but I'll be back next week.
256 days until the 2010 kickoff,
See you then!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
I'm back and ready to go
Good Morning Teams,
I’ve been so busy this past week at Championship reviewing our options for the future with the board of directors, brainstorming with the Game Design Committee (perhaps a water game?), meeting with our major donors, and ensuring everything happening on the fields and in the pits ran smoothly, that I didn’t have any time left over to let you know what I was up to. But the entire event went smoothly, I have found time to get a full night’s sleep and now I’m back and already excited about 2010.
For those of you who didn’t attend Championship, or see the press announcements, WPI and Sun Microsystems will make Java available as an additional programming language option for FRC teams in 2010. This collaboration is in the early stages, so I’ll post more information as it becomes available.
For those of you who left Championship after the final match, you might be interested to know that the staff and many dedicated volunteers spent the rest of the night breaking down all seven fields, packing up the left over supplies and loading everything onto six tractor trailer trucks. The last truck left the Georgia Dome just after 11:30PM Saturday night and the staff flew home exhausted Sunday morning.
Everything has been unloaded into our warehouse in Merrimack, NH, and the real work is about to begin. Each of the 14 onsite FRC fields will be unpacked, repaired where necessary and refurbished. Then, once the game design reaches the final stages, each field will be updated to include new elements. We’ll also inventory parts, repair and update the road cases used to transport the fields, and set up one full field in the basement at 200 Bedford Street for Game Design.
If you haven’t had enough of Lunacy, check out the community events page on our website. Lots of team hold invitational events over the summer. Some borrow the official FRC fields (contact Nberinger@usfirst.org for more details), some use the fields owned by NASA, and some use their own fields, but all invitational events provide teams with another chance to compete. If you’re holding an Invitational event, please give Nberinger@usfirst.org a heads up. We’d like to know what you’re up to, even if you don’t have room for any more teams and it would be great if we could get potential mentors, future team members and possible sponsors, to visit an invitational event in their area. FRC is something you have to see to believe.
260 days until the 2010 Kickoff
See you there!
I’ve been so busy this past week at Championship reviewing our options for the future with the board of directors, brainstorming with the Game Design Committee (perhaps a water game?), meeting with our major donors, and ensuring everything happening on the fields and in the pits ran smoothly, that I didn’t have any time left over to let you know what I was up to. But the entire event went smoothly, I have found time to get a full night’s sleep and now I’m back and already excited about 2010.
For those of you who didn’t attend Championship, or see the press announcements, WPI and Sun Microsystems will make Java available as an additional programming language option for FRC teams in 2010. This collaboration is in the early stages, so I’ll post more information as it becomes available.
For those of you who left Championship after the final match, you might be interested to know that the staff and many dedicated volunteers spent the rest of the night breaking down all seven fields, packing up the left over supplies and loading everything onto six tractor trailer trucks. The last truck left the Georgia Dome just after 11:30PM Saturday night and the staff flew home exhausted Sunday morning.
Everything has been unloaded into our warehouse in Merrimack, NH, and the real work is about to begin. Each of the 14 onsite FRC fields will be unpacked, repaired where necessary and refurbished. Then, once the game design reaches the final stages, each field will be updated to include new elements. We’ll also inventory parts, repair and update the road cases used to transport the fields, and set up one full field in the basement at 200 Bedford Street for Game Design.
If you haven’t had enough of Lunacy, check out the community events page on our website. Lots of team hold invitational events over the summer. Some borrow the official FRC fields (contact Nberinger@usfirst.org for more details), some use the fields owned by NASA, and some use their own fields, but all invitational events provide teams with another chance to compete. If you’re holding an Invitational event, please give Nberinger@usfirst.org a heads up. We’d like to know what you’re up to, even if you don’t have room for any more teams and it would be great if we could get potential mentors, future team members and possible sponsors, to visit an invitational event in their area. FRC is something you have to see to believe.
260 days until the 2010 Kickoff
See you there!
Friday, April 10, 2009
We're getting ready
Good MorningTeams,
I know it’s been a while since I’ve had a minute to write, but if you could see the activity here at headquarters, I think you’d understand. Have you ever considered what it takes to run Championship? FRC sets up seven playing fields every year (five in the dome and two practice fields in the pits). Six of those fields come directly from regional events (Lone Star, Las Vegas, 10,000 Lakes, Palmetto, Michigan and Sacramento this year). The seventh field spent the season in storage in Tennessee prepared to ship at a moment’s notice in case anything happened to a field as it traveled the country from regional event to regional event. (I’ll bet you didn’t know that). But seven fields are only the beginning. Two more tractor trailer trucks will leave headquarters today packed to the roof with supplies for pit administration, the hall of fame, scholarship row, judges, referees, FLL, FTC and all the high level meetings that happen in the background during the three days of competition. Early next week, additional trucks will deliver new carpet, new regolith and everything it takes to set up the AV systems, pits, machine shops, opening and closing ceremonies, and FIRST Finale.
