeatedly asking questions that are clearly addressed in the Manual, to showing up at a competition with an illegal robot and not being allowed to compete. I can pretty much guarantee that if you get caught up in a rules violation during the season, trying to use "but I didn't read the rules, so I didn't know that" as an excuse absolutely will not work with the referees or inspectors at the competition events.

As has been mentioned so many times, a big part of FIRST is about exposing students to the standards and practices of the professional world. To do this many teams structure their operations to mimic the organization and procedures of a professional engineering project. The Manual is the "requirements document" for your project. In a professional environment, EVERYONE on a project is required to know the requirements, be conversant with the documentation, and be able to extract information from them. Those skills are critical and expected. As a member of your team, practicing those skills will be fundamental to your ability to positively contribute to the success of your team. As an entire team, this practice will be critical to your – and your alliance partners - success at the competitions.

The Manual is your friend. Read it. Know it. Use it.

-dave



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