I have recently taken on a mentoring role for a high school robotics team that will be competing in our first FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). I am excited about the opportunity to guide students through this incredible learning experience; but I am also a bit nervous since I am relatively new to the competition and the whole process.
How do you help the students stay on track with deadlines while still encouraging creativity and innovation?
What are some common technical challenges that rookie teams tend to overlook, and how can I prepare the team for them?
I want to make sure the students feel empowered and motivated. What strategies do you use to keep them engaged throughout the season; especially during the more challenging moments?
Others I’m sure will give you some great advice answering your questions. One thing unclear to me from your post / account is your history / familiarity with FRC. The fact you’ve found Chief Delphi is a (probably?) good sign, but I wanted to encourage you, if you never have, to try and attend a FRC Offseason tournament this Fall before the main season.
Go to look at all sorts of robots and talk to volunteers or other mentors. Learn what matches look like and robots have to do. There’s a ton to learn but even just an afternoon at one of these events will be invaluable.
Lists almost all the remaining upcoming offseasons this Fall. If any are within your travel capabilities, I strongly encourage it.
Adding on to this, if you’re comfortable giving your general area and/or team number, I suspect someone on here knows someone in your area that can help you out more directly and/or faster than CD can. We often call that “mentoring new teams”, and most veterans with some capability are more than happy to do so.
Common technical challenge: It’s ALL a challenge, but I’ll hit you with the single most annoying: The bumpers. They are required. You WILL forget to build them until two days before your first event, because everybody does that. And to top it all off, even the veterans aren’t sure exactly what’s going on with those.
A close second is biting off more than you can chew. You’re a rookie team, so I’m going to tell you two words: 1) Kitbot. 2) Everybot. Without totally stifling your creativity, as both will be decent starting points, you want to build one or the other as fast as possible. (Possibly both, given time and resources availability.) THEN iterate/add stuff to improve.
So, one way to keep the students on track with deadlines is to set a reasonable deadline of having whichever of the two you’re opting to build driving, THEN set another reasonable deadline for “let’s see what we can add in/improve”. Maybe it’s a better intake. Maybe a better shooter. Maybe one of the Ri3D teams’ designs filters through. But if you start with a known good base, it’s a lot easier.
As far as keeping them engaged throughout the season… somehow having stuff to do sort of self-motivates them, unless that stuff is “clean the shop at the end of the night” somehow. Feel free to cut a few nights short if there’s actually nothing to do; it’ll help a lot.
One question for you: How supportive are the team members’ parents, so far?
Work to instill the values Woodie Flowers proselytized. It was what attracted many of us initially and remains a guiding-light we all return to when needed.
The only thing I would add is something we do on our team: We say "Find your balance. Family first. School second. Robotics third. …Mr Miyagi had it right: “Better learn balance. Balance is key. Balance good, karate good. Everything good. Balance bad, better pack up, go home. Understand?” "
First competition design it as a group simple to do one task really well. then the students will see success from accomplishing that task over and over.
Move across line in auto
Do something really well in game repeatedly (Example: Move items from one place to another, low goal scoring , take out a scoring opportunity from other alliance)
Have fun and observe others
In subsequent years add more, the first year will be an absolute case of “we have no idea”. Second year things will start to become clear.
You keep them motivated by keeping them busy. As a rookie team with new students, they aren’t going to know what to do. Create a timeline with them (start at the end, we need a robot by this day, then work backwards for all your goals). Make sure they are hitting it. Get in there and work with them, and make sure they all have jobs, all the time.
After a year or two of this they’ll start getting the idea and the more senior students will start helping you and do a lot of this themselves. Until then, you’re probably going to be the main driving force behind getting things done. Don’t expect them to do it on their own.
I think the key to keeping them busy and motivated is to get jobs broken into small enough tasks they can be completed in a single meeting. That will mean a lot of tasks. but the more they can see accomplishment the better.
This, and don’t come up with make work. Most students spend all day getting told what to do and they can tell busy work. Sometimes this also means making sure students know how off robot tasks are contributing to the team’s success.
Mod note: The OP of this thread cleverly hid a spam link in it. The link has been edited out, but the post was allowed to remain because it has some good information that legitimate new teams may benefit from.
There is very wide range of maturity levels with high-school students. This includes drama, acting differently when peers are in the room, and different if (their) parents are around. Generally speaking all students want to be there, so the best thing you can do th help keep people on track when horsing around or people are being exluded is not to blame any one person, but to draw attention to to the issue.
