Lost 1/6th of build season...

[384drtysteve101]

Our team 384 ran into problems like this before, so ussually we meet at someones house during these snowy events, not much work gets done, but its good to have communication with the team, and this way we can be ready for the next build day. Also we have a great bond with our school principle who loves the robotics program, and will allow us to come into school even if it is closed as long as 12 month employees are aloud to come in.

[Tim Delles]

Originally Posted by techalex

49/50 states had snow yesterday. Darn Florida. Granted some not as bad as others, but hey, that's quite a record!

Hawaii?

[JesseK]

Originally Posted by Tim Delles

Hawaii?

Tall mountainous terrain maybe?

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by Tim Delles

Hawaii?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauna_Kea

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by techalex

49/50 states had snow yesterday. Darn Florida. Granted some not as bad as others, but hey, that's quite a record!

Hawaii had snow???

[Hallry]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

Hawaii had snow???

Yep, Mauna Kea is the highest mountain on Earth, if measured from the bottom of the ocean .

[ttakashima]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

Hawaii had snow???

http://www.longislandpress.com/2011/...-of-50-states/

It was not snowing anywhere near where i live

It is however raining.... Hopefully the thunderstorms wont flood our shop >.<.

[waialua359]

Originally Posted by techalex

49/50 states had snow yesterday. Darn Florida. Granted some not as bad as others, but hey, that's quite a record!

I still dont get how they figured this.
It IS SNOWING on some parts of the Big Island, HI....particularly Mauna Kea.

[Bryan Herbst]

Originally Posted by techalex

49/50 states had snow yesterday. Darn Florida. Granted some not as bad as others, but hey, that's quite a record!

I would've thought Hawaii would be the one that didn't get snow. EDIT: Bah, just read page 2. Mountains don't count, that's cheating and has (almost) nothing to do with the weather.

As others have said, this is an excellent time to lose meetings (if you must lose meetings). You can read the rules and if you get creative you could even begin picking strategies and designing the bot.

In other news, we enjoy an unprecedented level of snow-preparedness here in Minnesota. Over my 14 years of schooling, I have had one snow day and one severe weather day (there were trees and powerlines blocking 9/10ths of the streets). I have seen the state get nearly a foot of snow overnight and have all the suburban roads cleared by 5am.

The danger of us losing a day of build is minimal. The danger of losing more than one day is nonexistent. If you'd like, I could lend you some shovels

[Lledargo]

We have had a surprisingly light winter here this year (I can almost hear Murphy coming along with his snow clouds because I said that). There is really not much a school based team can do when school has been called off, except make sure team members have something they can do at their house to contribute to the team, without needing to have a meeting.

Good luck to all the teams having trouble meeting because of the weather. (and everyone else of course)

[Tim Delles]

The first few days shouldn't really be used for building anything except the field, which obviously you can't do if you meet at the school. The keyword there is BUILDING! You still have plenty to do that you don't need a shop for.

1.) Read all of the Rules
2.) Read all of the Rules again
3.) Begin deciding your strategy
4.) Re-Read all of the rules and get rid of any strategy ideas that violate the rules
5.) Research other teams robots from previous years (try looking at 2007).
6.) Re-read the rules to make sure the robots that you 'like' fit in the rules of this year.
7.) What about the minibot??? Figure this out.

And all of this can be done via phone call, skype, video chat, etc. with all of the other team members.

Good luck. (BTW We have lost today for work because of the weather... and I'm in New England)

[Rosiebotboss]

Windchill.

Students can be working on designs, writing Woodie Flowers award entries, Chairmans, business plans or planning a Ziti dinner through the marvelous document management tool PTC provides, Windchill.

I am at work today, and there is no school due to, as of the last text message I got from my daughter at home, the 22 inches of snow in the back yard that has fallen since midnight. I know there are a bunch of Rosie kids doing their CAD work and writing...

And it helps to know some of the Town Dept of Public Works snow plow drivers to cut a path into the High School tech ed wing.

[SteveGPage]

Last year, due to "Snowmeggedon" (back to back blizzards), we lost 15 days during our build season - most of weeks 3 and 4, with a couple of other days thrown in as well. We worked via email, phone, etc... as much as was possible. We had 7 marathon days at the end before the ship date, and still only shipped a robot that was about 60% assembled. We had some amazing help at the Chesapeake Regional (a real big shout out to FRC 365 MOE, the Mircle Workerz! Your mobile team was a life saver!), as well as had the opportunity to also help a lot of teams. We were all in the same boat, so spent that time working with other teams to do the best we could. If the weather continues to be an issue, contact other teams in your area and see if there are some things that you all can do together. Contact your regional working committee and see if you and other teams can get additional support during your competition. Because of this, National Instruments sent several labview experts to assist teams, as well.

[earlybird]

Last season my team lost 3 weeks, 2 due to snow and 1 due to our principal not letting us work during midterms week. We wound up putting in a lot of late nights sometimes not leaving the school until 2 am or later Friday and Saturday Nights. We spent all day Thursday at our first competition finishing up our robot.

[ghostmachine360]

I mean, we're in the same situation here in Marietta, GA. Since Week 1 for us is all strategy, brainstorming, and design, on-line collaboration has really worked out well for us, and we're ready to go finish design come Friday afternoon.