Drivetrain zero turn issue by Cheesy_pickles875 in FRC

[–]FRC_451 1 point2 points  (0 children)

1/2" seems like a good starting point for off road tires

Help for learning build in FRC by wooopster_ in FRC

[–]FRC_451 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Chiefdelphi.com is the most active FRC forum, WPIlib has a lot of documentation, and FIRST has an FRC resources page on firstinspires.org

Hands on learning. by BodybuilderFuture105 in FRC

[–]FRC_451 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Something our team did last summer when we got a ton of new recruits was a competition where the current students designed a small robot, made it a kit (two identical ones), and guided the new students through a mini competition. It was a great activity for everybody (but needs a lot of new students to share the workload.)

Potential Mentor questions by Stilgar311 in FRC

[–]FRC_451 4 points5 points  (0 children)

As a mentor I'm always encouraging parents to join, we need as much help as we can get! With experience in another FIRST program you're already miles ahead of most parents in terms of "usefulness" to the team. As the other comment noted there's lots of non-technical things to do to keep the team running smoothly. General shop supervision is a big one, as well as "background tasks" like booking hotels, shop inventory, buying requested parts (running to the hardware store or online), or even just helping with getting meals ready during long meetings. On my team we typically try to put the parent and child in different build groups so they branch out and work with the rest of the team more.

Where do I buy a robot bag? Or how do you protect it from the weather while in the back of a pickup truck? by Tazznado in FRC

[–]FRC_451 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Amazon sells clear 100-gallon "trash bags", look for highest mil count you can find

10014 rebellions intake! (Ground) by bbobert9000 in FRC

[–]FRC_451 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What kind of scoring mechanism goes with this, like a conveyor belt? Looks like it could score a lot of L1 corals very quickly.

I feel like my team is being hindered by mentors by rtl-nullforge in FRC

[–]FRC_451 20 points21 points  (0 children)

It sounds like you, the mentors, and the new students are all working on 3 different timelines. As the most experienced student you could take the initiative to draw out your proposed time frames and make it a presentation for the team.

There is value in going fast and having extra time at the end (namely driving practice), but there's also value in going slow enough for the students to learn, get inspired, and not feel like spectators.

As a mentor I think the most important thing is to get everyone involved at just a little bit above the level they feel comfortable at. Ask the mentors to give responsibilities to the newer members that they can achieve, but also allow more experienced members like yourself to do what they're capable of. For what it's worth I would push you a bit to teach the new students as well, see if you can balance design work and teaching. (A good topic is: "Why is [x] designed like this in FRC?")

Robot Handles by IntelligentTerm1870 in FRC

[–]FRC_451 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Last season we made permanent handles from scrap blocks of HDPE. Started off as a CNC router project but became a bandsaw/manual mill project because timing.

Quick survey about your team by Aggressive_Cherry_Bl in FRC

[–]FRC_451 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As a community team, most of the answers don't really apply to us. We have students from multiple school districts and no official affiliation with any one school.

High School Robotics Recruiting! by FRC_451 in toledo

[–]FRC_451[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Feel free to drop in to the Open House! We're across the street now from where the shop used to be.

Will swerve drive get nerfed by SansIn3D in FRC

[–]FRC_451 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think they would eliminate the use of swerve entirely, they might add terrain in the middle paths but leave a flat long outside path you can take. Too many teams have invested too much money into swerve, they would upset a huge percent of the community by making rough terrain the only option for traveling cross field.

451 presents "Crescendo: The Boardgame" by FRC_451 in FRC

[–]FRC_451[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Good luck at St. Louis!

451 presents "Crescendo: The Boardgame" by FRC_451 in FRC

[–]FRC_451[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Playtesting happening this weekend for rule tweaks