Good Afternoon Teams,
Yesterday, the contract with the venue for the San Diego Regional fell apart. Moments ago, FIRST signed a new contract. The good news is we will still have a Regional in San Diego. The bad news is the date for the San Diego Regional had to change from Week 2 to Week 1. The San Diego Regional is now scheduled for Friday-Saturday-Sunday March 2-4, 2012.
If your team is currently registered for the San Diego Regional and this change is a problem for your team, email FRCteams@usfirst.org and they will help you move into another Regional.
I’m sorry for the confusion and inconvenience. If FIRST could have avoided having to make this change at the last moment, I assure you, we would have.
72 days until Kickoff
See you then!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
1906 teams and counting
Good Afternoon Teams,
A number of questions have been posted to the blog where I shared the unexpected change to the Manchester Kickoff. I’m sorry to say I don’t have a lot of definitive answers for you yet, however I’m working with the other departments involved in the event to get details finalized. At this time we will have workshops in Manchester on Friday 9-1pm and the Founder’s reception will be hosted as usual. I still plan to share a full field with teams in attendance at the Manchester screening. Watch this blog for updates.
Second Event registration opens tomorrow. Are you ready? If you believe you will need a Bag & Tag exemption for your second, presumably further away, event, it is a good idea to submit it as soon as possible. Details here.
The following Beta Teams have started testing 4-slot cRIOs, the new Jaguar motor controllers and a new relay module. The module is being tested for future kits, the other items will be utilized in 2012.
234 Cyber Blue IN
294 Beach Cities Robotics CA
1511 Rolling Thunder NY
1519 Mechanical Mayhem NH
2809 Kbotics Canada
228 Gus Robotics CT
341 Miss Daisy PA
694 Stuypulse NY
3660 The Lightsabers OK
3780 Robot Unicorn Attack RI
624 CRyptonite TX
1208 The MeTool Brigade IL
1718 The Fighting Pi MI
1912 Team Combustion LA
2169 KING TeC MN
We have a new Supplier Toolkit website that you might want to visit. Not only is it interesting to learn more about the supplier process; now you have a resource to point potential suppliers to if you run across an organization that wants to become more involved.
We also have a quick supplier survey for teams (six questions). Please encourage all your team members to participate.
73 days until Kickoff
See you then!
A number of questions have been posted to the blog where I shared the unexpected change to the Manchester Kickoff. I’m sorry to say I don’t have a lot of definitive answers for you yet, however I’m working with the other departments involved in the event to get details finalized. At this time we will have workshops in Manchester on Friday 9-1pm and the Founder’s reception will be hosted as usual. I still plan to share a full field with teams in attendance at the Manchester screening. Watch this blog for updates.
Second Event registration opens tomorrow. Are you ready? If you believe you will need a Bag & Tag exemption for your second, presumably further away, event, it is a good idea to submit it as soon as possible. Details here.
The following Beta Teams have started testing 4-slot cRIOs, the new Jaguar motor controllers and a new relay module. The module is being tested for future kits, the other items will be utilized in 2012.
234 Cyber Blue IN
294 Beach Cities Robotics CA
1511 Rolling Thunder NY
1519 Mechanical Mayhem NH
2809 Kbotics Canada
228 Gus Robotics CT
341 Miss Daisy PA
694 Stuypulse NY
3660 The Lightsabers OK
3780 Robot Unicorn Attack RI
624 CRyptonite TX
1208 The MeTool Brigade IL
1718 The Fighting Pi MI
1912 Team Combustion LA
2169 KING TeC MN
We have a new Supplier Toolkit website that you might want to visit. Not only is it interesting to learn more about the supplier process; now you have a resource to point potential suppliers to if you run across an organization that wants to become more involved.
We also have a quick supplier survey for teams (six questions). Please encourage all your team members to participate.
73 days until Kickoff
See you then!
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Kickoff Update
Good Morning Teams,
In a meeting late last night, a decision was made to convert the live Manchester Kickoff Broadcast to an all pre-filmed event. Teams are still invited to travel to Manchester where the 2012 game unveiling will be screened at the same time it is broadcast to the local kickoffs. I don’t have final details yet, but I will keep you informed as they develop.
