* What is your FRC team number?
(Put "N/A" (not applicable) if you don't have a team number or don't want to provide it.)

* What was your personal rookie year in FRC? If you started with an FRC team in 2017 and your team started in 1989, put "2017" in the text box.
(Put "N/A" if you don't want to provide it.)

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Thanks to Steve Silverman and Sean Doherty for recording and editing the videos and all of the 971 students who helped with setup and recording.

The 971 Workshops Organizers

2019

2019 Spartan Series Handbook
This handbook provides speaker bios and presentation descriptions for the 2019 Spartan Series. The 2019 Spartan Series was held on Saturday, September 7, 2019 at Mountain View High School.
Download handbook (48.6 MBytes)

From Drawings to the Final Product: A Guide to FRC Manufacturing [Beginner]: Kseniia Stiagun
Kseniia discusses 971's manufacturing process, covering the transition from CAD to manufacturing to assembly by diving deep into 971's standards for machined parts, drawings, and the assembly process itself.
Video Link (16 minutes)
Download slides (7.5 MBytes)

Scouting & Strategy: Case Studies on 971's Process [Intermediate]: Alex Wieland
Alex covers data analysis, alliance selection, and match strategy through practical competition examples. He discusses how 971 develops optimal match strategy based on alliance and opponent team composition.
Video Link (48 minutes)
Download slides (2.7 MBytes)

A CAD Style Guide by 971 [Intermediate]: Travis Schuh
Travis goes over robust CAD methods that support clean and effective design, giving industry insight into practices that translate into success in FRC.
Video Link (56 minutes)
Download slides (5.4 MBytes)

Breakdown, Brainstorm, Plan, & Prototype: Foundations for Successful Robots [Intermediate]: Bryan Culver
Bryan presents a guide on leveraging the critical first days of the season to lay the foundation for a successful robot by covering best practices.
Video Link (46 minutes)
Download slides (4.7 MBytes)

971's Software Architecture: A Framework for Advanced Controls [Intermediate]: Tyler Chatow
Tyler discusses the structure of 971's code. He gives a thorough overview of how, why, and what 971 does differently to build their code base.
Video Link (38 minutes)
Download slides (.14 MBytes)

Controls 101: Making Robots Dance [Intermediate]: Austin Schuh
Austin talks about the basics needed to control FRC robots.
Video Link (26 minutes)
Download slides (1.8 MBytes)

FRC Storytelling Through Multimedia [Beginner]: Steve Silverman
Steve provides insight on how to use mediums such as Photography and Videography to capture the journey 971 takes throughout the entire year. Steve provides tips and tricks he's learned to capture pivotal and summarizing moments in 971's history.
Video Link (56 minutes)
Download slides (18.2 MBytes)

Organization & Purchasing: a Secret to Success in FRC [Beginner]: Wyn Schuh, Brian Silverman, & Finbarr Crispie
Wyn, Brian, and Finbarr cover the 971 approach to purchasing, including general purchasing and bookkeeping tips as well as the path that 971 COTS parts take from CAD to purchase. They discuss how an effective purchasing system can help simplify a chaotic build season.
Video Link (50 minutes)
Download slides (.82 MBytes)

FRC Sustainability [Beginner]: Wyn Schuh & Finbarr Crispie (Updated for 2019)
Wyn & Finbarr present 971's organizational structures, team values, and organizational values in an effort to help teams become more sustainable.
Video Link (46 minutes)
Download slides (1.4 MBytes)

2019 Robot Overview: Tachyon [Beginner]: Rishon Shah & Sabina Davis
Sabina and Rishon provide a technical overview of 971's design process during the 2019 season. They provide an in-depth look into the mechanical and programming aspects of 971's Destination Deep Space Robot, named Tachyon.
Video Link (22 minutes)
Download slides (3.4 MBytes)

3D Printing: Effectively Utilizing the Markforged [Beginner]: Kayla Blalack
Kayla discusses 971's design and fabrication process for 3D printed parts through showcasing specific examples, discussing print workflow, and highlighting common design considerations.
Video Link (36 minutes)
Download slides (4.3 MBytes)

It's Not About the Robots Anymore... [Beginner]: David Mintz
David, Vice President of Research & Development of Auris Health, talks about the tools FRC provides its members for success as an engineer and leader in professional settings, while providing parallels between FRC practices and industry.
Video Link (58 minutes)
Download slides (3.0 MBytes)

I'll Take Outrageous Outreach for 100: Inventive Outreach and Your Team [Beginner]: Sarah Heimlich
Sarah talks about creative methods to engage members in outreach activities that best fit the resources and mission of your team.
Video Link (34 minutes)
Download slides (8.9 MBytes)

The Secret Sauce: Your Story & How You Tell It [Beginner]: Megan Guttieri
Megan covers the skills, attitude, and approach any student or mentor can use to properly showcase the strengths of your brand, team, and you by condensing interdisciplinary knowledge between academia, sales, and FIRST Robotics.
Video Link (36 minutes)
Download slides (4.1 MBytes)

