Bill's Blog

Is it week three already?

2012-01-25T13:44:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

We are rapidly approaching the halfway point of build season. I hope all is going well for your team. Keep checking those Team Updates: http://frc-manual.usfirst.org/TeamUpdates/0 and don't forget to build in safety both for the team members who work on the robot and for anyone who will be lifting/transporting the robot. We provided 2 pairs of gloves in the Kit of Parts. Remember to wear gloves when lifting the robot in and out of your practice area to prevent cuts and be sure to use good lifting practices.

2nd Regional Event and FIRST Championship Registration payments are due this Friday, January 27th.

We have been working diligently and the "Save as PDF" function has been fixed on the Competition Manual page: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/competition-manual-and-related-documents

We have added the ability to download all of the TeamUpdates to the Game and Administrative Manual as a PDF. We are working on theability to download individual Team Updates and will let you know when we’veadded that functionality.

Do you have an innovation inspired by your FRC season experience you think is worthy of recognition? Apply for the FIRST Future Innovator Award, presented by the Abbott Fund! We begin accepting applications this Friday, January 27th. Submissions must be received by Noon EST, March 16th to be considered. This award will be presented at the FIRST Championship in St. Louis. Check here for more information: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/future-innovator-award

Microsoft is very excited about supporting the FRC teams by providing direct technical support and assistance. If you have a Microsoft store nearby, call and ask for the Community Development Specialist. If you have questions specific to the Kinect, contact skills@microsoft.com

If you're traveling a long distance to your FRC events this year you're going to want to check out these discounts on flights and car rentals: http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/travel-discounts

28 days until Stop Build Day

See you soon!

A Few Questions Answered

2012-01-18T11:36:00.001-05:00

Good Morning Teams,

Do you have technical game questions? The FRC Q&A is open. See what other teams have asked the GDC and leave a question of your own.

Don’t know your password for FIRST Choice or the FRC Q&A? Your team’s log in and password for both systems are available in TIMS on the team summary page on the right hand side.

Don’t know what to worry about next? The FRC season deadlines are all available on the Season Calendar.

Are you having trouble saving the FRC Manual to PDF? You’re not alone. We know there’s a problem. The developers are working on it now. Please stand by.

Are you traveling to a Regional Event and don’t know what to do with your robot the night before the big day? This year, most US and Canada Regional Events will allow teams to drop off their robot and equipment between 6 & 8PM the evening before practice day (Wednesday night in most cases- Thursday if your event starts on Friday. Check the event agenda when it is published for more details.) Teams may ONLY drop off their robot and equipment, no unbagging, no plugging in batteries, no work of any kind. Teams are, however, encouraged to leave their Robot Lock Up forms in plain view so that robot inspectors can get a jump start on approving forms for the morning.

Do you need help with your Robot? Do you have expertise you’d like to share with a team? Visit the FIRST Virtual Technical Advisor System to form relationships with teams, mentors and technical experts who are available either through email, phone or instant message.

Are you hosting a week zero event? Here at HQ we’re planning to be involved with two events on Saturday, February 18th so we can get feedback on how the game plays and how the field performs. If your team is hosting a week zero event, please let me know by sending an email to FRCTeams@usfirst.org.

Are you following the Team Updates on your smart phone? Down load the FRC Manual app today. The iOS App to follow the Q&A is now available in the App Store. Search for FRC Q&A by Quextit Media Corp. Android users, we haven’t forgotten you, the app is in development and we’ll let you know when it is ready.

35 days until Stop Build Day
See you soon

If - Then

2012-01-11T14:29:00.006-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

Are you a little busy? A lot busy? I want to remind you of a few things, then I’ll let you get back to what you were doing.

If you haven’t noticed yet, one of the three driver stations on each alliance will be just 44” wide this year (narrower than last year). Be sure to design your driver station to fit this new dimension.

If you haven’t seen them yet, Field Walk Through Videos are posted on the FRCTeamsGlobal YouTube page. Here at HQ we think of them as the Matt & Derek show and wonder who would win the best supporting actor category.

If you haven’t used it yet, a group of four FRC alumni from Diamond Bullet Studios developed a simulation of the 2012 FRC game that was used by the Game Design committee during game development. Go here to register and download the game.

If you didn’t make it to Manchester for kickoff, the workshops are now available online.

If you haven’t heard, the FRC manual is copyright. © FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC®) 2012.

If you can’t get the FRC Manual updates on your iphone, reload the app.

If you aren’t sure what the FRC sticker in the Kit of Parts was for, use it to help fulfill Dean’s Homework. Take pride in FIRST and place the FRC sticker somewhere prominent on your finished robot so it will show up in photos. Let everyone know your robot is a FIRST robot.

If you’re wondering how to get your robot to your first event. The February 9th Senior Mentor call will be all about Robot Transportation. Join us at 7PM ET Call Toll-free: 1-866-951-1151 And use Conference Room: 9533018

If you’ve forgotten, be sure to check the team updates every Tuesday and Friday. Update #1 is already posted.

If you still have questions, Q&A opened today at noon. There will be a “How To” there for the new system and a link to the system itself. The login information for your team's account is in TIMS.

42 days until Stop Build Day
See you soon

Flash update IV

2012-01-06T10:43:00.002-05:00

Good Morning Teams,

If you can’t make it to your local kickoff tomorrow.

http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/robotics/

24 hours until Kickoff

See you then!

Flash update III

2012-01-04T14:47:00.002-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

All the Kit of Parts shipments to Kickoffs have left the warehouse and are on their way. Some are already waiting for your local Kickoff to start. Shipments to My Site teams start tomorrow. (Don’t expect yours until the week after Kickoff. We’re shipping to international sites first.)

During the broadcast follow #FRCKO. You never know what you might learn

3 days until Kickoff
See you then!

Flash Update II

2012-01-04T10:33:00.003-05:00

Good Morning Teams,

The new FRC Android and iOS apps are now available on line. Don’t know why that’s exciting? Read my November 28 blog. If you have an Iphone, search for “FRC Manual” in the App Store. If you have an Android, you can use this link right now. The App is expected to be available in the Android Market soon.

The Apps currently show the 2011 game information and will automatically update after Kickoff with the new Game Manual. Our thanks to Enable Training & Consulting and Appdelegates for their work on these Apps.

The encrypted Kit of Parts Checklist has been added to the Competition Manual page on our website.

3 days until Kickoff
See you then!

Flash update

2012-01-03T17:39:00.001-05:00

Good Evening Teams,

The Decryption Test page is ready. http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/2012DecryptionTest
The encrypted game manual is now available to down load. http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/competition-manual-and-related-documents?id=452

4 days until Kickoff
See you then!

Kickoff is coming your way

2011-12-21T12:17:00.001-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

The first shipment of kits of parts headed to the most distant local kickoffs will leave our warehouse today. The challenge is getting palette loads of equipment to all of the local kickoff locations in time while accounting for weather delays and accommodating holidays and business closings. If all goes well, these kits will spend six business days in transit. If things don’t go well, these kits will have a small cushion of time to make up for snow in the Rockies or other shipping delays. More kits of parts shipments will go out tomorrow, then Friday, then Tuesday and so on until all 74 local kickoff sites have kits ready and waiting on the morning of Jan 7th.

Plan ahead. Veteran kits will be about 100lbs. Rookie kits will weigh approx. 147lbs. Also, remember that only an adult team mentor may sign for the kit of parts. Your team will be asked to sign in at the kickoff when you arrive, you will be handed your team’s kit of parts receipt and someone trustworthy needs to hold onto it all the way through the broadcast. The broadcast, by the way, is scheduled to begin at 10:30AM ET. During kit distribution you will be asked to open a sealed tote and confirm that you have received your Kinect.

What to bring:

Print out a copy of your team roster from TIMS EVEN IF no one from your team has completed the online Consent and Release form.
Bring signed paper Consent and Release forms for everyone in attendance who hasn’t signed the online Consent and Release form. The Student electronic student consent and release form may be found in STIMS. The Adult Consent and release form may be found in TIMS. The paper copies may be found on the usfirst.org website.
Only bring the total number of people you said you were going to bring. (Parents count as people too.) Most local kickoffs have space issues. Can’t remember how many people you said would come from your team? Your main and alternate contact can log into TIMS and check the kit and kickoff section of the team summary page. Want to bring more people? Be sure to check with your local kickoff coordinator. You can find contact information by clicking on your kickoff name on the local kickoff page of our website.
If you know you have a long walk from the kickoff to your car you may want to bring a hand truck (see kit of part weights above)
Make sure your vehicle has enough room to transport the kit home. The Kit WILL FILL most car trunks (start empty) and be too big for some smaller models.

Want to know what’s in a rookie kit vs. a veteran kit? The list is now available online

Had a change of plans and can’t make it to your local kickoff? There’s still time to ask another team to pick up your kit of parts. Talk to the team, complete the surrogate kit pick up form and get it to FIRST as soon as you can. Directions are at the bottom of the page here

Can’t make it to a local kickoff at all? Last year, NASA broadcast the kickoff over their TV channels.

17 days until Kickoff
See you then!

Some odds and ends

2011-12-15T10:18:00.000-05:00

Good Morning Teams,

Have you ever volunteered at a FRC event? Do you want to volunteer again? While teams are preparing for Kickoff, Volunteer Coordinators are hard at work planning the 2012 FRC Events. If you want to be one of the amazing, much appreciated, invaluable volunteers at any of our upcoming competitions, go to www.usfirst.org/vims and register. Pick the events you want to support, indicate your preferences for the kind of help you can provide, and the Volunteer Coordinator will be in touch. It’s the hardest fun you can have.

Are you coming to the Manchester kickoff workshops? Don’t forget to check the 2012 Workshop page. The abstract and presentation information has been updated and the schedule has changed slightly. If you can’t make it to Manchester, keep checking the website. We hope to have links to the workshop recordings live during the Kickoff weekend.

Did you miss the most recent TIMS deadline? Maybe this will help. The deadline to get your team information into TIMS so that we can include it in the Program Books handed out at FRC events has been pushed back to December 19th.

Jon Dudas has written another guest blog post well worth checking out. This one is on the Afterschool Blog.

And this just makes me smile.

24 days until Kickoff
See you then!

Go take a look

2011-12-13T10:13:00.006-05:00

Good Morning Teams,

FIRST Choice is open for viewing. Never heard of FIRST Choice? Visit my Oct 11th blog.

Not every item is visible right now. Some will be added as we finalize details with suppliers, and others will be added after Kickoff (we don’t want give away too much information regarding the game or the rules). However, now is an excellent time to familiarize yourself with the site before the season starts in earnest.

Watch the kickoff broadcast closely for more details about FIRST Choice and if you have questions, please don't hesitate to post on the FIRST Choice forum.

25 days until Kickoff
See you then!

That’s a wrap

2011-12-07T14:46:00.001-05:00

Good Morning Teams,

A number of important Email Blasts have been sent to team main and alternate contacts in the past week. Dean sent a message about the second generation e-watt saver bulbs, and PTC gave teams access to the software they have donated for the 2012 season. If you haven’t seen these emails, remember you can find all Email Blasts, Rookie Alerts and Blog posts on the FRC Team Email Blast Archive page of our website.

Also new on the website, the Regional Event detail pages (click on the event name to open the detail page) now include hotel information.

And in case you missed it, Jon Dudas, the President of FIRST was featured as a guest blogger on the innovate-educate blog.

FRC staff (and a few key volunteers) spent this past weekend at Dean’s house filming segments of the Kickoff for the January 7th broadcast. Dean was very gracious and moved his helicopter so we could fit a full competition field in his hanger. (Some people have garages, some people have hangers.)

Set up started on Friday (it takes a lot to construct a full field) and filming took up most of Saturday and a little time on Sunday. We filmed a segment on the Kit of Parts featuring Kate and Collin, several members of the GDC recorded segments about the game on the field and I delivered my remarks in Dean’s front lobby standing in front of his two story steam engine. A few people will be filmed off site, and Dean has yet to add his remarks, but we have a great deal of the tape we need for the Kickoff broadcast in the can. The production company will work their magic over the next few weeks and we’ll have a Kickoff broadcast ready to go on the 7th no matter what the weather throws at us in January.

31 days until Kickoff
See you then!

FRC Game Hint #1

2011-12-02T09:32:00.001-05:00

Good Morning Teams,

Rockwell Automation has again agreed to generously donate components we need for the 2012 FRC season. Check it out. You may find it very interesting.

36 days until Kickoff
See you then!

Not the game hint

2011-12-01T16:07:00.001-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

On Monday I announced the new Manual format and am delighted by the number of people who have gone to check it out. For those of you who asked, yes, a pdf of the manual will be available in an encrypted version before Kickoff so teams may download it in advance and avoid the kickoff rush. For all your other comments and concerns, please visit the Online Manual section of the Beta Test Forums because the staff involved in this project are monitoring those pages and are answering questions there.

As your team plans for build season, (and if you haven’t started to plan for build season, now would be a very good time to do so) make sure you build in a cushion for unexpected delays and setbacks. FRC is not planning to grant extensions to the build season for weather delays. FRC is a microcosm of the real engineering experience. Just like in the business world, your local climate is one of the many elements you must factor into the equation as you set your schedule. Plan now, how will your team handle bad weather, unexpected power outages, cold and flu season, delayed shipments and anything else that might crop up during build season? Businesses have to adjust to unexpected setbacks in order to meet their deadlines. How are you going to respond?”

As your team plans for competition season, you may want to visit the Steele Meetings/FIRST website before you make any hotel arrangements. http://www.steelehousing.com The program offers best in class pricing and value added amenities. Plus, your participation in this hotel program will help support the local FRC regional events.

Tell everyone you know, FTC is looking for a full time engineer.

37 days until Kickoff
See you then!

The Manual may look a little different

2011-11-28T14:56:00.001-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

FRC is excited to partner with Enable Training and Consulting (a Silver Supplier for 2011 and donor of this effort) to present the 2012 manual documentation in a format that we believe is easier for teams to navigate and use. It is a primarily web-based system that allows teams to easily find a specific section or rule. It’s easier to search and jump between sections, and, best of all, it keeps teams from having to download an entire PDF just to read one rule or section.

You can access the new manual format here. You may also still download a PDF or print the Manual so that you don’t have to be connected to the internet to view it.

As with many new components to FRC, we want your feedback. As you test the Online 2012 Administrative Manual and the 2011 Game Manual that we converted to the new format, please let us know if you find anything that needs improving (or anything you like) by posting to the Online Manual section of the Beta test forums.

40 days until Kickoff
See you then!

Over the River and Through the Woods

2011-11-22T13:29:00.001-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

I’ll be headed to Pennsylvania tomorrow, so this week’s blog is a day early.

NASA has posted the list of teams receiving 2012 participation grants.

A lot of important deadlines are coming up.

Dec 1st - Initial, 2nd and Unrestricted Regional Event registration, 1st & 2nd Qualifying Event registration, and Championship Registration closes. We have 2260 registered FRC teams as of this morning and spaces at some events is getting tight. If you know of a team that plans to join us this coming season, encourage them to register soon.
Dec 2nd – Initial Regional and 1st & 2nd Qualifying Event registration payment due.
Dec 2nd – Kickoff Registration closes. (Manchester workshop registration remains open until 12/16.) I’m surprised that 224 teams have not yet indicated in TIMS how they want to receive their kit of parts. Kickoffs are filling up. Register soon.
Dec 2nd – Request for Bag & Tag Exemption due. (Remember , Bag & Tag means you transport your robot to the event yourself.) Details can be found in the Robot Transportation section of the 2012 Administrative Manual
Dec 8th – Safety Animation submission due. Contest Announcement is located on the Safety Page

And as if the 2nd of December isn’t busy enough already, I’ve been asked to moderate deliver opening remarks and moderate a panel at the Future of Robotics Summit sponsored by the Mass Technology Leadership Council.

Two things to think about over the long holiday weekend:

Teams will not be restricted to using the Classmate as their Driver Station as long as certain criteria are met and all relevant rules are followed. More details to follow in the 2012 Game Manual when it is released.
Software for 2012 is currently under development. Teams may purchase the new cRIO-FRCII now and get it physically installed and wired into a test platform, but you won’t be able to program it until after kickoff.

I hope you have a safe and happy weekend.

46 days until Kickoff
See you then!

Kickoff Update

2011-11-18T11:50:00.001-05:00

Good Morning Teams,

Please pass the word to everyone you know who is planning to come to Manchester, NH for Kickoff on January 7, 2012.

Be aware, there is an extreme hotel shortage in Manchester due to the NH Primary scheduled for the following Tuesday.
There is still room in the Workshops at HQ on Friday, January 6th. You may still register in TIMS.
We are nearing capacity for the Founder’s Reception Friday evening, January 6th. If you are planning to attend and haven’t registered yet, I recommend you do so before close of business Monday, November 21st. Teams that register after we reach capacity will be placed on a waiting list for the event.
Teams that attend the Kickoff screening at Southern NH University on Saturday, January 7th will still have the opportunity to see Dean and Woodie, interact with a 2012 season Competition field, and talk to the GDC.

50 days until Kickoff
See you then!

Pass it on

2011-11-17T14:44:00.001-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

FRC (and FIRST) is in need of a few good non-engineering applicants for current job openings at HQ in Manchester, NH. Please spread the word and check back in the near future as at least one more non-engineering position is in the works.

Do you watch American Choppers on the Discovery Channel? Grainger (a FIRST sponsor) let us know that American Choppers filmed an episode at their facility back in October and that as part of the shoot, Grainger presented a check to FIRST. We understand that November 21st the build episode will air and that the unveil episode is scheduled for February 13th. I know I’ll be watching.

The 2nd generation e-watt saver light bulbs have arrived. Visit our website for more details.

51 days until Kickoff
See you then!

The wooden beams have started creaking

2011-11-16T14:40:00.001-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

The tidal wave of field and game elements is on its way. Here at 200 Bedford Street we’ve been taking delivery of materials needed for the 2012 field for weeks now and expect a truck (or more) a day every day through Thanksgiving. Space is getting a little tight.

This is going to be a heavy field to set up when all is said and done. Our pallet jacks can handle up to 5,000lbs in a single load and the engineering staff tell me we’ve been pushing the jacks to their limit recently. At the moment we have an estimated 8,000lbs of polycarbonate sheets, four 1,000lb pallets of game specific steel elements, a pallet of aluminum, three 1,500lb pallets of a game specific item plus a fourth 1,000lb pallet of a different game specific item, two full pallets of gaffers tape, an entire pallet of carpet tape and multiple pallets of game pieces. None of which takes into account the existing field components we will be bolting, zip tying and otherwise attaching these items onto or the elements that have not been delivered yet.