74 days until Kickoff
See you then!
In a meeting late last night, a decision was made to convert the live Manchester Kickoff Broadcast to an all pre-filmed event. Teams are still invited to travel to Manchester where the 2012 game unveiling will be screened at the same time it is broadcast to the local kickoffs. I don’t have final details yet, but I will keep you informed as they develop.
74 days until Kickoff
See you then!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
1782 registered teams and counting
Good Morning Teams,
STIMS is open. Please help us save trees and transportation costs by completing your Consent and Release form online. Paper copies are collected at events then delivered to Manchester where we review then store them.
VIMS is open. Please note that volunteers who are U.S. residents will not be required to provide references this season. More details are available here.
Last week I mentioned I was scheduled to accept an award on behalf of FIRST. The Mass Technology Leadership Council presented FIRST with the Workforce Development Leader of the Year award for the key role we play in inspiring tomorrow’s leaders. It was a pleasure to speak at the event in Boston and an honor to represent all the FIRST coaches and mentors who encourage students to reach new levels of success. My thanks to all of you for the difference you make in the lives of your team members.
Tuesday night I spoke at Emtech MIT on The Next Generation of Innovators on Dean’s behalf. Team 549 Devil Dawgs brought their robot and Team 1973 Brighton Burning Tigers were in attendance. My thanks to both teams who answered participant questions, handed out FIRST flyers and stayed to participate in a reception as FRC representatives.
I need your stories. Some writers met with Dean and Jon recently to discuss a book they have in progress. The conversation worked its way around to the benefits of failure; how failing can be a positive step on the way to success. So that’s what I’d like to hear from you. How has your team failed and walked away a winner? Let me know at FRCTeams@usfirst.org Understand, I’ll be sharing your stories with the writers so please describe your experience in a way non FIRSTers would understand and include contact information in case they have further questions. Thank you for your help.
Did your team sell light bulbs last year? Since January, FIRST teams sold almost 50,000 bulbs and raised over $650,000. It’s not too late to benefit. Starting November 1st you can order the next generation of higher wattage, dimmable, omni-directional energy saving bulbs. Check our website for details.
Is your team considering purchasing the new 4 slot cRIO FRCII? (Rookies will be getting a new 4-slot in their 2012 Kit of Parts. Veteran teams will be asked to re-use their original cRIO.) If yes, I want to remind you NI will give registered FRC teams one Discount Credit each calendar year. The FRC discount may be used to purchase one (1) new cRIO FRCII kit (with modules), or one (1) new cRIO FRCII chassis (no modules), or one (1) kit and one(1) chassis, or two (2) kits or two(2) chasses as long as the items are purchased in a single order. I’m sorry, the window to order additional original cRIOs has closed.
The Senior Mentors are offering conference training calls about applying for the Chairman’s Award on 10/25 and about the latest Scholarship information 10/27. Call 1-866-951-1151 and use #9533018 to participate.
Late breaking news: The names of the FIRST in Michigan and Mid-Atlantic Robotics events have changed. Rather than calling them qualifying events, the events where team qualify to attend their state/region championship will now be __name of the Venue___ FIRST Robotics District Competition (for instance Kettering University FIRST Robotics District Competition and Hatboro-Horsham FIRST Robotics District Competition). The name of the event teams are qualifying for will now be Mid-Atlantic Robotics FRC Region Championship and Michigan FRC State Championship.
If you need something to do while your team is waiting for Kickoff:
Your school could win part of $1,000,000 in technology if you enter Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow: Sharing the wonder of STEM competition. Application due Oct 31st.
Engineering Education Service Center is hosting their seventh annual poster contest and offering cash prizes. Deadline to enter Nov 4th.
The Spirit of Innovation Challenge is looking for High School students to use STEM skills to develop the products of tomorrow. Deadline Nov 11th.
The RealWorld-InWorld NASA Engineering Design Challenge is underway. Deadline Jan 27th.
Submit your most creative, useful and innovative design in the Extreme Redesign 3D printing challenge for a t-shirt and a chance at a scholarship. Deadline Feb 2nd
Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge applications will be a accepted through Mar 15th
79 days until Kickoff
See you then!
