Rookie FIRSTs

During robotics competitions, it is essential to keep spirit...

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 23:25:50 -0400

During robotics competitions, it is essential to keep spirit levels high. Focusing on spirit helps keep your team pumped throughout the ups and downs of competition, is just WAY more fun, and is one of the best ways to intereact with other teams.

The key to spirit? Never stop giving off good vibes!

When your robot is up to bat, people must know who that robot belongs to and that you’re proud of it. Your team can create posters, chants, and dances to show your excitement. Announcers are also always willing to help your team out in the spirit department. Having a team flag that they can wave around when they announce your name is a good and reliable way to show off your swag.

It’s also good etiquette to root for other teams as well as your own— it’s what keeps these events exciting. Cheering with a neighboring team, throwing up a pom pom, or just letting teams know that you support them are all good ways to show your support.

Remember, the competitioon is a very exciting time for your team and the entire audience-get pumped! Good luck — and have fun!

~Girls of Steel, FIRST Team #3504

Call it a checklist or battle rhythm; there are certain things...

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 23:24:54 -0400

Call it a checklist or battle rhythm; there are certain things to look at before competing with your robot in each match. On my team, we type it up, print it out, tape in to the cart and give each member of the drive team a copy.

New battery. Nothing, I repeat nothing, is worse than going to a match and watching your robot not move because someone forgot to put in a new battery. Assign one or two people from the pit crew to be battery boy/girl. Before every match it is their responsibility to put a full charged battery in the robot. Between matches they keep the rest of the batteries charging. Cross the Road Electronics sells a reliable battery checker than quickly and easily checks the voltage.(http://www.crosstheroadelectronics.com/Beak.html)

Correct Bumpers. For each match you are assigned to either the blue or red alliance. You must use the correct bumper color or you will not be able to compete. When you make your bumpers, try to design them so that they can easily be taken on or off at a minute’s notice.

Talk to your teammates. Each match you will have two other teams on your alliance. Before the match it is a good idea to discuss a general strategy and plan. If possible, send your strategist and a member of the drive team. This will insure that everyone works as well as possible together to maximize success.

Check robot specifics. Each robot has individualized things to have to be set. A common one is raising pneumatic pressure or flipping an autonomous switch. In general, give your robot a quick look over to see if chains need to be tensioned or if a wire has come loose.

Cheer, smile, rep your team. Matches are intense. However, even in the heat of competition it is important to remember that matches are really fun. Every regional plays music while the field resets, so go ahead and dance to it. When the MC announces your team, do something silly. The crowd and the field volunteers love teams that have some spirit and have fun. People will notice and remember you more than you think. Just be prepared for one or two goofy photos that you might want to delete later.

~Rachel, Combustion, FIRST Team 1912

REPOST

Safety at Championships: Safety is still important. You...

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 23:22:38 -0400

Safety at Championships: Safety is still important. You don’t want your mentors or students needing stitches. Keep your pit clean and make sure people don’t clutter the hall and only essential members are in the pit. Use tools with CAUTION if you think it may be dangerous, chances are you should take it to the machine shop, and pay attention to other teams, especially the one’s who win the daily safety awards. Whatever they’re doing is working for them.

~Gabrielle, Tiger Robotics, FIRST Team #3164

REPOST

It's Competition Season!

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 23:21:06 -0400

Since competition season is finally upon us, we are going to repost some old posts we have concerning how to prepare your team and your robot for competition!

At FRC regional events students have the opportunity to talk one...

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 11:09:27 -0500

At FRC regional events students have the opportunity to talk one on one with the Award Judges during the competition. Teams should be EXCITED for this opportunity to tell the judges how their robot works, how it was designed, how your team is structured, and what makes your team unique! A lot of the time the students on the team get nervous when talking to the judges, and they may forget to mention some of the unique features of your team or your robot. Below is a summary of some of the Q&A that took place in the EWCP Podcast on “Talking to Judges”. Feel free to listen to the whole podcast though this link: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/audioPop.jsp?episodeId=711683&cmd=apop

Q: When are Judges at the Regional?