The Kit of Parts is being put together at our warehouse which means truckloads of components are arriving there daily as well. Staff and volunteers are starting to pre-kit smaller items (putting separate elements into little plastic bags) ready to put those bags into larger containers and planning the physical layout of elements inside those larger containers. Back at 200 Bedford Street, Procurement is scheduling deliveries to local Kickoffs and preparing truck routes for competition events.

It’s never dull around here.

In other news:

The next Senior Mentor call will be FRC Control System/Driver’s Station Beta Test Observations with our very own Kevin O’Connor from the first floor. Join him November 21st at 7PM ET by calling 1-866-951-1151 and using conference room # 9533018

All teams (with the exception of teams in Israel who are only attending the Israel Regional) will be expected to Bag and Tag their robot this year.

Section 5.5 of the Administrative Manual (now available on our website) allows teams to bag bumpers separately from the robot if it is more convenient for teams to transport their robot that way. Be aware, the bag with the bumper and the bag with the robot must both be sealed with a tag and logged independently.
If you haven’t already done so, be sure to read the Bag & Tag FAQ and decide how you plan to proceed before the deadline for exemption requests passes on December 2nd.

Speaking of Manual sections, Section 4.2.2 covers robot carts. Please be sure to clearly label your robot cart with your team number. There is no defined way to do this, we just want to make sure field personnel can identify what cart belongs to which team so we can keep things flowing smoothly on the field.

52 days until Kickoff
See you then!

This just in

2011-11-10T16:19:00.001-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

The Administrative Section of the 2012 FRC Manual is now live on our website. Student Award submission in STIMS and Mentor Award Submission in TIMS went live today. That should give you plenty to read and do this weekend.

I will be taking tomorrow off as its Veteran’s Day.

58 days until Kickoff
See you then!

So what does FRC do in November?

2011-11-09T13:58:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

We’re finalizing Kickoff. Engineering is gathering Kit of Parts components (not everything has arrived at our warehouse in preparation for kit packing yet); beta testing new control system components (my thanks to the teams who are helping); completing field drawings for local kickoff field builders; and updating a competition field in preparation for the kickoff filming and for display at the Manchester screening. Upstairs we’re supporting the local kickoffs; and preparing for workshops, the Founder’s Reception and the screening at SNHU where the GDC will be present to talk to teams. (The GDC, by the way, is busy finalizing the Game Manual.) In the field, Regional Directors are recruiting and supporting teams; working with Regional Planning Committees to plan competition events; and drumming up sponsor and donor support for FIRST.

We’re gearing up for build season. While teams are busy building robots, we will be training key volunteers, working out final details for competitions, building field elements, sourcing materials, packing trucks, finalizing award judging and holding a week zero event to test the new game systems in a competition environment. So right now we’re scheduling people, equipment and materials to ensure everything is in place the minute the Kickoff broadcast ends.

We’re planning for Championship. Maybe things will look a little different this year?

We have our eyes on the future. We’re looking ahead at everything from the business plan, to new technologies to new staff structures to a few other exiting changes.

So enjoy the quiet before the storm. It will be raining soon enough.

While you are waiting for the big day, check out the usfirst.org website. UL has introduced a new Safety ambassador program.

Anybody interested in a game hint? The GDC is mulling it over right now.

59 days until Kickoff
See you then!

Primary update

2011-11-02T15:50:00.002-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

It has come to pass. The Secretary of State announced this afternoon that the NH Primary will be held January 10, 2012, just 3 days after kickoff. If you intend to travel to Manchester for kickoff, you may want to start looking for a hotel room right away. The media will be competing with you for a place to stay.

66 days until Kickoff
See you then!

Working in the dark

2011-11-02T15:25:00.001-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

Manchester was hit by a snowstorm that blanketed the US east coast in unseasonable snow, downed trees and extensive power outages over the Halloween weekend. Staff were back in the building on Monday morning and most have electricity back at home as of this morning. I hope all of you are safe and warm.

My thanks to the Manchester, NH High Schools Central, Memorial, Trinity and West for their support and assistance in allowing us to Beta Test hardware at River Rage this past weekend.

The following teams were particularly helpful:

Team 131 C.H.A.O.S tested Kinect & Jaguar in C++
Team 1073 The Force Team tested Kinect & Jaguar in C++
Team 166 Chop Shop tested Kinect & David* in C++
Team 811 Cardinals tested David* in Java
Team 238 Cruising Crusaders tested Kinect & Jaguar in Java
Team 125 Nutrons tested David* in Java
Team 2648 Infinite Loop tested Kinect in Java
Team 88 TJ2 tested David* in Java
Team 1922 OzRam tested Kinect & Jaguar in LabVIEW
Team 176 Northern Force tested Kinect & Jaguar in LabVIEW
Team 2423 The KWARQS tested Kinect, Jaguar & David* in Python/C++

We got lots of good feedback from the teams and are already hard at work following up on what we learned. I understand that field breakdown and event clean up at the end of River Rage this year was the fastest ever as teams noticed the snow already falling outside and packed up in record time.

*David stands for a new dual relay module that is being evaluated for possible future KOP use.

Ops asked me to remind you, if you are on a wait list for a competition event, please be patient. You have not been forgotten. Operations staff are working to move wait listed teams into events and will contact your team Main and Alternate Contact as soon as they move your team.

You should also know, the deadline to request a Bag & Tag exemption is Dec 2nd. Have you worked out a way to get your robot to your events? Be sure to read the Bag & Tag FAQ and review your travel plans now.

If your team is planning to program in C/C++ this year, you might want to checkout Ch, a C/C++ interpreter and scripting language environment available free to download here. This is not software your team can use to program the robot, but Dr Cheng from UC Davis tells me it is an excellent teaching tool your team can use improve your C/C++ skills as you wait for kickoff.

66 days until Kickoff
See you then!

San Diego Disruption

2011-10-27T14:18:00.000-04:00

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!

1906 teams and counting

2011-10-26T16:24:00.006-04:00

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!

Kickoff Update

2011-10-25T10:23:00.002-04:00

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!

1782 registered teams and counting

2011-10-20T10:14:00.000-04:00

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!

More from my inbox

2011-10-14T11:53:00.001-04:00

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!

FIRST Choice, Second Year!

2011-10-11T15:43:00.001-04:00

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!

Something to end your week

2011-10-06T18:32:00.000-04:00

Good Evening Teams,

I hope you enjoy this peak behind the curtain.

93 days until Kickoff
See you then!

Cleaning out my in box

2011-10-04T15:11:00.002-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

As of this morning 1428 teams are registered for the 2012 FRC Game(name TBD). I know the usfirst.orgwebsite shows a smaller number on the “What events and teams are in my area?”page. That’s because the webpage doesn’tinclude wait listed teams in the count. Teams will be moved off waitlists wherever possible before second eventregistration opens on October 27^th.

The next Senior Mentor Call entitled “Tips and Best Practices fromTeams for Teams” is this Wednesday at 7PM.

Thursday I will be picking up a Workforce Development Award onbehalf of FIRST. That’s all I know aboutthat.

Team registration for local kickoffs starts this Friday. If you don’t pick up your kit at a localkickoff site, you will need to pay to have it shipped to your teamlocation. 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 15^thweekend.

Two WPI students are focusing their Interdisciplinary Qualifying Projecton FRC rookie teams. The results fromtheir 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 andalways looking for ways to promote and support FIRST, he accepted their offerto dedicate one of their competitions to a FIRST related issue. FRC currently uses a very effective algorithmwritten and generously donated by Idle Loop to generate match schedules at FRCcompetitions. However, some teams stillcomplain to event officials if they believe they or any other team have beenassigned to the same color alliance, the same player station, the same alliancepartner, or to too many rookie teams, or against too many experienced teams,too many times. TopCoder offered aunique opportunity to explore the inclusion of variables not currentlyaccounted for in the match generation algorithm. FRC requested the design include the abilityto turn on and off various attributes and the ability to change the weightsassigned to attributes when creating optimized schedules. FRC staff will review the winning algorithm, (andlike last time, we will turn thealgorithms over to teams for input if we decide we like it enough to seriouslyconsider adopting it), but we are not under any obligation to utilize thewinning design. My thanks to team 1251TechTigerswho set up a booth at the event and answered questions from participants andattendees 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 lastmonth. Please join me in sending lettersof encouragement to him c/o 6965 Mayo Blvd. New Orleans, LA 70126.

The AbilityOne Network Design Challenge encouraging high schoolstudents to develop assistive technologies for people with disabilities isunderway. Deadline Dec 14, 2011. Details here.

Time Warner is hosting a Super Connector Search looking forcable customers who have connected a young person to the wonders of science,technology, engineering and math. Thewinner will receive up to $25,000 in grants to the STEM organization of theirchoice Deadline depends on your

location. Details here.

As a reward for reading all the way to the end, I have one email Ican’t share, but I can hint about: Watchthis blog for an announcement from Dean very very soon.

95 days until Kickoff

See you then!

Bag & Tag in brief and MAR demystified

2011-09-28T17:17:00.003-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

This year ALL FRCQualifying and Regional Events will be Bag & Tag. (Teams attending Championship will still haveto ship their robots to St Louis.) Don’tknow what Bag & Tag means? On StopBuild Day - Feb 21^st teams must stop work on the robot and seal itin a giant bag (using a giant tag) that will be included in the 2012 Kit ofParts. Teams then transport the robot toand from the event on their own. Detailswill be included in the 2012 FRC Administrative Manual coming soon. In the meantime, reading the Bag & Tagsections of the 2011 FRC Administrative Manual Section 5 - Robot Transportationwill give you a pretty good idea of what’s involved.

In some cases, FRC will grant Bag & Tag exemptions forteams facing transportation hardships. (For instance, if you have to cross anocean or a continent to reach the nearest event.) Teams may apply for exemption by emailing frcteams@usfirst.org. Deadline 5PM EST 12/2/11. Every exemptionrequest should have the subject line: “Bag and Tag Exemption Request, TeamXXXX”, with the team’s number in place of ‘XXXX’. The body of the requestshould include a very detailed explanation of why the team would experiencesubstantial hardship in bringing their robot to the event themselves. Themore detail a team is able to supply in their explanation, the more quickly FIRSTHQ will be able to make their decision on the request.

These exemptions will be granted on a case-by-case basis,and only if the team would experience substantial hardship in attending theevent for which an exemption was requested. We recognize teamsattending second and additional events may need to travel some distance toattend those events and we will do our best to accommodate those requests. Bag and Tag exemptions will not be granted toteams participating in FIRST in Michigan or Mid-Atlantic RoboticsQualifying Events or Championships, because of their local nature.

Register for your event first, then apply forexemption. Do not wait for exemptionapproval from FIRST HQ before registering for events. Be aware that notall exemptions will be approved. If an exemption request is declined, FIRSTwill work with the team to help them resolve the issue.

Teams will be informed by reply email of acceptance orrejection of their request. Teams who ship their robots to events withoutprior permission risk not being allowed to participate in the event.

Now, for those of youwith questions about MAR. The Mid-Atlantic Robotics RegionQualifying structure is based on the FIRST in Michigan (FiM) pilot. Teams residing in New Jersey, Delaware or thePennsylvania counties of Berks, Bradford, Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Columbia, Dauphin,Delaware, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Montgomery, Montour,Northampton,

Northumberland, Philadelphia, Pike, Schuylkill, Sullivan, Susquehanna,Wayne, Wyoming, and York

(and only teamsresiding in New Jersey, Delaware or the Pennsylvania counties listed above willbe eligible to participate in the MAR Qualifying events. Like FiM teams, MAR teams may participate inRegional events outside the MAR system in addition to participating at MARevents. Only MAR teams may register forMAR Qualifying events or the MAR Region Championship.

Teams can verify their MAR & FiM status by looking inFRC TIMS on the Team Summary page -> Team Profile section -> TeamInformation row -> Summary column -> “Event Structure” status. MAR& FiM status is also displayed on the Team Information summary page inTIMS.

101 days until Kickoff

See you then!

Its official AND on our website

2011-09-27T16:14:00.002-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

It’s been a long hard road that brought us right down to the wire,but the FRC Event Schedule is now live on the usfirst.org website. Registration Payment Terms will be posted inthe morning and Event Registration opens Thursday, September 29^th atnoon Eastern time. We had to bring astunning number of details together and tie up innumerable loose ends so thereare still a few TBDs in the schedule, but I want to thank everyone who workedso hard to make this season possible. Anemail blast is about to go out to FRC teams. Let the season begin!

102 days until Kickoff

See you then!

The List & a New Region

2011-09-23T16:07:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

I’m back. I was suitably impressed by the potential capability of the new technology I was shown and have high hopes for future FRC events. Engineering will continue to look for new and exciting things to add to our ever evolving 5 year technology plan. Unfortunately I can say no more. Except rest assured; our competition field will maintain a 27’x57’ footprint for the foreseeable future.

While I was out, an email blast was sent to team main and alternate contacts asking each team to take a survey regarding your FRC team’s experience with FTC. This comes from the group who are building a 5-year strategic plan for all of FIRST. Your team’s input will be very helpful, so if a representative for your team has not yet completed the survey, please encourage them to do so by Tuesday, Sept 27.

Not to confuse everyone, but FRC has a survey out to FRC teams at the same time asking about your team’s experience with FRC Awards. For this survey I would like everyone’s individual input. Please encourage everyone you know on an FRC team to take the survey by Wednesday, Sept 28th.

As of this morning, there are 45 local kickoffs listed on our website. Registration for Kickoffs opens Friday, Oct 7th. Have you decided where you want to go?

New Jersey, Delaware and the eastern half of Pennsylvania have joined forces to create the Mid-Atlantic Robotics Region and will be holding Qualifying Events leading up to a Region Championship in a new model based on lessons learned in the Michigan district pilot. Welcome MAR!

TIMS is now scheduled to open for Event Registration on Thursday, September 29th.   As of this morning, 341 FRC teams have completed the pre-registration process in TIMS and are ready for Registration. Are you ready?

Here’s the FRC event list as it stands today. Not every event has a signed contract from the venue so there are a few TBDs listed below. When the commitment is firm for each, the details will be added to TIMS.

As we add more double field events each year, I want to remind you: FRC reserves the right to ‘balance’ teams at any of the double event competitions. For instance: if every rookie team interested in playing in Minnesota registers for the 10,000 Lakes and there are no rookies at North Star, or if all the teams interested in playing in Dallas register for Dallas West leaving only four teams registered at Dallas East. We haven’t had to ‘balance’ double events in the past, and won’t if things work out on their own, but be aware, we still reserve the right to level the playing field if need be.

Week One
March 1-March 3, 2012
Alamo Regional, San Antonio, TX
BAE Systems/Granite State Regional, Manchester, NH
Greater Kansas City Regional, Kansas City, MO
Smoky Mountains Regional, Knoxville, TN

March 2-3, 2012
Hatboro-Horsham MAR FRC Qualifying Event, Horsham, PA
Kettering University MI FRC Qualifying Event,   Flint, MI

Date TBD
Northville MI FRC Qualifying Event TBD, MI

Week Two
March 5-7, 2012
Israel Regional. Tel Aviv, Israel

March 8-10, 2012
Autodesk Oregon Regional, Portland, OR
Chesapeake Regional, Baltimore, MD
Finger Lakes Regional, Rochester, NY
Greater Toronto East Regional,   Toronto, ON Canada
Lake Superior Regional,   Duluth, MN
Orlando Regional, Orlando, FL
Pittsburgh Regional, Pittsburgh, PA
San Diego Regional, San Diego, CA
WPI Regional , Worcester, MA

March 9-10, 2012
Chestnut Hill MAR FRC Qualifying Event, Philadelphia, PA
Traverse City MI FRC Qualifying Event, Traverse City, MI
Waterford MI FRC Qualifying Event, Waterford, MI

March 10-11, 2012
Rutgers MAR FRC Qualifying Event, New Brunswick, NJ

Week Three
March 15-17, 2012
Bayou Regional, Westwego, LA
Boilermaker Regional, West Lafayette, IN
Los Angeles Regional, Long Beach, CA
Peachtree Regional, Duluth, GA
Festival de Robotique FRC a Montreal Regional, Montreal, QC Canada
Sacramento Regional, Sacramento, CA
Utah Regional sponsored by NASA & Platt, Salt Lake City, UT
Virginia Regional, Richmond, VA

March 16-18, 2012
New York City Regional, New York City, NY

March 16-17, 2012
Detroit MI FRC Qualifying Event, Detroit, MI
West Michigan MI FRC Qualifying Event, Allendale, MI

Week Four
March 22-24, 2012
Arizona Regional, Chandler, AZ
Boston Regional, Boston, MA
Buckeye Regional,. Cleveland, OH
Colorado Regional, Denver, CO
Hawaii Regional sponsored by BAE Systems, Honolulu Hawaii
Midwest Regional, Chicago, IL
Seattle Cascade Regional, Seattle, WA
Seattle Olympic Regional, Seattle, WA
Palmetto Regional, TBD, SC
St Louis Regional, St. Louis, MO
Waterloo Regional, Waterloo, ON Canada
Wisconsin Regional, Milwaukee, WI

March 23-24, 2012
Niles MI FRC Qualifying Event, Niles, MI
Possible MI FRC Qualifying Event, City TBD, MI

March 24-25, 2012Lenape MAR FRC Qualifying Event, Tabernacle, NJ

Week Five
March 29-31, 2012
Dallas East Regional sponsored by jcpenney, Dallas, TX
Dallas West Regional sponsored by jcpenney, Dallas, TX
Greater Toronto West Regional, Mississauga, ON Canada
Minnesota 10,000 Lakes Regional, Minneapolis, MN
Minnesota North Star Regional, Minneapolis, MN
Northeast Utilities FIRST Connecticut   Regional, Hartford, CT
Oklahoma Regional, Oklahoma City, OK
SBPLI Long Island Regional, Hempstead, NY
Silicon Valley Regional, San Jose, CA
South Florida Regional, Boca Raton, FL
Washington DC Regional, Washington, DC

March 30-31, 2012
Livonia MI FRC Qualifying Event, Livonia, MI
Mount Olive MAR FRC Qualifying Event, Flanders, NJ
Troy MI FRC Qualifying Event, Troy, MI

Week Six
April 5-7, 2011
Central Valley Regional, Madera, CA
Las Vegas Regional, Las Vegas, NV
Lone Star Regional, Houston, TX
North Carolina Regional, Raleigh. NC
Queen City Regional, Cincinnati, OH
Spokane Regional, Cheney, WA

Week Seven
April 12-14, 2011
Mid-Atlantic Robotics FRC Region Championship Event, Philadelphia, PA
Michigan FRC Region Championship Event, Ypsilanti, MI

FIRST Championship, April 26-28, 2012 St. Louis, MO

106 days until Kickoff
See you then!