STIMS is open. Please help us save trees and transportation costs by completing your Consent and Release form online. Paper copies are collected at events then delivered to Manchester where we review then store them.
VIMS is open. Please note that volunteers who are U.S. residents will not be required to provide references this season. More details are available here.
Last week I mentioned I was scheduled to accept an award on behalf of FIRST. The Mass Technology Leadership Council presented FIRST with the Workforce Development Leader of the Year award for the key role we play in inspiring tomorrow’s leaders. It was a pleasure to speak at the event in Boston and an honor to represent all the FIRST coaches and mentors who encourage students to reach new levels of success. My thanks to all of you for the difference you make in the lives of your team members.
Tuesday night I spoke at Emtech MIT on The Next Generation of Innovators on Dean’s behalf. Team 549 Devil Dawgs brought their robot and Team 1973 Brighton Burning Tigers were in attendance. My thanks to both teams who answered participant questions, handed out FIRST flyers and stayed to participate in a reception as FRC representatives.
I need your stories. Some writers met with Dean and Jon recently to discuss a book they have in progress. The conversation worked its way around to the benefits of failure; how failing can be a positive step on the way to success. So that’s what I’d like to hear from you. How has your team failed and walked away a winner? Let me know at FRCTeams@usfirst.org Understand, I’ll be sharing your stories with the writers so please describe your experience in a way non FIRSTers would understand and include contact information in case they have further questions. Thank you for your help.
Did your team sell light bulbs last year? Since January, FIRST teams sold almost 50,000 bulbs and raised over $650,000. It’s not too late to benefit. Starting November 1st you can order the next generation of higher wattage, dimmable, omni-directional energy saving bulbs. Check our website for details.
Is your team considering purchasing the new 4 slot cRIO FRCII? (Rookies will be getting a new 4-slot in their 2012 Kit of Parts. Veteran teams will be asked to re-use their original cRIO.) If yes, I want to remind you NI will give registered FRC teams one Discount Credit each calendar year. The FRC discount may be used to purchase one (1) new cRIO FRCII kit (with modules), or one (1) new cRIO FRCII chassis (no modules), or one (1) kit and one(1) chassis, or two (2) kits or two(2) chasses as long as the items are purchased in a single order. I’m sorry, the window to order additional original cRIOs has closed.
The Senior Mentors are offering conference training calls about applying for the Chairman’s Award on 10/25 and about the latest Scholarship information 10/27. Call 1-866-951-1151 and use #9533018 to participate.
Late breaking news: The names of the FIRST in Michigan and Mid-Atlantic Robotics events have changed. Rather than calling them qualifying events, the events where team qualify to attend their state/region championship will now be __name of the Venue___ FIRST Robotics District Competition (for instance Kettering University FIRST Robotics District Competition and Hatboro-Horsham FIRST Robotics District Competition). The name of the event teams are qualifying for will now be Mid-Atlantic Robotics FRC Region Championship and Michigan FRC State Championship.
If you need something to do while your team is waiting for Kickoff:
Your school could win part of $1,000,000 in technology if you enter Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow: Sharing the wonder of STEM competition. Application due Oct 31st.
Engineering Education Service Center is hosting their seventh annual poster contest and offering cash prizes. Deadline to enter Nov 4th.
The Spirit of Innovation Challenge is looking for High School students to use STEM skills to develop the products of tomorrow. Deadline Nov 11th.
The RealWorld-InWorld NASA Engineering Design Challenge is underway. Deadline Jan 27th.
Submit your most creative, useful and innovative design in the Extreme Redesign 3D printing challenge for a t-shirt and a chance at a scholarship. Deadline Feb 2nd
Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge applications will be a accepted through Mar 15th
79 days until Kickoff
See you then!
Friday, October 14, 2011
More from my inbox
Good Morning Teams,
As of this morning we have 1579 FRC teams registered for FRC competition events and 793 teams registered to attend a local kickoff.
If you haven’t chosen a local kickoff, what are you waiting for? Participating in a local kickoff gives your team an opportunity to connect with other teams in your area and saves your team the cost of shipping the KOP directly to your worksite. Your Team Main or Alternate Contact must register in TIMS if you want to attend a local kickoff.
