What is FIRST Chesapeake Bridges Network?

FIRST Chesapeake Bridges Network is an initiative to connect

teams with other local teams who are willing to share 3D printing and machining resources.

In support of this we maintain a map of FIRST Chesapeake Bridges Network teams who are willing to share their resources, collate lists of manufacturing capabilities for each, and provide a way to contact them.

Teams in need are able to identify nearby FIRST Chesapeake Bridges Network teams, source specific needed manufacturing capabilities, and contact FIRST Chesapeake Bridges Network teams without combing through websites or social media.

At this time, requesting teams will be responsible for supplying or replacing the material needed to meet their request. Requesting teams and FIRST Chesapeake Bridges Network teams can work together to determine part transportation on a case-by-case basis.

The more FIRST Chesapeake Bridges Network teams, the more requests we can support. If you are interested in becoming a FIRST Chesapeake Bridges Network team please review this list of expectations:

• Respond to help requests within 3 days during build season or 5 days during offseason. Teams asking for help need to quickly know whether you can help or not so they can plan accordingly.
• Be clear about material availability and part delivery - do you already have material on hand, does the team asking for help need to replace it? What works best for getting parts to the team asking for help?
• Be gracious professionals in your interactions with all teams asking for help.
• Don't overextend yourself. Your own team's work is important and shouldn't be deprioritized to fulfill help requests.

Joining is self-service: sign in with a Google account — any Google account works, not necessarily a school-issued one (CHS Hubs doesn't currently support Microsoft/school-Office sign-in) — and either register your FRC or FTC team or join an existing one, then list the capabilities you can offer or the help you're looking for. New accounts may need approval before they get full access: a system administrator approves the first member of a new team (or every account, if the program is currently set to require admin approval for all sign-ups); after that, your team's Team Admin approves additional teammates joining the same team.

Inspiration

FIRST Chesapeake Bridges Network was inspired by the Production Hubs initiative created by

Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Student Board of Directors. The idea was first brought to the Chesapeake region by CHS teams, who built an early version of the program independently. FIRST Chesapeake has since officially adopted the initiative and expanded it significantly into the platform you see today.