FYI on a router deal

All,

I've not used this forum for commercial stuff in the past however there is a deal today on woot.com for a Linksys/CISCO router for $18. Pretty good deal if teams need one (or Partners need extras). I'm told by the experts this one will work fine for FTC.

Woot offers deals for one day, or until the offered item sells out...

Ken

Kickoff Video

All,

The "Get Over It" kickoff video has been getting quite a bit of attention. In fact Time Warner Cable has offered to broadcast it as it's own "show" to promote FIRST and FTC. More interestingly is that they approached us after seeing it.

As you already know, those outside FIRST seem to be getting it faster and faster - the Time Warner Cable offer is another sign.

If you'd like to ask your local cable operator to broadcast the kickoff video contact Dennis Garrigan here at FIRST HQ. The main number is 800-871-8326 and his extension is 454.

Ken

Minivan Requirement - Get Over It! Field

The process of designing FTC games is involved. The level of challenge, technical content, tie to real world engineering, ability for veteran and rookie teams to succeed... it's a long list.

In addition to that the "practical" considerations of availability of materials, tools required, and cost all factor in.

Near the top of this practical list is the Minivan Requirement. Specifically, the game has to fit inside a minivan to make it feasible to transport by Affiliate Partners and teams.

This photo shows Get Over It! packed up on the standard gray cart. It was going to be one of the hints but we couldn't make it too easy.



So - At a minimum teams can build field elements, if not the whole field. The dispenser is probably the most critical piece to practice. If you're feeling ambitious build a whole field and hold a scrimmage in your area.

Good Luck,
Ken

CISCO Donation

FIRST is lucky to have so many wonderful people involved. From Affiliate Partners, to Game Design, to Volunteers and Sponsors across the land - FIRST folks are tremendous. I can confidently state that we here at FIRST are as inspired by our community as anything else.

You've already heard about Samantha, the new WiFi interface for the NXT. John Toebes and his team put over 2,500 person-hours into the development of Samantha. The Kauffman Foundation provided $130,000 to make these devices free of charge to teams this year.

John and many of the Samantha developers work for CISCO. Just yesterday 110 E3000 Linksys routers arrived at the loading docks of FIRST as a donation from CISCO (they own Linksys). These will be provided free of charge to our Affiliate Partners to offset the cost of running local events.

Another example of the great support we continue to get from the community.

Thanks CISCO for the donation!

Ken

Kickoff - complete!

Congratulations to all those who carried out regional kickoffs of Get Over It! We've heard back quite a few reports from the regional events. Teams descended on the new fields with tape measures and note pads. Quite a few ways to strategize the new game...

A couple of shots from kickoffs -

Iowa is on track for more than 40 FTC teams. Just two years ago Iowa had just 2! Here's a shot of their kickoff event at Iowa State:



Maryland continues to field strong teams. Here's a shot of their kickoff held at Laurel College:



FYI - Jeff Tjiputra and his team in Maryland built and distributed baton dispensers to every team that attended his kickoff - great idea!

Most kickoff organizers also used the event as an opportunity to show teams the new Samantha module and hold workshops on software and other program specifics.

Way to go FTC Nation!

Autonomous

Quad Quandry had 20 seconds of autonomy, FaceOff! and HotShot! each had 30 seconds of autonomous operation. Get Over It! has 40 seconds of autonomous. The trend is pretty obvious.

Why?

The reason we're all here (at FIRST and in the FIRST community) is to inspire the next generation of technical leaders.

The recipe for that is heavily loaded with competition, excitement, teamwork, resource constraints, and technology. If we're doing our job right designing challenges, teams will be flexing multiple skill sets. The mechanical elements are obvious. Electrical... certainly part of how you design your bots. Software programming has always been part of FTC - and it's becoming more prevalent.

When you get into the game rules you'll see that there are quite a few points for autonomous operation. Just getting on to the center sections gets you something. Successful teams have always had good autonomous programming - but I'd like to see all teams find success.

I have a request. I'd like to see the FTC community (teams, mentors, coaches) reach out to work with novice teams in the area of programming. There is absolutely no reason we can't have an exciting autonomous period at every event. Help those teams you are competing with and against. Get them started with some basic code and let them play with it, whatever you can do to help.

One of the reasons the hidden magnet batons were incorporated this year was to increase programming options in the tele-operated section as well.

Don't necessarily assume we'll increase autonomous again next year, but you can expect another great game. One that will reward the best designs and strategies.

See you out there,
Ken

Clues Explained "Get Over It!"

Hey FTC - the list below is an explanation of the clues posted over the last 10 days or so. The bold sections reference the original blog post headings.

Hope you like the game!
Ken

School’s in Session

Picture included a bridge, mountain and cliff. Clearing hurdles references getting over something.

