Lessons Learned During 2014 Season
Wow! The rookie season is over and we have learned so much! I don’t think it would be possible to number all of the things each of us learned this year. As a rookie there are so many things to learn and so many things that can go wrong. Don’t expect just to learn about technology, mechanics, programming, and engineering. Yes, you will learn a lot about all of this, but you will also learn so much about teamwork, social skills, how to talk to people, and how to cope with stress better and more effectively than any class can ever teach you. I have gathered lessons our members learned and am compiling them to try and help you get off to an even better start than we did. So where to begin?
First, get a head start! Start getting your team put together well ahead of time. Start fundraising now. Just spend this year getting roots out into the community and letting all of the businesses in your area know you are there. Sending even just a few people out everyday to approach some businesses in your area can be extremely effective. Yes, you will get turned down over and over again, but some businesses will say yes, and over time that money will add up. Also, as dismal as it seems to be rejected over and over, many people on our team found their confidence and learned to speak up and how to talk to others in a professional manner by being thrust into these situations repetitively, teaching us valuable skills to help us both at competition and in life. And finally, don’t stop fundraising just because you have what you need right then, unexpected things might turn up, and if not, a little excess money to help you down the road can’t hurt.
Once you have the money to get things going, there is still so much more to learn. Set up a leadership structure for your team. Make sure everyone on your team understands who is in charge of what and what attitudes and actions are and aren’t acceptable because when things get stressful some tempers can become stretched and without clear guidelines and structures of who is in charge the team’s progress can get brought to a standstill with disagreements.
Set up safety protocols from the start and ensure everyone knows how to use every tool properly and safely or they are not allowed to use them. (Luckily we didn’t actually have any major injuries but it is definitely still an important part of what helped our team be successful!) Keep a first aid kit on hand at all times because minor cuts and blisters and other injuries will happen even if you are being safe.
Don’t be afraid to accept help! FIRST is a whole new world and having an experienced team there to guide you through can make all the difference in the world. Whether they hold your hand the whole season, or just toss you the water-wings and get you floating before you take over for yourself, having someone who knows what the world is like to help you out and answer your questions when you need help is essential and the FIRST community is amazing! Everyone is always so willing to help and do everything they can to help you with whatever situation you may be faced with.
Next, record everything you do! Everything! Keep a list of all the parts you add, all of the designs you come up with, all of the businesses you approach about sponsoring you, and everything in between because you never know what may come in handy later on and it is really helpful for making sure everybody is on the same page.
We learned that prototyping before you build is essential! Not just drawing up a sketch, build prototypes out of wood or cardboard or any cheap materials you can find just to test if your “fool proof theories” actually work (those “fool proof theories” turn out to really not be so fool proof when it is no longer a physics problem on a paper). Even if it works, keep prototyping to figure out your dimensions and everything before you start building on your precious competition robot. Make the rule book your team’s best friend! Make sure everything in all of your prototypes complies with every rule or discard it before you waste time on it (we wasted time this year working on a prototype for a few days before we realized it wouldn’t meet the regulations).
Plan out your schedule everyday. Don’t be afraid to split up into smaller groups and work on multiple projects at once. Assign small groups to a project for everything you want done that day, and then hold them accountable for what they were supposed to get done.
Having fun with each other is important. Having inside jokes, laughing about the times I couldn’t make a sentence I said make sense for the life of me (after this you can probably see why we had reasons to laugh at my abilities to jumble words before they get out of my mouth), and just having a good time with each other was absolutely vital to the success of our team!
Befriend duct tape. Our team ended the season with the joking motto, “If duct tape can’t fix it, it’s broken.”
There are also the practical lessons like don’t reverse the polarity on your Analog Converter (it will fry it), make sure you line up and center the wheels and tread on your base or it may develop a lag or it may not even move at all, and keep all metal and wood shavings away from any of the electronics. Mostly just try to avoid the expensive mistakes as much as you can.
But lastly and most importantly, know that mistakes will happen! No matter what you do, no matter how long you have been a team, or how much experience you have, things will go wrong. We named our robot Murph-E after Murphy’s Law because so many things went wrong on the last day of build season. Something will break, something won’t work the way it was supposed to, or something will fall apart in front of your eyes, but it is in those moments when you truly learn and get to know your teammates. It is in those moments where you find your own strength and your own problem solving skills. It is in those moments that you discover that your robotics team is no longer just your team; they are your family! We began the year as some kids who attended the same school and at most some decent acquaintances, but we ended the year as close friends who still care about each other and have stayed a family together even after the season has ended. So don’t fear those moments when it feels like the whole world is crashing around you with your season going up in flames and don’t let those moments send you into a panic. Just keep a cool head and work together. Listen carefully to everyone’s ideas, combining them in pieces to find the best solution, and together with your new family you will make it through those mountains.
