As a general recap of various things we changed in preparation for build season:
On our off-season: We attended Washington Girls Gen, Bordie React, and PNW Block Party which is the record for the most off-season competitions we’ve ever done in a season. This was definitely not the right move to do as we didn’t have enough to improve between competitions which led to a lot of rookies feeling like they didn’t really gain anything from their effort which is completely fair.
What we learned: don’t do off-season comps just because you can, they’re a valuable recruitment and retention tool so make sure to use them wisely to not burn rookies out before their first build season.
On our education/training: This year we had three different tracks of education, one for students who only attended once a week, one for students who attended twice a week, and one for intermediate students who have been here a year but don’t have everything down just yet. We found that this left a lot of holes where intermediate students or bi-weekly students had nothing to do and nothing to learn as leads were busy handling other students. We also started a beginner programmer track and an advanced programmer track as programming experienced 1600% growth, and with that came many budding programmers who don’t know Java. The beginner track focuses on learning Java while the advanced track focuses on robot code specifics.
What we learned: we need to cut down to two tracks for intermediate students and rookie students, which will mean attendance policies/cuts, extracurricular reading, or something of the sort. We also changed our education focus from trying to fit everything in one year to learning FRC over multiple years which hopefully helps a bit.
On our infrastructure: Last year we experimented with Trello which was great… When we used it… This year we’re mandating Trello to ensure that we work more productively with clear deadlines, and to make our handoffs between meetings more smooth. We also had problems with motors disappearing last year so I made a rudimentary inventory sheet in Trello, that tracks who checks what out so we know who to ask. Trello also includes a Gantt chart in the premium track that is really helpful for scheduling which will hopefully ensure that our deadlines line up this season.
What we learned: from last year, but still applicable. Document everything from short-term to long-term to ensure that things flow smoothly, short-term or long-term.
On our business/outreach: Our business team was able to get us a sponsorship with Pagliacci’s for pizza during kickoff and we hope to extend this relationship further. They also were able to collect and donate 469 pairs of socks for the homeless with Operation Nightwatch. Our business team is planning on building up our social media presence and learning what it means to be a FRC robotics business team. We also donated motors to various rookie teams in the PNW, if your team needs CIMs/Redlines/775s/etc and is willing to pay for shipping or pick them up locally, please dm me here. I can possibly drop them off at your location (if reasonable) as well.
What we learned: Many organizations are willing to work with FRC teams if you just send them an email. Don’t be scared and feel free to reach out to them, they don’t bite!
On our tooling: Some of you may have seen my requests for recommendations for new tooling. Our band-saw and drill press finally broke after almost 25 years of use so we have bought new tools, namely a DW872 chop saw with an aftermarket fixture plate. This fixture plate’s blade clearance slot was off by around a couple of degrees but the fence is perpendicular as far as we can tell. We also purchased an OMIO (today morning in fact) as we were delaying this in preparation for eviction to move to a new space but plans fell through. We’re also looking into buying a drill press, so if you’re local and you have one you’re willing to offload dm me, or if you have recommendations let me know, as I have very little experience in purchasing shop tools.
What we learned: plan for now, not the uncertain future lest you be rushed to learn something quickly that shouldn’t be learned quickly.
I think that’s all for now, we’ll update after kickoff or whenever we feel like we have something to share! Have a good break and then a good kickoff!
Joey
CTO of 5937