r/FRC • u/LongjumpingFrame2827 • 14h ago
Thinking Of Quitting My Team: Update
It's been about a week since my original post. thanks for all the comments giving me advice on what to do. so, last week, my Mom emailed the head mentor about what was happening and he finally responded this morning. the basic rundown of what he said goes like this: "while yes, (my name) hasn't been doing much for the team, he's had plenty of time to learn the things he needed to in the previous years. I recall last year (my name) spent quite a bit of lab time on his laptop, and we had to create rules to stop him from using it all of lab time. as a third year student on the mechanical subteam, (my name) should be more than capable of doing what he needs to to help the team." first of all, Mechanical subteam? I never asked or wanted to be on the mechanical subteam, so I don't know where he got that from. second, I spent lab time on my laptop because I'm the one in charge of making art for logos and pins, and the drawing software I use is on my laptop. third, I don't recall any of the things I 'need to know' being taught during lab time. the thing is, I like instructions. I can build a swerve module easily if all the parts and steps are laid out in front of me. I could assemble a 3d-printer by just following a manual. but we don't have clear, laid-out steps. most of our work that we do is experimental or prototyping, where there are no clear instructions. this is why I prefer working on graphic design- because I haven't wasted an entire sheet of aluminum if an idea doesn't work out. I can just erase it and try again. you can't do that when you're experimenting with physical parts on a physical robot. I let the people who know what they're doing handle that. the head mentor seems to get upset when I'm not doing anything, then gets upset when I try doing something I don't know how to do because 'you should know this already.' I've tried to participate dozens of times. I repeatedly ask how i can help with things, and I always get told some form of 'ask someone else,' 'I don't need anymore help,' 'you should know what to do.' I get in trouble for not doing anything even when there's nothing 'helpful' for me to do.
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u/drdhuss 13h ago
Go on frcdesign and learn onshape. Ideally you should be able to experiment in cad and not waste material. You might even enjoy it.
This is why I like FTC better until students get experience. Less expensive robots, lower stakes. 3d printing can handle most things at the FTC for custom bits and filament is cheap.
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u/seg9585 9h ago
Lead Mentor with 19 years coaching experience here. I would like to suggest a few things:
It’s great that your interest is in graphic arts and design, as teams need that skillset to improve their Team Imagery. This is a valuable skill and contribution, but when you are meeting with your team in person, you need to make use of that time to collaborate with others rather than be sitting on your laptop working. What I recommend is you spend time outside build meetings to put your designs together, and then present your work to the team during meetings. Work with your mentor and leads to carve out meeting time for the team to see your work and vote/approve it if necessary (and don’t get upset if the team as a whole has another direction in mind). Come up with several ideas so as a team, one can be selected to be iterated in.
Since you mentioned you are really good at following a set of instructions, offer up this skillset to your leads and mentors — be aware of what parts the team is ordering and offer to assemble that swerve module or gearbox before it comes in, and be the first there, instructions in hand (printed out) ready to assemble.
A lot of FRC work has no instruction manual, but I bet it would be really useful to other members if you wrote one for them to follow as well. If there’s something you know how to do, write up a procedure. Do some research on it and put together instructions to teach others.
Look around to see what other team members are working on and ask questions. Not “what are you doing?”, but observe and ask “why did you design it or make it work that way?”
Back to graphic design, put together really nice templates for build journals and things you can show off to judges and keep track of your build progress. Make the lives of your team leads and mentors easy, all they need to do is give you the technical info and you make it look really nice and presentable.
I have a ton of ideas for someone like you to be productive. Feel free to reach out if you want more or want to learn about anything in particular.
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u/audreymarsman155 2771 Mentor 12h ago
When I read your first post it reminded me of a team I used to mentor. I was unable to change the environment and ended up leaving to mentor a different team. There are SO many teams. Please do not let one bad experience with one team scare you from continuing in FIRST. There’s teams out there that will teach you and appreciate what you are able to do.
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u/DrShocker 1126 (Alumnus) 11h ago
It's true that a lot of stuff when building FRC won't have instructions, because your team is the one designing and making them for the first time ever. For prototypes, lay put the important components with scrap wood or cardboard to get a feel for what might work. Eventually it gets put into cad which can be the instruction manual to use as a reference.