Up up and away

2011-09-20T16:28:00.002-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

I’m blogging early this week because I’m getting on an airplane this evening in my never ending quest to bring the latest technology to FRC. Frank, Kate and I are heading out to explore new technology for 2015 and beyond. If we come up with anything interesting, I probably won’t be able to tell you about it until the kit of part reveal in 2015. Cross your fingers. Things could get interesting.

The GDC met this past weekend and rocked the workshop. It looks like we have the concept for the 2013 game. Because of some monumental elements that you can’t see until January 5, 2013 we had a great deal of fun thinking up game names that you will never hear from me. We have a ways to go before the game is ready, but that was the whole point of pushing so hard this year to get a year ahead. The 2012 game is in the final stages and we now have almost a full year to test, tweak and tidy up loose ends on the 2013 game. My thanks to the long suffering, hardworking, hysterically funny members of the GDC who got a little punchy after a full weekend locked in the basement workshop at headquarters. I promise there will be more coffee ice cream at the October on site meeting.

Looking forward, now is as good a time as any to ask ourselves if the existing FRC award structure is supporting our mission and values. To that end, I would like team member/mentor input. Please encourage everyone you know in FRC to complete this survey by Wednesday, September 28th at noon Eastern time.

Marketing is looking for FRC team members who have repurposed items in constructive, unique or amazing ways to feature in an upcoming national publication. Please send marketing@usfirst.org a photo and brief description of your creation by this Wednesday, September 21st and if we choose to include your design we’ll be in touch for more details.

Does your team have new mentors this year, or do you know about an FRC team with rookie mentors? Please let them know about the upcoming Senior Mentor call “FRC Mentor Orientation 101”. Senior Mentor Mike Henry and expert Mike Siegel will answer questions about team organization, member recruitment and team registration this Thursday 9/22 at 7pm Eastern time. Call 1-866-951-1151 and use conference room number 7052714 that night to participate.

The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) is now accepting applications from young women in the US and Puerto Rico in grades 9-12 for the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing, which recognizes young women at the high school level for their aspirations and achievements in technology and computing! .

109 days until Kickoff
See you then!

Announcing the Beta Test Teams

2011-09-16T16:06:00.002-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

We’ve chosen the 2012 Beta Test teams. Everyone who applied has been contacted, so I’m happy to announce the following teams will be helping us review the software libraries and build new code to share with all teams. My thanks to everyone who offered to help with this project. All FRC teams will be able to communicate with the Beta Test teams on the forums.

Testing C/C++:
108    SIGMAC@T
166    Chop Shop
234    Cyber Blue
294    Beach Cities Robotics
303    Panther Robotics
537    Charger Robotics
604    Quixilver
772    Sabre Bytes
781    Kinetic Knights
973    GRR
987    The High Rollers
1334    Red Devils
1511    Rolling Thunder
1519    Mechanical Mayhem
1671    Buchanan Bird Brains
1714    More Robotics
1758    Technomancers
1816    The Green Machine
2358    Bearbotics
2809    Kbotics
2903    NeoBots
3457    MacBotics
3481    Bronc Botz
3771    Da Yooper Troopers
3824    RoHawktics

Testing Java:
11    MORT
20    The Rocketeers
125    NUTRONS
175    Buzz Robotics
178    2nd Law Enforcers
228    Gus Robotics
341    Miss Daisy
610    The Coyotes
694    Stuypulse
1002    CircuitRunners
1014    Dublin Robotics
1160    Firebird Robotics
1279    ColdFusion
2177    The Robettes
2477    Rascal Robotics
2648    Infinite Loop
2846    FireBears
2967    Iron Devils
2977    Sir Lancer Bots
3309    Friarbots
3341    The Manhattan Project
3630    Stampede
3660    The Lightsabers
3780    Robot Unicorn Attack
3807    Blazerbots

Testing LabVIEW:
33    Killer Bees
45    TechnoKats
53    Area 53
75    RoboRaiders
357    Royal Assault
624    CRyptonite
836    RoboBees
1023    Bedford Express
1208    The MeTool Brigade
1718    The Fighting Pi
1764    Liberty Robotics
1847    Wyandotte H.S. Robodogs
1912    Team Combustion
2168    Aluminum Falcons
2169    KING TeC
2403    Team Plasma
2435    Soldiers of Technology
2530    Inconceivable
2579    The Robodogs
3158    TECBOT
3242    WILDCATS
3339    BumbleB
3558    FBR'botz
3572    Wavelength
3619    Blackhawks

113 days until Kickoff
See you then!

Good News

2011-09-15T16:46:00.001-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

Since TIMS opened one week ago today, 301 teams have logged in and updated their team profile. 69 of those teams are 2012 rookies and 195 are now ready for event registration.

I’m happy to announce, registration fees will hold steady this year. Registration for FRC Veteran teams who participated in 2011, 2010 or 2009 will be $5,000 and registration for Rookies and FRC teams that did not participate in 2011, 2010 or 2009 will be $6,500. Participation in each additional 2012 Regional Event will be $4,000. My thanks to everyone in the office, in the field and on the staff of our many suppliers and contractors who worked hard this year to hold costs down and keep these fees steady. I’ll announce registration fees for the district qualification events as soon as the final decision is made.

I can’t share the final competition schedule yet, but I can tell you the two newest Regional events will be in Miami, FL and Fresno, CA. In addition, Dallas, TX is hoping to host their first ever double field event which will bring the projected total number of FRC Regional Events to 54 this year (we still don’t have final contracts from some of the locations so that number is still tentative.)

The GDC will be onsite this weekend to work on the 2013 game. The FRC staff on the first floor are busy today setting up field elements and cleaning up in preparation. Yes, we do clean our room before the GDC arrives. Wouldn’t you?

We’re conducting interviews for the replacement Field Maintenance person this week and not a moment too soon. We’re building two additional competition fields this year bringing the total number of fields on the road to 19 (if you include the one packaged and staged for emergency deployment if something should happen to one of the other fields as it travels between events).

Volunteer Coordinators held their first conference call for the 2012 season yesterday. Yes, it takes almost 6 months to put on a Regional Event and these key volunteers are already working to make sure there are volunteers trained and at the ready for your first event.

Finally, I’ve been told there will be an ad for FIRST in the ‘Top Charities’ section of USA Today this week. I haven’t seen it. Have you?

114 days until Kickoff
See you then!

TIMS is now open

2011-09-08T12:11:00.002-04:00

The Team Information Management System (TIMS) opened at 12:00 p.m. EST today. https://my.usfirst.org/frc/tims/site.lasso

It’s raining again

2011-09-07T15:31:00.002-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

I’d like to start today by introducing Kevin O’Connor our newest FRC Robotics Engineer. Kevin was both a founding student member and an adult mentor for Team 2175 the Fighting Calculators. He comes to us from GeckoSystems International Corporation where he was a Senior EE Roboticist developing software for the CareBot. Welcome aboard!

We’re conducting interviews this week for the new FRC Program Coordinator position and for a replacement Field Groomer. I’m hoping to get everyone in place soon so they have time to get up to speed. There’s never really a good time to jump in the pool around here, but I’m hoping they can get their heads above water before the registration floodgates open.

My thanks to the 147 teams who applied to be Beta Testers. Frank is reviewing the applications now and will contact all the applicants by next Friday, Sept 16th. When we have a final list, I’ll let you know who near you will be helping the engineering staff prepare for 2012.

Thinking about Beta Testing the software for the new cRIO FRCII reminds me, the last day to purchase the original FRC cRIO is Friday, Sept 30th. More details are available in my August 23rd blog.

I know you’re curious, but we still don’t have a finalized 2012 Event List to share. For those of you who are keeping track, we now have 21 contracted venues and just two locations left who aren’t in contract negotiations yet which is an improvement from August 12th.

The IT department is working like mad to get TIMS at least partially open so teams may begin updating their Team Profiles. (Last week I explained that TIMS was unavoidably delayed.) Watch this space. I have big hopes they will be ready soon.

We’re moments away from determining the 2012 Game Name. The GDC’s favorite choices were vetted by Marketing and the surviving choices are making the final lap. When Legal gets back to me, we can start work on a game logo, swap out "NameTBD" in the 2012 Game Manual and stop referring to the game as “well, you know”.

Oh, and maybe you can help me. This came up in the FRC staff meeting this morning. How many people do you think watch the streaming video from FRC Regional Events? Enquiring minds want to know.

122 days until Kickoff
See you then!

Odds and ends

2011-09-01T14:53:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

Thank you for the input on the relationship between FRC and FTC teams. I can’t remember now if I read it somewhere, or if someone brought it up in conversation, but if any of you are concerned that I’m trying to group source solutions to FRC issues, don’t worry. What I’m trying to do is get FRC team’s voices heard as I participate in the discussions on issues facing FIRST.

The opening date for TIMS has been delayed because we are still working out the details surrounding the new (as of yet unnamed) qualification structure. It doesn’t make sense to open the system to collect data, then force teams to return to the system to re-enter data if our data needs change. The minute the system is ready, I’ll let you know.

Attention Mentors: This year the J&J Mentor award is not limited exclusively to teams that are sponsored by Johnson & Johnson. If you have a team mentor who is employed by J&J, contact rdoyle@its.jnj.com for an application. Deadline September 16th.

Last call for Beta test teams. The deadline to apply is noon EDT this Friday.

And last chance to vote for FIRST’s President Jon Dudas’ panel at the SXSW conference.

128 days until Kickoff
See you then!

What do you think? 2 of 2

2011-08-29T16:02:00.003-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

Next question. How should we geographically define overlap as it relates to accessibility of FIRST programs? The group working on the long range plan want to define a measurement of distance between FRC and FTC programs that makes it possible for students to have access to both programs (to participate on both teams at some point). How far apart can teams be and still have students participate in both? How far is too far?

Again, I’ll tally your answers Tuesday afternoon and get back to the group working on the long range plan.

131 days until Kickoff
See you then!

What do you think? 1 of 2

2011-08-29T15:59:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

On the 17th I asked for your input about what to call the events that evolve from the Michigan District Pilot and you were good enough to share your opinions. The term still hasn’t been finalized (I’ll let you know when it is.), but whenever it is discussed around here I can say “the teams tell me they prefer districts”.

Now I have another question for you. (Two actually, but to keep the discussions separate I’m going to post them in separate blogs.)

Which comes first, FRC or FTC? No, this isn’t a question of value. It’s more of a chicken and the egg type question. Which happens more often? A FRC team is formed in an area and eventually FTC teams pop up, or a FTC team is formed and eventually one or more FRC teams develop in the area? Other than building an interactive map showing FRC & FTC team growth over time and space, (which we don’t have the time or manpower to do) we don’t have any easily accessible data to answer that question. So, what is your experience?

I’ll tally your answers Tuesday afternoon and get back to the group working on the long range plan.
Thank you.

131 days until Kickoff
See you then!

I'll be off site tomorrow

2011-08-23T15:49:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

Thank you to everyone who responded to last week’s call for Beta Teams. 58 applications have been collected so far and there is room for more. The deadline is Friday Sept 2nd at noon EST so get your application in. We’ve started to review the choices, but won’t make any decisions until after the deadline. Teams will be notified on Sept 16th and will have to sign a disclosure statement right away. I’ll keep you updated.

For those of you who asked, Frank has an update on the cRIO FRCII.

The last day to purchase the original FRC cRIO is Friday, Sept 30th. 8 slot controller with 2x 9201, 2x 9403 and 1x 9472 modules $750 at the FRC discounted price.
The new cRIO FRCII may be ordered by teams starting Monday, Oct 3rd. 4 slot controller with 1x 9201, 1x 9403 and 1x 9472 modules $525 at the FRC discounted price. Chassis only (no modules) $285 at the FRC discounted price. Initial deliveries will ship either late November or early December.
NI will give registered FRC teams one Discount Credit each calendar year. The FRC discount may be used to purchase the new cRIO FRCII kit (with modules), the chassis only (no modules) or both (1kit plus one chassis) as long as the items are purchased in a single order.
FRC teams that were registered for the 2011 season may use the 2011 discount right away. Teams that register for the 2012 season may use the 2012 discount starting Oct 3, 2011. Teams that consume both credits will not be able to order additional FRC discounted hardware until Jan 1, 2013. Discount credits may not be carried forward. (Teams may, however, order additional original cRIOs and cRIO FRCIIs at an educational discount price.)
Call 1-866-511-6285 to order
Software for programming the new cRIO FRCII will not be available until kickoff. Beta teams will be testing this software starting in September.
Teams may continue to use the original FRC cRIO in competition this year.

The Supplier Summit went very well. FRC teams 151 Tough Techs, 811 Cardinals, 1058 PVC Pirates and 1517 The Lumberjacks came out to give our guests a chance to operate LOGO MOTION robots, the Deans’ List Winners stopped in to answer the supplier’s questions from a student/team point of view and Kate and Collin collected a great deal of feedback. I expect some great new ideas and opportunities will come out of the day and a half long event. I enjoyed the chance to talk to a number of suppliers and had an interesting conversation with NI about the benefits and challenges of wrapping the new cRIO FRCII in shrink wrap. My thanks to everyone who helped make the summit possible.


Local teams demo their robots and discuss their designs with suppliers

Representatives from Microsoft, Intel, Gates Corporation and Grainger deep in discussion

The Dean’s List Winners met with Dean last week and he asked them to round up missing FIRST Alumni. They’ve started a FIRST Alumni Facebook page Be sure to tell your team members and alumni. I enjoyed the chance to talk with the Dean’s list winners. They had some very interesting and insightful comments that I plan to take back to the GDC.

Boys Latin School of Maryland takes its FRC team 2534The Lakers seriously enough to honor their Regional win.

This photo warms my heart.

FIRST President, Jon Dudas is in the running to speak at the next South by Southwest conference You can vote for his panel “Building the Next Generation of Innovators” here. Deadline Sept 2nd.

137 days until Kickoff
See you then!

Do you have a better name for it?

2011-08-17T15:17:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

The GDC met in Manchester this past weekend and were able to winnow the pool of potential 2013 games down to the top three choices. (Which is a lot harder than it sounds. A lot of these ideas have the potential to be really good.) Next month we’ll gather to face the challenge of turning the top idea into a functional game head on.

Work on the 2012 game is progressing as planned. We’re finalizing the game manual, procuring game elements and constructing updates to the game fields. We have a short list of three possible game names and Marketing is vetting the options. With any luck we’ll have a game name this week and can start ordering branded material.

Because the GDC members would be traveling home on Sunday night at the same time the i.am.FIRST show aired, we were able to show the group a copy on Saturday during a break.   It was a lot of fun watching the show with such a dedicated group of FIRST fanatics. If you didn’t see will.i.am’s show about FIRST, I’d point you towards an online link for the video, but the i.am.FIRST production team has made it very clear that an official copy has not been posted yet.   All copies of i.am.FIRST Science is Rock and Roll currently on line are unauthorized. When I can point you towards the official version, you can be sure I will.

We are gearing up for the annual Suppliers’ Summit occurring later this week. Our generous suppliers are coming in from all over the country to meet with our Kit of Parts team, provide feedback on their experience, make suggestions on the future Kits of Parts, and have dinner at Dean’s house. They will also have the opportunity to meet with a few local teams to get feedback directly from some of their end users. I plan to slip in and out of the events as my schedule allows.

We are also expecting a visit from the 2011 Dean’s List Award winners this week. They will be visiting DEKA (Dean’s Research and Development facility), touring FIRST (no they won’t be given any hints about this year’s game), and participating in the Supplier’s Summit dinner at Dean’s home.   I’m looking forward to my chance to meet with them. Last year’s DLA winners were full of good ideas and valuable insights. I expect this year’s group will be just as articulate and well informed. You can follow Lydia @deanslist2011 and Tina @tina_dutra

What is your team planning to do this fall and winter? We need FRC teams to Beta Test the 2012 software and new hardware elements this September through December. If your team is interested and has the time, fill out the application online.   Feel free to share this announcement with teams you know may be interested. An email blast to all teams will go out probably later this week.

I want your opinion. We’re going back and forth on what to call the new qualification events. The Michigan District Pilot is over and this year we will introduce a qualification structure based on lessons learned. Michigan and a second region will be hosting 2012 qualification events that lead up to a State/Regional Championship. The problem is, we can’t agree on what to call the events. Michigan used the term “District”, and technically the events are “Qualification”, but neither term seems just right. Do you have a suggestion? Please vote/make suggestions in the comments section. I’ll tally them up and take the results back to the staff discussions.

I see the question on last week’s blog about when will the new cRIO FRCIIs be available for purchase, but I can’t give you a date yet. Frank Merrick (the Deputy Director of FRC) is discussing the time line with NI right now. When we know, I’ll share with you.

143 days until Kickoff
See you then!

New addition to the family

2011-08-12T10:21:00.001-04:00

Good Morning Teams,

The first of the new cRIO-FRCIIs arrived in Manchester this week. By the time I could get downstairs to take a picture, the engineers on the first floor had already hooked it up to one of their test stations. FRC, NI and WPI will be using these stations to test and verify new images, library functionality and sensor support as we prepare for 2012. We might even connect them to new technologies, you never know.

I understand teams would really like to know the 2012 competition schedule; unfortunately it is still too much in flux for me to share. We have 8 venues contracted and another three dozen engaged in the contract process (but not finalized yet). Then there are the venues we’re starting negotiations with and the venues we‘re still trying to pin down. It is a long and involved process and if we share the list before the majority of contracts are in hand, there’s always the potential for unintentionally giving a venue the upper hand in negotiations. I can, however, tell you that we will be keeping week one limited to just a few events like last year. We will be beta testing this fall and are planning a week zero event in order to ensure week one runs smoothly. Then we will be doubling up on FTAs at week one events to make sure everyone is ready and the season goes flawlessly. When I have the 2012 competition schedule finalized, you will be the first to know.

148 days until Kickoff
See you then!

Have you seen this?

2011-08-04T15:00:00.001-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

There’s just 10 days left until the i.am.FIRST special premieres on ABC (Sunday, Aug 14 7/6c). You can learn more about the show here.

jcpenney is a big supporter of FIRST. They are currently running a Pennies from heaven challenge to both promote their philanthropic venture and to raise more support. You can check it out on line.

And, if you didn’t see it in the comments section for Tuesday’s blog, Team 3096, Finney High School from Detroit, and the Michigan Engineering Zone (MEZ) will be featured on Thurs 8/4 at 8PM in "Detroit in Overdrive" on the Plant Green channel. More info and a channel finder here.

156 days until Kickoff
See you then!

8.02.11

2011-08-02T13:59:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

I couldn’t let today go by without wishing you a Happy WiFi Day. Thank you, WiFi, for all you do for FRC. May teams experience minimal packet loss and excellent QOS in the coming year!

