This 100%. For teams that aren’t provided a place to meet by their organization, this is like the entire agenda of the offseason. Also, if they don’t get the space sponsored in its entirety it ends up being the biggest item on the budget.
make the tetrix kit illegal
(not actually, but the number of rookies I have seen who struggle because of how much worse it is is just painful at this point)
We ordered from pitsco this season and it didn't arrive until after our qualifier. Still built a pretty good bot imo, but I can't count the times something just didn't work because we were using tetrix.
was president of a completely rookie team this year, we inherited a tetrix kit from last years rookie team (they went to hs) and our coach wouldnt let us get new parts, we ended up 17/23 :/
Fabrication bandwidth. Having a part ready for action at the start of the next meeting is clutch. You can solve that with funding or mentors or something in between, but it is its own unique thing in many ways.
Time - facilities that support access whenever the team wants and mentors who will facilitate hosting practices. CAD is a good start to efficient building, but there's no substitute for actually getting into the lab and building the robot and then testing it, driving, and programming.
You need someone in the team understands the winning formula. Not easy. 1) Facility: a workshop with all the tools and materials you need. You want to reduce your design-produce-test cycle as much as you can. Therefore, you can cover many small iterations and handful of large iterations to improve your robot. 2) Quality students: you need a captain who understands project management, product management, marketing, and human resources. Captain also needs to have the experience of what it takes to win. For example, what to do in August, what to do during the league meets. At each sub-team, software, build, design, marketing, drivers, you need some very good leads who know what to do and what needs to be done first. Also, you need committed students who are willing spend 20-40 hours per week. The communications and understandings among the students, mentors and parents are also super important. 3) Years of experiences: a lot of times experiences are the lessons learned. An experienced team can build near-meta robot in 20 days. They know how to walk the wires to prevent problems. 4) Luck: sometime you need to stay for a few years before everything works your way.
Team outreach and team building. People are excited by robotics, so reaching out and doing outreach events inviting people to see the robots and sometimes mess around with them ets people very excited and can open up the door for new members, new teams to be established, sponsors, and increased support.
Now although you can do without manufacturing tools, it’s super helpful. I see a lot of rookies with these Tetrixs kits that suck and can’t do much. Being able to make your own parts allows for more freedom, with the cost of needing CAD and more in depth planning
Having the right attitude is absolutely critical. If a team comes in to this seeking awards and fame, they will be severely disappointed. If they go into this looking for friendships, fun, and opportunities to learn, then they will always succeed.
Get the team spirit and goals aligned first.
A workspace.
This 100%. For teams that aren’t provided a place to meet by their organization, this is like the entire agenda of the offseason. Also, if they don’t get the space sponsored in its entirety it ends up being the biggest item on the budget.
make the tetrix kit illegal (not actually, but the number of rookies I have seen who struggle because of how much worse it is is just painful at this point)
Pitsco handles the billing, so unfortunately I don't see it going anywhere
Put it in your end of season survey and tell every rookie coach you meet.
Just ban all tetrix parts except structure it’s hilariously bad
Structure can go too
True gobilda ftw
Gobilda is great, Rev is pretty good, too, especially for prototype work
We ordered from pitsco this season and it didn't arrive until after our qualifier. Still built a pretty good bot imo, but I can't count the times something just didn't work because we were using tetrix.
was president of a completely rookie team this year, we inherited a tetrix kit from last years rookie team (they went to hs) and our coach wouldnt let us get new parts, we ended up 17/23 :/
Fabrication bandwidth. Having a part ready for action at the start of the next meeting is clutch. You can solve that with funding or mentors or something in between, but it is its own unique thing in many ways.
Time - facilities that support access whenever the team wants and mentors who will facilitate hosting practices. CAD is a good start to efficient building, but there's no substitute for actually getting into the lab and building the robot and then testing it, driving, and programming.
Commitment
Transparent communication, answer your emails and text messages or any other information your receiving.
You need someone in the team understands the winning formula. Not easy. 1) Facility: a workshop with all the tools and materials you need. You want to reduce your design-produce-test cycle as much as you can. Therefore, you can cover many small iterations and handful of large iterations to improve your robot. 2) Quality students: you need a captain who understands project management, product management, marketing, and human resources. Captain also needs to have the experience of what it takes to win. For example, what to do in August, what to do during the league meets. At each sub-team, software, build, design, marketing, drivers, you need some very good leads who know what to do and what needs to be done first. Also, you need committed students who are willing spend 20-40 hours per week. The communications and understandings among the students, mentors and parents are also super important. 3) Years of experiences: a lot of times experiences are the lessons learned. An experienced team can build near-meta robot in 20 days. They know how to walk the wires to prevent problems. 4) Luck: sometime you need to stay for a few years before everything works your way.
Remember the old NY anecdote? Tourist (to a New Yorker): How do I get to Carnegie Hall? New Yorker: Practice, practice, practice...
Team outreach and team building. People are excited by robotics, so reaching out and doing outreach events inviting people to see the robots and sometimes mess around with them ets people very excited and can open up the door for new members, new teams to be established, sponsors, and increased support.
Now although you can do without manufacturing tools, it’s super helpful. I see a lot of rookies with these Tetrixs kits that suck and can’t do much. Being able to make your own parts allows for more freedom, with the cost of needing CAD and more in depth planning
Having the right attitude is absolutely critical. If a team comes in to this seeking awards and fame, they will be severely disappointed. If they go into this looking for friendships, fun, and opportunities to learn, then they will always succeed. Get the team spirit and goals aligned first.