If you haven’t signed up for your first event yet, you should do so soon. Registration for second events opens to all teams (including MAR & FiM) on Oct 27th. Have you made plans for a second play?
How will you transport your robot? We’ve received requests for Bag & Tag Exemptions from teams who face significant hardships in transporting their robot to the closest FRC competition. As your team chooses your second event which will, in all likelihood, be even further from home, remember, teams may request a bag & tag exemption. Be sure to read the Bag & Tag FAQ as you plan for the 2012 season.
If you have your sights set on the FIRST Championship in St. Louis April 26-28, be prepared, CMP will NOT be Bag & Tag. You need a shipping crate to get your robot to CMP.
Did you watch Dean’s video about the Kinect? He included a shout out to NI for the new 4-slot cRIO FRCII that I would like to clarify. Rookie teams will receive the 4-slot cRIO in the 2012 Kit of Parts. Veteran teams may either use their existing 8-slot cRIO or purchase a new 4-slot cRIO as described in my Aug 23rd blog
The following Beta Test Teams have received the new Kinect to beta test over the next few months. You can follow their progress (and ask them questions) on the FRC 2012 Beta Test section of the FIRST forums. Additional teams will be chosen from the Beta pool to test additional new hardware in the very near future.
Java
Team 341 Miss Daisy Philadelphia, PA
Team 694 Stuypulse Forest Hills, NY
Team 2477 Rascal Robotics Ewa Beach, HI
Team 2967 Iron Devils Columbus, GA
LabVIEW
Team 33 Killer Bees Bloomfield Hills, MI
Team 1764 Liberty Robotics Liberty, MO
Team 1912 Team Combustion Slidell, LA
Team 2169 KING TeC Prior Lake, MN
C/C++
Team 166 Chop Shop Merrimack, NH
Team 294 Beach Cities Robotics Redondo Beach, CA
Team 2809 Kbotics Kingston, Ontario
Team 2903 NeoBots Arlington, WA
On October 29th, the teams attending River Rage Fifteen at Memorial High School in Manchester will help us out as we test the Kinect, the newest control system and possibly some radio prototypes for 2013 under competition conditions.
If you intend to join us in Manchester on Jan 7th for the Live Broadcast and need a hotel room, you should keep an eye on the political news. With Nevada and Iowa’s recent announcements of their intention to reschedule their caucuses, New Hampshire expects to reschedule its first in the nation primary. The primary date hasn’t been set yet, however hotels in the area have responded to the uncertainty by blacking out blocks of rooms for the weekends before the most likely dates. Unfortunately, this currently includes the weekend of the FRC kickoff which makes it very difficult to find a hotel room in Manchester for kickoff at the moment. When the primary date is announced, hotels will make the rooms available, if the primary and kickoff overlap, you’re going to have to book your room right away.
GDC will be in town this Saturday. I’ll let you know how that goes.
85 days until Kickoff
See you then!
As of this morning we have 1579 FRC teams registered for FRC competition events and 793 teams registered to attend a local kickoff.
If you haven’t chosen a local kickoff, what are you waiting for? Participating in a local kickoff gives your team an opportunity to connect with other teams in your area and saves your team the cost of shipping the KOP directly to your worksite. Your Team Main or Alternate Contact must register in TIMS if you want to attend a local kickoff.
If you haven’t signed up for your first event yet, you should do so soon. Registration for second events opens to all teams (including MAR & FiM) on Oct 27th. Have you made plans for a second play?
How will you transport your robot? We’ve received requests for Bag & Tag Exemptions from teams who face significant hardships in transporting their robot to the closest FRC competition. As your team chooses your second event which will, in all likelihood, be even further from home, remember, teams may request a bag & tag exemption. Be sure to read the Bag & Tag FAQ as you plan for the 2012 season.
If you have your sights set on the FIRST Championship in St. Louis April 26-28, be prepared, CMP will NOT be Bag & Tag. You need a shipping crate to get your robot to CMP.