In other news, this video by team 1816 Edina Robotics was just brought to my attention. It’s good to know teams are already preparing for the upcoming season. I find their behavior (and meeting location) very inspiring.

158 days until Kickoff
See you then!

Every four years

2011-08-01T16:51:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

Presidential candidate Governor Jon Huntsman met with Dean at DEKA today and always thinking of ways to promote FIRST, Dean brought him across the street to FIRST Place. Dean introduced the Governor to the campers in FIRST place who demonstrated Lego and FTC robots. Then they spoke with team 151 Tough Techs who were kind enough to come in on short notice with their Lunacy robot to talk about FRC and demonstrate a ‘big bot’ for the Governor.

I didn’t get any pictures because I was busy answering questions and meeting with members of the press. The Associated Press, The Boston Globe, The LA Times and The Concord Monitor (a NH paper) interviewed Dean and Governor Huntsman and spoke with the campers and FRC Team members. Our local ABC affiliate WMUR and representatives from NBC filmed the event so you may see us on the news.

Now, I really have to get back to work.

159 days until Kickoff
See you then!

Survey says...

2011-07-27T11:51:00.001-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

On the 14th I mentioned the results from the preliminary Brandeis survey had just arrived in house. I've had some time to look them over and thought you'd like some details. Participating teams were asked to have one mentor and multiple student team members complete separate mentor and team member surveys.

Mentors told us:

The teams they represent have been involved in FRC for an average of 5.2 years. 79.3% are school based and 28.6% of the school based FRC teams use the KOP in the classroom.
The FRC teams who participated in the survey have an average of 6.5 mentors and 22.7 members with an almost 3/4-1/4 male female split. High School Juniors are the most represented class on FRC teams at 27.6% followed by Seniors 25.8% and Sophomores 22.7%.
FRC has had a positive impact on everything from student awareness of how math and science is used in the real world 96.1%, to student understanding of basic scientific principles 94.1%, to teamwork skills 95.6% and problem solving skills 95.8%

Student team members told us:

0.4% of responding FRC students were on a JrFLL team in the past, 13.7% were on a FLL team and 5.2% either were, or currently are on a FTC team.
The majority of responding students indicated they were actively involved in deciding team strategy 89.9%, robot design 86.3%, robot build 86.7%, and fund raising 81.9%. (Community service came in at 70.4%.)
93.4% of responding students stated they had the chance to do lots of different jobs on their team, 93.9% indicated they had important responsibilities and 93.2% felt they were an important contributor to their team.
FRC students acknowledged the impact mentors had on their experience. 93.3% felt they had a chance to get to know at least one adult on the team really well and 92.4% felt they learned a lot from the adults on the team. 91.5% gained self-confidence.

We will be meeting with Brandeis next week to determine exactly what we want to measure in the upcoming longitudinal study and to determine the best way to identify and track participants. The plan is to follow individual students from FLL, FTC and FRC for as long as possible to measure the impact FIRST has on their lives. The information we gather in the study will not only help FIRST improve, but will be invaluable for fund raising, development and marketing. If your team is chosen to participate, please do everything you can to ensure students return their surveys in a timely manner.

On a separate note, I mentioned last Friday that Sunday, August 14th 7-8pm ET ABC will be airing a made for TV special about the FIRST Championship. Don't be surprised if the FIRST website has a temporary new landing page soon (like the landing page that appeared just before will.i.am's performance at the Super Bowl). We're gearing up for an increase in public interest after the special airs. You can help out by promoting the upcoming special in your area and by fielding any and all questions you can about FRC and FIRST as a whole. With any luck, this special will generate more support for teams and events throughout the USA.

164 days until Kickoff
See you then!

Will.i.am and i.am.FIRST

2011-07-22T15:20:00.002-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

What are you doing Sunday, August 14th around 7pm? ABC entertainment just announced they will be airing i.am.FIRST – Science is Rock and Roll. Everyone in FRC knows the Black Eyed Peas and Willow Smith performed for FIRST teams at Championship, but what you might not know is the entire event was filmed for a television special. The ABC entertainment release says(and I quote) “The … special takes an inside, up close look at the 20th Annual FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Championship, a worldwide science and robotics K-12 competition that celebrates technology and features live performances by The Black Eyed Peas and Willow Smith, as well as special appearances from a host of high profile celebrities speaking out to support STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education.”
You can read the whole press release here.

If you can, spread the word both to existing FIRST fans who might want to see the show and to possible sponsors, donors, mentors and future team members who want to know more about FIRST. This is a national opportunity for us to get FIRST in the public eye. Be prepared for an increased interest after the 14th.

169 days until Kickoff
See you then!

I’m really not here

2011-07-20T09:54:00.000-04:00

Good Morning Teams,

Officially, I’m out of the office on vacation this week, but you know how it is, once you’ve discovered FRC, you’re never really not thinking about FRC. I’m trying to enjoy my time off, but really I’m mulling over the strategic plan for FIRST and looking forward to starting the 2013 game plan with the GDC. Yes, I said 2013.

I’ve been told HR has just posted the new FRC Program Coordinator position opening on our website (along with several other opportunities). Please spread the word. I’d really like to see applicants with FIRST experience.

If you’re at IRI this week, be sure to say “Hi” to the representatives from The Bridgespan Group. They’re working with FIRST to develop the FY 2013-2017 Strategic plan. They weren’t able to get to any competitions during the 2011 season so we thought it would be a good idea if they saw an off season event to get some idea of what we’re all about.

I hope everyone has a safe and healthy week and I’ll be back on Monday raring to go.

171 days until Kickoff
See you then!

It’s a good thing Ben & Jerry’s delivers

2011-07-14T16:48:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

This is the time of year that the engineering staff are almost glad they work in the basement of the old mill where FIRST is headquartered. It’s hot here in Manchester and most of us need regular applications of ice cream to keep going. Matt and Ryan are camped out on the third floor with a field improving radio performance in the presence of a large number of wifi networks. Derek, Rob and Monica are behind closed doors testing prototypes and finalizing designs for the 2012 field elements. We know enough about what the game will look like to want to remind everyone, “’tis the season to buy pool noodles”.

Here on the fourth floor, Marketing is switching the usfirst.org website to a new content management system which should be up and running by August. The website will look very much the same, but behind the scenes the system will allow us to make important functional changes. During the transition we’re limiting content changes (to prevent having to make the changes twice) but once the system is in place we’ll be back up and running and we can start improvements to functionality.

The initial results from the May Brandeis survey of FRC teams arrived today. Brandeis will be in next week to discuss their findings and if anything interesting comes from that conversation I’ll be sure to let you know.

I hope you are enjoying the warm weather. If you can’t get enough LOGO MOTION during the off season, be sure to check out the Off Season Events listing on our website.

Congratulations to Sergio Seguel of Team 2576 The Chilean Heart who mentored the FLL team that has been selected to participate in Moonbots 2.0. To every FRC team member who mentors other teams – you make an important difference. Thank you for changing the culture one student at a time.

Best Buy is offering Community Grants that could benefit your team (if you have a 501 ( c ) (3) ). The deadline is August 1st.

Time Warner Cable is holding a trivia contest every day until Aug 4th based on “It Ain’t Rocket Science”

177 days until Kickoff
See you then!

It’s all fun and games

2011-07-08T10:41:00.000-04:00

Good Morning Teams,

This time of year I think wistfully of summer vacations and long days spent by the water. In reality I’m besieged by decisions about the 2012 season that have to be made soon in order for the staff to get to work making the next season a reality.

Everything is up in the air (as usual) but we do have a big picture plan.

TIMS will open for team profile information in late August.
Registration for FRC events is scheduled to begin in late September.
We have several additional new Regionals planned.
FIRST staff and key volunteers are working to contract venues at all event locations.
When we have a firm competition schedule, I will share it right away.

We’re also discussing:

We need to find ways to reduce trophy costs. Here, the cost cutting discussion includes weighing the benefits of eliminating the second trophy vs. downsizing the two trophies currently awarded to winners.
We have to plan for the future of Championship. When the number of Regionals x6 exceeds the number of berths at CMP, how should we determine which teams should be invited to participate?
We’re looking closely at the volunteer model in FRC as compared to the rest of FIRST and other youth centric programs. Should we be background checking every volunteer who comes in contact with students?
We continue to look for ways to reduce Regional expenses, examining everything from venues and dates to equipment rental and contracted services.

In other news:

My congratulations to the FRC Teams in Mexico who attracted the attention and interest of President Calderon this year. The forum “Foro Mexico FIRST” is a direct result of their conversation with the President and provides all FRC teams an opportunity to make suggestions and offer support to the growing FIRST community in Mexico. Please visit the website and share your tips for success and lessons learned in bringing FIRST to your community. Go Mexico Teams!

Dean Kamen and several FIRST teams are featured in Time Warner Cable’s newest Connect a Million Minds TV special called “It Ain’t Rocket Science” which is now available for viewing on line. http://www.connectamillionminds.com/videos.php#79
http://www.connectamillionminds.com/videos.php#80
http://www.connectamillionminds.com/videos.php#81

183 days until kickoff
See you then!

Time flies

2011-06-30T13:28:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

Believe it or not, life at HQ is busy during the off season. I apologize for neglecting to blog last week and for blogging late this week, but I want to assure you, it’s not for lack of activity here in Manchester.

The GDC met on site this past weekend. Conceptually the 2012 game is a lock and the 2012 Game Manual is 90% complete (and on track to be shorter than previous years). Now, in addition to following up on the 2011 season and making all the repairs/changes/upgrades that were pushed off until after Championship, the staff can get started on all the logistical and administrative tasks that go into turning a game concept into a successful competition. We need to finalize the designs, order game pieces, prepare fields, redesign field road cases, update the field management system, schedule events and chase down all the hundreds of other details that go into hosting a successful season. Meanwhile, the GDC needs to finalize the scoring and turn our attention to the 2013 game.

You’d think the GDC would want rest on our laurels for a moment having designed a game in record time, but we are still far from our goal of getting a season ahead. The GDC has monthly onsite meetings scheduled through the fall and will be holding conference calls at least weekly in order to get everything done. One of the many reasons I enjoy working with this team has to do with the game selection process that Linda did a good job of describing in her guest blog. As a group we tweek game ideas that didn’t make it in prior years and we modify game ideas that evolved during game development but were left behind in the final cut, while at the same time members propose radical new game ideas. In the end we often take a piece from each of these categories to construct something completely different .

So, what else is happening at HQ this week?

FIRST as a whole is reviewing and updating our strategic plan. We’re trying to define the ultimate goals of the organization, describe what success looks like, and map out the steps necessary to get there in 5 – 10 years. This is not as easy as it sounds.
FRC is developing a Qualification Event Structure based on what we learned during District Event pilot. We’re currently in negotiations with RDs and Regional Planning Committees from areas that are interested in participating. I’ll let you know the minute we have dates and venues locked in.
Kate, Collin, Carla and assorted staff members are preparing for the annual Supplier’s Summit and Dean’s List Summit which will include dinner at Dean’s house this August.
IT is completely redesigning the Volunteer Information Management System (VIMS) and making upgrades to TIMS and STIMS in preparation for FRC registration this fall.
The engineering staff is developing the 2012 control system which will incorporate the new 4-slot FRC cRIO II. They’re going to need Beta Test teams again this year. Watch this space, I’ll let you know the second they’re ready to take applications.
We’ve reviewed the initial applications submitted by candidates for the new FRC Engineer position and we’re initiating the interview process. If you are interested in (and qualified for) the position and haven’t yet submitted an application, consider this last call.

191 days until the 2012 kickoff
See you then!

What percent of viewers read the title?

2011-06-15T15:32:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

I’ve finished my first pass of the end of the season survey (my thanks to everyone who participated) and I’ve started to distribute the detailed answers to other departments to help them in future planning. Here’s some of what teams had to say:

76.5% of respondents liked the inclusion of a mini-bot in LOGO MOTION
69.6% of respondents would like to see some sort of mini-bot included in future FRC games (I have no comment on how soon that might materialize)
80.8% of respondents chose the quantity of qualification rounds (more rounds) over increasing the length of individual qualification rounds (more time spent on the field)
60.8% of respondents prefer giving teams a fixed amount of time to connect to the field over reducing the number of rounds in order to build in time so that all teams may connect to the field
A surprising 23.2% of respondents told us participating in more than one competition event a season would be a burden.

Human Resources tells me we’ve already received 5 applications for the new FRC Engineer position. If you’re interested, contact HR soon.

Summer hours start for the office staff in Manchester June 20th. We’re all still putting in full work weeks, but most of us are working longer days Monday through Thursday so we can get out earlier on Fridays. We will have a limited staff in the building on Friday afternoons, so please plan ahead if you need to contact someone.

206 days until the 2012 kickoff
See you then

Want work you can feel good about?

2011-06-10T14:41:00.002-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

I mentioned 6/1 that I’d be looking for an additional FRC staff member soon. The job (along with several others) has just been posted on our website. I’m hoping to see applicants with FIRST experience. Spread the word.

211 days until the 2012 kickoff
See you then!

Full House

2011-06-08T14:05:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

This week, the Regional Directors are in town for a three day meeting. I met with them yesterday to review 2011 and prepare for 2012. We discussed FRC’s plans to expand Bag & Tag, increase FIRSTChoice and extend the event model (along with a few other topics I can’t mention here). If your team isn’t already in regular contact with your Regional Director, make a point of getting to know him/her. They are a terrific resource and they want to help your team succeed.

While I’m thinking about 2012, I should mention. The version of Wind River Workbench we expect will be in next season’s FRC Kit of Parts is not certified for use on 64-bit Windows operating system. Keep that in mind if you upgrade any team computers over the summer.

And since 2012 is built on what we learned in 2011, now is a good time to mention I was surprised to learn that one of the drayage locations for robots that were shipped to a bag & tag events had a problem with robot shipping crates that weren’t built to meet the shipping crate construction standards. The drayage facility did everything they could to work with the crates, but asked me to remind everyone to read the instructions. If a robot crate isn’t built to spec, it has a dramatically increased risk of sustaining damage.

Now that we are between seasons, returning teams should know the deadline to purchase an 8 slot cRIO chassis (if for some reason your team wants one more) is 10/1/2011, As I have already mentioned, FRC will be supplying 2012 Rookie teams with the new 4 slot cRIO-FRCII in the kit of parts. Returning teams may re-use the 8 slot cRIO in 2012 or purchase the new 4 slot chassis (without modules) for under $300 this winter. The current cRIO modules will work with either chassis. Contact National Instruments at 1-866-511-6285 to get more information or to place an order. The 8 slot cRIO with modules included is $750.

In other news:

Congratulations to the 2010-2011Google Rise recipients Team 399 Lancaster High School Eagle Robotics and Team 3328 Noho Robo

FRC has been included on the 2011-2012 NASSP National Advisory List of Student Contests and Activities. This nationally recognized status makes it easier for staff members and students at many schools to convince their school administration FRC events should be treated like educational field trips. If your principal and school board don’t already know FRC is on the list, you might want to give them a heads up.

Kate tells me she’s just finished her first pass of the 2011 Kit of Parts survey results. She still has all of the individual comments to read (and she does read all the comments), but she thought you’d be interested to know:

More than 1000 FRC members completed the survey, 27% of whom were students
84% stated their experience with kit was either good or excellent (only 2% described their experience as poor or very poor)
80% said we should keep the registration fee the same as last year and have teams reuse parts from year to year
68.1% described their experience with FIRSTChoice as either good or excellent (4.7% chose poor 0% chose very poor)
63% said the kit inspires student team members to work with and know more about STEM (16% said no, the kit didn’t inspire students)
47% of respondents said there are parts in the kit that they use throughout the year (beyond build and competition season)

213 days until the 2012 kickoff
See you then!

An insider's view of the GDC

2011-06-02T14:39:00.001-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

Linda Maulding aka Wallace joined the GDC in April as the first ever Rotating Member. She is a Xerox engineer and mentor for one of the original FRC teams, the X-Cats Team 191. Because Linda has a fresh perspective on Game Design, I asked her if she would share her impressions of the first meeting she attended in Manchester this May. Here’s what she had to say:

I began as a FRC Team 191 mentor in 1999. It's been 12 years and I am still fired up about FIRST Robotics! At the moment I am riding on a new high. I am part of the Game Design Committee (GDC)! I get to see first hand the muscle that went into 20 years of robot popping, mind binding, kid rocking, hand slapping, FIRST Robotics Competition games!

Just to put you on notice, I might use some words to describe the GDC that may seem outside the box, things like crazy in love, compassionate, grueling, persistence, laughter, tenacious, head of the class, integrity, loud, agile, and Sherlock Holmes.

When I first arrived in Manchester I had no idea what to expect. But even in my travels, I was reminded each time the pilot lowered the landing gear and these little wheels came down to assist this gigantic plane to land safely, how much tenacity game design plays in every day technology. The fact that a committee can bring together different minds, from different corners of the world, and different fabrics of intellect to develop a winning game that can not only highlight the importance of a rookie, but also stroke the egos of the veterans, is a miracle!

Typical work sessions at the GDC begin with warm fuzzes for the appetite and a choice of liquid eye openers to ensure creative juices flow throughout the day. Then it’s down to business, and I mean business. As I glance around the room, I see team members prepared for battle armed with sketches, power points, laptops, thinking caps, sneakers, jeans, pencils and erasers, ready to jump start another season. The team is given instructions for the day. Today’s task: narrow the team’s double digit list of brainstormed game designs to a manageable smaller list. The team agrees to take on the challenge. I observe briefly to learn the session protocol. While observing I hear and see the passion the team has, as they literally take ownership of a task and work it to satisfaction as a team.

After reviewing and discussing all the game designs, we then used a tactical approach to reduce the list to 3 with at least two other designs tied for 4th. Now that we have a manageable list, we move into what I call Shake-n-Bake. We take the ingredients of each game, knead them together, and throw them into the game arena to see what cooks up.

In order to do that we must now move the working session from a conference room onto the game field. The idea is to mimic each game as closely as possible to identify hiccups and complications. It also allows the team to be proactive in solving issues that may surface during the actual game play. Since we are early into the GDC sessions, there aren’t any sample game pieces or robots available, so the team becomes the tools they need to play the game.

This is a fun time, but one of the most productive, because it gets you right in the heart of the game! We run and crawl around on the field as robots, working the game, asking questions, throwing out good ideas, throwing out bad ideas, tweaking strategy, solving problems, and creating some too, all for the love of the game!

We Shake-n-Bake each game to ensure we have exhausted possible scenarios, answered as many questions as we could, and dotted many I’s and crossed a lot of T’s. By now it was late evening and we were exhausted as we lay sprawled on the game field eating ice cream! I smiled as I remember the daily schedule did say 8AM to 7PM ish!

