We’ve published our first episode of “Ahoy Mentors” a series of videos targeted for Mentors to Learn and Share. Episode 1: “What we do in the Off-Season” is a look at some of the things we do before the kickoff…
If you have ideas for future episodes, would like to join our Mentor discussion zooms. Or have any comments. Feel free to post them here or in the youtube comments.
Neat idea.
Thanks for sharing this. I love the FIRST Family. Everyone is looking to help everyone else.
The Colorado mentors have been holding a monthly mentor meetup for a few years. Before the pandemic we would visit different teams’ workspaces which was really helpful. Just getting time to talk with mentors outside of Team Meetings and Events was huge.
One thing I recommend before Kickoff is to build the bumpers. These are the number one reason for not passing inspection. Too often they are left to the last minute and teams underestimate the time it takes to do this well. By this point teams have a basic chassis design that works for them year after year. If you’re a rookie team, I recommend the KOP Chassis in the Long configuration. This is good enough for your first year. When you go to events this season, study all the other chassis options and use the time after competition to do a trade study on the chassis you want to use the next year.
We generally start building bumpers once the drive base is finalized (should be first week after Kick-Off.). It will also be interesting to see what the status of part re-use is this year in R14 are bumpers legal to build before?
On a bumper note, we discovered last year that Siser brand HTV (aka iron on) is laser cutter safe (non-PVC). Which makes cutting numbers and applying them super easy.
or
Both are PU which is laser cutter safe as long as you vent/filter.
Yes, according to R302 in Rapid React, Bumpers are one of a handful of fabricated items that are an exception to being built each year after Kickoff. If they withstand a season, you can use them year after year. This reduces a significant number of labor hours during the Competition Season.
June is Bumper Month.
Cordura and other nylon fabrics are also laser cutter safe. We cut our bumper numbers from white Cordura on the laser cutter and sew them to the bumper covering fabric. The heat of the laser sears the edges preventing fraying. This has done very well in standing up against the rigors of gameplay.
This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.