Did you watch Dean’s video about the Kinect? He included a shout out to NI for the new 4-slot cRIO FRCII that I would like to clarify. Rookie teams will receive the 4-slot cRIO in the 2012 Kit of Parts. Veteran teams may either use their existing 8-slot cRIO or purchase a new 4-slot cRIO as described in my Aug 23rd blog
The following Beta Test Teams have received the new Kinect to beta test over the next few months. You can follow their progress (and ask them questions) on the FRC 2012 Beta Test section of the FIRST forums. Additional teams will be chosen from the Beta pool to test additional new hardware in the very near future.
Java
Team 341 Miss Daisy Philadelphia, PA
Team 694 Stuypulse Forest Hills, NY
Team 2477 Rascal Robotics Ewa Beach, HI
Team 2967 Iron Devils Columbus, GA
LabVIEW
Team 33 Killer Bees Bloomfield Hills, MI
Team 1764 Liberty Robotics Liberty, MO
Team 1912 Team Combustion Slidell, LA
Team 2169 KING TeC Prior Lake, MN
C/C++
Team 166 Chop Shop Merrimack, NH
Team 294 Beach Cities Robotics Redondo Beach, CA
Team 2809 Kbotics Kingston, Ontario
Team 2903 NeoBots Arlington, WA
On October 29th, the teams attending River Rage Fifteen at Memorial High School in Manchester will help us out as we test the Kinect, the newest control system and possibly some radio prototypes for 2013 under competition conditions.
If you intend to join us in Manchester on Jan 7th for the Live Broadcast and need a hotel room, you should keep an eye on the political news. With Nevada and Iowa’s recent announcements of their intention to reschedule their caucuses, New Hampshire expects to reschedule its first in the nation primary. The primary date hasn’t been set yet, however hotels in the area have responded to the uncertainty by blacking out blocks of rooms for the weekends before the most likely dates. Unfortunately, this currently includes the weekend of the FRC kickoff which makes it very difficult to find a hotel room in Manchester for kickoff at the moment. When the primary date is announced, hotels will make the rooms available, if the primary and kickoff overlap, you’re going to have to book your room right away.
GDC will be in town this Saturday. I’ll let you know how that goes.
85 days until Kickoff
See you then!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
FIRST Choice, Second Year!
Good Afternoon Teams,
Based on team feedback on the 2011 Kit of Parts Survey, I think you’ll be happy to hear that FRC will be working with AndyMark to offer FIRST Choice again in 2012. Like last year, veteran teams will receive a standard KOP and rookie teams will receive a standard KOP plus the “Rookie” kit. (Watch for details regarding KOP size and weight as we get closer to Kickoff). Then, in addition to the physical KOP distributed at Kickoff, all 2012 registered teams will be invited to select items through FIRST Choice.
FIRST Choice is an online extension of the traditional KOP that allows teams to pick and choose a select number of items to add to the 2012 KOP. The items are free, but teams incur the cost of shipping. There won’t be enough pieces for everyone to have one of everything. Instead, items will be issued to teams on a first come-first served basis.
Although FIRST Choice is an FRC initiative, the actual site will be an extension of the AndyMark, Inc. website. Teams will log into the FIRST Choice website using individual secure usernames and passwords (provided to the teams when we get closer to Kickoff) to see the choices, select the items they wish to receive, and pick a shipping option. Teams may add other AndyMark, Inc. products that they purchase to the FIRST Choice shipment.
Mark these dates on your calendar:
12.12.11: FIRST Choice site opens for viewing only.
01.09.12: FIRST Choice site opens for orders.
04.30.12: FIRST Choice site closes.
I’ll be looking for your feedback on FIRST Choice in the 2012 Kit of Parts Survey (available after FIRST Championship in April.) Thank you for your patience and participation as we explore the potential of this distribution model.
88 days until Kickoff
See you then!
Based on team feedback on the 2011 Kit of Parts Survey, I think you’ll be happy to hear that FRC will be working with AndyMark to offer FIRST Choice again in 2012. Like last year, veteran teams will receive a standard KOP and rookie teams will receive a standard KOP plus the “Rookie” kit. (Watch for details regarding KOP size and weight as we get closer to Kickoff). Then, in addition to the physical KOP distributed at Kickoff, all 2012 registered teams will be invited to select items through FIRST Choice.