As we got up to leave the session, a new burst of energy was in the air, so someone suggested we meet at this interesting watering hole that serves fried pickles to continue the discussion! Little did I know my day was not over! We arrived at the watering hole, ordered refreshments, scanned the gallery for FIRST alums then the discussion continued!

It’s been a while since I’ve had to stay completely focused for that many hours of the day. Being on the GDC I have developed a new love for grueling and I’m loving it!

The next day, while walking down the hill to the work session, I learned that the team came up with another game idea in the twilight hours at the thirsty fried pickles place! (Ok, I will admit some of us could not hang, so we left to get some sleep.) Remember when I said the short list could get longer…it just did!

The day began with the team running the Shake-n-Bake act on the newest game idea. The task for the day: narrow the list to 3 again and then Shake-n-Bake the games to pick the best 2. Since we knew the drill, we got to work.

During the working sessions, all the bases are covered. The team may not have all the answers and they may not all agree on everything, but I can almost guarantee that if you think they missed something or didn’t consider something, think again. They covered it! This team is the head of the class!

The team works hard at turning over every leaf and magnifying details so that when the lights go on, none of the delicate craftsmanship falls through the cracks. The ability to develop WIN –WIN scenarios for all involved, including the students and their sponsors, is at the heart of every work session. The team takes very seriously the opportunity to challenge and inspire young minds while promoting co-opertition between corporate and education industries. Not only is everyone heard, they are also given a chance to be a part of the solution.

I can’t wait for the next meeting. We still have a lot to get done before the 2012 game will be ready for Kickoff.

219 days until the 2012 kickoff

See you then!

What did you do with your weekend?

2011-06-01T16:23:00.001-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

I hope everyone had a good Memorial Day Weekend. Team 3323 Potential Energy marched in their local Memorial Day Parade. Did your team do anything interesting?

Here in Manchester we’re gearing up for a GDC meeting next weekend. The Engineering team is waiting impatiently for raw materials to be delivered so they can prototype some of the latest designs. Fortunately, they had a few game pieces to keep themselves busy.

(Photo removed.)

We’re going to need help in the coming season, so I’m looking to add an additional FRC Engineer to the team in the near future. Keep an eye on the employment section of our website. Details will be posted once the final t is crossed. I’ll keep you informed.

On a different note, as we’re wading our way through all the information collected this past season, a FRC staff member recently passed on this story: As Judges in Seattle were trying to decide which team would receive the Gracious Professionalism Award, one of them witnessed a student from one of the top three choices telling the FTA “you don’t ****ing know what you’re doing”. Needless to say, that team didn’t stay in the top three for long. Heads up teams, we can hear you.

Other info:

NASA's INSPIRE program is seeking applications for its 2011-12 Online Learning Community (OLC). Deadline: Thursday, June 30.

Ashoka's Changemakers is seeking "models that bring STEM expertise into public schools, thereby using resources from the private and not-for-profit sectors in new ways to further student learning." Winners are eligible for more than $120,000 in cash and in-kind prizes. Deadline Wednesday, August 3, 2011.

220 days until the 2012 kickoff
See you then!

We continue full speed ahead

2011-05-25T10:41:00.001-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

The GDC took a break this weekend (after meeting two weekends in a row), but work on the 2012 game continues. The Engineering team has been busy prototyping the game elements and a full sized field is ready and waiting on the first floor for when the GDC returns in June. (No. You can’t see it. We’re in lockdown until January 7th.) During our next meeting, we’ll use the elements to “play” the game again and again (using patient GDC members as robots) to establish the rules. We still need to develop the end game, and there’s the scoring to work out and the manual to write, but I’m cautiously optimistic that 2012 is going to be a very exciting season.

Upstairs we’re talking about Bag & Tag; what worked, what didn’t and how to expand the number of Bag & Tag events for 2012. This summer the staff is going to work on streamlining load in, improving load out, and beefing up communications to teams that need to ship to Bag & Tag events. If you’ve never been to a Bag & Tag event, you might want to read up on it this summer.

If you’ve ever considered hosting your own off season event (lots of fun, great practice for your drive team and a potential fundraiser) you’re going to want to check out How to Host an Off-Season FRC Event by Andy Baker & Chris Fultz.

Kate and Collin send their thanks to everyone who completed the KOP survey and tell me they’re reviewing the responses now.

The 2011 Season team survey link was blasted to your team main and alternate contacts last Thursday. As of today there are only 118 responses. I asked a lot of questions about the future of FRC so make sure your team participates before the Sunday, June 5th deadline.

The responses to the 2011 Championship survey tell me we need to increase seating for the fields in the pits, improve communication to teams about special events, and tweak the schedule to reduce conflicts. (And trash cans, I won’t forget about the trash cans.) I appreciate the constructive feedback (and have made note of several good ideas) and will share your comments with the other departments involved in the planning and execution of the 2012 Championship. With everything we learned about holding an event in St Louis this year, I have every expectation next year’s event will be even bigger and better.

If you’ve ever heard Science Friday hosted by Ira Flatow, you’ll be interested to know he’s asked Dean for a couple of inventive “kids” (up to 24 years old) who have invented something interesting to highlight in an upcoming show. If you know of anyone in FRC who meets those qualifications, send me an email ASAP at FRCTEams@usfirst.org and I’ll pass your recommendations on.

You probably know by now that Brandeis is conducting a survey of FRC and FTC teams for FIRST. At this moment only 175 FRC team leaders have replied from the 380 teams who were selected to participate and only 450 team members have completed the survey. We were hoping for a whole lot more involvement. If you are a team that was invited to participate, or if you know a team that was invited to participate, please encourage everyone to complete the process. In addition to giving us feedback about the program, the Brandeis survey will help us attract more sponsors and donors in the future.

227 days until the 2012 kickoff
See you then!

Is that a one or a zero?

2011-05-17T12:05:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

The GDC met over the weekend here in Manchester (again). We’ve been able to zero in on one concept for 2012 and have started beefing up the idea to add more scoring opportunities. We spent a lot of time discussing bumper rules and protective zones, but haven’t come to any absolute decisions.   It’s important to the GDC that the final version of the game doesn’t result in all teams creating similar robots. We like to see multiple solutions to a common challenge. It’s what innovation is all about.

My thanks to the members of the GDC who are giving up their weekends trying to fit 2 years’ worth of work into one season and my reassurances to the teams; we won’t waste the GDC’s other good ideas.   We’re keeping notes to ensure those ideas will be back on the table as we plan future diabolical games.

In other news:

Today is your team’s last chance to participate in the Kit of Parts survey.   The collector closes tonight at 11:45pm. Please make sure your team has both a technical mentor and a student complete the survey before the deadline. The link went out in an email blast to your main and alternate contact.

I still need release forms from the following Dean’s List students. If you know them, please encourage them to contact deanslist@usfirst.org ASAP.

Diane Bernardoni
Tina Dutra
TJ Evarts
Amy Frankhouser

I’m finding the results of the Championship team survey very interesting reading. Thank you to everyone who told me honestly what you think. I’ve shared the data with FRC staff members and will use your comments to improve future Championships.

235 days until the 2012 kickoff
See you then!

Wait, did he say pool?

2011-05-11T13:36:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

The GDC met for the first 2012 onsite meeting last weekend and to quote Dean, “we made great progress”.   We spent most of the day Saturday in the 4th floor Einstein conference room throwing around ideas for the 2012 game. Sunday we gathered on the FRC field set up on the 1st floor to throw around game elements (figuratively speaking) and some more ideas. The Engineering Department keeps a collection of items on hand for the GDC and we had some fun testing the behaviors of certain items under certain interesting conditions. (Sorry, I can’t be more specific than that.)

To meet our goal of finalizing the 2012 game early this year, we had to winnow the pool of game ideas down to just a few finalists last weekend and it looks like we have some real winners. We’re playing around with everything from field configuration to length of play (watch for a few questions in the FRC end of season survey coming soon). We plan to reconvene this weekend to further refine the finalists.   I’ll let you know what transpires.

My thanks to the 300 teams who have completed the 2011 Championship survey. There is just one more day left before the survey closes then I’ll be reviewing the results, so if your team attended CMP, please make sure your main or alternate contact completes the survey before tomorrow.

There are just 6 days left to complete the Kit of Parts Survey. So far 720 teams have started the survey, which sounds like a lot, however, last year we heard from a total of 811 teams (and we had fewer total teams). Please make sure your team participates. We want to hear from you. Interesting note: although we invited both mentors and students to participate, 3/4 of the respondents so far are mentors.

There are just 8 days left to purchase additional trophies, medallions and pins if your team wants extras.

June 30th is the deadline to purchase additional game pieces if your team is planning an off season event.     We have limited quantities left, so orders will be filled on a first come first served basis. I believe AndyMark also has game pieces available.

For those of you who are asking, no, we don’t have the dates for next year’s individual regional events yet. We do know we’re having a six week season starting with week one March 1-3, 2012 if that helps, but the Regional Planning Committees are only just starting to work on contracts with venues for the 2012 season. I’ll be sure to let you know when we have an official calendar.

Don’t forget, Dean has a fundraiser to help your team.

241 days until the 2012 kickoff
See you then!

A Unique Perspective

2011-05-06T09:48:00.000-04:00

Good Morning Teams,

Today I would like to welcome a guest blogger. Collin Fultz was a student on team 234 CyberBlue, in college he helped start team 1747 HBR, then after graduation he returned to 234 as a mentor. Since 2005 Collin has volunteered as a game announcer and MC (mostly at Boilermaker) and currently he works for me as the FRC Kit of Parts Engineer. Talking to Collin after Championship, I realized he has a unique perspective on FRC as he is one of very few people who have experienced the program from all possible points of view. I asked him to share his experience. Here’s what he had to say.

Reactions from St. Louis…

My first exposure to FIRST and FRC was at Championships (then called Nationals) at Epcot in 2001. My family was returning from a Spring Break vacation in Cocoa Beach and the competition was on the way home. My math teacher at the time was a team mentor, so he encouraged my family to stop by and see what he had been talking about in class for the last four months. I was hooked. Ten years and three host cities later, I experienced my first Championship not as a team member or even a volunteer, but as FRC staff.

It’s easy to get caught up in what’s happening on the fields at Championships. After all, the competition fields are the reason for the event, the FIRST Championships. What was eye opening to me was exactly how much “other” stuff goes on at Championship. Until the start of Elimination matches on Saturday, I saw three matches total in St. Louis. This goal for this post is to let you know some of that other stuff that goes on at Championship. It will be focused on FRC, but I know there was a ton of stuff also going on with FTC and FLL.

It started when we landed Tuesday and went straight to the venue to start building fields and setting up inspection stations. In total, eight FRC fields were set up by a team of staff, volunteers, and venue labor. A huge thank you goes out to all of the volunteers that were there Tuesday to help get everything ready. As I said at the Boilermaker Regional, coming to work at FIRST has shown me exactly how much this organization relies on volunteers. We wouldn’t be where we are without you.

Wednesday morning was more set-up, including setting up the area for Supplier Showcase. Wednesday afternoon, Conferences started and we opened the doors for FRC teams to come in out of the rain. A big Thank You needs to go to all of the teams who dealt with the weather Wednesday night and kept a level head about it. That situation had a potential to get ugly, but your graciousness helped save the day.

Thursday started with the pits opening and the Conferences continuing. Next, we had a wrap-up meeting with the Beta Test teams from 2010. These teams are a critical part of the Control System development, and it was important for the Control System team (representatives from FIRST, NI, TI, Oracle, and WPI) to get feedback on both the Beta Test program and the season. I encourage all teams to apply to be a Beta Test team in 2011. It’s the best way to make your voice heard during the development-cycle for the Control System. Then, we had the first FRC Live! from the pits. This one was exciting to me because we were able to announce the new four-slot cRIO-FRC2. We also took that opportunity to thank AndyMark for all of their work with the FIRSTChoice pilot this year. Your feedback on the Kit of Parts Survey will help determine the future of FIRSTChoice.

Also around this time, Supplier Showcase officially opened. Based on feedback from the Suppliers who attended, you all took advantage of them being there and were able to ask technical questions, see potential new products, and get some hardware assistance. Every Supplier I spoke to Friday night (when the Showcase officially closed) was glad they had taken the opportunity to come to Championship to see you. Your enthusiasm is one of the things that helps keep Suppliers coming back each year.

Also opening at this time was Scholarship Row, the Alliance Exhibits, and booths from some of our largest Sponsors. Hopefully you took some time to check out what they had on display. The NI booth had some really cool robots to check out. The CIA booth had a robot that followed a closed-loop path on the floor. The PTC booth was showing how to do quick modeling to test robot designs. Each booth had excited people ready to talk about what they were doing and how what you’re doing is applicable.

Next was a meeting of the Control System team to discuss the changes coming for the 2012 season. Most of the discussion centered on what would be required to get the cRIO-FRC2 ready for Beta Testing and for Kick-off.

Thursday night we had a dinner for the Judges, Regional Directors, and Ambassadors. It was really cool to sit in the Invited Guest area for a little while and see the connections being made. We also had to do the first “switch” of the fields and get them fully tested. We were swapping the dome fields during the i.am.FIRST practice, which was very cool to see.

On Friday there was so much going on that I won’t list it all for fear of leaving something out. I had meetings most of the afternoon. The first was with Intel and CTL. These two companies help bring you the Classmate PC’s teams can use as their Driver Station. We hope to do some things next year that will make the Driver Stations easier to use. The next meeting was with NI and Cross The Road Electronics. CTRE supplied CAN Cable kits to FIRSTChoice this year, and our discussion with them was about how to make CAN as robust as possible for the future. One thing we need to know about CAN is, “Do teams want to use it?” There is a section on the Kit of Parts Survey about CAN, and your feedback will help determine its future. The last scheduled meeting we had was with AndyMark to talk about FIRSTChoice and how we can improve it for 2012. I say scheduled, because we then had an impromptu meeting with Dell about how we can get Dell more involved at every level of FRC. It’s a great position to be in when you have companies approaching you asking how they can get more involved. Finally, one more field swap, then back to the hotel to change and head to the show. I still have “Whip My Hair” stuck in my head…

Saturday morning was a whirlwind and I was excited for the Eliminations. I got to see the Galileo Elimination matches in the afternoon and watched the eventual World Champion alliance up-close. Closing ceremonies gave me the chance to catch my breath a bit. Once Closing Ceremonies were over, the GDC met to discuss the season and plan where we’ll start for 2012. Then, it was upstairs to the Invited Guest Reception to see a few old friends, then back downstairs to load the trucks. We finished with the last truck at about 11:30PM, putting a close on the 2011 FRC Season.

Looking back, it’s incredible all that went on in St. Louis. The Event and Production Staff worked like crazy to make the event as good as it was. The Event Office had a constant flow of people in and out. We cannot thank these people enough for all of their help. Finally, as I said before, the Event and the Program would not be possible without the countless volunteers. Thank you to all who helped this season.

On to 2012…Go Teams!

246 days until the 2012 Kickoff
See you then!

Yes, I’m already counting down to kickoff 2012

2011-05-05T16:12:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

We’ve unloaded five of the seven trucks from Championship and the last two are scheduled to arrive next week. The FRC staff will spend the off season following up the final details of the 2011 season, cleaning and repairing the reusable field components, and preparing for 2012.

I have a number of notes for teams below, but first, I want to welcome the three newest members of the GDC. I mentioned during FRC Live at Championship, that the GDC is taking steps this year to complete development of the 2012 game before the end of the summer. Then the GDC will turn its attention to the 2013 game in an effort to get game development a year ahead. If we are successful, this will give the FRC staff more time for field preparation, manual development and testing and as a result improve the week one competition experience for teams. Because of the additional workload, the GDC has welcomed two FRC staff members, Collin Fultz, Kit of Parts Engineer and Ryan Foley, Software Engineer to the team, and has decided to add an additional Rotating Member position. Hall of Fame team mentors and Woodie Flowers Award Winners were invited this spring to apply for this position and on Saturday night, after finals, the GDC formally invited Linda Wallace from team 191 X-Cats to be the first person to serve in this new role. Linda has more than 25 years of professional engineering experience and has been a member of the X-Cats for 12 years. Welcome Linda, we’re all looking forward to working with you this year.

Now, on to my notes from championship.

At the LOGO MOTION Championship in St Louis:

9 FRC fields were shipped into St Louis for the Championship. If you counted fields, only 8 were set up (including practice fields and the Collegiate Aerial Robotics Demonstration) which means we had one extra field on hand for emergencies.
490 people volunteered for FRC event roles at Championship (and more walked in to help during the weekend.)
Robot inspectors inspected 352 robots and approximately 650 minibots for a total of over 1,000 robot inspections.
678 total matches were played.
The highest combined match score was 131-122, on Newton
Highest individual alliance score was 146, also on Newton. (This is one ubertube short of the perfect score of 158.)
136 trophies, 2710 medallions, and 20 banners were awarded to teams. Teams can order additional trophies, medallions, pins and buttons from the 2011 season here. Deadline May 19th.
National Instruments introduced the new cRIO FRC2 which will be included in the 2012 rookie kit of parts and which will be available for purchase sometime in the fall. The cRIO FRC2 chassis will be less than $300. The new upgrade kit which includes 3 modules and the cRIO FRC2 chassis will be less than $550. All existing cRIO modules are compatible with the new cRIO FRC2.
CNN was in the house filming for ‘Don’t Fail Me’ which will air May 15th at 8pm on CNN. The tv special features Team 842, Falcon Robotics from Carl Hayden High School, Phoenix, AZ; Team 1403, Cougar Robotics from Montgomery High School, Skillman, NJ; and Team 3675, Eagletrons from Seymour High School, Seymour, TN. Soledad O’Brien talks about the special here.
Morgan Freeman stopped by. He did some announcing on Archimedes and visited with teams. The video he made to promote FIRST is here.
FRC live videos are available on the FRCTeamsglobal youtube channel.