The judges technically don’t come in until Friday morning, however many times there is a judges dinner Thursday night, and sometimes the judges will walk around the regional before dinner in regular cloths!

On Friday the judging has been starting before Opening Ceremonies, it used to start after opening ceremonies but with more and more teams the judges are starting early

Q: What happens when your team isn’t in the pit and the judges come by to talk to your team?

Leave up a sign/Whiteboard saying “Will be back at this time” so the judges can plan on coming back to talk to you later. The judges have a tight schedule so letting them know when you will be in the pit is helpful!

If a mentor is holding down the pit and there aren’t any students around, let the judges know when the students will be back and invite them to talk to the team at that time. As a mentor don’t engage and talk to the judges about the team. The judges are there to engage with the students.

Q: How do you know what you should talk to the judges about?

Ask the judges what type of information they are looking for and if they want to learn more about your team identity or about the robot

Create a document that has two sides, one side to talk about the robot and the team’s design process and the other side to talk about the team in general
Keep the two sided judges handout organized so it is easy to read, don’t give the judges a large document to take with them since they’ll have to carry it all day
You can also keep a larger document, such as a scrapbook, in the pit to show the judges what your team is all about

Q: What if Judges start talking to mentors and asking them questions?

The judges may have mistaken you as a student, try pointing them in the right direction by saying “That’s a great question, you should talk to my students about that!”

If you let them know you’re a mentor and they’re still trying to ask you questions, it may be because they want to verify some team information
Try your best to direct the judges to talk to the students on the team!

Q: Are gifts for the judges OK?

Sure, when the judges come by give them buttons, don’t make the judges ask for them!

Other gifts are optional, but keep them small, fun, and personal
The giveaways shouldn’t be expensive and they should be easy to carry since the judges will be walking around all day!

Q: How can I prepare my team to talk to the judges in the pit?

Asking the students on the team questions similar to the ones listed below could help prepare them to talk to the judges:
- Robot Focused Questions:
  - Can you tell me about your robot?
  - What was your design process?
  - How long did it take you to design the robot?
  - How do the mechanisms work?
  - What challenges did you overcome?
  - What factors limited your design?
  - What was your major design motivation?

General Team questions:
- How is your team structured?
- What do your mentors do on the team?
- How did you decide your team image?
- Questions on team specific outreach activities & community involvement

Q: How can my team prepare for the RCA Judges Questions?

Below are a few examples of sample questions asked by the judges after the Chairman’s Award Presentation:

What does FIRST mean to you?
What does FIRST Stand for?
What are your plans after College?
What are your future plans?
Where do you see your team going in the future?
How did you overcome challenges and what were those challenges?
What did you do on the team this year?
How did the FIRST program impact you directly?
Clarifying questions about events your team held/questions about the impact of events/impact on the outreach
What do your mentors do on the team?

Thank you,

Renee Becker

FIRSTSenior Mentor- MN

C 414-704-1415

E rbecker@usfirst.org

W www.usfirst.org

I have the wonderful blessing to be the head coach of Team 3313...

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:21:00 -0500

I have the wonderful blessing to be the head coach of Team 3313 Mechatronics in Alexandria, MN. We’re a younger team that genuinely enjoys doing crazy fundraisers. We’ve done things like a Modern Warfare 3 tournament, put on a robotics carnival, bagged groceries, hosted a haunted house, sold pizzas during an ice fishing tournament, and bussed tables at a pizza place.

The craziest fundraising idea though started off as a joke. I’m a high school math teacher. I have had a beard on my face for over 4 years. One of my students told me he’d pay me $40 to shave my beard. I laughed and said he was crazy. I told the team the story later that day. They went and ran with it. That’s how the Bydlon Beard Off came to be.

For one week, team members sat at a table during lunch to raise money for me to shave my beard. If the school raised $300, I would shave my beard. We had different boxes out for different beard styles. When people donated money, they would put the money in the box they wanted me to shave. Turns out people at our school really wanted me to shave my beard into mutton chops. Video evidence is here.

