when…You forget to feed the watchdog
when…People claim they have no idea about a meeting when you send out 3 E-mail reminders weeks ahead of said meeting
when…People who are signed up to bring food on a night dirring build season, dont bring food!!!:eek:
when…your team is deploying code to the robot when in the pit, and right as you are getting called up, Labview freezes, the code fails deploy, you try again but you don’t have enough time so you end up with no code on the robot!
when…you just happen to take the fried battery to use for the match and not one of the nine perfectly good ones?:rolleyes:
when those amber safety glasses your team ordered three years ago STILL didn’t come in yet…
when the school “promised” you a CNC mill 10 years ago and the spot for it in the shop is still vacant. >.<
I agree, if you can turn a wrench you can work on the mechanical team.
Building a gearbox or a c-slot chassis are not that hard with instructions. Nor are bumpers etc. People assume you have to be smart to make a robot, you don’t have to fit the geek stereotype to work on it. I came in with minimal knowledge, two years later I want my team to start CNCing out their frame instead of 8020ing it.
when… most of my school goes “we have a robotics team?” whenever it is mentioned.
when… the mechanical team says here is the robot find somewhere for the electrical and make it work, first year our electronics were impossible to access, this year we had to dig through spaghetti for our battery. (I am the CADer/Lead CADer (if we get others) next year, so things will be different :rolleyes: )
…when the entire drumline yells at you because you skipped drumline to go to robotics… again! :yikes:
Did your drumline win a regional? 
Don’t you hate it when you miss second seed by three flimsy little plastic balls? (and 6th or so by 2?) I still kinda dream about the alliances that would’ve been formed on Newton.
Don’t you hate it when you have to leave your FIRST team?
Nope, it is a good opportunity to get new experiences on different teams, if I could I would join a different team every year!
… you finally have the shipping rules drilled into your competition-tired head and they change on the afternoon of the last day?
… when your lead programmer is so tired he falls asleep while on his cell, the evening before competition? Luckily he was at home and not driving at the time.
… when someone mis-wires the battery?
Trying to Help
… When you have that one mechanical person on your team who is convinced that every component on the robot can, and should, be made/fixed with 80/20.
… When the blade on your bandsaw comes off mid cut.
… When whatever plans you had for alliance picking get completely messed up.
… When your robot gets disabled after your trailer comes detached, through no fault of your own, causing you to lose the match. 
Totally understandable I missed a drumline gig for Kettering…they weren’t happy with me, but they managed.
…when you make it VERY CLEAR that email addresses are needed for the roster, everyone nods in understanding, then several fill out all the fields EXCEPT the email one.
Hey Guys. if i can make a bit of a change to what i was saying, id like for you to give me engineeriing things, or inconveniences in every day life. life your seal in your car not being the right shape, or your coffee cup spilling when you turn. things like that. all though i do love the robotics stuff 
im dreaming of kickoff!! Thanks again for ALL the help and suggestions!!!
…you get yelled at for running in the pits.
…you lowkey think you’re a better mechanic than your head mechanic.
…when your parents chew you out for not being team president.
…when your parents threaten to take you off the team, but you know they never would, but you’re still worried they might.
…you’re not a lefty but you still get pencil smudges when you write.
…someone uses grammar incorrectly (minus as a verb)
…someone necro’s an 8yr old thread
Don’t you hate it when someone doesn’t return the teams safety glasses?
Don’t you hate it when you break a chain with only a few minutes until the next match?
Don’t you hate it when the animation award disappears.
I sure hope this kid finished his project by now.
We are completing a similar EDD project and would appreciate if all would take the following short survey to assist in our research. Thanks!
Done. Best of luck from a PLTW graduate!
I teach EDD and have lots of examples of problems students have begun to approach. I don’t want to short circuit the process here so I won’t suggest projects, but I will say this:
Students frequently begin with stuff that is personally focused (I wish I had a way to wake up easier) and expand to solving larger problems (lots of people are effected by this issue). It’s fun to watch students expand their horizons. Good luck with yours!
Don’t you hate it when FIRST reveals it’s not a water game this year?