I hope this will be able to help any rookie teams out there looking for advice to help them get their feet on their ground. If you have questions you can contact us on our Facebook page or through our website and we will do our best to answer your questions. Good luck to all of you out there and we wish you the best of luck in the upcoming seasons.
First, get a head start! Start getting your team put together well ahead of time. Start fundraising now. Just spend this year getting roots out into the community and letting all of the businesses in your area know you are there. Sending even just a few people out everyday to approach some businesses in your area can be extremely effective. Yes, you will get turned down over and over again, but some businesses will say yes, and over time that money will add up. Also, as dismal as it seems to be rejected over and over, many people on our team found their confidence and learned to speak up and how to talk to others in a professional manner by being thrust into these situations repetitively, teaching us valuable skills to help us both at competition and in life. And finally, don’t stop fundraising just because you have what you need right then, unexpected things might turn up, and if not, a little excess money to help you down the road can’t hurt.
Once you have the money to get things going, there is still so much more to learn. Set up a leadership structure for your team. Make sure everyone on your team understands who is in charge of what and what attitudes and actions are and aren’t acceptable because when things get stressful some tempers can become stretched and without clear guidelines and structures of who is in charge the team’s progress can get brought to a standstill with disagreements.
Set up safety protocols from the start and ensure everyone knows how to use every tool properly and safely or they are not allowed to use them. (Luckily we didn’t actually have any major injuries but it is definitely still an important part of what helped our team be successful!) Keep a first aid kit on hand at all times because minor cuts and blisters and other injuries will happen even if you are being safe.
Don’t be afraid to accept help! FIRST is a whole new world and having an experienced team there to guide you through can make all the difference in the world. Whether they hold your hand the whole season, or just toss you the water-wings and get you floating before you take over for yourself, having someone who knows what the world is like to help you out and answer your questions when you need help is essential and the FIRST community is amazing! Everyone is always so willing to help and do everything they can to help you with whatever situation you may be faced with.
Next, record everything you do! Everything! Keep a list of all the parts you add, all of the designs you come up with, all of the businesses you approach about sponsoring you, and everything in between because you never know what may come in handy later on and it is really helpful for making sure everybody is on the same page.
We learned that prototyping before you build is essential! Not just drawing up a sketch, build prototypes out of wood or cardboard or any cheap materials you can find just to test if your “fool proof theories” actually work (those “fool proof theories” turn out to really not be so fool proof when it is no longer a physics problem on a paper). Even if it works, keep prototyping to figure out your dimensions and everything before you start building on your precious competition robot. Make the rule book your team’s best friend! Make sure everything in all of your prototypes complies with every rule or discard it before you waste time on it (we wasted time this year working on a prototype for a few days before we realized it wouldn’t meet the regulations).
Plan out your schedule everyday. Don’t be afraid to split up into smaller groups and work on multiple projects at once. Assign small groups to a project for everything you want done that day, and then hold them accountable for what they were supposed to get done.
Having fun with each other is important. Having inside jokes, laughing about the times I couldn’t make a sentence I said make sense for the life of me (after this you can probably see why we had reasons to laugh at my abilities to jumble words before they get out of my mouth), and just having a good time with each other was absolutely vital to the success of our team!
Befriend duct tape. Our team ended the season with the joking motto, “If duct tape can’t fix it, it’s broken.”
There are also the practical lessons like don’t reverse the polarity on your Analog Converter (it will fry it), make sure you line up and center the wheels and tread on your base or it may develop a lag or it may not even move at all, and keep all metal and wood shavings away from any of the electronics. Mostly just try to avoid the expensive mistakes as much as you can.
But lastly and most importantly, know that mistakes will happen! No matter what you do, no matter how long you have been a team, or how much experience you have, things will go wrong. We named our robot Murph-E after Murphy’s Law because so many things went wrong on the last day of build season. Something will break, something won’t work the way it was supposed to, or something will fall apart in front of your eyes, but it is in those moments when you truly learn and get to know your teammates. It is in those moments where you find your own strength and your own problem solving skills. It is in those moments that you discover that your robotics team is no longer just your team; they are your family! We began the year as some kids who attended the same school and at most some decent acquaintances, but we ended the year as close friends who still care about each other and have stayed a family together even after the season has ended. So don’t fear those moments when it feels like the whole world is crashing around you with your season going up in flames and don’t let those moments send you into a panic. Just keep a cool head and work together. Listen carefully to everyone’s ideas, combining them in pieces to find the best solution, and together with your new family you will make it through those mountains.
I hope this will be able to help any rookie teams out there looking for advice to help them get their feet on their ground. If you have questions you can contact us on our Facebook page or through our website and we will do our best to answer your questions. Good luck to all of you out there and we wish you the best of luck in the upcoming seasons.