It was an awesome fundraiser (though I did miss my beard).

Fundraising advice in a can: Do something that is unique to your team if you can. Also, include your school and/or community in the activity. A bunch of small donations equals a large donation (trust me, I’m a math teacher).

Any questions or just want to say hi email us at 3313coach@gmail.com or tweet at us at @Team3313.

~Jeremy, Mechatronics, FIRST Team #3313

“Your mind, while blessed with permanent memory, is...

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 18:16:21 -0500

“Your mind, while blessed with permanent memory, is cursed with lousy recall.” ~ Gary Ryan Blair

One of the hardest things to do on any FIRST team is document, organize, and track all of the accomplishments your team has made. If you start to record and document your outreach events, team history, and major mile markers as a rookie, you’ll be a more competitive team in the future. Documentation is a huge part of the Regional Chairman’s Award Submission, so start documenting your history now so you don’t have to search for it later!

One of the easiest way to remember what the team has done is to make a team timeline. The timeline can show:

When the team was formed
What demos the team has done
Partnerships the team has made
Regionals the team has attended
Awards received
Major milestones
Alumni graduation information and the percentage that go into STEM fields.

Top 4 Documentation Tips:

Real Time Documentation: Document events as they happen. Take pictures, interview students, gather testimonials, and blog about team experiences as the year goes on. Don’t wait to document the event six months later when you don’t remember what you did at the demo, and why it was important.

Pictures, Pictures, & more Pictures: Take pictures of everything! If you don’t have pictures of it, then it didn’t happen. Take the time to organize the pictures and back them up so they are easy to find and accessible.

Make sure your team is taking pictures, interviewing students, gathering testimonials, and blogging about their experiences as the year goes on.

Create an Event Documentation Sheet to help your team stay organized and make the Regional Chairman’s Award submission process easier in the future.

~Renee, Alumni of FRC 1675, Marketing Mentor
Founder of GOFIRST,
Co-Founder of ACE,
EWCP Podcast Host,
FIRST Senior Mentor-MN

Programming, to many people, is one of FIRST’s great...

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 17:26:33 -0500

Programming, to many people, is one of FIRST’s great mysteries. On our team, 3313 from Alexandria, MN, the programmers are often called the “Wizards” because they can conjure up movements and actions seemingly from no where (also because they like RPGs, go figure). There is also the GREAT DEBATE of which programming language to use. To outsiders, it appears that people are arguing about Team Edward vs Team Jacob. For what it’s worth, I’m Team Jacob.

1. No matter what Robot sub-team you are on, it is very important to have at least a small amount of programming knowledge. Understanding some of the inner workings of programming can enlighten and strengthen the design and build of your robot. If you know that your complicated, elegant mechanism is very hard to control correctly, you will know to make some adjustments as you build it. If you know your autonomous is going to take a lot of tweaking, you will work harder and faster to give your programmers more time. How does that saying go? “Don’t build a robot until you’ve typed a mile of code in a programmer’s shoes.” Something like that.

2. Story time: Our team programmed in LabView the first two years. The graphical nature of LabView is supposed to be more intuitive. I even went to a full day training on how to program in LabView. It might have been my trackpad but I found drawing all the wires and remembering where all the inputs were from to be tedious.

We have been using Java since last preseason. As a non-programming person, I have found it to be very nice. I like the real world applications. I like the simple (though very specific) spelling rules. I like that our main programmer made a set of FRC Java tutorials. THEY’RE AWESOME. I wish we would have tried Java earlier and saved us all the headaches. Everyone has an opinion, but that’s mine for what it’s worth.

Programming advice in a can: Learn a little programming (it’s good for you). Try out each language a little to see what fits the best (coffee is another name for Java, I rest my case).

If you have any Java questions or have an opinion on Edward vs. Jacob, email us at3313coach@gmail.com or tweet at us @Team3313.

~Jeremy, Mechatronics, FIRST Team #3313

Building a robot can be tough, but fitting everything in in a...