Now that we’re in the off season:

Dean’s Homework was “spread the word about FIRST and sell light bulbs”. To help teams with that aim, light bulbs are now available in 10 bulb packs. Details here.
Please complete the Kit of Parts survey (sent to your team main contact) and the FRC end of season survey (coming soon). The FRC staff read all your responses and take your input into consideration as we strive for continuous improvement. FIRST also has another Brandeis study underway. If your team is invited to participate in this confidential survey, please make every effort to participate. The data Brandeis collects is invaluable in promoting FIRST to sponsors and donors

As we look to the future:

Expect fields in pits at Championship next year. As the FIRST family of programs grows, we need to ensure all programs are represented at Championship. In order to give FTC and FLL fields equal prominence in the Dome, the decision was made this season to reduce the number of FRC fields in the dome. (Believe it or not, this decision was made long before will.i.am committed to hold the ‘half time’ show.) Rather than eliminate Einstein entirely or move one division into the pits and have those teams not compete in the dome, we went with having two fields in the pits and developed the plan to ensure all teams had time in the dome. We’re going to be reviewing pit/dome layout this summer and working to find ways to resolve some of the crowding and noise issues in the pits, but as our other programs grow, don’t expect FRC to have 5 fields in the dome next year.
This summer we’re going to be taking a long hard look at the future of Championship (CMP). At the current rate of growth for FRC, we are going to face a space crunch at CMP in a few years. Consider this. At each regional, six teams earn a space at CMP (the winning alliance, the Engineering Inspiration winner, the Chairman’s Award winner and the Rookie All Star team). This year we had 48 regionals. Add eighteen teams from the Michigan State CMP (When the District pilot began, the State CMP replaced three Regional events.) and you get a total of 306 teams. 352 teams competed this year. Not every team who qualifies to come to CMP can make it, so there are always a few empty slots, but as we continue to add new regionals each year, we are eventually going to run out of room. In the short run, there will be fewer and fewer spaces for non-qualifying teams at CMP. In the long run, we’re going to have to figure out a new system for determining which teams come to CMP.

It’s going to be an interesting summer as we prepare for the next few years. I’m looking forward to the GDC meeting this weekend and will be sure to let you know how it goes.

247 days until the 2012 kickoff
See you then!

Where does the time go at CMP?

2011-04-30T09:13:00.000-04:00

Good Morning Teams,

The final episode of FRC Live! was yesterday morning and I’ve been too busy ever since to get to a computer. Here are the highlights of what was covered as the crowd and I discussed the future of FRC.

At the current rate of growth for FRC, we are going to face a space crunch at Championship (CMP) in a few years. Consider this. At each regional, six teams earn a space at Championship (the winning alliance, the Engineering Inspiration winner, the Chairman’s Award winner and the Rookie All Star team). This year we had 48 regionals.   Add eighteen teams from the Michigan State Championship (When the District pilot began, the State Championship replaced three Regional events.) and you get a total of 306 teams.   352 teams competed this weekend. Not every team who qualifies to come to CMP can make it, so there are always a few empty slots, but as we continue to add new regionals each year, we are eventually going to run out of room. In the short run, there will be fewer and fewer spaces for non-qualifying teams at CMP. In the long run, we’re going to have to figure out a new system for determining which teams come to CMP.

This year, more Regional events went to the Bag & Tag (B&T) system. Next year, you can expect even more events will adopt the program. We know that there is room for improvement. We’re working to develop a system for teams who have no choice but to travel long distances to get to an event, and we’re working with locations where local teams have expressed an interest in participating, but the event facility is reluctant.   Feedback from teams has resulted in two interesting observations. All teams were asked at the end of the year last year how they felt about B&T. I don’t have the stats at hand today, but somewhere around 90% of teams who had participated in a B&T event liked B&T and about 90% of teams who had not participated in B&T didn’t like B&T. So I’m asking you, give it a try, you might like it.

Did you notice the tubes in your 2011 kit were a different shade of blue than the blue tubes on the fields? There was a miscommunication with the factory in China and by the time we received the first samples, a lot of dark blue squares had already come off the production line.   The most cost effective (and ecologically friendly) solution was to put the already produced miss-colored tubes in the kits and run just enough correctly colored tubes for competition. The blue tubes had to be air shipped to Manchester in order to arrive just in time to get them on the trucks headed to week one events.

If we had had more time between the moment the GDC finalized the game pieces and the day kits had to ship to make it to kickoffs, a lot of cost and confusion could have been avoided. This year, the GDC is taking heroic steps to try to complete development of the 2012 game by August. If we are successful, we will then immediately start work on the 2013 game. Hopefully, FRC will then be able to maintain a game development schedule where the game is finalized a year in advance allowing us more time to build fields, obtain game elements and test systems.

With the additional workload, the GDC has decided to add an additional rotating member position. We intend to invite one member of the FRC community to join the committee for a one year term. In February I invited members of the Hall of Fame and the Woodie Flowers Award winners to apply. Final selection will probably happen this weekend. I hope to be able to announce our selection soon.

I’ll let you know when the third episode is posted to the FRCTeamsGlobal YOUtube channel.

See you

Thanks for coming

2011-04-28T19:08:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

The first episode of FRC Live (in four parts) is now live on the FRCTeamsglobal youtube channel.

The second episode of FRC Live went well. I had a few items to share about ‘Behind the Scenes at FRC’ then I read comments from the “notes for Bill” box and answered questions from the crowd. I’ll let you know as soon as the second episode is posted, but in the meantime, here are a few highlights.

This year, in an effort to make week one events run like week five events we:

Provided more training to volunteers in key positions and worked to ensure more event uniformity
Held two week zero events where we set up fields and ran mini events to test the field, field management system and volunteer positions
Limited week one to 4 events so that we could double up FTAs and field support

The mini-bots in this year’s game are a result of Woodie’s vision of having swarming robots on the field. We were concerned how 10lb bots would fare sharing a field with 120lb robots, so we worked to find ways to keep the two segregated. Eventually we ended up moving mini-bots out of the big-bot’s path by having them climb out of harm’s way.

At one point during the development of LOGO MOTION we considered an entirely different end game. Instead of giving the first mini-bot up the pole 30 points, then giving 20 points to the second bot and so on, we discussed the idea of awarding precision instead. The mini-bot who touched the top at the last possible moment before the buzzer sounded would receive the highest score, the second to last bot to score before the end would receive the next highest score and so on backwards to the lowest score. We pictured tense moments at the end of each match while minibots clung to the poles playing chicken, each daring the other to go first.

You know now that we didn’t go with that design, but at one point, we considered sharing both endings at kickoff and asking teams to vote for their favorite. We didn’t go with this idea in the end, but that may not be the end of that idea. We may still invite teams to help us pick elements of a game sometime in the future.

One participant asked about the Michigan District system. This is the last year of the three year pilot and we are currently in negotiations regarding the future of the program. The district system helps reduce some costs, it provides greater opportunities for participating teams, and it represents an effective method for expansion of FRC. We’re concerned about the potential for volunteer burn out and resource consumption, so there’s still a lot to discuss. If we can work out the kinks, we are giving serious consideration to expanding District events into Texas , possibly New Jersey and potentially other locations in the near future. I’ll let you know the minute we have firm plans.

And as for whomever asked about the lasers, nothing is impossible. Give me some time to discuss it with the GDC.

The third episode of FRC Live will be held tomorrow at 10:30am.

I’ll see you there.

Were you in the crowd?

2011-04-28T13:15:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

I’ve just finished the first episode of FRC Live on the stage next to Pit Administration. We couldn’t arrange a live feed this year, but a recording was made and I’ll let you know as soon as we can get it posted on the web.

National Instruments joined me on stage to announce the new cRIO FRC2 which will be included in the 2012 rookie kit of parts and which will be available for purchase sometime in the fall. The cRIO FRC2 chassis will be less than $300. The new upgrade kit which includes 3 modules and the cRIO FRC2 chassis will be less than $550. All existing cRIO modules are compatible with the new cRIO FRC2. You can visit National Instrument’s booth for more details today or watch National Instruments and the usfirst.org website for more details coming soon.

Kate and Collin joined me on stage to thank Andy Mark for their role in creating and maintaining the FIRSTChoice system which successfully allowed for better personalization of the 2011 FRC Kit of Parts. They shared FRC’s plans to expand FIRSTChoice options for teams in the coming season.

I answered a few questions from the crowd and from the “notes for Bill” box.

One person asked about the thought process behind having two FRC fields in the pits. As the FIRST family of programs grows, we need to ensure all programs are represented at Championship. In order to ensure FTC and FLL fields have a place of equal prominence in the Dome, the decision was made to reduce the number of FRC fields. Rather than move one division into the pits, we went with having two fields in the pits and developed the plan to ensure all teams had time in the dome. The Friday night stage performance was not the primary reason for the new dome layout.

I’ll return to the stage at 3:30 to discuss what happens behind the scenes at FRC. If you can, please join me.

See you then.

I couldn’t do this alone

2011-04-27T14:29:00.001-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

The America’s Center and Edward Jones Dome are a hive of activity and as I move from fields to pits to the show office to backstage, I’m reminded again and again of all the effort the FRC staff has put in this season. They’re too busy right now to read this blog, but I still want to thank my dedicated and tireless staff. If you see them this weekend, please let them know they are appreciated.

Carla Proulx – who is coordinating the Dean’s list and whom I rely on for last minute event solutions
Charlie Jacobs – engineering guru and master of logistics
Chris Jennings –dark ops and the coordinator of CMP practice fields
Collin Fultz – the newest member of the KOP team
Derek Foster –leader of the army of FTAs and coordinator of CMP fields
Frank Merrick – who is keeping robot inspections running smoothly, ensuring we have control system advisors on hand and generally backing me up
Harry Robinson – an engineering jack of all trades who works on everything
James Rahaim – who is back in Manchester keeping the home fires burning
Kate Pilotte – who brings you the supplier showcase and will be joining me for FRC live tomorrow
Keith Bruning –who spent the past two days getting trucks unloaded and who will get us home again
Krista Pratt – who shouldered the burden of keeping FRC informed while FIRST planned Championship and tracked robot delivery
Matt Pilotte – without whom the field management system, scorekeeping, and electronic magic would not happen
Monica Cyr – who guaranteed the trucks full of supplies made it where they need to be on time
Nancy Skerry – FRC media mogul, Hall of Fame coordinator and general problem solver
Rob Mitchell-Hartson – carpenter/welder/prototyping master who can build anything the GDC needs on a moment's notice
Ryan Foley – the newest half of our FMS team
Wendy Trommer – the driving force behind the Judges and awards at championship

I’ll see you this afternoon.

I'm tired already

2011-04-26T22:20:00.002-04:00

Good Evening Teams,

Before I call it a night, I thought I’d tell you:

As staff arrived today, they told me that St Louis has greeters in the airport and most downtown hotels who are happy to advise teams as they explore the city. I also understand that St Louis has put up signs in the airports, at least one billboard on the highway and lamppost signs in the downtown. St Louis has really gone all out to make FIRST feel welcome.
The pits are set up and the pit administration crew tell me their preparations are on track. They want you to know they’re looking forward to seeing you tomorrow evening.
At last report all but two FRC robots are in the conference center. The last two are scheduled to arrive tomorrow.
The practice fields are complete.
The four competition fields are either complete or in final test mode.
Einstein is 80% set up.

I understand FIRST announced today that will.i.am and his special guests will be performing on Friday night. I haven’t seen the announcement yet, but I imagine teams will have a variety of viewpoints about including a special show in the Championship schedule. I think Collin put it best during one of our staff discussions. This isn’t about FIRST celebrating will.i.am. This is will.i.am and his friends celebrating the mission of FIRST and the amazing accomplishments of FIRST teams. We really are changing the culture when a famous performer interrupts his schedule to host a show in our honor. If this event is made into a television special, we will be able to get the FIRST message into homes across the country and around the world.

I’ll see you tomorrow

More pictures

2011-04-26T08:11:00.001-04:00

The stage for Friday.

The entrance to the pits.

One of the bleachers in the pits.

2 days and counting

2011-04-25T15:01:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

I flew into St Louis and didn't run into any issues at the airport. I’m in the dome right now where the crew has marked out the fields and have started to hang lights and speakers.

If we can keep to the schedule, all 8 FRC fields should be unloaded and ready to set up tomorrow. The America’s center is already filling up with pits and Robots are beginning to arrive.

I’ll be blogging, facebooking and tweeting throughout Championship. (When I can find the time.) You can find my blog here http://frcdirector.blogspot.com/ , I’m on facebook as Bill Miller FRC Team and I tweet as FRCTeams. I’ll try to remember to use #FRCCMP when I tweet.

NASA will be live streaming the field action here http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/robotics/

and HEC-TV in St Louis will be airing FIRST Championship ‘LIVE FROM ST LOUIS” Friday 9:00am-11:30 & 2:00-3:30 and Saturday 3:30pm-6:00pm http://live.hectv.org

Just hours left until Championship
See you then!

More news

2011-04-23T12:21:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

Staff and volunteers in St Louis tell me the Edward Jones Dome, the America's Center, the warehouse where the robots are stored and the 10 trucks with fields & supplies are all unharmed.

4 days to Championship
See you then

Have you heard the news

2011-04-23T08:34:00.000-04:00

Good Morning Teams,

We're monitoring the situation in St. Louis and will keep you informed if we find it necessary to make any alterations to the Championship plans. Our hearts go out to the residents of St Louis. We are currently checking in with staff and contractors and are not aware of any injuries to the FIRST personnel already in the area.

4 days to Championship,
See you then!

6 days and counting

2011-04-21T16:33:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

If you’re keeping up with the website, you may have noticed the updates to the A-Z Team Guide (conveniently indicated in red) about the two FIRST Sponsored Team Events Friday and Saturday nights
and the new live link on the Championship page with information on the Saturday night FIRST CAFÉ: Food and Friends. If you’re interested in participating in the FIRSTies Talent Show, the deadline to apply is Monday, April 25th.

The official announcement from FIRST regarding dome layout is still on its way.

6 Days until Championship
(Yes, I know the usfirst website shows 5 days at this point, but I’m counting down to the moment FRC teams can access the pits)
See you then!

Are you packed yet?

2011-04-20T15:44:00.002-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

We’re expecting 352 FRC teams at Championship this year. That’s 88 teams per division and a lot of people and equipment we need to get into the America’s Center on Wednesday evening.

You should know:

Monday - Wednesday, there will be Greeters in the baggage claim area of both terminals at the Lambert-St Louis International Airport, in the Metro station at the airport and in the lobby of most major downtown hotels. Greeters will be wearing blue vests with the FIRST logo and will be carrying welcome signs. These greeters are local volunteers who can help you get oriented to St Louis and who will be able to answer basic questions about getting around town.

FRC teams may load in from two sides of the convention center Wednesday night. There will be five street level loading stations on 9th street and one street level loading station at the 7th Street & Convention Plaza intersection. (See diagram.) FRC traffic should proceed clockwise around the America’s center to facilitate unloading.   The city has agreed to close one lane of 9th street to allow FRC teams to park briefly. There will be police and event staff on hand to direct teams.

The driver of the load in vehicle may not leave the vehicle. Unload the 5 members of your team who will be entering the pits, unload the gear as quickly as you can and move so the next team may pull in.   Large vehicle parking is available on 5th and Cole Street directly behind the dome for $35 for a 24 hour period. Be sure to mention you are a FRC team as the usual rate is $75.

There is no set limit to the amount of materials teams may load in, but load in MUST be done in a safe and manageable way. Remember to review the withholding allowance rules as defined in the FRC Game Manual section 1 – Introduction and discussed in the FRC Game Manual section 4 – The Robot.

Teams sign for their 5 load in wristbands at the load in station. Wristbands must be worn for access to the pit area.   If a member of your load in team needs to leave the pit for any reason, they may return as long as they are still wearing their wristband.

Wednesday night teams may:

Uncrate/unbag their robot – be sure to have an inspector sign off on your bag & tag form before opening your robot bag.
Charge batteries
Set up their pit
Work on their robot – the NASA machine shops will be open
Get their robot inspected
Get their encryption key

Practice fields will not be open on Wednesday night.

Thursday
Teams report to their division field at 8:15 for the Driver’s Meeting. For consistency, Aidan Browne, Chief Referee will be broadcasting his portion of the Driver’s Meeting to all fields simultaneously. If your team has any questions they would like answered during the Driver’s Meeting, you must tweet your questions to @FRCrefs by Monday, April 25th.

Friday
Teams report to their division field (in its new location) for a Driver’s meeting regarding queuing in the new location.

In other news:

FRC is shipping a total of 10 trucks to St Louis; eight fields from regional events plus the two truckloads of supplies that left Bedford yesterday afternoon.

The drayage company is estimating it will take 25-30 trucks to load all of the robot crates into the convention center.

Show Ready Events estimates we will unload 60 trucks total when you include the robots, fields, sound and lighting equipment, carpets, event necessities and other items.

If you’re wondering what to do in the off season:

Check out these off season events and consider borrowing a FIRST field to hold your own off season event.

IPO Education Foundation is holding a video contest to encourage teens and the public at large to consider the value of the US patent system. Deadline July 1, 2011 www.ipvideocontest.com

7 Days until Championship
(Yes, I know the usfirst website shows 6 days at this point, but I’m counting down to the moment FRC teams can access the pits)
See you then!

What do you mean this is the last full week before CMP?

2011-04-18T15:31:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

The Kit of Parts survey will go live today. It’s earlier than usual this year, so I don’t want you to miss it. Kate and Collin read every response and take teams’ input into consideration as they put together the kit of parts. So, please make sure your team reads the email blast (sent to your main and alternate contacts) and participates before the May 17th deadline.

The GDC Q&A forum will close today because we’re going virtual with the Q&A for the FRC Refs at CMP. Please tweet your rules questions to @FRCrefs by Monday – your questions will be answered during the Driver’s Meeting on Thursday morning (this replaces the live Q&A).

I need your help. I know all FRC teams are innovative and creative (you wouldn’t be in FRC if you weren’t). But, I need to find a few of the most innovative and creative FRC teams. Is your team especially ingenious? Has your team applied for a patent? Do you know any other FRC teams that are particularly original and inventive? Please send me an email about innovative teams that includes the name, number and a brief description of the team’s accomplishments. As always, I can be reached at FRCTeams@usfirst.org.

I invite all of you who will be attending Championship to join me for FRC Live. If you won’t be in St Louis, we’ll be posting video recordings of the meetings on the FRCTeamsglobal youtube site and providing links in this blog.

Thursday 10:30AM - Kit Happens - Get Control System news first as we discuss FIRSTChoice and the 2012 Kit of Parts.
Thursday 3:30PM - Behind the Scenes at FRC - Learn what it took to make 2011 a success and let us know what you want to see in 2012.
Friday 10:30AM - The Future of FRC - Come hear what’s on tap for game design, Bag & Tag, and competitions.

I also plan to tweet from Championship. I’ll be using and monitoring #FRCCMP.

I mentioned the Popular Mechanics Supplement in my last blog and have received a few questions since. Yes, Eric Sofge mentions the discussion we had about possibly going to a three year game cycle. No, that’s not the only conversation the GDC has had about the future of game design. We’ve considered a number of ways of restructuring games and game design. I’ll discuss this topic further during FRCLive.

The supplies for CMP are packed and ready on the third floor waiting for the trucks to arrive. We always stage the materials on truck-shaped outlines beforehand so we can load the trucks quickly and smoothly when they get here. These two truckloads will join the 8 fields already on their way.