Almost everything we need is staged on the third floor right now and there’s hardly enough room to move around. Staff are packing last minute items and figuring out the most efficient way to fit everything into the truck. Early this morning the staff will begin loading trucks, then we’re off. The first staff members fly down late Sunday. Monday the final pre event meetings happen, rigging is flown in the dome and electrical drops are put in place. Tuesday the drapes go up, the first fields are constructed and everything that arrived on a truck is delivered to where it’s needed. Wednesday is our last chance to get everything finished in time for teams to enter the pits for load in at 6PM. It’s going to take almost three days and an astonishing number of people to get everything set up.
With luck the number of FRC teams may work out perfectly this year. At the moment we have 348 teams registered to attend. That works out to 87 teams in each division and 29 complete alliances. There will be time for each team to play 7 qualifying rounds on Friday. Remember if you can’t make it to Atlanta, you can still watch the action live thanks to NASA. Details on viewing either the webcast or NASA TV is available here.
If you’re coming to Championship, I invite you to stop by the FRC Future Technology booth in the pit area and to join us in the FRC New Technology Showcase Thursday at 5pm (tickets sponsored by Rolls Royce) to see what’s in store. We’re also offering a free FRC Control System forum Thursday 6:30-8:00 where you can hear from our team and share your ideas and experiences. If you can’t make it to either of these talks on Thursday, we’ll repeat a combination of both events Friday 11:00-12:00.
Due to the difficult economic conditions, FIRST is encouraging all teams that want to take their robot directly home to do so. This will lessen the financial impact on our valued sponsor FedEx, and also allow you to have quicker access to your robot. Please note the same rules apply regarding getting your crate back home and the "no use" of the loading docks. Teams attending Championship will receive an email blast soon with more details
And the 2009 FIRST Championship is on Twitter!
5 days until Championship,
See you there!
P.S. LV Mastery is offering LabVIEW hints, tips and tricks specifically designed for FRC teams. Check out their free video blogs for FRC teams
I know it’s been a while since I’ve had a minute to write, but if you could see the activity here at headquarters, I think you’d understand. Have you ever considered what it takes to run Championship? FRC sets up seven playing fields every year (five in the dome and two practice fields in the pits). Six of those fields come directly from regional events (Lone Star, Las Vegas, 10,000 Lakes, Palmetto, Michigan and Sacramento this year). The seventh field spent the season in storage in Tennessee prepared to ship at a moment’s notice in case anything happened to a field as it traveled the country from regional event to regional event. (I’ll bet you didn’t know that). But seven fields are only the beginning. Two more tractor trailer trucks will leave headquarters today packed to the roof with supplies for pit administration, the hall of fame, scholarship row, judges, referees, FLL, FTC and all the high level meetings that happen in the background during the three days of competition. Early next week, additional trucks will deliver new carpet, new regolith and everything it takes to set up the AV systems, pits, machine shops, opening and closing ceremonies, and FIRST Finale.
Almost everything we need is staged on the third floor right now and there’s hardly enough room to move around. Staff are packing last minute items and figuring out the most efficient way to fit everything into the truck. Early this morning the staff will begin loading trucks, then we’re off. The first staff members fly down late Sunday. Monday the final pre event meetings happen, rigging is flown in the dome and electrical drops are put in place. Tuesday the drapes go up, the first fields are constructed and everything that arrived on a truck is delivered to where it’s needed. Wednesday is our last chance to get everything finished in time for teams to enter the pits for load in at 6PM. It’s going to take almost three days and an astonishing number of people to get everything set up.
With luck the number of FRC teams may work out perfectly this year. At the moment we have 348 teams registered to attend. That works out to 87 teams in each division and 29 complete alliances. There will be time for each team to play 7 qualifying rounds on Friday. Remember if you can’t make it to Atlanta, you can still watch the action live thanks to NASA. Details on viewing either the webcast or NASA TV is available here.
If you’re coming to Championship, I invite you to stop by the FRC Future Technology booth in the pit area and to join us in the FRC New Technology Showcase Thursday at 5pm (tickets sponsored by Rolls Royce) to see what’s in store. We’re also offering a free FRC Control System forum Thursday 6:30-8:00 where you can hear from our team and share your ideas and experiences. If you can’t make it to either of these talks on Thursday, we’ll repeat a combination of both events Friday 11:00-12:00.
