Hi again,
Our class was divided into 3 not so even groups, and were given the task of designing a robot for last year’s competition, and building a cardboard model of it.
My team would be the weakest of the 3, the class works on the project from 3 until 7, 7 being the minimal time, 10 being the maximum.
At 7:01 I am the only person from my team in the workshop, the others are already half way home, and there is obviusly no point in me building the robot myself…
My team just don’t seem to want to work, and I don’t have the slightest idea how to get them to work during the time we have and hopefully after that.
That’d be my first problem, my team is behind schedual and they have no motivation.
My second problem would be, simply enough, we started FIRST late, and I have no idea what to do…
I can think of 100 different things for me to do, but I can’t do them all.
For instance, I have a short history in 3dsmax animatino and modeling, so I could learn animation on a higher level and begin making ateam animation, or on the other hand, I could be learning electronics, or start learning Inventor/autoCAD, or I could be looking for sponsors, and so on.
Since we started late, we are very cramped timewise, and I don’t know what
thing/s I sould be focusing on, so I figures I could ask more expiriencedd FIRSTers what they would do or think I should do?
Thanks in advance,
Yov- Team 1657
Yov,
It seems like your first task to should be to complete the assignment, by yourself in need be. Make the cardboard model or as much of it as you can. Just thinking about function, strategy, priorities is invaluable for this upcoming season.
Many teams go through the same series of events when students find that this program is not an opportunity to fool around or some other idea. I won’t lie to you, this is competition is a lot of work but it has tremendous rewards. Do what you can in the time alotted. Motivation often comes from example not from demand. Ask for help from your teammates but don’t expect it, it may never come. Ask anything here on this site and you will get plenty of advice.
I agree with Al. Do your best to complete. Many times as things begin to take shape, others decide that they want to join in. You can also be an inspiration to the other teams when they see what you accomplish by yourself. In the long run, those that try learn and those that don’t try lose out. Keep your head up and push on. We are routing for you over here.
BTW - you may have been put on the weaker team for a reason. Use this challenge to motivate and lead.
Yov,
There’s no surefire way to get people motivated about FIRST at this point in the season, especially since in your case none of you have ever participated. However, you will find that once build season rolls around, people will get caught up in the exitement. And once your team members witness a competition, they’ll be blown away and you won’t have this problem next year (at least with people who went). However, the best you can do now, as Mr. Skierkiewicz said, is to do as much as you can yourself, and try to get your team members to help you.
As for your second problem, don’t worry about having started late. Many other teams are in the same situation. In fact, until this year when we started just a few weeks ago, my team never has had any off-season activity. You are not at as much a disadvantage as you think you are. I would suggest that you forget about the 3ds max animation for the time being. It is not a required part of the competition, and many teams choose not to do it, especially rookies. It would be much more productive to focus on things that you will for sure need to build the robot, such as knowledge of mechanical and electrical components. I would even say that CAD is secondary to having a good knowledge of these.
Good luck!
-Patrick
The point of building a cradboard robot isn’t to have a cardboard robot though, I COULD build it myself after hours, but then my team wouldn’t be part of the “learning experience”…
As for motivation, we can’t afford to wait until build season, a motivated class with no idea what to do because they didn’t give it thought before doesn’t help…
BTW - you may have been put on the weaker team for a reason. Use this challenge to motivate and lead.
Actually, the teams were divided by the places the students were witting in (from here to here is team 1…), makes no sense if you ask me.
I won’t be doing the project next year, because I won’t be in school, thanks for your help, but unfortunatly I am still in the dark about the future of our class in FIRST, if we continue at this rate we WON’T have a robot at the end of the 6 weeks, and that would not be very fun at all…
help! 
Hi Yov,
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Ask the others what they are interested in working on with regard to the project. Oftentimes people are assigned tasks that they simply have no interest in. (ie, getting the drive system when they wanted to do electronics.)
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Since you appear to understand what needs to happen, give the others small tasks to complete. Oftentimes people are assigned tasks and simply have no idea how to go about accomplishing it. Give them one thing to do like marking a piece of cardboard where it needs to be cut. When they are finished, give them the next task in the process, such as cutting the cardboard.
indieFan
One of the keys to getting people motivated is teambuilding exercises. Do you all know each other? Do you share the same interests? Or different ones? If someone is not motivated to build a cardboard robot, perhaps they might be motivated to look into the other components that make up a team - animation, programming, setting up travel plans, budgeting (accounting), team safety, fundraising, spirit… There’s lots of other “stuff” that make a team work well in the FIRST environment, beyond designing and building a robot.
We often find that new members are disappointed to discover that they are not all going to be building robots and/or driving them. We remind them that it’s a team effort, much like a sports team, where the chances of a freshman being the star quarterback on the varsity football team may not be rrealistic. You have to work at it, learn all about it first. And then we let them know about all the other opportunities on the team.
- Don’t be so discouraged yet. As people have mentioned before, just take a bit of time off- get to know your teammates. Figure out why everyone leaves early- do they not care what happens? Inspiration takes time. You never know when someone will become an ‘active’ member of the team. I became a ‘true’ member of my team during the last week of build season last year, and I haven’t stopped loving robotics since. Maybe what they need a little push. www.SOAP108.com has some great videos to watch, and CD is full of robot pictures- possibly by showing these to the rest of your team or just allowing them to explore and get ideas. Leaders are people who can inspire others to think independently and cooperatively.
If difficulties still persist, just ask everyone a simple question: Why are they on the team?