9 Days until Championship
See you then!

The clock is ticking

2011-04-14T14:31:00.001-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

Now that week 6 is behind us, my staff and I are able to turn our attention to Championship. I still can’t tell you anything about Friday or Saturday night (watch for an official announcement from FIRST, most likely on April 20th), but there are a few more details about FRC that I can share.

On April 5th I told you there will be two qualification/elimination fields in the dome and two in the pits. That is still true. I also told you teams would switch fields at noon on Friday (move from a dome field to a pit field or vice versa). That has changed. After discussions with Staff, FTAs and support organizations, teams will switch fields at the end of the day on both Thursday and Friday.

Newton and Curie will spend all day Thursday on the fields in the pits while Archimedes and Galileo will spend the day on the fields in the dome. When competition concludes for the day on Thursday, teams and field volunteers will move to the new field. This gives my staff and the volunteers all night to ensure the switch goes smoothly. Archimedes and Galileo will spend all day Friday on the fields in the pits while Newton and Curie will spend the day in the dome. When competition concludes for the day on Friday, teams and field staff will move back. Newton and Curie will run Saturday’s qualification and division matches on the fields in the pits while Archimedes and Galileo will run qualification and division matches on the fields in the dome.

Note:

Divisions will change fields twice, once at the end of the day on Thursday, and again at the end of the day on Friday.
There will be two driver’s meetings. One Thursday, April 28th from 8:15-8:45AM and one Friday, April 29th from 7:45-8:00AM.
Teams are invited to calibrate their sensors on BOTH fields Thursday 8:00-8:45AM
All field volunteers – with the exception of queuers -will switch fields with the division
Curie will switch fields with Archimedes; Newton will switch fields with Galileo
Practice fields will not be open Wednesday night.

We’re working now on signage to direct teams and the public to each field each day and we’ve spoken with Sargent Productions about ensuring the live feeds of division play are labeled with the division name, not the field location.

The fields from MN 10,000 Lakes, Dallas Regional, Colorado Regional, Buckeye, Utah, Silicon Valley, and North Carolina are already on their way to St Louis. Two more trucks, loaded with Championship specific supplies (banners, trophies, program books, FLL and FTC fields, etc.) will leave Bedford next week.

In other news:

The May edition of Popular Mechanics has a special pull out supplement all about FRC. The author Eric Sofge followed the GDC this year and shares his insights on the process. If you can, track down a copy, it’s a good article.

The highest score during the FRC Regionals was 150 points. It was scored by teams 1114, 3756, and 2056 during Semifinal match 1-1 at the Waterloo Regional. The highest possible score in LOGO MOTION is 158. I wonder if we’ll see that at Championship.

If Dean didn’t visit your Regional/District event, you can see what he has to say about the FIRST Green e-watt saver program here: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/content.aspx?id=18445

You can vote for Dean Kamen in the STEM Superhero Sweeps (and register to win an iPad2).
The last time I checked Dean was in first place.

This Saturday, April 16th, FIRST president Jon Dudas and a FIRST student will be speaking at the
National Robotics Week event at the Boston Museum of Science in Boston, MA

13 Days until Championship
See you then!

CMP confusion

2011-04-06T16:26:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

I posted an update on Championship yesterday and since then have received more than a few questions about it. Let me see if I can clear a few things up.

There will be a total of four fields in the convention center; two practice fields and two fields where teams will play qualification and elimination matches. The qualification/elimination match fields will have bleachers on the two long sides (so you can sit on one side of the field to watch the action with the red alliance to your left and the blue alliance to your right or sit on the other side of the field and watch with the blue alliance to your left and the red alliance to your right).

There will be a total of three fields in the dome: two fields where teams will play qualification and elimination matches plus Einstein.

Teams will be assigned a pit on Wednesday night. Teams will not change pits.

Opening and closing ceremonies will be held in the dome on the stage next to Einstein.

I did not include the schedule for the Saturday qualification & elimination matches in my last blog post simply because times haven’t changed from the public agenda currently posted. The public agenda on our website will be updated to show the updates as soon as we can resolve some issues we are having with the content management system.

21 Days until Championship
See you then!

The latest on CMP

2011-04-05T16:42:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

The Championship Planning Committee met last night. Its mindboggling how many details there are to running an event like the Championship every year. Now that we’re moving to a new location, after seven years in Atlanta, GA, the committee needs to examine every aspect of the event, ask ‘why do we do this this way?’ and determine ‘what is the best way to do this in St. Louis?’ Not everything is 100% firm yet, but here is the latest information I have on the 2011 FIRST Championship.

Wednesday
5-9:30PM – 5 representatives from each FRC team will be allowed into the pits to:

Uncrate their robot – robot inspectors will be on hand to check your lock-up form if your last regional was a bag & tag event
Work on their robot – the NASA machine shops will be open
Get their robot inspected
Get their encryption key

Thursday
Teams may calibrate their robot sensors on the competition fields 8:00am-8:45am
Practice matches run 9:00am – noon
Qualification matches run 1:00-7:00pm YES, MATCHES RUN UNTIL 7PM
Pits will stay open until 8PM

Friday
Opening Ceremonies start at 8:30am. There will be NO ROBOT PARADE.
Qualification matches 9:30am-5:00pm YES, MATCHES ARE SCHEDULED TO END AT 5PM
The FIRST Dean’s List presentation will be held at noon in the Ballroom
Pits and the NASA machine shops will stay open until 7pm

Saturday
Closing Ceremonies, including the final FRC matches and award presentations are scheduled 4:00pm-6:00

I will be hosting half hour FRC Live sessions at 10:30 & 3:30 on Thursday and at 10:30 on Friday. I’m not ready to announce the topics, but I do want to thank everyone who sent in suggestions.

The floor plan will be VERY DIFFERENT in St. Louis. New this year, two qualification fields will be located in the Dome and two qualification fields will be located in the pits. To ensure all teams get to compete both in the high profile Dome and on the easy access, intimate fields in the pits, divisions will swap fields at noon on Friday. Specifically: if your team starts qualification rounds on Dome field #1 on Thursday, your team will move to Pit field #1 on Friday while the teams who started qualification rounds on Pit field #1 on Thursday, move to Dome field #1 on Friday

Watch this space, and your team’s main and alternate contact’s email inbox for additional updates. I understand from the committee that there will be more details available on April 20th.

22 Days until Championship
See you then!

In case you can't find it

2011-04-01T12:45:00.002-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

The Las Vegas webcast is now located at www.regionalwebcast.com

26 days to Championship
See you then!

The weeks are flying by

2011-03-29T09:15:00.002-04:00

Good Morning Teams,

I’m back from Midwest Regional (thanks everyone) and have a few moments in the office before I need to pack up and head out for week five. One of the many things I’ll be looking at this week (when I can fit it in) are the results from the week three surveys. Your answers on the weekly team on-line surveys provide me with feedback on how well each event went and on how the season is progressing as a whole. I’m also surveying event managers and key volunteers each week to collect another perspective on how things are going. It makes for some very interesting reading. I appreciate everyone’s input and already have a few ideas of improvements we can work on during the off-season. After Championship I’ll survey teams for input on the season as a whole and on the future of FRC. I look forward to your answers.

Talking about Championship, I’ll be hosting FRC Live again this year. I learned from last year’s surveys that teams who weren’t able to attend CMP felt left out of the FRC Live discussion, so I have a staff member working on an affordable way to film and post this year’s shows. What I want to know from you is: What topics do you want me to address during FRC Live? Send your suggestions to FRCTeams@usfirst.org

My thanks to the two people at Midwest who noticed the misspelling on my name tag. It has been fixed.

29 Days until Championship
See you then!

Where do the days go?

2011-03-22T09:54:00.000-04:00

Good Morning Teams,

Another successful but busy week spent monitoring 14 FRC Regional and District Events has flown by. Some students asked me this weekend, “What’s it like to work at FIRST?” I think they thought I get to build robots all day long, because they seemed surprised by my answer. My schedule during the competition season is basically; fly to an event, get up early, spend the day making speeches, meeting with local volunteers and visiting teams while checking on the progress of all the other events and fielding phone calls from event managers, key volunteers and staff who need my input as they troubleshoot events. I get back to my hotel room late, clean out my email in box, go to bed, get up early and repeat until it’s time to fly home. Mondays I meet with the Game Design Committee where we discuss the previous week’s events, tweak anything that needs tweaking, and prepare for the next week. (Which reminds me, watch for Team Update #19 coming soon.) Tuesdays I catch up on what’s happening back at the office as staff prepare for upcoming events and championship, then do a load of laundry, and re-pack my suitcase in preparation for flying to the next event.

I know I was in Bayou last week because it was warm outdoors, I had gumbo and I remember marching in the opening parade holding an umbrella and tossing miniature stuffed alligators to the teams. My thanks to all the volunteers who were so helpful last weekend and my apologies to any of you who wanted to talk to me but couldn’t because I had a cellphone stuck to my ear. My primary goal is to ensure all events are running smoothly, which unfortunately means I’m not always free to talk.

Checking my calendar, I see I’m headed to Midwest Regional this week. Maybe I’ll see you there. If not, best of luck in week 4 everyone!

36 Days until Championship
See you then!

Week two is now a happy memory

2011-03-15T16:32:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

I enjoyed my visit to Duluth where FRC held the first ever Superior Lake Regional. My thanks to everyone who made the event a success and my gratitude to the volunteers with prior experience who traveled long distances to help out and show everyone the ropes. I’m keeping an eye on the Israel Regional which is happening right now and I’m already packed for my visit to Bayou Regional this weekend. Week Three is our most challenging week with 14 events. I appreciate everyone’s help at events during the first two weeks, as your input and assistance go a long way toward making the really busy weeks go more smoothly.

I know there was a miss-communication in Milwaukee last weekend and want everyone to know that FRC encourages the use of safe bench top tools that can be carried in by one person. (See the 2011 FRC Administrative Manual section 4.9.8.) If you encounter a miss-communication at any FRC events in the future, please turn to the 2011 Manual first, then with rule in hand, discuss the problem with the event volunteer. If you cannot come to an agreement, go to the Event Manager or FTA both of whom can contact FIRST HQ if they can’t resolve the issue themselves.

Now that just over 25% of all FRC teams have been to a competition, we’re starting to see a lot of variation in robots. I’ve seen everything from plywood parts to sophisticated machined pieces. As you compete this season, remember FRC is about the experience of problem-solving and working together as a team. Be gracious to everyone, please! Each and every team brings something to the table and has something to contribute to the discussion. Winning feels good for a little while; but what you learn in this 20th FRC season will last a lifetime.

My thanks to all the teams who competed during week one and who completed the week one survey. I’ve already started to look at your responses. If your team competed during week two, ask your team main contact to check their inbox for the link to the week two surveys that was sent out yesterday. I encourage all teams to complete the survey for each event they attend during 2011. Your answers will help us plan 2012.

The Public agenda for CMP is now available on our website There may be changes, so check back for updates.

And the Post Season Awards order form is now on line as well. If your team receives a trophy during the 2011 season and you would like additional trophies to share with a sponsor or with school district, order early. Quantities of some items are limited.

43 Days until Championship
See you then!

Well that’s a relief

2011-03-08T15:21:00.001-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

The results are in; week one competitions were a success. I was in Alamo where team 148 Robowranglers scored not once, but twice in a single autonomous period. At BAE/Granite State Regional, mini-bots climbed all four poles in a final match. I can’t wait to see what teams achieve in week two. While you’re getting ready for your next competition, I have a few updates.

Things all FRC teams should know:

Safety is first and foremost at an event. Wear your safety glasses, use safe lifting practices and pay attention. An injury can ruin your day.
Team update #17 is due out today. It will contain updates and information specific to what we learned at week one events.
This year NASA is offering teams that win the Engineering Inspiration Award at 2011 Regional (and state CMP) events held in the USA up to $3,000 towards the registration fee for the 2011Championship. Contact your Regional Director for more details.
If you survived your rookie year, you already know enough to lend a rookie team a hand. At your next event, pass on the GP and see what you can do to help a rookie team pass inspection and prepare for competition.

Things Bag & Tag teams might want to know:

If the agenda indicates a Bag and Tag Load-in time ‘for Drop Off only’, you may bring in your robot and equipment, but that’s it. You can’t open the robot bag. You can’t plug in your batteries. You can’t work on your robot.
If the agenda states ‘Pits Open’ that is the signal that teams may unpack equipment, plug in batteries and begin pit set up.
You have to have your Robot Lock-Up form signed by an inspector before you can unbag your robot and begin work.

At Finger Lakes the first day of practice was delayed by a limitation in the robot radio when in the presence of a large number of wireless networks. We were able to determine what the issue was and the college was good about shutting part of their system down during our event (then letting us stay late to make up for lost time). This week we’re working with our wireless consultant to determine if this will be an issue in other locations and at future events.

While I was in San Antonio, I had the chance to visit Bill Miller Bar-B-Q (yes, it’s a real restaurant). I had dinner with teams 2745 METRoboticS and 3478 Campus San Luis and thoroughly enjoyed both their company and the food.

Can’t get enough LOGO MOTION? Lockheed has released the 2011 version of 5thGear. It can be downloaded here.

If you’re interested in participating in the final flight of shuttle Atlantis, check out the Student Spaceflight Experiments program. Deadline March 15.

50 Days until Championship
See you then!

Are you ready for competition?

2011-03-02T15:52:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

Tonight fields are being unpacked and set up at all 4 week one regional events. (District Events set up Thursday.) The moment of truth has arrived. FRC staff and volunteers worked hard to prepare for the 2011 season. Beta teams tested the control system, staff tested the field management system, and many of you helped test the fields at week zero events. We’ve scheduled multiple FTAs for each event this weekend and we have staff and volunteers ready to lend a hand. The game can’t be totally debugged beforehand (who knows what ideas some of you have for solutions to the challenge), but we’re doing everything we can to make week one events the best ever.

As you pack for your first event, please remember to bring:

A printout of your team roster in TIMS and paper copies of Consent and Release forms for any team members who did not complete the Consent and Release form on line. You will need these at registration in the Pit.
Safety glasses for everyone traveling with you to the event (plus spares). You don’t want to leave someone stuck on the outside. Everyone needs safety glasses to enter the pits.
Everything you withheld when you shipped/locked up your robot. (Especially your batteries and battery chargers.)
Your robot lock-up form and spare tags if you are attending a bag and tag event. You must show the form before you may open your bag and you’ll need the tags to close your bag before you leave.

At the event:

Please fix sharp edges on your robot before you get to the robot inspection station – we need your help to save our game pieces.
New this year (because every pair of safety glasses that doesn’t get returned increases costs) mentors have to sign for any safety glasses borrowed by teams or team members at FRC events.

Also, because teams have asked in the past, yes, it is possible for teams to win multiple awards at an event. Winning one award does not block a team from consideration for any other award.

While you are waiting for your next event:

Check out the FIRST teams on the Connect a Million Minds Fulfillment Wall and join them if you like.
Learn more about The New Cool and Neal Bascomb. He’s speaking tonight at the Wilson Center. If you miss the live webcast, you can catch the podcast.
Search for aps developed by FRC teams for your phone. I’m impressed by what’s out there.
Visit the new FIRST facebook page

2 hours until the week one events
See you then!

What comes between week zero and week one?

2011-02-23T12:19:00.001-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

Field 11 left the building yesterday bound for the New Jersey Regional. Today the field for Israel and the two fields for the Michigan events are scheduled to leave our dock. The field for Alamo is on deck, then Rochester and Manchester go out next week. (The Hawaii field went out last week.) By week three of competition we’ll have 15 fields on the road and one parked in Tennessee ready to go in case of emergency.

The two week zero fields are back in the building and are being prepped to turn around and go out to week two competitions. The fields performed well and teams had a good time. Dean, NH Senator Kelly Ayotte and Nashua Mayor Donnalee Lozeau visited the Nashua High School South event. CT Senator John Kissel and CT Lt Governor Nancy Wyman visited the Suffield Shakedown.

We learned a few things at both events which will help week one competitions run more smoothly. Be sure to read Team Update #13 for clarifications to game rules. Also, not included in the update, we learned that some teams are under or overinflating their practice game pieces. At events, we’re using templates to ensure game pieces are inflated consistently. The triangle template has a 7” diameter hole which is used to measure in the middle of leg (between the two corners). The template for the circle and square has a 8” diameter hole.

While your team is taking a breather and getting ready for your first competition, I’d like you to take a moment and consider Championship for me. This year FRC Live will post podcasts so that teams that can’t make it to St Louis can still benefit from the discussions. Last year the topics were “The History of Breakaway & What’s Next for the GDC”, "Upcoming Technologies: What’s on the Horizon"? and "The Robot Ship Show – Why does Robot Shipping have to be such a challenge?” What would you like me to discuss this year? Send your suggestions for FRC Live topics to FRCTeams@usfirst.org.

I’m interested to know if your team has, or knows of, a phone app that is particularly helpful during FRC competitions. I know about the FRC Scoring Calculator by George Marchant, FRC Spyder by DWAB Technology and the FIRST LOGO MOTION 2011 Scorepad by Fandastic Utilities. Is there anything else I should load on my phone? Send your suggestions for helpful apps to FRCTeams@usfirst.org.

Autodesk is now encouraging every team (whether they have created an animation or not) to view the animation entries for one regional and cast one team vote for their favorite.

National Robotics Week is holding a robot contest to encourage students of all ages to share their robots. Entries are due March 20th

8 days until the week one events
See you then!

To answer your questions

2011-02-18T17:17:00.000-05:00

Good Evening Teams,

I’ve heard from Operations that they are getting questions abou the withholding allowance:

Yes, you may withhold up to 30 pounds of robot parts PLUS the operation console, mini-bot and batteries when you ship or bag your robot on Tuesday.
Yes, you may continue to work on the 30 pounds of robot parts, the operator console and mini-bot after Tuesday.
Yes, if you withhold any items, you have to hand carry them to the event yourself (no shipping). Plan ahead if you have to fly. Airlines may object to batteries in carry-on luggage.
Yes this is all explained in the manual. See R23, R24, R25 & R33.

Also, robot inspection videos are now available on youtube on the FRCTeamsglobal channel. Initial inspection, pneumatic systems, power on check and mini-bot inspection are all posted. The videos for mechanical systems and electrical systems are coming soon.

4 days to Robot Ship
See you then!

Robot Inspection Checklist

2011-02-16T16:33:00.002-05:00

Good Afternoon Again Teams,

The Robot Inspection Checklist is now posted to our website under the 2011 Game Manual Section 4 – The Robot.

6 days to Robot Ship
See you then!

