2013: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 in the calendar linked 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.

2013 Build Season Calendar (pdf)

Build Season Hours

As stated in the Team Handbook, new and returning students have the opportunity 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. William'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.

Please remember 'your grades come FIRST!' We want the team to be successful, but if your grades are suffering that is not the kind of success we're hoping to achieve! Take advantage of homework hours, your teammates, and mentors to get your homework and studying done.

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.

Ms. Robertson is our current meal coordinator - please contact her to coordinate any meal related items.

Listen to Adults

If an adult (mentor, teacher, parent) 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 the team - the experience should be enjoyable for them too!

There are no warnings for disobedience and serious consequences will result from back-talk to adults. Any questions or concerns regarding adults/student interaction should be addressed to Ms. MacLean or one of the other teacher team advisors.

Safety, Safety, Safety

We'll be using some exciting equipment and producing a powerful robot. Keep in mind safety at all times when working in the shop or around the robot. Here's some safety reminders:

• Horseplay/rough-housing: There is absolutely NO horseplay whatsoever anywhere, especially in the shop. The shop can be a very dangerous place for anyone is is fooling around. We take safety very seriously! Remember, safety mistakes can affect not just you but also those around you! There will be zero tolerance policy for horseplay.
• Safety glasses: 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: 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, etc. Such situations are very dangerous!!
• Loose Clothing: 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, remove draw-strings from hoodies, remove any neck-ties, or change your clothing.
• Heavy lifting: Too heavy? Ask someone to help! Many of our parts, field elements, and of course the robot itself are very heavy! Remember, bend at the knees for ease! (not your back!)
• Robot Lifting: As mentioned above, the robot is very heavy - always lift with a teammate! Also.... never, ever, ever lift the robot by its bumpers! Bad robot taboo!! The bumpers cannot support the weight of the robot in a vertical direction - they could come off and the robot could fall on you!
• Exclaim when working directly with the robot: "ROBOT ON", "ROBOT OFF", "DISABLING", "ENABLING", "ARM UP", "FIRING", etc. Make sure you are clear and loud enough that others in the area hear you, and ensure they are listening and paying attention to your warning before you allow the robot to enable/fire/etc.
• Prevention is Key: In addition to the above, keep an eye out for your teammates and if you see a dangerous situation, ask them to stop and correct it before it becomes a problem! Get help from a mentor or teacher if necessary.

Emergency situations

• Injuries: 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 the nearest mentor, teach or parent, and then to Larry, Leann, or Jeff so the correct procedures can be taken and the appropriate help given as quickly as possible.
• Eye Injuries: These should never happen because you are always wearing your safety glasses, right? In the event something unfortunate does happen, however, seek the help of a mentor or teacher immediately!
• 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. It is always located near the batteries. 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!'