Edit: OP shame on you for trying to slip in a spam link, thx mods Good work being a mentor, there is way more student interest in this program than there is mentor hours to do the job how you may like. Small group management can be a chore, but it is also a great chance to show some trust in students to manage a complex process on their own (another key skill this program teaches very well if you let it)
Here is my 7 week schedule. This will have you ready for a week 1 event.
*We don’t always (pretty much never) stick to it, but it can give you some milestone markers you want to try and hit to stay on schedule. I suggest even if you have a later event you try to stick to this schedule (or even quicker if you can) so you can get in more drive practice.
Remember, if you fall behind, that means less time for what’s on the schedule behind it.
WEEK 1 : Game strategy and Prototyping
Make sure you read the rules and agree on what scoring goals you want your robot to accomplish.
WEEK 2: Continue Prototyping
Prototyping should be done and robot design should be established by the end of this week
WEEK 3: Mechanical and Chassis
Chassis should be done by the end of this week.
WEEK 4: Continue Mechanical
Your robot should be pretty much done (mechanically) by the end of this week.
WEEK 5: Electrical
Everything on the robot (except for programming) should be done by the end of this week.
WEEK 6: Programing
GIVE THEM THE ENTIRE WEEK WITH THE ROBOT TO PROGRAM AND TEST. SERIOUSLY. THE WHOLE WEEK. JUST THEM. (LOL)
WEEK 7: Driving
Start driving the robot you will use for competition (even if you built a practice bot) and continue to drive it every moment you can until your competition.
TLDR: Bad AI generated advice in this reply, good advice in other replies.
This looks like an AI generated post, and the spam link all but confirmed it for me. I asked Gemini to respond to this thread “in the voice of a typical Chief Delphi poster”
Alright, rookie mentor, listen up. You think you’re just gonna waltz in here and magically turn a bunch of noobs into Einstein contenders? Think again. Mentoring is more than just handing out participation trophies and singing Kumbaya.
Here’s the reality check:
Don’t be a hero. You’re not building the robot, they are. If they screw up, let 'em. That’s how they learn. (Just make sure they don’t take a drill to the battery.)
Everybot? Psh. Sure, it’s functional, but it’s also boring. Push your students to come up with something original, even if it means a few face-plants along the way.
“Fundamentals?” More like “fundamentals of winning.” Teach them how to strategize, analyze matches, and exploit weaknesses. Gracious Professionalism is great and all, but nobody remembers who came in second.
Small victories? Who cares. Set your sights on the championship and don’t settle for less. (Okay, maybe celebrate a little if they manage to get the robot off the tarmac.)
“Have fun?” Winning is fun. Teach them that hard work and dedication pay off. And if they’re not having fun, well, maybe they should try the chess club.
And a few more nuggets of wisdom:
Project management? Just use a whiteboard and a Sharpie. Or better yet, make the students figure it out.
Other teams? They’re your competition. Learn from them, sure, but don’t expect any handouts.
Off-season events? Waste of time. Focus on building a killer robot for the real deal.
Now get out there and make those rookies sweat! And remember, there’s no crying in FRC. (Except maybe when you win Einstein.)
That is intentional. The AI is allowing or even encouraging the robotics competition to make sure all the software and hardware is in place for full AI robot control. These are the people the AI needs to take over so they will be the last to be put into energy harvesting pods.
Out of curiosity, I asked Copilot the same question (voice of a typical Chief Delphi poster). Here’s the response (yours is way, way funnier):
Hey there! Welcome to the world of FIRST Robotics! It’s awesome that you’re stepping up as a mentor. Here are a few tips to help you support your students effectively:
Be a Guide, Not a Boss: Your role is to guide and inspire the students, not to do the work for them. Encourage them to take the lead and make decisions. This helps them learn and grow.
Foster a Collaborative Environment: Create a team culture where everyone feels valued and heard. Encourage students to share their ideas and work together to solve problems.
Teach Problem-Solving Skills: Instead of giving students the answers, ask guiding questions that help them think critically and come up with solutions on their own.
Be Patient and Supportive: Understand that students are learning and will make mistakes. Be patient and provide constructive feedback to help them improve.
Encourage Time Management: Help students learn to manage their time effectively, especially during the build season. This is a crucial skill both in robotics and in life.
Celebrate Successes and Learn from Failures: Celebrate the team’s successes, no matter how small, and use failures as learning opportunities. This builds resilience and a growth mindset.
Stay Positive and Enthusiastic: Your attitude can greatly influence the team’s morale. Stay positive and enthusiastic, even during challenging times.
Remember, the goal is to inspire and empower the students. Good luck, and enjoy the journey!
Feel free to reach out if you have any specific questions or need more advice. The Chief Delphi community is always here to help!
