I’m curious in what ways teams will be assisting alliance members off-field this year, especially since teamwork will be more significant than ever.
For example, I decided to keep a real simple autonomous in backup for alliance members. This autonomous would simply move the robot forward for 10 auto points.
Mobility is only worth 5 points
I think that’s a great idea. You don’t need to limit it to your alliance partners. We’re going around the pits to help any team with a basic autonomous.
And this is one of my favorite things about FIRST! 
We take a couple of small toolboxes (the kind you carry around) stocked with the most commonly used tools (wrenches, sockets, electrical stuff, zip-ties etc.) and have them ready to go to other pits to help out.
We focus on cross training our mechanical students on basic knowledge of other systems so they can help teams trouble shoot basic problems (help pass inspection) and they know who our “expert” is if an issue is out of their realm of knowledge.
In the past we have had a veteran student and a rookie student go introduce themselves to each team that is a rookie to 3rd year team for no reason other than to say hello and be a friendly face on a Thursday morning. Sometimes the interaction doesn’t go past the friendly check in to see how things are going and sometimes it turns into a Thursday rebuild.
I challenge anybody reading this thread to work with the other veteran teams attending your event to muster the student power to get every robot through inspection before the end of practice matches.
that is a really good idea I may have to have our programmers try it.:]
Being from MAR, where there are few rookies and they are generally mentored by experienced teams or alumni, I’m not terribly worried about playing with many entirely non-functional robots. However, if I were in a different region, I had considered bringing supplies to construct simple “possession” mechanisms that could be quickly attached to robots and used no more than 1 motor or servo to deploy. Think of a couple PVC pipes that rotate out of the frame to help corrall a ball.
This sounds like a great idea. Don’t forget to have autonomous code written in three different languages so you can help all of the teams.
You will need LabView, C++ and JAVA code
Perhaps you can work with another team(s) that code(s) differently than you do before the season and come up with code for everyone.
No Robot left behind!! (in Autonomous at least…)
We don’t limit our assistance to alliance partners. During competitions (particularly Thursday), we have 3 team members stationed outside of our pit waiting to deliver parts/tools/materials to teams that need them. These three team members are versed in mechanical, electrical and programming systems and can help with any issues teams are having that they can’t solve alone.
Example from last year: We expected the lack of shooter wheel guards that many teams overlooked. We brought with us a fairly large supply of polycarbonate, a band saw, and a polycarbonate bender. The bender was used non-stop on Thursday, and from time-to-time the remainder of the weekend. It resulted in safe frisbee flingers for the whole regional, and maybe more importantly, showed the 15 rookie and second-year teams what FIRST is all about.