Meetings are usually held at York School in the Design Shop and Robotics Lab (upstairs in the Library) on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday nights from 5:00pm - 7:30pm and Saturday from 9:00am - 4:00pm January through April. When there is a lot to do, we call extra meetings.  We also meet during school club time and/or during experiential learning when possible.

Robotics is much more like a sports team or participating in the performing arts rather than a typical school club. As such, it requires a commitment to showing up in order to have a successful experience on the team. Students who make the commitment learn skills that will help them in college and beyond. However, since it is not a class, students need self motivation to attend and get the most out of the experience.

The robotics team works best for those who show up often, engage, and ask questions. Those that occasionally show up have a hard time engaging and may feel like the time they do spend with the team is not well spent. There is usually more mentor support for students who are committed to learning and showing up. Being on the team works even better for those that spend lots of time on robotics outside of the meeting times.

While there is no minimum time commitment to be on the team, we have found that members need to show up for at least two or three meetings a week during the build season that starts in January—about ten hours a week—to get the most out of the program. We have found that students who don’t make this level of commitment often drop out because they do not feel integrated into the team. The really committed members on the team probably spend 2-3 times that many hours. It is also important to note that only students who are active members attending at least two or three meetings a week will be excused from school to attend competitions. 

The season has a very tight timeline, so for new students to have the best experience possible it is important to take advantage of training and involvement before the season starts (during club time and experiential learning). During the season, students will work on tasks with strict deadlines alongside mentors and other students. Again, if they can’t meet the deadline, someone else will likely finish the task.

As a new member, it can be hard to figure out something to do. Because new members don't have any training it can seem hard to participate. But, if you do your best to attend the weekly meetings and are constantly asking for something to do and attending any training meetings which are organized, you will be able to find things to do and have a great time on the team.  Every year we have new members go from knowing nothing to being key contributors by the end of the season.  All of them are persistent and show up to most of the meetings. If you sit around waiting for something to do, you may or may not get to do anything; if you proactively ask, then you will certainly be able to find things to do.

There are many opportunities for new students to learn and get involved on the team:

• Tools and Technology - Training opportunities for shop tools and technology (laser cutter, 3d printers, CNC machines) will be made available and students will need to take advantage of them. Everyone should learn what basic tools are and how to properly use them.

• Software - Adobe Illustrator is used a lot for interfacing with the laser cutter, and oftentimes we can use the Illustrator sketch in CAD or vice versa. Learning how to design in Illustrator is hugely important for robust prototyping. Designing things in CAD is one of the most important contributions a student can bring to the team, and learning how to do so is a semi-autonomous task that students can engage in. We cannot build a robot until it is designed.

• Programming - Talk to mentors if interested. Programming is an area where we are growing but is also an area that requires students to put in substantial amount of time outside of meetings to be successful. If you are given a task and finish it promptly, you will probably be given a more challenging task. That is how you grow. There are many opportunities for programming besides just programming the robot such as scouting, data visualization, and vision to name a few. We can have the most amazing robot design but if we cannot control it, it is useless. Like CAD, learning basic programming is semi-autonomous; the more time you put in to figure things out on your own the better the team will be. New students and anyone else who has interest should check out Zero to Robot to understand the FRC control system. Even if you are new to programming there are resources on learning the supported programming languages.

• Students who ask questions and ask people when they are unsure of what to do will likely be the most involved. 

• Be willing to try new things; you never know what you will enjoy and be good at. 

Despite being a robotics team, there are many tasks that do not involve robots themselves. There are sponsor relations (fundraising), hype (socials), strategy and scouting, graphic design, and several others.

Dr. Woodie Flowers was Co-Chair of the FIRST Executive Advisory Board, Distinguished Advisor to FIRST, and Pappalardo Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Soon after Dean Kamen founded FIRST, he and Woodie collaborated on the development of the FIRST Robotics Competition. Woodie was also critical to establishing the ethos of FIRST by coining the term Gracious Professionalism and nurturing its meaning in his every action.

Gracious Professionalism is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. Through Gracious Professionalism, fierce competition and mutual gain coexist. Participants compete intensely while treating each other with respect and empathy. There is no trash talking, nor disingenuous platitudes. Knowledge, competition, and empathy are comfortably blended.

Gracious Professionalism is an important concept in FIRST. This means we help other teams before and even at competitions. As an individual, you should always act with integrity at all times. When you are wearing a team t-shirt or otherwise representing Team 5171 you should always be helpful and gracious to other teams.

Check out the Parent Logistics page for more info. We encourage all parents to join us when possible so that they get to meet other parents and students on the team. Parents who meet other parents and see what the team does are more excited about the program and find that they can do lots of things to help out on the team.

Particularly important is joining us for the Kickoff event in January. Families can come and see the new game, meet other parents and students, meet Mentors, and also see some of the things that the team is working on.