Week Zero is upon us

2011-02-16T14:46:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

Here at HQ we’re preparing for two Week Zero events this weekend. What are Week Zero events you ask? On the last weekend before robot ship day, many veteran teams host scrimmages where FRC teams can test out their design in a competition like atmosphere and start planning game strategy. Find one near you. In past years, Suffield Shakedown has graciously allowed the FRC staff to use their event for a shakedown of our own. We pack a competition field, transport it, set it up, run match play, then break down the field and head back to the workshop to review what we learned from the experience. Over the years this has led to everything from better shipping crate design to elimination of issues before they were experienced at any competition events.

This year as part of our ongoing goal of making week one events look like week five events, FRC is hosting a scrimmage closer to home where more FRC staff can be on hand AND we’re sending a field and limited staff to Suffield. This way we hope to get twice as much test information before week one events go live. My thanks to the dedicated teams of volunteers in Connecticut and New Hampshire who are helping us bring you the best season ever.

While we’re getting ready for competition, your team should be preparing for robot ship AND submitting for awards. The deadline for Chairman’s Award, Woodie Flowers Award, Website Award and Dean’s List are all tomorrow, February 17th at 11:59 am Eastern Time (that’s before noon). We had a brief problem with a server last night, so if your team tried to submit for awards and ran into issues, give it another try today. The system is back up and running fine.

I learned this morning that FRC is featured in an article on MachineDesign.com

6 days to Robot Ship
See you then!

What it looks like around here right now

2011-02-10T15:01:00.001-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

Here’s how 200 Bedford Street looked this early this morning before the staff arrived.

Scoring grids just back from the welder wait to be sorted into fields. Designing a new game every year means every year we have to build new elements for the competition fields.

We have 16 fields that will travel to the 59 FRC events this year. (A seventeenth field is staged in Tennessee for emergency deployment in case something happens to put a field out of commission.) In an effort to keep things organized, each field worth of road cases is painted a different color. Here, road cases are waiting on the third floor ready to be packed.

Engineering has to calculate the total amount of consumable supplies needed for each event, then order and distribute mountains of zip ties and acres of tape. Trucks don’t return to HQ between events so each truck must contain enough supplies to support up to six weeks of events.

Every event has a volunteer coordinator who oversees the 100-160 volunteers needed to run an event. Volunteer Development packs and sends supplies to each event to support their efforts.

The Kits of Parts Engineers divvy up remaining kit of parts materials into spares cases. These parts are reused from event to event.

This is just a small part of what is going on in the building today. These pictures make the building look almost serene, but during the day 200 Bedford street is a hive of activity as everyone gets ready. The first truck leaves just two weeks from today.

12 days to Robot Ship

See you then!

That’s one fourth of your robot

2011-02-08T14:08:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

Operations tells me they’ve been getting a lot of calls from teams asking if there will be an extension to the build season and/or wondering if the withholding allowance will be increased this year. While I am sympathetic to teams facing weather related challenges, the answer is still no, FRC will not grant any extensions to the build season for weather related issues and no, FRC will not increase the withholding allowance this year. I strongly advise teams to review the 2011 withholding rules in the Game Manual and plan the next two weeks accordingly. Teams may withhold their operator console, minibot, batteries and up to 30 pounds of fabricated items on robot ship day R33 and continue development of those items R24 as they prepare for competition.

In other news, we have just confirmed with the venues that at every Bag & Tag regional, teams will be able to drop off their robots and equipment the day before the event starts. (Drop off on Thursday in NYC, drop off on Wednesday everywhere else.) Each team may have up to five (5) members participate in the equipment move in. Finalized Public Agendas with specific drop off times for each event will be published soon.

And yes, as of this morning, we still can’t consistently update the usfirst.org website. I apologize for the inconvenience and assure you the IT department is working to resolve the issue. Thank you for your patience.

We’re looking for teams to share their experience and knowledge with others at Championship. If your team is interested in hosting a conference topic on Wednesday, April 27th in St. Louis, read the call for proposals and submit here.

14 days to Robot Ship
See you then!

Where's todays team update?

2011-02-04T19:22:00.000-05:00

Good Evening Teams,

If you're wondering what's happened to Team Update #8 wonder no more. The content management system we use to update the FIRST website has been down all day. Until it gets back up, we've posted Team Update #8 and its supporting documentation on our forums at http://forums.usfirst.org/forumdisplay.php?f=1495. We will post it to the update page as soon as we can. Sorry for the inconvenience, and thank you for your patience!

18 days to Robot Ship

See you then!

Robot Shipping de-mystified

2011-02-04T13:44:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

Here’s why we have a 400lb limit for robot shipping:

Every year FedEx generously donates a total dollar amount that may be applied to FedEx services. FRC chooses to earmark this donation for robot shipment by teams to and from events. FRC pays for FedEx shipment of kits of parts to Kickoff locations; FRC pays for FedEx services utilized in the day to day operation of the organization; and FRC pays for all FedEx costs incurred by teams shipping robots after the total dollar amount of the FedEx donation is exceeded.

Every year FRC presents qualifying teams with FedEx bills of lading and requests teams comply with weight limits when shipping their robot to and from events. The goal is to share the FedEx donation among as many FRC teams as possible without exceeding the total dollar amount of the FedEx donation.

For the past three years robot shipment by teams has exceeded the total dollar amount of the FedEx donation.

Here’s how Robot shipping really works:

Robots are not shipped to the venue. Venues don’t have the facilities, or the desire to store a bunch of robot crates in the weeks leading up to our event. Instead, robot crates are shipped to drayage warehouses. The drayage company delivers the robot crates to the venue the day FRC starts setting up for an event.

FRC earmarks the FedEx donation for use by teams shipping a robot from their location to the drayage site. If a robot crate exceeds the 400lb weight limit, that crate eats up the donation faster than a robot crate less than or equal to 400lb and eventually FRC has to foot the bill for shipments made after the dollar amount of the FedEx donation is exceeded. (Last year a team shipped a 1280lb crate using up more than three team’s weight allotment in a single shipment.)

FRC pays the drayage site to store the robot crates. FRC pays the drayage site a fee to deliver the robot crates based on the assumption the crates don’t exceed 400lb. If a robot crate exceeds the 400lb weight limit, FRC has granted the drayage company permission to charge the team for the overage. This fee only covers the additional costs to the drayage company. It is not applied to the shipment of the robot crate to the drayage facility from your location.

Here’s what your team can do to help:

Keep your robot crate at or under 400lb. This allows FRC to share the FedEx donation among as many FRC teams as possible without exceeding the total dollar amount of the FedEx donation.

If you know for sure that the items you want to ship to your event will exceed 400lb, you have several choices.
• Reconsider the tools and supplies you plan to bring to the event and look for ways to come in at or under the weight limit.
• Distribute the tools and supplies among the team members attending the event and have them hand carry the items to the event.
• Build a second crate, load the extra weight into that crate, pay to ship that crate to the drayage site and pay the drayage company to store and deliver it.

18 days to Robot Ship
See you then!

Build season week four part 2

2011-02-03T12:38:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

I forgot to mention on Tuesday that the FTA training over the weekend went well.   40+ people were in attendance. It was reassuring to see a lot of long time FTAs return and I’m excited about the new faces in the crowd who have come up through the ranks from teams and through other volunteer positions to get here. The FTAs braved snow flurries to spend two ten hour days here at HQ receiving training in the mechanical and electrical aspects of the field, reviewing the game rules, driving test robots and playing LOGO MOTION. I’m happy to report we have a really great bunch of FTAs this year who are prepared to bring their broad knowledge and enthusiasm to your competition.

We’re recovering here at HQ from another big snow storm which is a good time to point out there are no extensions to deadlines for snow days. Robot ship day is nearly upon us.

I ‘ve been meaning to thank National Instruments, Texas Instruments, Oracle, WPI, and AndyMark for the massive amount of work they do on behalf of FIRST. Did you know these companies provide control system support and the FIRSTChoice pilot at no cost to FIRST? They work with our staff on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis. Like so many volunteers, FIRST would not function without them. Thank you!

As your robot takes shape and increases in mass, please take a moment to review safe robot lifting practices with your team. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, or something like that.

As robot ship approaches and you wonder what to do during the lull afterwards, consider checking out the FIRST Green e-watt saver fundraising program.   Teams have already placed orders and are already raising funds for competition.

We have a new landing page on the FIRST website celebrating Will.i.am’s visit to Kickoff and anticipating his performance during halftime at the Super Bowl. To access our 'original' homepage, click on the FIRST logo in the lower left corner of the screen.   The splash page is not permanent. We will return to the ‘traditional’ homepage sometime next week.

Information specific to all the FRC competitions is on its way. I know teams want to start planning for events, but here at FRC we don’t want to post something prematurely and have important details change over time.   I’ll let you know when it’s ready.

19 days to Robot Ship
See you then!

Build season week four part 1

2011-02-01T15:44:00.002-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

Please, please, please remember to keep checking FRC Team Updates for the official word from FRC HQ. You don’t want to complete an aspect of your robot then realize too late that there has been a clarification to a rule that disallows your design.

If you want to help reduce the time spent waiting between matches at FRC competitions, take a close look at R53 in section 4 – The Robot. If all FRC teams mount their radios in such a way that the diagnostic lights are visible to field personnel (without having to open flaps or remove covers) that will improve troubleshooting speed and get things moving more quickly on the field. Save your team time and trouble, make sure your robot complies with R53 before you get to robot inspection.

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the FIRST robot design video staring Grant Imahara

Last week I reminded everyone of upcoming deadlines for awards. I forgot to include Autodesk. Award information is available on our website and more details are available on the Autodesk website.
3D Animation Competition ends Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. PST
3D Design Competition ends Thursday, March 3, 2011 at 5:00p.m. PST

Please join me in thanking Woodie Flowers and Dave Lavery for their incredible service to the GDC. After twenty years and ten years respectively of brilliant contributions to the FRC game, both have chosen to resign from the GDC this year. Their sacrifices have been numerous and their leadership will be missed. While words alone seem insufficient, on behalf of all of The FRC community, we thank them.

While we will miss them at GDC, they continue to be extensively involved with FIRST. You will see them ‘out and about’ probably as much or more than you did before. Both also serve on the National Executive Advisory Board which Woodie chairs.

When you see them at events, please remember to add your personal thanks. In the meantime, the GDC continues its work in supporting the 2011 season and preparing for what’s next.

Will you be watching the Superbowl this Sunday? Born and raised near Pittsburgh, I’m a Steelers fan.

21 days to Robot Ship
See you then!

The hurrier I go the behinder I get

2011-01-27T09:00:00.001-05:00

Good Morning Teams,

We completed FRC Judge Advisor training last weekend and are now preparing for FTA training this weekend. Our FTAs are dedicated volunteers and I appreciate their enthusiastic participation in this annual event here in snowy Manchester, NH. We’ll have the FTAs set up and tear down a 2011 field, we thoroughly brief them on the rules and scoring system, then run a few matches. This way the FTAs and FRC engineering staff can review game and field performance in a controlled environment before the competition season begins. The FTAs will depart prepared for the competition season and the engineering staff can address any bugs we find during the rigorous testing. We’re determined to make 2011 the best FRC season ever.

Training for other key event volunteers is scheduled throughout the month of February, mostly on line and via conference calls. Volunteer coordinators still recruiting volunteers for regional events. If you know of someone who wants to help out at a competition have them go to www.usfirst.org/vims to sign up.

As your team is preparing for 2011, please remember to check the bi-weekly team updates on the usfirst website and make sure rookie teams in your area know that this is the only place where official updates to the Game Manual are posted.

Also, keep in mind the deadline to submit for FIRST Dean’s List, Chairman’s Award, Woodie Flowers Award and the Website Award is February 17th which is only 21 days away. Details are available on our website and submission for the Chariman's Award, Woodie Flowers Award and the Website Award is done by your team’s student submitters in STIMS. Submission for the FIRST Dean's List is done by the team main contact in TIMS.

Remember, if you submit for the Chairman’s Award, you have to bring your video with you to the interview. New this year: no video, no interview.

Also new this year: instead of bronze participation medallions, all teams will receive 25 game logo themed participation pins.

The FTC rookie team incentive is still available for FRC teams. If your FRC team supports the development of a new FTC team before March 30, 2011, the new FTC team will receive a $200 discount on the 2010-2011 season registration, and your FRC team will receive a $500 credit on the 2012 season registration.

February 24th is Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day. If your school is interested in participating in Allegro Production’s Virtual Scientist Guest Lecturer Series contact Fallon@ssrvideo.net for more information. Deadline to register is Friday, February 11 at 5pm EST.,

26 days to Robot Ship
See you then!

Also of interest

2011-01-19T12:16:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

There are tentative plans to open the FRC Pits at the FIRST Championship earlier this year. FRC Pits are scheduled to open on Wednesday, April 27th from 5:00pm to 9:30pm to access your robot. Similar to last year, the FOCUS WILL BE ON GETTING YOUR ROBOT READY FOR INSPECTION.

The FRC Kickoff Workshops held on Friday, January 7th were recorded and are posted here: http://thinktank.wpi.edu/tag/1005.

The Beta version of Virtual Technical Advisor (VTA) is now open. Visit https://my.usfirst.org/FIRSTPortal/Login/Virtual_login.aspx. If your team needs technical help, put in a request for assistance. The system will match teams with technical advisors.

If you are programming your robot in LabVIEW, be sure to check out http://www.frcmastery.com/. The site has been updated for the 2011 season.

This past Saturday, January 15th, we had all of the Lead Robot Inspectors (LRI) here at Headquarters for training. Stay tuned for a group picture. During all 2011 FRC Competitions (Regionals, District Events, State Championship, and Championship), robots will be subjected to a weight inspection and a brief safety inspection before competing in elimination rounds. Be advised robots may be selected for re-inspection at the request of the LRI, Referees, FTA, etc...if necessary. Teams are reminded that they always have the option to appeal any inspection decision to the Lead Robot Inspector (LRI). Documentation will go a long way in appealing your case.

FIRSTChoice is now closed and early feedback has been positive. My blog on Friday, January 14th stated that IF there was a surplus of mini bot kits there would be the possibility of making them available to FRC teams in a limited window. There are no additional mini bot kits leftover for sale. FRC teams without a mini bot kit will need to work with other teams or obtain the mini bot materials on their own. FRC teams that loan out their mini bot will earn co-opertition points.

You can help make robot ship day go smoothly by assigning one member of your team to read up on the Bag and Tag process http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/content.aspx?id=3570 if you are attending a Bag and Tag event. Double check your shipping documents now http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/content.aspx?id=3570
if you are attending a traditional event.

34 days to Robot Ship
See you then!

To Bot or Not

2011-01-14T11:45:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

It has come to my attention that there seems to be some confusion about the FRC mini bot. If your team has decided to build a mini bot for 2011, (Yes, you can compete without a mini bot.) there are a few things you should know.

FRC teams are encouraged, but NOT required to work with FTC teams. As much as we would like to promote cross-program co-opetition, you don’t need an FTC team to compete in LOGO MOTION.
If you can’t find a FTC team to work with during the 2011 season, we put together 1700 FTC mini kits and made them available to FRC teams through the FIRSTChoice process.
The mini-bots you saw climb poles during the Kickoff videos were constructed primarily from the FTC mini kit. (We added zip ties and other minor items.)
There are 284 FTC mini kits still available as of 11:06 am today, and there is still time to order before FIRSTChoice closes 8PM ET on Sunday, January 16th. Teams may choose a maximum of one (1) FTC mini kit as part of their three free items. All your team has to do is pay shipping costs.
If any FTC mini kits remain after the deadline, we’re looking at the possibility of making them available to FRC teams during a limited sales window. Details will be released next week.
Teams may use components not included in the FTC mini kit as long as those components comply with the rules set out in the 2011 FRC Game Manual.
If your team has any questions about the mini-bots, or any other aspect of LOGO MOTION, please visit our Q&A forum.

39 days to Robot Ship
See you then!

14 inches and counting

2011-01-12T15:57:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

Well, it’s snowing sideways here again. We have over a foot of snow already and it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon. The FRC staff are hard at work filling orders for teams who submitted replacement parts requests in TIMS and preparing for robot ship and the first week of competitions.

The replacement parts request system closes tonight, Wednesday at 8PM ET even if it’s snowing where you are. Get your requests in.

FIRSTChoice is open. Please remember teams are permitted to order a maximum of 3 items.

If you’re stick in a snow bank with nothing to do, take a minute to watch the top six safety animations. We had 86 teams submit videos. If your team decides to make a safety animation for next year, keep in mind, the limit is a limit and the theme is important. Those were the first two hurdles these teams had to overcome on their way to making it to the top.

My thanks to all of you who voted for the top three games from the last 19 seasons. The results in descending order are:

2010 Breakaway
2006 Aim High
2008 FIRST Overdrive
2007 Rack ‘n Roll
2009 Lunacy

If you’re frozen, confused by the game, the Q&A forum opened today. Members of the GDC are eager to read your questions about LOGO MOTION. Check the whole forum before you post to see if your question has already been asked. If your question is original, it still won’t appear until the GDC has an answer for you.

If you’re stuck on anything else having to do with FRC, email FRCTeams@usfirst.org or call 1-800-871-8326 x0

If you’re dreaming of spring and the start of competition season, we have a few slots open at the Regional Events listed below. (Events are listed from most spaces available to least spaces available.) If your team is interested in attending an additional event, send an email to FRCTEams@usfirst.org and we’ll see what we can do about getting you in.

Bayou
Duluth
Oklahoma
Wisconsin
Seattle
Kansas City
Hawaii
Toronto
Las Vegas
Lone Star
Peachtree
Utah
Fingerlakes
Arizona
Palmetto
Buckeye
Oregon
Midwest
Washington DC
New Jersey
Silicon Valley
Connecticut
North Carolina
Colorado
Florida
Boston

As you prepare for competition, please remember Dean’s homework and include the word FIRST whenever you refer to your team or team number.

Cross your mittened fingers, we’ve applied for a trademark for LOGO MOTION and are awaiting the results.

41 days to Robot Ship
See you then!

Has it only been two days?

2011-01-10T16:00:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon Teams,

First things first, our website is up and running. It’s just a little slow because of all the traffic. You can view everything having to do with LOGO MOTION here.

Recordings of the live broadcast are available on NASA and here.

FIRSTChoice opened last night at midnight. Make your selections soon.

And for those of you who tweeted questions that we couldn’t get to on Saturday, the Q&A forum open Wednesday at noon. Please post your questions for the GDC there.

Its important that you reimage your Classmate if you plan to use it in 2011. You can find detailed directions in How to Set up Your 2011 Driver Station. If you want to use another computer as your Driver Station, simply download the Driver Station software and install.

Dean’s homework applies to us all so please note I’m including FIRST in my caption: Will.i.am and FIRST FRC Director Bill.i.am “in motion” at the 2011 FIRST Robotics Competition Kickoff in Manchester, NH.

43 days to Robot Ship
See you then!