Welcoming new FTC Members

For the past month, returning FTC members hosted their annual summer training sessions for the incoming members. The training was split into sections, each with a different theme and topic of learning.

To start off the training the new members learned about the core value associated with Cupertino Robotics and FIRST: gracious professionalism. The idea was to introduce the members to the environment and principles before the technical aspects of FTC. Learning about discovery, innovation, impact, inclusion, teamwork, and fun, the members work in teams to accomplish tasks such as building eggdrop machines, completing scavenger hunts, writing poems about principles of robotics, playing charades and building lego structures.

The next few days were spent covering the basics of hardware and software. To learn about hardware aspects, the members were guided through building catapults and planning a game plan for the 2022 FTC challenge. Through exploring how to convert Java code to pseudocode, the new members started to learn about the software side of FTC robots. Other than that, they experimented with GitHub and learned about the essentials of safety. All the knowledge shared came together on the fourth day of training where the new members learned about details in common mechanisms, drove around the 2022 FTC robots, and learned about state machines and CAD.

The last few days of training, the incoming members worked to build their own mini robots through the guidance of the returning members. They were tasked with building their mini robot to be raced in an obstacle course and completing an engineering notebook which would later be presented in small groups. The new members ended their training with robotics jeopardy and unique coding prompts.