I’m enroute

Good Morning Teams,

I’m already on my way to the Las Vegas Regional.  If your team is competing this weekend, good luck.  If your team is planning to attend Championship, pay close attention to the emails you receive from FRCteams.  There are a few changes in the works, like now you can work on your robot between 6 & 9PM Wednesday night, April 14th.

Watch for my tweets this weekend.  I’m now on Twitter as FRCTeams.

14 days to Championship
See you then!

Get a head start at Championship

Good Afternoon Teams,

It’s going to happen.  I’ve found enough Inspectors and the set up crews promise they’ll have the stations ready.  If you’re coming to Championship, plan to have up to five of your team members (at least one must be an adult mentor) ready to un-crate your robot, charge your batteries, encrypt your radio and get your robot inspected all on Wednesday night.  You can even start to set up your pit if you have time.  Pits open at 6PM and close at 9PM. We’ve made this change this year to help teams be ready to go at 1PM on Thursday when competition rounds begin.

16 days to Championship
See you then!

Ready or not, week four has begun

Good Morning Teams,

We’ve tracked down some of the field delays to an issue with the interface between the new radios, the old radios and the field management system.  You can still use the WET610n radio, but if you are using it, please give the lead queuer a heads up when you’re in line to take the field.  The FTA will have a specific boot up sequence for your match.

There’s another Jaguar update available here.

Is this your last week?  When you complete the Fedex bill of lading to ship your robot back home, be sure to check the lift gate box under Assessorial charges if your school/workshop doesn’t have a loading dock.  If you forget to check this box, delivery of your robot will be delayed. If you do have a loading dock, don’t check the box.

To be proactive about potential delays at Championship, we’re currently looking at expanding activities during the Wednesday night load in for teams.  The times will remain the same (we’re constrained by pit area set up, robot crate delivery and GWC staff availability), but teams will now be encouraged to encrypt their radios that night.  We’re also looking into making inspection stations available during Wednesday night load in, but until I can confirm the inspection stations will be ready and enough inspectors will be available, I’m not promising that option yet.

Teams wishing to take their robot home directly from Championship should contact FRCteams@usfirst.org  to make arrangements.

You don’t have to pack away your robot after Championship.  Instead, consider holding your own Post Season Event.  Information on borrowing an official FRC field is available here  reservations are first come first served and fields are limited.

21 days to Championship
See you then!

While I’m waiting for my next flight

Good Afternoon Teams,

I’m already on my way to a Regional, but I want to let you know a few things.

If your team borrows a part from the Spare Parts table, please bring it back at the end of your event.  We have a limited supply and if teams at this week’s event don’t return parts, teams at next week’s event won’t have any spare parts to borrow.

Based on feedback from the week one and two events, I’ve arranged for power outlets to be available to teams waiting in the queue.  This is so teams can plug in their classmates if there’s a wait. It’s still a good idea to make sure your classmate is fully charged before you leave your pit.

The 65 pound rule applies to time between events.  You may not take 65 pounds off your robot home with you at night during an event.

If your team is going to Championship, double check the agenda here.  Qualification rounds start on Thursday.  Your robot must have passed inspection by then.  Plan ahead to make sure you have all the necessary team members on hand in time.

Do you use Jaguar in closed loop control mode?  Download the new Jaguar firmware release version 90 available here.  If you aren’t using the closed loop control, you don’t need this update.

28 days to Championship
See you then!

A few Dos and Don’ts

Good Afternoon Teams,

Week One is behind us and I have a few suggestions for teams based on the feedback I’ve gotten from FTAs, Regional Directors and key volunteers.

• Don’t forget to print out AND bring your team roster with you to your event.
• Do charge your Classmate early and often.
• Don’t forget to have your Bill of Materials complete and ready to hand over at the Inspection station.
• Do be gracious to the members of the public teams invited to your event as part of Dean’s homework.  They’ve come to see the event and would like to sit in the stands. Please don’t hoard seats and do make a point to be friendly to visitors.  If the public learns how much fun FRC events are, we’ll be able to find more sponsors and more mentors to benefit your teams.
• Don’t forget, wearing gloves when lifting a robot will reduce the likelihood of injury.
• Do give careful consideration to where you place your radio.  Make sure it is free and clear of other components that might cause radio interference (like motors, motor controllers and layers of metal) and be sure to attach it firmly so it isn’t dislodged during play.

Once again, no robot was left behind.  Every team that participated in a Week One Regional event got a chance to play.  My personal thanks to those of you who lent struggling teams a hand to help get them into the game.

In the spirit of Continuous Improvement, we have made some changes to team seeding points, and I quote from Team update #16:

"Now that the competition season has begun, and teams exposed to the 2010 ranking system, we would like to elaborate on the intent behind the system. Coopertition™ is a core tenet of FIRST, as evidenced by the patent FIRST received for it last year. Breakaway’s ranking system uses the combination of alliance scores and Coopertition Bonuses to rank teams based on their ROBOT performance during the Qualification Matches. The objective of the system is to reward high-scoring, close, competitive matches. Furthermore, we intended to make a disincentive for teams to win with a high margin.

Several members of the community have identified opportunities within the ranking system to achieve very high scores, but at the cost of the competitive nature of the event. In an effort to remedy the issue, we have amended the ranking system to add 5 seeding points for the winners’ score. The expectation is that winning will be a priority, but still values the high close-scoring, matches."

35 days to Championship
See you then!

As you make your final arrangements

Good Afternoon Teams,

The trucks are on the road.  Most Week One events are unloading and setting up the fields tonight.  Event Managers are checking their lists, volunteers are making final preparations and I’m getting on a plane tomorrow.  We’re just hours away from the first ever official Breakaway Competitions.  Are you excited?

I‘ve talked to FedEx about Robot Ship day. My thanks to teams that had their robot packaged and ready on time, to teams who had their paperwork complete and correct and in hand, and to teams that showed up at drop off sites with appropriately sized trucks.  FedEx donates this service every year and their staff are starting to recognize and remember FRC teams.  I appreciate each and every one of you who made a good impression on the FedEx staff by reading the game manual and complying with FedEx’s safety guidelines.  Thank you.

My thanks also to the Fed Ex staff many of whom I understand stayed late and went above and beyond their usual duties to ensure that teams weren’t inconvenienced by the unusual volume of business FRC creates once a year on Robot Ship day.  We couldn’t do it without you.

As you pack for your first event, please remember to bring the correct address for the next shipment of your robot.  Having this on hand will make shipping your robot out go smoothly.

The Peachtree Regional will be streamed live here http://www.ustream.tv/channel/frc-peachtree-regional/v3 If you know of any other FRC events that will be broadcast, please let FRCteams@usfirst.org know.  I want to get the word out to the public.

I want to send my best wishes to Team 2576 in Santiago, Chile http://www.corazondechileno.cl/
They are not far from the epicenter of the earthquake.  I’ve heard the team members are doing ok.  Some are still without electricity or water, but I’ve been told they’re still planning to compete in the Los Angeles Regional.

2 days to the Week One Events
See you then!