2012:Buildseason General Info

Central location for general information about build season! Build season is the 6-week build period that takes place just after kickoff in early January and goes until mid-February.

Build Season Hours

The school will be available for us to work on the days and times below. These are times the school is available - you do not need to (and you will likely not be able to!) attend all build season hours; come to the sessions you are able and contribute to the level that your schoolwork and time allow. Students at the school for robotics must remain in the reserved rooms - wandering the school or going to other rooms is not acceptable.

Times and rooms will be posted at a later time

Build Season Hours

As stated in the Team Handbook, new and returning students have the oppurtunity to lower their travel costs by contributing hours to the build and satisfying achievements. To receive credit for the time worked, please be sure to fill out your time sheet. Time sheets are located in a brown folder in the closet next to Ms. Sterber's room. The time sheets, once filled out, must be signed off on by a mentor who was working with you. Your number of build season hours can be viewed in the online achievement tracking system.

Once a student has achieved his or her number of buildseason hours, they are no longer required to log their hours for credit, but keeping track of buildseason hours helps us brag about how many hours we spend putting time and effort into our team and our robot as we continue to grow a bigger FIRST family!

Please note that team members not being productive will be asked to leave and not given credit.

Remember, if you have any questions about the Achievements, please refer to the Team Handbook before asking!

Homework Hours

As mentioned in the Team Handbook, some of your Build Season work hours can be achieved by doing homework. To facilitate getting homework completed while working with the team on building the robot/other build activities, we will have a quiet room available (probably Ms. Latona's room, but this can vary) where homework can be done. School resources (computers, etc) can be used, but only those available in the rooms we have reserved (you cannot go off to another computer lab or an art room, for example). Take advantage of this to work with your teammates on homework and even get help from mentors! In order to get credit for these hours, you need to fill out your time sheet and have a mentor sign off on the hours.

Engineering Notes on the Wiki

This Wiki exists largely to document our engineering efforts during build season! Please take advantage of it and help your fellow teammates by letting them in on all the great design work you and your sub-groups have been doing!! Example entries can be found by browsing past years (links to the archives are at the bottom of the main page).

Team Meals

During build season, our team enjoys meals together in the evening. Meals are provided by the families of student team members, and this is another Student Achievement (see the Handbook!!) that can lower your trip costs. It is our hope that student's families share one meal of lunch (available on weekends only/February break) or dinner.

Not only does this help bring our team members closer together to help form our family atmosphere, it's really nice for our adult volunteers who often come from work each and every day! It also helps to vary our menu so we're not having pizza every single night! We've seen all kinds of plates come through from pasta to baked potatoes, sandwiches to rice and tacos! We love all kinds of food and especially enjoy our traditional Breakfast for Dinner/Dinner for Breakfast meal, and Cynette's famous baked potato bar! So whatever you decide to bring, we'll be happy with as long as you'd eat it yourself. ;)

Desserts are not required, but our kids (and adults!) love to have various kinds of cookies and of course, brownies! We've also had dessert breads, ice cream, and even cupcakes! Things to keep in mind:

• Our team does have vegetarians!
• Some of us are allergic to various ingredients such as nuts, eggs, and milk. If these types of ingredients are not obvious, please note it to the adults when you bring in the meal!
• Tuesday evenings are traditionally the most well attended, often with the vast majority of student and adult team members in attendance. Sunday evenings tend to be the quietest.
• On weekends, mentors typically donate coffee, donuts and/or bagels during any morning sessions.

Mrs. Melnik is our current meal coordinator - please contact her to coordinate any meal related items.

Misc. Tips and Reminders

Grades come first!

We know that you may be caught up in building the robot, and we're really happy that you are! But remember that school comes first and you must pass all your classes in order to participate! Remember that you can use homework hours and get help from all the adults around you, they're here to help!

Listen to Adults

If an adult asks you to stop a certain behavior, or asks you to do something, please listen to them! Respect that they are volunteering their time to be with us and help us grow to be the leaders of tomorrow!

There are no warnings for disobedience and as such will result in serious consequence. Any questions or concerns regarding this should be addressed to Ms. MacLean or one of the other teacher team advisors.

Absolutely NO horseplay.

There is absolutely NO horseplay whatsoever ANYWHERE, especially the shop. The shop can be a very dangerous place for anyone is is fooling around. We take safety VERY seriously, and so you must understand that one mistake affects us all!

There will be zero tolerance policy for horseplay and so you can expect major consequences without warning.

On that note... Safety Safety Safety!

• Safety glasses are REQUIRED in the shop area, any robot interaction site, any mechanical work area, electrical work area and well.... let's just say it's always good to always have your safety glasses!
• CLOSED-TOE SHOES. We will NOT allow you to enter the shop area, work on the robot or attempt to do any kind of buildseason activity that may harm your feet! You kind of need them, and so we will ask you to change, or work on something safe.
• Long hair past shoulder length should always be pulled back in some way shape or form that will not result in: your hair catching on fire, your hair being caught in machinery, your hair being potentially removed from your head <--Ow.
• LOOSE CLOTHING should not be worn while working near the robot or in the shop near machinery, so we recommend that you roll your sleeves or change your clothing.
• REPORT any dangerous acts or settings you may see before it's too late!
• Exclaim when performing with the robot: "ROBOT ON", "ROBOT OFF", "DISABLING", "ENABLING", "ARM UP", "FIRING", "GET OUT OF THE WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!", "ROBOT!!" (for crowd control)
• Too heavy? Ask someone to help! And of course remember, bend at the knees for ease!
• NEVER. EVER. EVER LIFT THE ROBOT BY IT'S BUMPERS. EVER. <--BAD ROBOT TABOO right there.

Emergency situations

• Should anyone be injured, no matter how minor, you must report the accident to the team SAFETY CAPTAIN and fill out an INCIDENT REPORT.
• Serious injuries (that includes serious cuts!) should be immediately reported to Larry so the correct procedures can be taken!
• Battery leaks & spills: in the case that a battery becomes damaged, one should: get the battery leak box (NON-METALLIC/LEAK PROOF) which contains a set of rubber gloves and baking soda. The baking soda should be sprinkled on the acid and at the safest point in time, the battery should be placed in the box and disposed of properly (see safety manual or Cynette). AVOID ANY SKIN CONTACT WITH THE ACID!!!
• EYE INJURIES (if you didn't have the common sense to wear your safety glasses): eyes should be immediately flushed with water!