FRC- ROOKIE GRANT

What we have learnt in our first year!!!!

CONDOBOLIN HIGH SCHOOL

• We are thankful to be part of the FIRST robotics family, our first competition taught us some amazing skills, in not only robotics and problem solving but leadership, safety, budgeting, innovation, design and team work.

• As a small, young team, the students worked amazingly hard to secure the gold medals that they know have.

PLAN AHEAD

• Initially we went into the FIRST robotics competition thinking we would observe and see what happens and come back in 2018 knowing what to do!!!!

• Things didn't’t quite work out as planned and our team got into the finals and won!!

• We were amazed, excited and then a little disappointed when we realized that we would not have the ability to get to America in 4 weeks.

• This year we are fundraising, looking for sponsorship and filling out forms already for next year.

MAKE IT SIMPLE

• Rather than try to do everything, try one thing and if that works add something else

• Don’t try everything in one go

• Provide students roles and responsibilities, for teachers remember that you are mentor rather than a teacher-allow students to do rather than follow.

ACCEPT EVERYONE

• We allowed any student from Yr8 and above to join the team on the proviso that they were willing to give up their time and make the effort required.

• Students came from all backgrounds and brought different skills and knowledge with them.

• Initially, they argued but then they saw the strengths each other brought to the team.

LISTEN TO ADVICE

• While at the competitions, we learnt an immense amount from other teams. Not just in programing the robots but how the team should interact and the biggest TAKE PHONES OFF STUDENTS!

• Parents and friends wanting to know what was going on became a huge distraction and cause of stress for the students.

• We also followed the lead of other drive teams and used their strategies of the game, playing as teams rather than having an individual outcome.

COMPUTING

• YouTube can be your best friend, we learnt basic coding to get the robot moving, we used the help line to find out why our controllers were working back to front.

• All of our small team of 6 knew the basics of driving, setting up and making sure the lap top was charged.

• We had one student in charge of the coding, they learnt so much during the competition where people were offering help to improve our robot from the basics we had started with.

DON ’T GIVE UP

• Our robot failed initial inspections and the students wanted to give up and drive the 6 hours straight back to Condo.

• We stepped outside, pulled ourselves together and tried again.

• We used the initial model, cut it up, added bit and pieces we found lying around and made adjustments to it, passed inspection 5 hours later with a whole new gear collector.

HELP OTHERS

• As a new team, we didn’t know much that could help other teams, but we had items that they were in need of that we could share.

• We shared electrical tape and tools with the teams around us: They shared knowledge of parts; where to find information and coding help that enabled us to keep competing.

• The sharing also came in the form of charging batteries. When we try again next year, we will need a larger team, we didn’t have the man power needed to complete all jobs at times such as charging batteries, we had a slow charger. The team next to us helped by charging batteries with their super charger.

ITEMS

• Use your budget wisely

• If you know what you need and it is out of your budget- simplify or modify

• Many places have off cuts they are willing to give cheaply or for free

• TAKE A CAMERA TO DOCUMENT EVERYTHING