Snow days are killing us

[staplemonx]

We haven't been able to get our stuff since wed. And the city just announced that we are not getting in to the building til monday. And our weather person just announced more snow on monday.

Has FRC ever given a team an extension due to snow?

Philly schools close to easy.

[liam.larkin]

In the same boat. Team is out of Lansdale PA not to far from you sir. I think maybe it happened once I want to say 07 maybe but maybe I am making that up. This is always a problem for us. You are gonna have to do whatever you can. I dont recommend this but I may or may not have broken into our school before to "take" some of the stuff to work on it in my basement with some of the kids..SHHHHHHHH

[Steven Donow]

Last year, they made the witholding allowance(the amount of parts you can bring with you to a competition for use one the robot) significantly larger.


We're also running into the same issue (including final exams being pushed back a lot..), so hopefully they'll do something similar this year.

[rcmolloy]

JJ,

I feel you man. We are in the Delaware Valley as well with many other teams and it seems like there's nothing that can stop this weather. I'm sure you can snag a few students for your team and bring them to your house or something. I have done that with a few people last year and it really helped. Although, I can see there being issues with the students going to where ever they could meet you.

If you guys need a place hit up some teams from around the Philly area. I'm sure we would help you out but we're 45 minutes outside of of the city so haha.

Talk to your new man Akash, he will help you out a lot.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by staplemonx

Has FRC ever given a team an extension due to snow?

There was one year with an "extension" on the ship date because of widespread snow. FedEx trucks were not able to pick up many robots on the prescribed day. If I'm remembering correctly, this didn't actually give teams permission to continue work longer.

[JudyVandy]

There was one year (2003?) that the whole eastern quarter of the US was shut down because of about 2 feet or more of snow, Carolinas to Maine, and we were given a few days. However, this was mainly because FedEx could not do their pick-ups rather than because teams could not get to finish their robots.

With that in mind, don't plan on any extention!

[Ed Sparks]

In Alabama, we lost the first 10 days due to snow and school closings. Policy dictates that school groups cannot meet if the school is officially closed. This is definitely a tough year for us and I hope FIRST gives us some relief. I expect a larger "Holdback allowance" will be the best way to help all of us.

[fox46]

In our area (Stayner Ontario) whenever they close the roads the snowmobile trails are open and the build continues! It also helps that our primary workspace is a snowmobile recycling and repair shop. As a matter of fact many kids ride sleds to school because you can get a snowmobile operator's card at age 12 so transportation usually isn't an issue.

My suggestion would be to make friends with a custodian and get him/her to let you in to get your parts and work at home. Better yet, see if you can find a local business to loan you some workspace.

There is of course the other option.... Find someone willing to let you into the school despite beurocratic policies and power through the storm! Sometimes you just have to look the other way or find a creative way around little roadblocks like this. There are things that I have done in the past in highschool on my own team that had I not, we would not have been able to do the things we did.

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by rcmolloy

Talk to your new man Akash, he will help you out a lot.

I really wish there was something I could actually do about this, but I think JJ means the problem is getting into the school to get materials. If it was an issue of needing build space, that would be something we could probably work around.

I feel useless at this point in time that's what I get for joining so late into build.

[DtD]

Find out what your school's policy on snow days is. EG: Ours is clubs and activities are canceled unless special permission is given by the district and you can't meet before 11:00 AM.

Or just figure out somewhere else to meet. Our team has met in my (3 car) garage before.

[artdutra04]

It snows every build season, and every year this issue comes up. White frozen precipitation falling from the sky is not the end of the world. The only year build season was ever expanded due to snow was when a major Nor'easter blizzard hit the entire East Coast right before/on Ship Date, and Fedex trucks physically could not get to locations to pick up the robot crates.

When snow is forecasted, plan ahead and delegate tasks out to members that can be completed from home if school is canceled and you cannot meet. For actual robot work, use a CAD modeling software of your choice to fully design your robot in. During the design phase, it's just as easy to work on CAD models from your house as it is in your school. Then when it comes to fabricating all the parts, you can ask team members what kind of tools they have at their homes, and if they have appropriate tools, give them part drawings and have them make parts at home.

They key thing though is to plan ahead for how your locality deals with snow. Whether you're in the South and 3" of snow means the state is closed for a week or you're in the North and 18" of snow might mean a single missed day, if you plan ahead you'll be fine. Engineering projects always tend to expand and fill whatever time is available.

[fox46]

A great investment for any FIRST team are these little guys:
http://www.busybeetools.com/products...N.-X-8IN..html
http://www.busybeetools.com/products...3-CRAFTEX.html
Another of our mentors owns the Mini Lathe and it is absolutely awesome. Great for all kinds of parts and will handle pretty much anything you can fit in its chuck which is likely about 95% of any robot part you might need. Best of all you can throw it in a car and take it wherever you want- including your pit area at the competition! This dynamic duo would make a great investment for any team who is being forced to do work at home. If there's a bunch of snow in the forcast, just throw these guys in the car with all your WIP parts and you can keep working at home with almost all the capability of a full size machine shop. They are also great for teaching students how to use a lathe/mill because if you crash the chuck or royally mess up there is never enough kinetic energy involved to do any catastrophic damage ie: whipping chuck keys/parts/tooling into things, mangling the machine etc.

[Zuelu562]

I can imagine how much it sucks for you guys. Up here in MA we are losing 1 day a week (luckily not our Saturdays), and it's a complete pain.

This year really makes me question the thought of global warming .

[staplemonx]

Originally Posted by fox46

In our area (Stayner Ontario) whenever they close the roads the snowmobile trails are open and the build continues! It also helps that our primary workspace is a snowmobile recycling and repair shop. As a matter of fact many kids ride sleds to school because you can get a snowmobile operator's card at age 12 so transportation usually isn't an issue.

Thats just awsome.

I miss the OP and snow mobiles, used to play hockey up in ignace and wassaga beach.

[thefro526]

JJ,

Snow days have been a part of build for as long as I can remember - they're just part of the game. We usually aim to be "done" by the end of week 4 just so that we know our schedule can slip a week and we're still on time-ish.

Also, if there's anything I can do to help, please let me know.