FIRST Choice is an online extension of the traditional KOP that allows teams to pick and choose a select number of items to add to the 2012 KOP. The items are free, but teams incur the cost of shipping. There won’t be enough pieces for everyone to have one of everything. Instead, items will be issued to teams on a first come-first served basis.
Although FIRST Choice is an FRC initiative, the actual site will be an extension of the AndyMark, Inc. website. Teams will log into the FIRST Choice website using individual secure usernames and passwords (provided to the teams when we get closer to Kickoff) to see the choices, select the items they wish to receive, and pick a shipping option. Teams may add other AndyMark, Inc. products that they purchase to the FIRST Choice shipment.
Mark these dates on your calendar:
12.12.11: FIRST Choice site opens for viewing only.
01.09.12: FIRST Choice site opens for orders.
04.30.12: FIRST Choice site closes.
I’ll be looking for your feedback on FIRST Choice in the 2012 Kit of Parts Survey (available after FIRST Championship in April.) Thank you for your patience and participation as we explore the potential of this distribution model.
88 days until Kickoff
See you then!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Something to end your week
Good Evening Teams,
I hope you enjoy this peak behind the curtain.
93 days until Kickoff
See you then!
I hope you enjoy this peak behind the curtain.
93 days until Kickoff
See you then!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Cleaning out my in box
Good Afternoon Teams,
As of this morning 1428 teams are registered for the 2012 FRC Game
(name TBD). I know the usfirst.org
website shows a smaller number on the “What events and teams are in my area?”
page. That’s because the webpage doesn’t
include wait listed teams in the count.
Teams will be moved off waitlists wherever possible before second event
registration opens on October 27th.
Thursday I will be picking up a Workforce Development Award on
behalf of FIRST. That’s all I know about
that.
Team registration for local kickoffs starts this Friday. If you don’t pick up your kit at a local
kickoff site, you will need to pay to have it shipped to your team
location. Do you know where your team will be going? Register early, slots fill up quickly.
The GDC onsite meeting has been rescheduled to the Oct 15th
weekend.
Two WPI students are focusing their Interdisciplinary Qualifying Project
on FRC rookie teams. The results from
their project will be used to support a future NSF grant request. You can help them by filling out this surveyby October 11th.
Dean had the opportunity to speak at the 2011 TopCoder Open and
always looking for ways to promote and support FIRST, he accepted their offer
to dedicate one of their competitions to a FIRST related issue. FRC currently uses a very effective algorithm
written and generously donated by Idle Loop to generate match schedules at FRC
competitions. However, some teams still
complain to event officials if they believe they or any other team have been
assigned to the same color alliance, the same player station, the same alliance
partner, or to too many rookie teams, or against too many experienced teams,
too many times. TopCoder offered a
unique opportunity to explore the inclusion of variables not currently
accounted for in the match generation algorithm. FRC requested the design include the ability
to turn on and off various attributes and the ability to change the weights
assigned to attributes when creating optimized schedules. FRC staff will review the winning algorithm, (and
like last time, we will turn the
algorithms over to teams for input if we decide we like it enough to seriously
consider adopting it), but we are not under any obligation to utilize the
winning design. My thanks to team 1251TechTigers
who set up a booth at the event and answered questions from participants and
attendees curious about FRC.
Does your school get Scholastic Magazine? The September 28th issue of Scholastic MATH featured FRC in a section called Robots Rule!
Kevin Trimble, former student member of team 1304 N. O. Botics
(2007-2009 seasons) was seriously injured while serving in Afghanistan last
month. Please join me in sending letters
of encouragement to him c/o 6965 Mayo Blvd. New Orleans, LA 70126.
The AbilityOne Network Design Challenge encouraging high school
students to develop assistive technologies for people with disabilities is
underway. Deadline Dec 14, 2011. Details here.
Time Warner is hosting a Super Connector Search looking for
cable customers who have connected a young person to the wonders of science,
technology, engineering and math. The
winner will receive up to $25,000 in grants to the STEM organization of their
choice Deadline depends on your
location. Details here.
As a reward for reading all the way to the end, I have one email I
can’t share, but I can hint about: Watch
this blog for an announcement from Dean very very soon.
95 days until Kickoff
See you then!
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