I hope everyone in the FIRST community has a great holiday. We're looking forward to a working holiday ironing out the wrinkles in the FTC field management system, getting more training on-line, and getting ready for the FRC kickoff.
I've noticed something interesting in the first two weeks of the FTC season. Teams in the finals have a disproportionate amount of past FLL'ers. In Chicago last weekend three of the four teams in the final rounds had significant FLL experience. One of those was a team largely made up of 8th graders.
Why?
The NXT brick is familiar, but it is just a controller. Familiarity is nice but that shouldn't slow down experienced FTC teams? The game, the head-to-head competition, the pace and focus required, are all consistent with past FTC, and different from FLL...
My guess is that it's the programming knowledge FLL graduates bring to FTC. The FLL competition is all about programming (there is no head-to-dead). FLL teams may get up to speed quicker with the new platform - not sure.
In any case it's been an interesting start to the season and it promises to get even more interesting as teams come up to speed on the game, options, and of course the programming.
Have a great holiday.
Ken
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Two Weeks In and New Technology
It has been a whirlwind two weeks. The good news is that the season is underway with events in Potsdam, Charlottesville, St. Louis, Bellevue, Florida and Chicago. We've seen some teams really come up with innovative solutions to Face Off!
If there is a theme for the 2008/2009 season it's "new." New platform, new software, new sensors, new field management system, and new game. That's a lot of new.
Competitors in the first two weeks have seen some delays. The root cause of these delays boil down to three things; team learning curve on the new software, Bluetooth signal interaction with WiFi, and nuances of MS Windows.
If there is one thing I can emphasize with teams is learn the software. There are great on-line tutorials at: www.ftctraining.com. We'll be posting more in the days to come - and we're working on ways to collect all the relevant information in one place.
Remember, teams that expect to learn programming at the event will not have a successful competition.
What about the field? Bluetooth and WiFi coexist in airports, hotels, and offices. There are however WiFi environments where Bluetooth has problems. We understand these conditions and we're avoiding them.
What about "other" issues? The method of connection and disconnection at the field is being refined. Bluetooth is a 1:1 communication format. What we know is that the field management system (FMS) 1:1 connection only works if the NXT controller is NOT already connected. Sounds simple but in practical application teams are programming in the pits and often remain connected to their pit computers. Better discipline, and systems to ensure that pit connection is closed, will help connecting at the field.
One of the best things about FIRST and FTC is our community. By nature we are technical problem solvers, curious, and hands-on types. The learning we've experienced in the first two weeks will allow us to continue to improve the FTC format in the weeks to come.
Until then check out this link from Chicago's final rounds on Saturday, December 13th here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCZdN2IFYHM
See you out there,
Ken
If there is a theme for the 2008/2009 season it's "new." New platform, new software, new sensors, new field management system, and new game. That's a lot of new.
Competitors in the first two weeks have seen some delays. The root cause of these delays boil down to three things; team learning curve on the new software, Bluetooth signal interaction with WiFi, and nuances of MS Windows.
If there is one thing I can emphasize with teams is learn the software. There are great on-line tutorials at: www.ftctraining.com. We'll be posting more in the days to come - and we're working on ways to collect all the relevant information in one place.
Remember, teams that expect to learn programming at the event will not have a successful competition.
What about the field? Bluetooth and WiFi coexist in airports, hotels, and offices. There are however WiFi environments where Bluetooth has problems. We understand these conditions and we're avoiding them.
What about "other" issues? The method of connection and disconnection at the field is being refined. Bluetooth is a 1:1 communication format. What we know is that the field management system (FMS) 1:1 connection only works if the NXT controller is NOT already connected. Sounds simple but in practical application teams are programming in the pits and often remain connected to their pit computers. Better discipline, and systems to ensure that pit connection is closed, will help connecting at the field.
One of the best things about FIRST and FTC is our community. By nature we are technical problem solvers, curious, and hands-on types. The learning we've experienced in the first two weeks will allow us to continue to improve the FTC format in the weeks to come.
Until then check out this link from Chicago's final rounds on Saturday, December 13th here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCZdN2IFYHM
See you out there,
Ken
Thursday, December 4, 2008
The Season Finally Starts
Just like Opening Day for any season we're all excited about the official start of the 2008 Face Off! competitions. The first State Tournament is Friday December 5th in Potsdam, New York. On Saturday State Championships will be held in St. Louis and Charlottesville, Virginia.
Registration is still open for FTC and Face Off! So far we have about 17% more teams registered than we had for the entire 2007 season. I think that's the result of hard work by our volunteers, a challenging 2008 game, and a really cool new platform.
There has been quite a bit of internal (FIRST) talk about which groups will do better in the new season. Some think teams that had participated in FLL will excel due to their knowledge of the NXT and programming while others think experienced FTC teams will do better since they've had the head-to-head competition experience... we'll see.
I hope to see many of you at the events. Stop by and say hello. I will be at the St. Louis event this weekend.
Ken
Registration is still open for FTC and Face Off! So far we have about 17% more teams registered than we had for the entire 2007 season. I think that's the result of hard work by our volunteers, a challenging 2008 game, and a really cool new platform.
There has been quite a bit of internal (FIRST) talk about which groups will do better in the new season. Some think teams that had participated in FLL will excel due to their knowledge of the NXT and programming while others think experienced FTC teams will do better since they've had the head-to-head competition experience... we'll see.
I hope to see many of you at the events. Stop by and say hello. I will be at the St. Louis event this weekend.
Ken
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