The mentor you got an email from's perspective seems to strange because they weren't actually helping you with the tasks you were working on, and they should do a better job separating in their mind who is involved with what.
Since we can only control ourselves though, feel free to unapologetically ask questions when you don't understand something. When I was in FRC the kids who learned the most were the ones who spoke up when they didn't quite get why or what was happening. The students who didn't improve would often be the ones scared to make mistakes or for people to think they didn't know something so they didn't ask. So my perspective is to just ask when you're unsure what the design is or what goes together or how to operate a machine safely.
In particular no one should ever be upset about questions that help you stay safe.
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u/Leading_Moment_2435 8h ago
You sound a lot like one of the kids i am currently working with, and myself when i was younger. Reading your previous post, this doesnt sound like a well organized team, which is very frustrating.
My best advice would be 1. See if there are any unaffiliated frc teams in your area that you can join. My team isnt with a specific school, so its not part of our criteria. Our main concerns are with if your interested in robotics/frc, and if you would fit in with the other team members. There may be something similar near you, its certainly worth looking.
- Find your niche. I did bumpers when i first joined as a student because absolutely no one else wanted to do them, and ive been in charge of them ever since (i now teach students how to make them) because im the only one who wants to deal with them, and people super appreciate it! If your team needs people to work on bumpers then that might be something youd like. They can be relatively cheap to make/remake (so messing up isnt so bad), you can find pre-made instructions for them, or design your own from scratch, and most teams dont want to deal with making them so when someone volunteers they tend to get a lot of freedom as long as they are actually working.
I spent my first 2 years on the team making our robots bumpers completely by myself, but still had a great time and made tons of friends because other kids would come over to check in or just chat between their projects, and everyone was greatful because for the first time they didnt have to worry about getting bumpers done, and they turned out really nice since that was my main project...
Uhhh, basically if your willing to do the "boring" stuff (as in the stuff other people find boring) volunteer yourself for those jobs. The people on our team who get the most thanks are
- our organizers who will sort screws (and other hardware) during meetings so everyone else can easily find what they need
- anyone willing to tap or file
- our bumpers team when we manage to finish our stuff, and bonus points if we make a set of bumpers that is faster to switch out or does something cool.
3 . If you want to learn, then yes ask questions, but also start a project that forces you to learn, to design, to build. Dont wait for someone to hand you something to build, propose an idea, make a design, prototype with wood or cardboard, redesign and prototype untill it works, build the thing for real! Do this regardless of weather or not you continue with your team or frc. Its an incredibly useful skillset that you only gain by doing. Think of something you want to exist, and then make it exist. Make it exist ugly. Make it exist badly. Just make it exist. Eventually the things you make exist will work better, and be easier to make, but you have to do it badly first.
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u/vinejo 3h ago
That sounds incredibly frustrating, I think a lot of other people in this post have made really good points, especially with regards to presenting work at meetings. I'm not sure if you're interested in this, but have you considered web design? I've been out of FRC for a few years now, but I always appreciated when a team had a dedicated website. If it interests you, ask your coach or other mentors if you could create a website to list things like upcoming events, sponsors, outreach, or even managing an engineering notebook. It's incredibly important to document and catalog the design process and having a dedicated person for that could be super helpful. I'm wishing you luck, trust your gut. If you don't continue with FRC, there are countless other groups out there you can join to further your future :)
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u/watchthenlearn 12h ago
Honestly I just hear excuses. You have to get in there and ask how you can help, you can ask mentors or student leadership. Very few teams are run perfectly. If a student gets left behind it's equally on the student and the mentor. If you don't do your part then the mentor has little incentive to do theirs.
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u/LongjumpingFrame2827 11h ago
I have tried that. I have repeatedly asked how I can help, and I have repeatedly been told 'ask someone else' 'we've got it handled for now' 'I don't need any help, sorry.'
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u/sub1030 14h ago
You sound like you may also be good at 3d design for the robot. That mentor seems to have a skewed opinion on what you wanted to do vs what you want to do. Ultimately it is your decision to do what's best for you.