If they want to learn, they must seek the knowledge; if they want it for a resume, they must work to prove it; and so on. Ask them how willing they would be to stay a bit later. and extra hour or two a day is about 10 or so additional work hours per week. Don’t force anyone into doing anything, just give them a few choices to make- but let them see the possibilities. Try not to stress yourself out now, because you’ve got some time to teambuild and to explore robotics. Either way, a priority is to finish the assignment.
- If I was in your position, the level of importance would be to secure some sponsors in the preseason- a workplace is essential to a team, whether it be a school or machine shop, because this becomes a second home (at least for me, I love robotics too much to leave
) You have a lot of experience already, so you can do whatever is needed. If noone else can do animation, then you should do it, but also teach what you’re doing to others. Try out what you can- machining, electronics, animation, whatever is availible. In the end, you should make your decision based upon what you liked the most and what will help the team best. For example, my team focuses on robot building most, so we have very few people doing animation or award write-ups. In this situation, I think you would be most valuable doing animations, because there is already a great majority focused on the robot- but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try out other aspects of robotics.
Keep the team together, focus on some goals- but keep it cool, don’t panic, and become a team. Not just for robotics, though. Be a team socially- have trust, respect, and open communication. And have fun with it.
Keep up your work and love for robotics, and I’m sure you will succeed.
_Alex
This is very good advice.
Often lack of motivation is a result of people not knowing what to do. If there is a process or system in place, people seem to be much more willing to take on a task. If the system is poorly organized or without direction, people’s interest will tend to stagnate.
You need to develop a process for your team. Organize and delegate different tasks to different members of the team. Good organization is key: a group of highly organized people will be much more likely to succeed and be highly motivated.
For Brainstorming and Delegating of Tasks:
- The first thing you need to do is develop a strategy. How do you want to play the game? What is the best way to play the game? How can you beat others at the game? What ways of scoring points are easiest? What ways of scoring points give you the maximum amount of points? In what sequence will the robot complete the tasks that you decided to complete? While developing a strategy, try to avoid moving into the design of robot mechanisms. If you move into the design phase too early, ideas tend to be shut out. You need to know what exactly your robot will be doing before you can design it.
2)** Move into robot design**. What do we need in terms of the chassis? What restrictions will their be on the chassis? what kinds of additional components might we need? how will they have to work?
I don’t know how many people are in your group, but if the group is large enough,** split up the team into smaller groups** (about 2-3 people per group). Have each sub-group come up with ideas on how to build the robot and have them present their ideas to the rest of the team.
Have the other members of the team ask the group who is presenting questions about their design; what’s good about the idea? what needs to be improved? how might we adapt this idea or add to it? does it work with the strategy we agreed on?
Never let anyone dismiss an idea as “stupid” or say that “it’s never going to work”. If a member of the group objects to or sees a problem with the idea, then have them clearly and politely explain why they feel the way they do – don’t let them get away with just saying ‘no’ with nothing to support their opinion. After all of the groups have presented, come to a consensus on robot design.
3)** Move into robot build.** Assign people/groups different tasks. For example: have one group work on building the chassis, another on an arm, and another on a plow. Work closely together and communicate. If a team member feels that something about the design needs to be modified, DO NOT allow them to change it on their own without talking to the other members of the team. Major mechanical problems can result from lack of communication… not to mention that it is not fair for someone to change the design without input from anyone else.
Set deadlines for different components to be completed, for example: 'the chassis has to be built by Tuesday, the arms by Thursday…and so on. Deadlines help keep the group focused.
As for your second problem…I can understand somewhat how you feel. Every year I have a difficult time deciding what I want to do on the team, and it’s always a tough choice. But I can try to offer some advice:
**Since it’s your rookie year, don’t try to do everything at once. **
This year is my teams fifth season, and we are only just starting to get our animation team going. We have also never used CAD/Inventor, and we have still seen great successes. We hope to eventually incorporate it in the future, but for now we are taking things one step at a time. Master the basics during your rookie year, and don’t take on everything at once. Slow and steady wins the race.
Remember KISS ‘Keep It Simple Silly’
When you build your robot…don’t go for anything too complex. You will be doing better than half the rookies out there if you have a robot that is reliable and completes one simple task consistently. Never underestimate the power of a simple box on wheels. My team’s rookie year, our robot was basically just that…a box on wheels…and we ended up qualifying 6th at our first regional competition.
Assign different roles to different team members: you don’t have to do everything yourself. Have someone be in charge of electrical sub team, chassis sub team, programming sub team, marketing sub team…and so on. Make as many sub teams as you feel are needed. Hold a team meeting on this issue and divide up the jobs. Make sure that each subteamleader knows what they are supposed to be doing; ex: make sure electrical leader knows all of the rules about electrical, make sure the marketing lead is a good communicator/writer… etc.
I hope this helps you out. Keep asking questions Yov!
– Jaine
This was really great advice…
I didn’t understand FIRST until I walked into my first competition. Show video from not just the matches, but also show pictures and/or video from the entire event: like the pits, team party, and especially a large overview picture of the arena. Once your team members understand the magnitude of FIRST, they might be a little more motivated.
Otherwise, this is a quick way to weed out those who want to be part of the team and those who don’t. Do remember that those who are gung-ho right now will probably bring in more friends. So, if you happen to lose some of the original not so involved folks, no worries.
When I led my team we would start off each year with a membership roster of 50+ people. By the time the robot shipped, there would be 15-20 dedicated members and another 5 pseudo-involved members.
–Pierson