Last long weekend…

Everyone just needs to…. “Get Over It”, March 9th is National “Get Over It” Day. Picture was of three actors from the movie “Get Over It.”

New Definition of Rock Star

OK Go! pic, one of their most popular songs is “Get Over It”

Perspective

Represents the yin yang symbol for balance, a critical part of “Get Over It”

Simple is as Simple Does

Guidance and direction refer to IR beacon and IR seeker.

One of Forrest Gump’s quotes is “life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get” is a reference to hidden magnets in batons.

Luck

Drawing straws is a reference to the design of the dispenser.

The photo is the Horseshoe bend of the Colorado River. The horseshoe shape is the universal symbol for a magnet.

(No clues in India reference – at least not intentionally)

On the cusp…

Reference to being on the edge of something (cliff or mountain top).
“Level of competition” & “Strike a balance” = end game reference
Clues “Looking the same” = hidden magnet batons
Tall “thales” Thales was a Greek philosopher credited with the earliest reference to magnetism – he is credited by some for discovering the phenomenon
The image is of the “Where’s Waldo” Glasses – finding Waldo among a variety of things = finding magnet batons

On the cusp....

Tomorrow is the big day. Kickoff events will be held in various areas around the country. Team registration is up 50% over last year! I'm sure the level of competition will be great.

I struggled with how much to share with you on this last post before the launch. The best clues strike a balance between being too easy and too arcane. Many of the clues start to look the same. Hiding clues is harder than it looks. A photo of a screw or some shrink wrapped parts from a Home Depot delivery... fun but not necessarily helpful.

So for this final post I decided to avoid telling any tall thales and wish you good luck. We can't wait to see how you like the game, Samantha WiFi, and the new stuff available this year.

Good luck teams, see you out there

Hot Shots! in India

FTC keeps growing. As I write this the first ever India FTC event is wrapping up. PTC and NRB Bearings came together to make this happen. They are running a pilot event with 7 FTC teams. Each team has 10 members plus mentors. Over 4,000 kids applied for the 70 slots! Talk about interest in robotics. In the center of the first pic is John Stuart, our key guy at PTC.



They are playing HotShot with equipment supplied by FIRST and kits supplied by PTC and NRB. As you can see they put a lot of effort into it and it looks great. We expect FTC to continue to expand internationally following the great model established by FLL. Techtronics helped get the equipment in-country and has experience doing this with FLL.

Great team in India! Congratulations.

Luck

Ever wonder how much of your success is based on hard work and perseverance and how much is.... luck? Personally I'm in the camp of "you make your own luck" through doing the right things. At the same time you should do all you can to help others - adding to that Karma bank never hurts.

Who gets to drive, who heads programming, who holds onto the robot... sometimes you're just drawing straws - hopefully you're not holding the "short" one next time luck is involved.

Simple is as Simple does

Great movie, a powerful message about taking what life gives you and making the most of it. Also makes an interesting statement about how much you can plan your life and how much just happens... yes I'm digressing again.

In any case we can all use help, guidance, and direction - sometimes we just need to know where to look for it.

Perspective

At any FIRST event it's hard not to focus on the robots. Based on the kit of parts and the annual challenge many robots show off their skeletons well. For folks like me that's cool. I love to see how teams have solved problems by seeing inside your designs.

Most vehicles, including industrial robots, hide those skeletons to protect what's inside. In the process there is the ability to add style etc. That's what we had in mind when we started allowing various plastics to be used in the kit a couple years back.

Over just the last two years I've been impressed with the solutions you have developed using the kit and these materials. The additional range of function and form achieved has been impressive.

Not sure if the developer of this one participated in FIRST however...

New Definition of Rock Star

I was thinking recently about how the FTC Game Design Committee works. If you don't already know, our GDC is a group of talented volunteers who put countless hours into each year's game. Some of you may curse them throughout the season as you struggle to come up with solutions, but most of you rise to meet the annual challenges. Your accomplishments are the fuel that powers the GDC.

So, to some of the smartest, socially relevant, and successful folks involved in FTC - thanks Game Design Committee. Since we typically protect their identities - we'll celebrate them here as our "Rock Stars."

Last long weekend before the new game....

The east coast is getting buckled down for "Earl." My two cents is that storms should have more fierce sounding names. Nothing against any Earls out there but using it as a storm name doesn't instill fear. Watching all the talking heads on the news telling people to buy plywood, duct tape, bottled water, everyone needs to just... again, I digress...

The season is shaping up, many FTC events are already scheduled. As we look at our calendars here we're in for another busy season. With only a few exceptions FTC regional events should be winding down by March 9th.

In any case, enjoy the long weekend. Next weekend we'll release the game.

Take care,
Ken