Category: Training

Announcements, Training

Team Uniform

One fun aspect to the FTC robotics culture is a that each team will have a “theme”.  Most teams (and all the successful ones) have a strong team identity that is most prominently displayed by their team uniform.  Here are some examples:

Team 4634 is FROGBots – FIRST Robotics of Gainsville.  They all wear green shirts with the team logo and purple fedoras.  I believe the green hat symbolizes a position of honor for the team (drive team or captain), and I’m not sure if there is any significance for the hat feathers.

RoboLords is FTC 11112 out of Ashburn, VA.  Their uniform consists of a black t-shirt with team name and some identifying graphic.  And they all wear a gold crown.

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The Tuxedo Pandas FTC 4924 is a team that consistently advances to World’s.  The shirt is actually just a plain black t-shirt with single color screen printing to resemble a tuxedo.  The males all wear black pants, and the females all wear black and white striped stockings under black shorts.  Then the hats – all I can say is those fuzzy panda heads must get hot during competitions!

In all cases above, the teams honor their sponsors by including company logos or names on the shirt backs.  Several teams use the hats as a way to display the FTC Game pins for the seasons in which the individual has participated.

Michael and I have taken all this into consideration, while trying to honor the New Kent community by recognizing the outdoor activities of hunting and fishing.  We have tentatively settled on the uniform to the right.  The pattern of the shirt and hat is called “digital camo”.  As you can see, the “hunter orange” really pops, and single color screen printing is significantly cheaper than multi- or full-color.  I am showing this mock-up with the New Kent Robotics logo, but we will design a front that incorporates the final name for the FTC team.  Our thought is that team members will wear blue jeans with this (we may change to tan khakis or chinos in the future).  I’ve priced out these options, and this should come to about $30 per team member.  Also, family and friends will be able to purchase a shirt to show team support, but the hat will distinguish team members from supporters during competitions.

Training

More Recommended Videos

Hello, this is Michael again with some more recommended videos for aspiring members (mainly builders, but any of you can still watch them) to watch. The youtuber who makes these videos, Mark Rober, makes really cool sciencey build videos. While these are not really robot related, they do explain the engineering design process, which we will use a lot over the course of the season.

This one shows how he made a rock skipping robot (but not really a bot with programming  and such), and it goes deeply into the design process.

Rock Skip Robot

This one shows how he made a rocket powered golf club. This goes way deeper into the prototyping and testing phase of the design process than the previous video, so it is worth a watch.

Rocket Powered Golf Club

This one shows how to make a winning mousetrap car, and i did not know what that was until I watched this. This does not go in as deep into the design process as the other two, but it helps explain some confusing physics  that might come up during the season.

Mousetrap Car Ideas

I love Mark Rober’s videos. I am subscribed to him, and I have watched almost every video that he has put out. Here is a link to his channel if you are interested in checking him out.    – Michael

Training

Suggested Videos for Member Prospects

Hello, my name is Michael Hintz. I am 14 and was previously the lead builder on FTC team 7039, Lord of the Bricks. My Dad, Randy Hintz, asked me to find some videos to help alleviate some confusion that  you might have about what FTC and robotics is about. 

This is a short two and a half minute video that gives a brief overview of what FTC is. I wish I watched it when I was first on a team. FIRST Tech Challenge is…

I watched this when I was starting robotics and it was helpful to me. Gracious professionalism is a trademarked term by First and is basically the point of First. It is purposely left undefined so people can find their own meaning to it, but co-founder of First, Woodie Flowers, helps shed some light on its meaning.Gracious Professionalism with Woddie Flowers

Here is a robot reveal (when a team shows off their robot to the world) from a successful team, 8644 Brainstormers, which shows many components that any given robot might have, as well as the materials from the kit that we plan to get.FTC 8644 Brainstormers Robot Reveal for 2018-2019 Season

Mecanum wheels are wheels that many teams use and wheels that we might also use. This video explains what they are, what they do, and how they work. SparkFun Mecanum Wheels

Mecanum wheels allow you to strafe much smoother than the ones in this video, but it is still helpful for you to watch.

Here is a brief overview of coding for the members who are interested in programming.  I have never coded, so this was over my head. Code Walkthrough of the FTC Robot Controller