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:49:00 -0500

Building a robot can be tough, but fitting everything in in a short span of 6 weeks is even tougher. A lot of FRC teams make blogs (like this one) or have a list of tips or helpful suggestions on their websites. FRC Team 2169 KING TeC, for example, put together a survival guide for build season:

“We re-launched our team’s website at the beginning of November, and throughout the entire process we knew we wanted to offer as much information for teams as possible. You can find information on our team structure, past robots, helpful tips/ links, and much more. We are also planning on making all of our presentations, given at events like Kick-Off, viewable for the public. The Six Week Survival guide was made about four years ago to help teams better understand what Build Season really requires. It goes over what should be done each week as well as general tips that we have learned throughout the years.”

Check out The Six Week Survival guide here!

~Claudia, KING TeC, FIRST Team 2169

FUNDRAISING 101!

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 18:13:00 -0500

Hey there FIRSTers!

Looks like it’s that time of year again…build season. Late nights, greasy hands, and lots of flying frisbees are ahead for us in the next few weeks. In the midst of all the excitement it’s pretty easy to forget something pretty important: building a robot is not cheap.

For those of you who are having trouble raising enough money, we have compiled a presentation detailing how to approach potential sponsors. We have given this presentation twice at FIRST workshops, and many teams have found it very helpful.

This presentation does not include a voice over, so there may be some things that are in the presentation that won’t necessarily be clear without an explanation. If you have questions, please feel free to email girlsofsteelrobotics@gmail.com and our Finance Leader (aka me) will get back to you promptly. Feel free to also reply to this post or send us a message here on Tumblr—I can answer your questions here as well!

Thanks and we hope this presentation will help you out!

-Naoka, Girls of Steel Robotics, Team #3504

Do you want to be a writer for Rookie FIRSTs?

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 19:08:32 -0400

Hi everyone!

Thank you so much to all of our followers. Now we need your help! We are looking for FIRST team members to get involved with our tumblr and write some posts. If you have good ideas and want to be heard, or just enjoy writing and offering a helping hand, click on this link to learn more. Please send all submissions to our email rookieFIRSTs@gmail.com. We are looking forward to hearing from you and look out for upcoming posts!

Girls of Steel Robotics FRC Team #3504

How do you keep everyone up to date? Communication in any...

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 18:40:00 -0400

How do you keep everyone up to date?

Communication in any organization is vital; it can make or break you. Whether in the heat of build season or while planning offseason events, it is important to keep everyone informed on what is going on. Every planner hates to hear, “Well, I would have… but I didn’t know.” At 1912, we have developed a few ways to keep everyone on the same page.

Website - Our website is our face to the outside world and we try to share as much information about ourselves as possible. All of our history, award submissions, and important documents are available. We reference people to the website as much as possible.

Email - Our primary method of communication is through our team’s email. We have it set-up where if you email an address (combustion@team1912.com, for example), the email goes out to everyone on the list, so thus everyone on the team receives the message. After every build session, our Project Manager sends out an update on how everything went. We send out emails about upcoming events and after they are finished we send out a summary of them. We have similar, but separate, lists for internal communication amongst groups, such as one for mentors, officers, and students.

Google Calendar - The vast majority of the team (I believe) use a Google Calendar because it is quick, easy, very well-known, and can easily be embedded into a website. We put all of our build sessions, events, competitions, parties, etc. on the Calendar.

Facebook group - On Facebook, you can set-up a private group for your members. On our team, no one besides current team members are in this group or can see it. Since some students check Facebook more than email, we often put up reminders that only members would care about (i.e. Wear your shirt tomorrow! Or field trip forms due Friday!)

Facebook page / Twitter feed / Youtube channel - Like many others, we use social media as much as we can because it is a great way to connect to members, alumni, friends, and other teams. While our Facebook group is for internal communication, our Facebook page is how we present ourselves to the world. Our Facebook and Twitter are linked, so a status update quickly becomes a tweet.

Texting - Sometimes members need to communicate quickly and so, often times to sort out some details, members send out mass texts to each other. This is not as common for spreading information to everyone, but sometimes it will work in a pinch.