FRC Judging: Maximizing Time & Content [Intermediate]: Kristin Weiss
Kristin explains ways of maximizing your communication with judges at events to help your team shine.
Video Link (28 minutes)
Download slides (3.3 MBytes)

How to Make Friends & Influence People: The FRC Edition [Beginner]: Sabina Davis
Sabina goes in depth about how FRC brings people out of their shell and provides tips and tricks about body language and connecting with others.
Because of technical difficulties, no video will be available for this workshop.
Download slides (9.4 MBytes)

2018

971 CAD (Complex, Accessible, Detail Oriented) — Annie Wang
Annie discusses the 971 CAD process, covering the transition from prototyping to CAD, parts management, and geometry. Basic knowledge of Solidworks is recommended to get the most out of the workshop.
Video Link (40 minutes)
Download slides (1.4 MBytes)

Selecting Gear Ratios to Build More Robust Robots — Nick Crispie
Nick discusses the nuances of gear ratios, covering how to calculate gear ratios, surface speed, and torque, as well as how to use this information to pick the gear ratios that are most appropriate to a specific design.
Video Link (48 minutes)
Download slides (1.0 MBytes)

An Overview of 971's 2018 Robot — Annie Wang and Sabina Davis
Sabina and Annie provide a technical overview of 971's design process during the 2018 season. They provide an in depth look into the mechanical and programming aspects of 971's Power UP Robot, named Curiosity.
Video Link (25 minutes)
Download slides (5.4 MBytes)

Creativity and Innovation in the World of Engineering — Aren Hill
Aren presents on cool, innovative designs in both the FRC and the engineering world. He discusses technical concepts behind some of FRC's most creative robot mechanisms.
Video Link (52 minutes)
Download slides (0.8 MBytes)

Motors and Motor Controllers — Brian Silverman
Brian provides an overview of motors and motor controllers, explaining electronic concepts and the math and physics behind them. This presentation requires prior intermediate knowledge and progresses into advanced concepts.
Video Link (46 minutes)
Download slides (2.1 MBytes)

2017

Control System Modeling — Austin Schuh
Austin discusses many aspects of control system modeling including motor models and reading VexPro motor datasheets. He has the class follow along and work with him to model a simple elevator.
Video Link (47 minutes)
No slides for this talk

Test Driven Development — Austin Schuh
The focus of this class is test driven development. Austin uses test driven development to write code to control the elevator that was modeled in the first class and then uses that code to control the elevator on the 971 Third Robot from 2015.
Video Link (115 minutes)
Download code (5 kBytes)

Designing for Controllability — Travis Schuh
Travis discusses how to design FRC Robots with better control systems in mind. He covers the relationship between mechanisms, stiffness & backlash, motor selection, and sensors.
Video Link (90 minutes)
Download slides (12 MBytes)

971's Sustainability Practices — Wyn Schuh and Finbarr Crispie
Wyn and Finbarr present 971's organizational structures, team values, and organizational values in an effort to help teams become more sustainable. Wyn and Finbarr manage 971's operations. Wyn is our lead mentor and a Woodie Flowers Award Finalist.
Video Link (51 minutes)
Download slides (2 MBytes)

Intersection of Electronics, Programming, and Design — Brian Silverman
Brian's, 2013 971 Dean's List Finalist, presents on the relationship between electronics, code, and robot mechanisms, and how each aspect of a robot interfaces with others.
Video Link (49 minutes)
Download slides (300 kBytes)

Strategy Techniques and Scouting Management — Jocelyn Baird
Jocelyn covered how to manage scouts in the stands, how to choose a team in alliance selections, and 971's best supporting scouting/strategy practices. Jocelyn was in charge of scouting on 971 from 2013-2014.
Video Link (52 minutes)
Download slides (5 MBytes)

Building Your Team's Resume — Megan Guttieri and Ginger Schmidt
Megan and Ginger discuss how to place an FRC team's activities into a larger narrative. This will be useful for teams trying to create a better Chairman's submission, and teams looking to increase sponsor support.
No video available yet.
Download slides (5 MBytes)

An Overview of 971's 2017 Robot — Ginger Schmidt and Adam Snaider
Ginger and Adam provide a technical overview of 971's design process in relation to the 2017 robot. Ginger and Adam provide an indepth look into the mechanical and programming aspects of 971's Steamworks Robot, named Fyn.
Video Link (51 minutes)
Download slides (12 MBytes)

Being a Student Leader — Bahar Maghbouleh and Ginger Schmidt
Bahar and Ginger's presentation is about what it means as a student to get more involved with your team, how to pick up and manage projects, and how 971 utilizes student leadership.
Video Link (49 minutes)
Download slides (172 kBytes)