Due to the difficult economic conditions, FIRST is encouraging all teams that want to take their robot directly home to do so. This will lessen the financial impact on our valued sponsor FedEx, and also allow you to have quicker access to your robot. Please note the same rules apply regarding getting your crate back home and the "no use" of the loading docks. Teams attending Championship will receive an email blast soon with more details
And the 2009 FIRST Championship is on Twitter!
5 days until Championship,
See you there!
P.S. LV Mastery is offering LabVIEW hints, tips and tricks specifically designed for FRC teams. Check out their free video blogs for FRC teams
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Michigan teams attending Championship
Good Morning Teams,
As you are probably aware, 134 Michigan teams spent the last year engaged in a pilot program trying out a variety of measures exploring possible cost reductions for FRC teams; smaller venues, shorter events, fewer amenities at the events, etc . The final decision on which measures may be instituted next year is still being evaluated.
Michigan teams attending the FIRST Championship in Atlanta, GA will not be permitted a fix it window following the Michigan State Championship. Robots must be bagged immediately after the event and crated for shipping as soon as possible. Crated robots must then be delivered to drayage before 5PM on Tuesday, April 7th for delivery to Atlanta.
I thank you all for your patience and understanding as we complete the pilot process and begin to examine the lessons learned.
13 days until Championship,
See you there!
As you are probably aware, 134 Michigan teams spent the last year engaged in a pilot program trying out a variety of measures exploring possible cost reductions for FRC teams; smaller venues, shorter events, fewer amenities at the events, etc . The final decision on which measures may be instituted next year is still being evaluated.
Michigan teams attending the FIRST Championship in Atlanta, GA will not be permitted a fix it window following the Michigan State Championship. Robots must be bagged immediately after the event and crated for shipping as soon as possible. Crated robots must then be delivered to drayage before 5PM on Tuesday, April 7th for delivery to Atlanta.
I thank you all for your patience and understanding as we complete the pilot process and begin to examine the lessons learned.
13 days until Championship,
See you there!
Week 5
Good Morning Teams,
Week 5 has come and gone and thanks to the efforts of the volunteers at each of the 12 events this past weekend, we were able to run on or ahead of schedule. Even the Colorado Regional which was hit by a snowstorm and had to shut down on Thursday, got up and running Friday and finished on time Saturday night.
Here at FIRST we’re always striving for continuous improvement. Week one we learned of the static discharge situation at some of our venues. We tried a variety of solutions in real time that weekend, then spent the following week testing and improving our SD hypotheses and looking for ways to improve the field set up and scoring. Week two had fewer issues, we made some more adjustments and by week three things were running pretty smoothly. I want to thank those teams that keep up with this Blog and with the Team Updates who arrived at their Regional prepared with the equipment I asked you to bring and aware of FMS hook up sequence I described. You helped make a difference.
If you’re considering making internal modifications your driver station yourself (not officially sanctioned), you should know that Kwikbyte, the supplier of the Driver Stations, won’t honor the warranty if you break the seal. There are no user serviceable parts inside. The Ethernet chip requires specialized tools to solder.
FYI: We’re thinking about opening the FRC pits at Championship at 7:15 on Thursday morning to provide teams with some additional time to prepare for WPA encryption. We will have multiple WPA stations, but there are a still a lot of teams and a limited number of volunteers, so please encrypt your radio as soon as you can.
14 days until Championship,
I’ll see you there!
Week 5 has come and gone and thanks to the efforts of the volunteers at each of the 12 events this past weekend, we were able to run on or ahead of schedule. Even the Colorado Regional which was hit by a snowstorm and had to shut down on Thursday, got up and running Friday and finished on time Saturday night.
Here at FIRST we’re always striving for continuous improvement. Week one we learned of the static discharge situation at some of our venues. We tried a variety of solutions in real time that weekend, then spent the following week testing and improving our SD hypotheses and looking for ways to improve the field set up and scoring. Week two had fewer issues, we made some more adjustments and by week three things were running pretty smoothly. I want to thank those teams that keep up with this Blog and with the Team Updates who arrived at their Regional prepared with the equipment I asked you to bring and aware of FMS hook up sequence I described. You helped make a difference.
If you’re considering making internal modifications your driver station yourself (not officially sanctioned), you should know that Kwikbyte, the supplier of the Driver Stations, won’t honor the warranty if you break the seal. There are no user serviceable parts inside. The Ethernet chip requires specialized tools to solder.
FYI: We’re thinking about opening the FRC pits at Championship at 7:15 on Thursday morning to provide teams with some additional time to prepare for WPA encryption. We will have multiple WPA stations, but there are a still a lot of teams and a limited number of volunteers, so please encrypt your radio as soon as you can.
14 days until Championship,
I’ll see you there!
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