Newsletter - While it is important to keep your team together, it is equally important to communicate regularly with your sponsors and VIP friends. Three times a year, we send out a newsletter (The Inferno) that describes what we have been up to and what is up-and-coming.

There are many different ways to keep everyone connected, it is often popular for teams to have a special part of their website where members can log in. Every team functions in a unique way, so it may take a little testing to figure out what works best for you as a team. Once you do, keep that system established and consistent.

~ Rachel, Combustion, FIRST Team 1912

Hey everyone! Sorry we’ve been kind of inactive for the past couple of months, but...

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 12:38:00 -0400

Hey everyone!

Sorry we’ve been kind of inactive for the past couple of months, but we’re really excited to get Rookie FIRSTs up and running again! In the mean time, if you have any tips you would like to share and have posted, feel free to submit them here or email rookiefirsts@gmail.com. We’re excited to hear from you!

Thanks!

Jane Doll and I are headed to St Louis, Missouri, to the 2012 ...

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 22:30:51 -0400

Jane Doll and I are headed to St Louis, Missouri, to the 2012 Championship Event very soon. Jane Doll has traveled to the Championship Event in my place for the past 2 years.

She was created by a dear friend and mentor, Jess Jankowitsch, when it was discovered that I was unable to travel. Jess organized a group of FIRST-ers who took responsibility for chaperoning Jane Doll and documenting her wonderful experiences with meeting old friends and making new ones.

The slideshow that we’ve included highlights just a few of her experiences at the Championship Event. Jane Doll has had the honor of meeting Dean Kamen, Dr. Woodie Flowers, and Dave Lavery. She has attended the RoboProm with many of the 2011 Dean’s List Finalists and she has met many of the valuable volunteers that help to keep things running smoothly for the Championship. Jane Doll has even enjoyed being on Einstein as a very special helper. She has had a lot of fun just being herself.

Here are some of her Jane Doll tips:

Meet new people.

Explore all the different opportunities at the Championship Event such as Scholarship Row and the Hall of Fame.

Go to the Rookie Meet and Greet hosted by FRC 1511, Rolling Thunder.

Spend time visiting the Pits and looking at the pit setups and talking to teams.

Listen to the speeches. The people giving them are trying to help you grow.

Ask questions and listen to the answers.

Be ready to be a good role model for your community and for next year’s Rookies.

Have a lot of fun.

Always have a buddy with you and make sure your chaperones know where you are.

Be kind and helpful to everyone.

Jane Doll is a doll with a big heart. She cares about FIRST and she cares about you. And so do I.

Jane Y., Mentor for LASA Robotics, FIRST Team #418, and Jane Doll

How do you help other teams, as a rookie/newer team?Gracious...

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 23:38:01 -0400

How do you help other teams, as a rookie/newer team?

Gracious professionalism. A way that all people in all teams should strive to act. It embodies the idea of treating others like you would want others to treat you.

As a younger team, there is little you can do to help other teams. Often times, you might be the team who is in dire need of help to fix the robot before it can go onto the field. The first, and most important thing your team can do, is say thank you and show your appreciation.

After we hosted a workshop to help local teams, the appreciative words said to us after the workshop made us want continue holding the workshops. A rookie team that won Rookie Inspiration at SVR always had a smile of appreciation pasted on their face and kind words to say every time we had helped them throughout the season, making us proud to be affiliated with their team. At the last competition, one of the teams which our team had helped throughout the season went beyond most and gave us a sign thanking us for the help we provided them making us proud to have helped them. Although we were the ones helping these teams, their kind gestures made all the effort we had put in worth it.

Saying thank you and showing appreciation through your gestures can validate and team’s efforts to help you.

In addition, bringing a positive attitude to the table can lighten up the moment and help others enjoy the competition. Often times, older teams might have an end goal and might be so focused on that end goal, they forget it is the process that makes this experience enjoyable. Remind people the results should not determine whether or not the team is having fun, but the process should determine that.

