Active Member Meeting – April 3, 2012

Lynbrook Robotics FIRST Team#846

Start Time: 7:00 PM This Agenda is closed to editing at 6:30pm.

Officer Reports

Notes: DRI = Directly Responsible Individual

Old Business

1. Mr. Lowd’s interesting talk (7:01pm)
2. Newsletter – review & print; ready for Crab Feed (below)[DRI Jackie] (7:10pm)
   1. People working on articles: Jackie, Akshat, Michael L, Brian, Alric, Annie
3. Photo Journal [DRI Eric] (7:13pm)
   1. don’t have a new version
      1. old draft version is in the crate
      2. bring the draft version to the crab feed
   2. Due date: May 5th
      1. keep in mind that 2 day shipping
      2. send out order forms by April 15th
   3. Distribution: ~2 weeks
4. Sweaters [DRI Alric] (7:18pm)
   1. should arrive tomorrow 4/4/2012 morning
5. Website Updates [DRI Vincent] (7:18pm)
   1. polishing articles from build season to put on the website
   2. if anyone has anything they would like to ahve posted on the website please contact vincent
   3. Aliases
      1. have a temporary list, BCC all members.
      2. mailman? : http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/index.html
         1. want a certain lists of people and have a moderator to check who gets the emails.
         2. have a quick conversation with a certain person
         3. Small modification to be made by Brian and Vincent
      3. unsubscribing:
         1. contact with Karthick to help with this project.
6. Lynbrook Excellence in Education ($950) (Tabled)
   1. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlAfPypZj6Q1dGlSZzJPaEVQR2hVM1hFM1hwUmljNGc#gid=12
7. Update on Camp Galileo [DRI Michael L] (7:35pm)
   1. have contacted the Tech location, tech does not approve of this
      1. figure out what is wrong
   2. Alternative location: intersection Stevens creek and De Anza
   3. have been contacted by the director of the area (person who basically runs the 33 locations)
      1. wishes to have teams go to their camps and teach/show their passion
   4. brought up speaking with other teams about this opportunity

New Business

1. Crab Feed [DRI: Brian]  (bring chairman’s DVD? / safety video? / computer with Inventor models?) (7:34pm)
   1. moving demo of the robot in the location – asked for a static display (4pm-8pm in De Anza College)
      1. crew to talk about the team and operate the robot
         1. Michael C, Nikunj, Eric , Raphael, Akshat, Annie, Joshua, Diane, Robert, Brian
      2. offered dinner (pizza)
      3. need to get a bridge, transportation:
      4. packing list
   2. Must have Team shirt on at this event it is Mandatory
2. Grants season  is here! Final Reports due; [DRI: Diane] (8:46pm)
   1. Important to have people get involved in this.
   2. Western Digital due next month
      1. end of year report due soon
   3. if you are interested please read some previous grants that are in the SVN Repo.
   4. if you want to get involved email Diane
3. Because Robots! [DRI: Diane] (8:48pm)
   1. trying to work on an outreach program for the team.
4. Officer Alias [DRI: Brian] (7:46pm)
   1. there are more than just officers on the alias
      1. list of people who would like to be on the officers alias.
      2. Fernando, Brent, Abhiram, Brent, Reo, Nikunj
      3. if want to be on the alias just send Brian an email
5. 25 Participation Pins; give to team, or use on appreciation photos? Order at $3 or $10 each.  [DRI Annie] (7:49pm)
   1. cost (free, $3-10) per pin
      1. seniors have priority of getting the pin
6. Team Calendar [dg] (7:51pm)
   1. want to have a team calendar
      1. want something to have to put in the room, moderate, etc.
      2. create something similar to that of which would be that of the Lynbrook High School Calender given to parents and students
         1. with dates, etc.
      3. general copy, specific years copy
   2. operational manual
      1. previous exp
         1. skills to available to learn, officer responsibilities (who does what, how they do their job), events, general calendar, locations where the team works, etc.
7. About Teamwork [15 minutes DRI: D.Giandomenico] (7:54pm)
   1. this last couple of weeks, have teamwork tested/challenged
      1. both personal and business – found who we can count on
      2. have no DVD for chairmans
      3. 2CAN : forgot to check that it was booted up
         1. did not have a check list
      4. packing list
         1. did not have some critical parts; ex. clips for the sprockets
      5. still had a computer running with 846 on it, cost the team a match
      6. Named tags were great
         1. help others recognize and address each other
      7. Safety manual was created and were great
      8. team documentation – well prepared when we met the judges
      9. team dinner – very well organized and prepared, the smoothest SVR dinner the team had
         1. everyone were seated, prearranged menu, etc.
      10. Team invitations – very nice artwork, very nice information/text, sending out invitations
      11. still a lot to get done
   2. Challenges
      1. working with others, how to work with others, etc.
         1. distributing work
         2. how to get the people get up to speed – communication
         3. afraid of others’ opinions
         4. speaking up when you want to convey your opinion
      2. glory snatching
      3. responsibility
         1. sharing responsibility
            1. how to work with someone
         2. delegating responsibility
            1. how to distribute the work between members and yourself
         3. There is no ‘ I ‘ in team
      4. one chooses or group chooses
         1. better decision making as it becomes less
            1. 1 decides – fast, tyrannical, others can not contribute
            2. 2/3 vote – minority is left out
            3. all decides – slow
            4. must find a working mix
               1. list of items that many may speak on and items that should be spoken about by a single person
   3. Conflict
      1. communication
         1. EX. email break down – many people who would write in ways that they would not speak
            1. if you can not convey the message through email speak in person
            2. communication options: emails, person to person, cell phone, skyping, etc.
8. Season Debrief (separate meeting will be arranged: Sunday, April 8, 2012; Morning at 10am)
   1. have experienced a lot
      1. problems and achievements have taken place
      2. think how the team can close the gaps between our strengths and weaknesses
   2. Reliability problems:
      1. on robot: wires damaged (bound too tight); air leaks; broken connectors on pneumatics; e-clips on chain idler shafts; loose control wire on spike; calibration (bring ultrasonic distance measure)
      2. on field: game pieces not loaded; robot moved; 2CAN;
   3. Robot Checklist [DRI: Diane]
      1. header: match#, sched time, players
      2. pre-check | field-check : code/hybrid routine/pressure | pressure/game pieces/alignment/refs/2CAN/
      3. post: comments on robot performance for debugging
      4. on back of personal match schedule have a check list.
         1. split it into two papers
      5. just tape the check list on the robot
         1. quarterback arm band
   4. Robot Rescue Team [DRI Brian]
      1. have to many people in the pits
         1. have groups of students go around and let them help the other teams
      2. volunteer to help re-set the field
      3. pit captain/manager
      4. also a safety issue that having so many people in the pits at the same time
      5. set up a rotation: have a group on duty for an hour and switch with others in the stands