using your head

Good Morning Teams,

The Game Design Committee met this weekend and I want to compliment Dave Lavery who found a way to really use his head while testing game elements. It looks like we’ve agreed on the field design and goals of the game, now we’re working on making the rules as complex and complicated as we can. Just kidding, we’re really striving for clarity and brevity, but it’s a lot harder than it looks. We want a game where returning teams will face a challenge and rookie teams will be able to compete and that’s not an easy balance to create.

We’re listening carefully to team input gathered at the forums and through surveys. For those of you who asked, we are still evaluating the Michgan District events and are waiting for approval from the board before we consider plans for 2010 and beyond. We are also giving careful thought to ways to increase the number of plays for all teams in 2010.

Did you know FRC teams shipped a little over 1.5 million pounds of crates last year? Combine that with the 2.5 million travel miles I mentioned last week and you can see the challenge FRC faces every year to get robots to events. I’ll be visiting FedEx this week trying to find common ground between what FRC teams would like and what FedEx can realistically donate.

164 days until the 2010 Kickoff
See you there!

change is on its way

Good Afternoon Teams,

I see the pin question last week caught your attention. If we do go with a pin to replace the bronze participation medallions, we’re thinking about something similar to the enamel ones we gave as a thank you gift to Judges last year (see photo). As the price of everything goes up, saving money on something small like switching to pins frees up funds to cover other elements of the program where we can’t as readily control costs.

Behind the scenes, we’re updating the website, developing improvements to TIMS and VIMS and redesigning the local kickoff systems. Watch for all these changes coming in 2010. We’re also working out new standards for when teams split or combine that we’ll share with you soon. And we’ve taken a close look at where regional events are located in relationship to where teams are based. Did you know FRC teams traveled almost 2.5 million miles to and from FRC events in 2009?

The Game Design Committee will be back this weekend for another one of their diabolical planning sessions. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Oh, and the kit of part survey closes this Friday at midnight. Don’t be left out.

171 days until the 2010 Kickoff
See you there!

send me your input at FRCteams@usfirst.org

Good Morning Teams,

Have I mentioned we’re actively reviewing elements of the control system for 2010? By the time we’re done, the new system should offer more features and monitor more functions. I can’t tell you much more than that without giving too much away, but the GDC knows all about what the proposed changes to the control system can do and are exploring creative ways to make use of the improvements during game play.

At the same time, Kate, our kit of parts engineer, is compiling the kit of parts for 2010 (thank you to the organizations that have already offered discounts or even donated parts). Please don’t forget to complete Kate’s kit of parts survey. She wants your input. And if you know of anyone willing to donate 1875 of something you’d like to use on your robot, let Kate know at FRCteams@usfirst.org

How would you feel about pins? Are you for or against the suggestion FRC stop handing out bronze participation medallions and provide year specific, game themed participation pins instead? The goal is to reduce costs while improving FRC visibility, but I’d like your opinion before we make any changes. Let me know what you think at FRCteams@usfirst.org


178 days until the 2010 Kickoff
See you there!

We may need more fields

Good Morning Teams,

This week FRC will complete the prototype for a lower cost playing field. The goal was to create something that looks and performs as well as the fields we use at Championship and the engineering department has done a great job. We will continue to use our existing 15 fields, but now we can explore the possibility of expanding with this new design.

I mentioned last week that the Chairman’s Award info would be posted soon. It’s here.

And finally, congratulations to Dave Lavery’s team 116. Ten girls from Epsilon Delta participated in a White House Roundtable marking the 37th anniversary of Title IX. For more details look here.

184 days until the 2010 Kickoff
See you there!

What do Crackerjacks have to do with anything?

Good Morning Teams,

The Game Design Committee has come and gone and we’re a lot closer to having a game for 2010. We liked most of what the first floor engineering team prototyped for field elements (although there will be a number of changes) and we’ve started to focus on how to play the game. Let’s see. What can I tell you? Dean decided he likes mini Haagen-Dazs coffee ice cream cups. I learned Dave drinks diet Coke and you’d be surprised how much fun a bunch of engineers can have with a case of Crackerjacks. We’ve scheduled our next meeting already and in September we’ll introduce you to some of our newest members.

The Chairman’s Award criteria will be posted on our website as soon as the final details are decided. (I know it’s late, but I’d rather wait and post it when it’s complete.) If you’re itching to get started you should know that this year, submissions will have to include a video. Paul Lazarus of White Dwarf Productions has posted two very helpful videos here www.youtube.com/whitedwarfprods to get you going.

192 days until the 2010 Kickoff
See you there!