Hello I am pretty new to this entire robot thing having just joined robotics this year and I have found myself more then a little confused by all the new information that I am expected to learn. :ahh:
Are there any sites, activities, or suggestions that you might have in helping me to learn everything?
Tomorrow night, 9pm, the Science Channel if you get it. That’s the start.
well i actually do have that programmed on my vcr but do you think will really help me?
Attempting to learn everything is a noble, if somewhat hopeless, goal. You have, however, come to the right place. ChiefDelphi has the largest forums for FIRST discussion.
A good starting point might be to read over the rules for last years game. This will give you a starting point for figuring out what you want to figure out. Remember that any or all of the rules could change for this year.
Good luck, and don’t let the bears eat you.
Wetzel
welcome to FIRST… some great sites which might help you…
www.chiefdelphi.com (i am there most of the time when i am infront of the computer).
www.firstwiki.org (a great page with a lot of resources).
www.usfirst.org (info about what is going on in FIRST).
on your post you havent pointed out that what are you interested in… mechanical, electrical, software, animation? you are welcome to ask any of us with whatever you need help with… we would be more than happy to help you… 
If you do happen to lack the time to do extra work, however, just getting involved in whatever part of the team that may suit your abilities is a good way to learn more. No one ever starts knowing everything… so the experience really, really, REALLY helps. Just make sure to keep an enthusiasm for learning
Anyway, here’s one site I like… Enjoy!
http://electron.mit.edu/~gsteele/mirrors/www.nmis.org/EducationTraining/machineshop/contents.html
as the others said… this place is a superb resource for absolutely everything…
also if you ever have a question you can email First directly on their team support email at frcteams “AT” usfirst.org
http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/resources.htm also has lots of stuff on
Nina,
By asking questions in this forum you have already taken a great leap forward. Depending on your interests I would peruse the forums that match your interest. In the technical areas you can look back at problems and solutions for mechanical, electrical, and software issues. Just by reading through some of these posts you will find information that many of us take for granted. If you are into strategy there are forums for that as well. Just a note, don’t believe everything you read until you have checked it out for yourself. Some information that is posted may apply to a specific robot and not all robots in general. Should you have any specific questions, please post and you will receive answers or you can PM anyone if you are not comfortable asking the question in an open forum. The most important thing is that you get your questions answered and get a working knowledge of the subject. Have fun!
Sorry about being a jerk a bit, but use that as a starting point to your venture into FIRST, then go out from there to places like firstwiki and chiefdelphi.
Nina,
Welcome!
Have an adult mentor on your new team join NEMO (non-engineering mentor organization). They need to join Chief Delphi and then pm me to join this forum.
I’ve attached the latest version of “18 Hints for Rookie Teams from NEMO.”
We ran out of room so are now working on “More Hints for Rookie Teams from NEMO” 
advice for rookie teams.doc (48.5 KB)
advice for rookie teams.doc (48.5 KB)
I was going to write a bunch of stuff, but NEMO said most of it already. There is good solid advice there. I only want to add one thing. The Phoenix area has one of the strongest team communities in FIRST. There are plenty of teams in your area that will be more than willing to help. Teams 842, 991, and 1212 are all in the Phoenix area. 991 (The Dukes) is a particularly well organized team for only being a couple of years old.
Other teams in Arizona that can provide assistance include 64 (The Gila Monsters) in Mesa and their offshoot team 1011 (CRUSH) in Tuscon. Team 60 in Kingman, while a bit far away, has made some pretty good resources available here in the white papers section on fund raising and team organization. Besides the phone shortens the distance immensely.
Most of all, these teams compete and have a great time doing it. They are all teams we on the BeachBots take seriously on the field and have fun with off of it. So they can introduce you to the full FIRST experience. I can only think of one area in the country that would provide more help, but here in LA we’re a little far away 
OK, so I’m prejudiced want to make something of it?
I hope to see you at the Arizona regional!
ChrisH
I’m unclear from your original message. Are you joining an existing team, or are you starting/joining a new one?
Chris,
Thanks for the kind words! You rock!
I should let you know, however, that we’ve been around slightly longer than our team number would suggest. We were part of the team 460 alignment between Brophy and Xavier before we went our separate ways.
You are right, though, we’d love to help out any teams that are getting started or need our assistance in any way. Currently, we’re trying to form a relationship with Desert Mountain HS in Scottsdale and get their Robotics program under way. The more the merrier!
Thanks again!
WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF FIRST!!!
I personally wish you best of luck on this journey–it’s tons of fun yet at times a bit challenging–but no worries everyone is this great community especially on this forum will help always. If you have to always just pm someone or everyone basically has a screen name and you can im them-- and if someone doesn’t know we’ll get you to the right person that can help you out–so all and all-- welcome and you are in a ride for the time of your life!!!
thanks for all of the advice guys i’ll check out some of the teams in my area and watch the science channel tonight and do a little more research. luckily i have vacation this week so i should have plenty of time. :]
Attempting to learn everything is a noble, if somewhat hopeless, goal. You have, however, come to the right place. ChiefDelphi has the largest forums for FIRST discussion.
Hey it’s possible. It’s definately possible. All you need to do is read read read. You are talking to a person who practically has almost every single book on robotics. I am a intravert though so trying to absorb large amounts of data through books might not be the best thing.
If you are trying to figure out what type of FIRST work you want to do, we have organized it by subteam on our website. I doubt your team will divide things up exactly the same, but it is more than likely that they will have similar groups.
Check out our subteams at:
http://www.penfieldrobotics.com/page5.html
And links for more information for our subteams at:
http://www.penfieldrobotics.com/page8.html
Best of luck!!