I believe sincerely anyone can exhibit gracious professionalism. The other day, I found this. As I said earlier, the smallest acts can feel validated with a simple thank you: http://www.raiderrobotix.org/2012/04/06/the-greater-reward/

If you are a newer team, or a rookie team, who is able to help other teams. Then it is always great to provide the help you can. However, most new teams are unable to provide substantial help and therefore it is important to bring a positive atmosphere and show your appreciation for others help.

~Nupur, Monta Vista Robotics, FIRST Team 115

Hello Rookies, I’d like to take a moment to tell you...

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 23:17:02 -0400

Hello Rookies,

I’d like to take a moment to tell you about the upcoming NEMO meeting that will taking place at the Championship Event in St. Louis. Jenny Beatty is one of the founders of this organization and she has worked with her co-founder, Kathie Kentfield, to create a wonderful opportunity for all of the teams at the event. Below is the post that Jenny has made in Chief Delphi regarding the meeting. Please pass this information on to your team’s adult leaders.

See you soon,

Jane Young
Mentor, FRC 418
LASA Robotics
Austin, Texas

“We are delighted to be hosting the 8th NEMO annual meeting at the Championship - Friday April 27 from 10am-noon in Room 280 on the second floor of the America’s Center. NEMO (non-engineering mentor organization) now has over 650 registered members. NEMO is a community of practice, a support group and an information exchange for all mentors (and parents) in FIRST. www.firstnemo.org

As always, the meeting will be open to all adults (post HS age), and all are welcome to come and go as their schedules dictate. We understand everyone will be very busy.

We will be starting the meeting this year with a panel of mentors who have facilitated NEMO meetings and workshops around the country. The goal is talk about what they have been doing, and spread some lessons learned and best practices. We will also have an open discussion for any issues at hand and direct the way to possible resources.

See you there!
Jenny Beatty”

Thank you! SWAT 771 was crucial to getting this site started,...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:53:08 -0400

Thank you! SWAT 771 was crucial to getting this site started, and we sincerely appreciate your support. We really enjoyed working with your team to add to our Business page and bolster our fundraising tips. We hope that we can work together more in the future!

You’ve made it to WORLD championships. Take the...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:21:00 -0400

You’ve made it to WORLD championships. Take the experience as a way to show off your robot, have fun, and learn as much as you can from teams from all over the globe.

Remember that it is a privilege and a pretty infrequent (hopefully not!) experience to be at, so enjoy it no matter what happens. The team worked hard to get to Championships and should enjoy the opportunity to see so many other robots.

Remember that you can always learn from other robots or be inspired by what the team has done that you could too. Don’t be afraid to socialize and get to know other teams: that’s one thing Championships is great for, socializing and meeting other teams you wouldn’t normally have the chance to.

Let yourself be inspired by all of the amazing speakers and celebrate! Work hard and play hard.

~Girls of Steel, FIRST Team #3504

Scholarship Row at the FIRST Championship is a place for...

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:34:14 -0400

Scholarship Row at the FIRST Championship is a place for students, parents, and mentors to talk with representatives from some of the colleges, universities, and organizations that offer FIRST Scholarships. Seniors can find out about scholarships that are still available for the coming fall.

This is a great opportunity for juniors and sophomores who are planning for college to talk first-hand to college representatives. And for freshman, it’s never too early to start thinking about college!

In 2012, nearly $15 Million in college scholarships have been made available to FIRST students by 153 Scholarship Providers. Over 40 of these Scholarship Providers will send representatives to the 2012 FIRST Championship in St. Louis on April 26th-27th to participate in Scholarship Row.

~Girls of Steel, FIRST Team #3504

Swag: Bring fun buttons/other “swag” to trade. :) Also, don’t...

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 08:46:33 -0400

Swag: Bring fun buttons/other “swag” to trade. :) Also, don’t be afraid to ask for help you if you need it! Don’t forget to help other teams out when you can too! Remember, “Gracious Professionalism” -it isn’t much of a competition if everyone can’t compete!

~Wei, Metal Jackets, FIRST Team #2068