Welcome to FIRST at
Westborough High School
FRC Team 4048
Our Team Competitions
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Fall – Savage Soccer at WPI
Winter/Spring – FIRST Robotics
Competition (FRC)
Savage Soccer Videos
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Team47 interview
Team47 match
What is FIRST?
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For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology
Founded by Dean Kamen in 1989, first competition in 1992
Based on partnerships, sponsors and mentors. Volunteer
driven
“Gracious Professionalism” and “Coopertition”
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Not funded by the school budget, no regular class-time.
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FRC = FIRST Robotics Competition.
6 weeks to design, implement, program, test, and deliver. But
there’s a lot more.
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Mentors
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Peter Bixby
Derek Boucher
Ed Burdick
Rich Cheng
David Dubois
Maria Homberg
Michael Homberg
Louis Lung
Michele Lung
Arnold Oyola
Pauline Sciarappa
Sudha Subranmaniam
Mentors, cont.
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All mentors must submit CORI
application
We will adopt standard safety protocol
to protect students and mentors –
must have at least 2 adults and 2
students in any setting
Partners Organizations
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JCPenney
Westborough Education Foundation
Westborough High School
We will have to do fundraising each
year to sustain the program
Video
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Watch this video of the 2011-2012
season
So what is an FRC team?
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Treat team like a business.
We have a budget
We have a product to deliver
We have a deadline to meet
We have customers to satisfy
And we want to keep doing it
It’s all hands-on
What is FRC all about?
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Building a robot?... Yes and no. We’re teaching
skills not taught in school
It’s a team project unlike any you’ve done before
Understanding the requirements & designing
accordingly
Implementation & Testing
Making tradeoffs and handling constraints
Planning & Scheduling
Collaboration, Teamwork & Communication
Using software tools & building tools
Analytic thinking
What is FRC all about? – cont.
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Maintaining a presence – web site, social media
Animation
Business planning
Project management
Media relations
Competition strategy
Safety
Coopertition, Gracious Professionalism
It might well be the hardest and most rewarding
thing you’ve done thus far!
What’s in it for you?
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Collaborative work
Watching, listening, doing – learning hot to learn
Analyze, design, debug, repair – learning how to
think
Listening to others, give to others, receive from
others – learning teamwork
Responsibility
Leadership
Interpersonal skills
Public speaking, presentation skills
What’s in it for you?, cont.
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Competing
Working under pressure
Communication skills
Prioritizing / time management / scheduling
Working with technology – free CAD/animation
software
$15M in FIRST college scholarships!
FUN!
How It Works - Students
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Students will work in groups to accomplish tasks
Mentors are there to help
Students do the work and use mentors as resources. This is
your team. You grow with it. You grow into roles. You own it.
Ask – there are no stupid questions
Listen to your mentors, listen to your teammates
Be open minded, be flexible, be humble
If you can defend your thoughts, you’ve thought it through
“Act locally, think globally” - focus on your part of the project
but understand the big picture
Communication and documentation – do it!
Groups / Functions
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General Design, Robot Definition & Strategy
Mechanical design
Software development
Overall project management
Business planning
Web page
CAD
3D Animator
Media relations
Social media
Treasurer
Photographer
Video production / film-maker
Sample Timeline (Simplified)
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Kickoff!
Analyze and understand the challenge,
create strategy, plan schedule
Design, order parts, build prototypes, use
the Kit-of-parts, CAD
Test, refine, repair, repeat
Bag-n-tag
Elapsed time: 6 weeks
… and that’s just the beginning.
Student Priorities
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We want you to succeed in FRC but
not at the expense of your grades
Manage your time; tell us if you think
you need help
Remember – the final product is not
the robot; it’s YOU.
Requirements & Expectations
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We understand you have other commitments. Work within
your group to schedule your time. Attendance will be taken.
You must participate in certain team functions such as fund
raising and community awareness projects.
Safety training is required before using tools (this will happen
in the pre-season)
Everyone must abide by safety rules and requirements at all
times. No exceptions.
Do not damage school building, floor and property
Daily workroom cleanup is for everyone!
Proper behavior is expected at all times.
There will be details in the handbook.
Team Fee
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$150 per student. $200 max per family
All funds go into the robotics team and go
towards the cost of materials, transportation,
T-shirts, promotional goods, etc. The funds
do NOT go into the general school budget.
We don’t know what our real expenses will
be; depends on robot we build, whether we
win and have to travel (!), how many events
we compete in, etc.
As a reference – last year’s budget topped
$13,000 including the cost of buying tools.
Communication is Key
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Email – check it daily. Read it. Act on it. (Check ACTION
ITEMS)
Parents get the same email the student do. Please read it and
make sure your child acts on it if necessary.
Google team calendar
All work must be documented immediately. Being able to give
clear, concise, detailed descriptions is a tremendous skill
Documentation is for everyone, including yourself!
Use team web forum
Share! We have a youtube channel “FIRSTteam4048”, a
Facebook page “Team-Redshift”, and a team web site
www.Team4048.org
How Parents Can Help
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Be a member of Non Engineering Mentor
Organization (NEMO)
Provide snacks for meetings
Need 2 parents to attend all builds – for
safety and for student management/control
Share rides to/from meetings
Host a kickoff party on Sat Jan 5, 2012
Will employer support FRC team?
Help get tools & supplies
Calendar 2012-2013
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Savage Soccer – October ? to Saturday
November 10
FRC Preseason from Monday November 12
to Friday December 21- get you ready
FRC Kickoff Saturday January 5, 2013
Last day for Bag & Tag Tuesday 2/19/2012?
WPI Regional (week2) Thursday-Saturday
3/7-9/2013
Boston Regional (week4) ThursdaySaturday 3/21-23/2013
Short-Term To-Do List
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Kit-of-Parts drive-train opt-out?
Regional registration – 9/27 – week2 (WPI) or week
4 (BU)?
Applying for grants
Working on Web site
Working on Fundraising
Attending Leadership / Teamwork seminar – will
pick 2 or 3 days including weekend. Everyone must
attend
Coming Soon
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Keep an eye out for these:
STIMS registration instructions
FIRST Waiver
WHS Waiver
Team 4048 Waiver
Student survey
Student handbook
Invitation for Leadership/Teamwork seminar
Savage Soccer
Questions?