We want you(r) feedback!

Timm Huffman joined the FTC team here in Manchester recently. Part of his role is to improve the communications we provide you. That starts with how you presently get your information.

Please take 15 minutes to take a quick on-line survey. It will help us better tailor our communications to you.

Survey link

Thanks!
Ken

Preparation

I spent most of the weekend running between football games. My two sons play on different teams and one had back-to-back games, the other had an away game that required even more driving.

Each of them practice 4 or 5 days a week. Keep in mind that one is in 8th grade and the other a high school freshman.

That got me thinking about successful FTC teams. You already know (or should by now) the effort that goes into a successful FTC event. That's why we often ask/remind you to thank those wonderful volunteers, but what about the teams?

You've all seen the team that shows up at the event unprepared. In 99% of those cases this situation turns into a mini-success because others jump in to help the ill-prepared team. Those teams don't win, but hopefully they get enough "good stuff" that they come back next year ready to compete.

Something for you teams to consider - if you want to be successful it's all about preparation and practice. "You play like you practice" is an age-old sports adage that applies in FTC, entertainment, and in life.

Get going FTC teams!

Resource for FTC team programming

National Instruments, LEGO Education North America, and FIRST have combined to provide FTC teams with a single site to find programming info and getting started tips. The site is http://tetrixrobotics.com/ftc/

Content in the left column is soon to come. The TETRIX getting started guide (at top) is live now. On the right side you'll see a list of webinars that are scheduled and happening now.

Maybe this will get you moving to figure out how to move those bowling balls!

Question - Reporting high scores

Over the years I've posted several things in this blog from different FTC events. A couple times I showed pics or video from impressive robots.

I'd like to add something, probably via this blog, about teams who are doing well with this year's game. Nothing that gives away any secrets but perhaps just the reported high scores in matches.

Of course they would have to be reported as alliance pair teams - but it might setup some friendly competition to see which teams (and events) are scoring highest....

What do you think?

FTC is underway all over

The photo above is from Pune, India where Jordan Cox and the PTC folks are partnering with NRB Bearings and John Deere to extend FIRST Tech Challenge further into India. PTC has been great at encouraging other companies to lend their support to growing FTC.

Jordan flew from Needham, Massachusetts to Pune, India immediately after the FTC kickoff Saturday to put on an FTC workshop there. The sun never sets on FTC nation!

New stuff and special offer

Two quick things - HiTechnic is the source for the IR beacons used in this year's game. They also sell the magnet sensors you'll want to use this year. While supplies last they have a special offer for FTC teams. Any FTC team placing an order with HiTechnic will also get an Extended Connector Cable Set which are 4 different length sensor connectors. Thanks HiTechnic.

Also - teams buying new kits this year will see a cool getting started guide and startup box in the kits. Teams can follow this guide and build a pretty cool robot. This robot is not designed to compete in any specific game but will get new teams (or new team members) up to speed quickly on how to build and program. Once teams get their feet wet at that level a good chunk of the learning curve will have been traveled.

This new feature is specifically aimed at helping new teams succeed. Its also a cool option for bringing the FTC kit into the classroom. Check it out.

Ken

Game hints... Explained

I had fun posting hints again this year on the blog. I'm continually impressed by those of you paying attention - you got most of them. Hopefully you got confirmation of your guesses when you saw the game.

Here they are chronologically:



August 12th - Reference to Jeff Bridges and "The Big Lebowski." A central theme throughout the movie was The Dude's love of bowling. Many scenes occurred in a bowling alley.

August 15th - No clues - just a ping about the i.am.FIRST show



August 18th - More bowling clues. The photo included a bowler hat and a penguin. Penguins kinda look like bowling pins.



August 22 - There are groups of folks who re-purpose old vinyl records for a variety of things - including bowls. This upside down bowl is an oblique reference to the game name "Bowled Over." I also liked the title of the record "Learn-A-Language" - made me think about teams picking up RobotC or LabVIEW.



August 24 - The clue here was the form factor of the apples in a round basket - very similar to the starting orientation of Bowled Over's racquetballs.



August 27 - I really did take a couple days off that week and rode up the coast. The clue however is the motorcycle - it's a Victory Kingpin - another bowling reference.



August 29 - The photo of the lobsterman stacking crates is the main clue here. The post also referred to tropical storm Irene "bowling over" trees etc.



September 1 - Lighthouses are iconic as beacons. This photo shows two. The "Old and New" title refers to the fact we're re-using the beacons from last season but in a new way. Hopefully the programming skills developed in previous seasons can be built upon this year.



September 7 - Three clues were embedded in this one. Two around racquetball. I was impressed someone found the actual artwork and recognized the title "Racquetballs" of the painting. The term "hinder" was inserted because "hindering" is a category of fouls in the game of racquetball. Finally "ramping up" was in there to give a clue towards the starting locations and goals for the bowling balls.



September 9 - This Haiku was all about the points teams get for stacking the crates. On one hand it's a pretty obvious clue, on the other hand many had figured out the scoring elements but how those would be used for points based on height????

Other - I really wanted to get a photo of a boat being pushed up a ramp prior to tropical storm Irene - couldn't find one. I was also trying to get a shot of something with a Crate and Barrel store in the background. Throughout the process "Angry Birds" kept coming to mind with knocking over crates but when I tried to use shots of that they just didn't flow.

Hope you had fun looking for clues this time. Have a great season. I'll see you out there!

Ken

Thanks!

On Saturday approximately 20 different locations hosted live FTC kickoff events. We've heard from most of them and all seemed to have gone tremendously well.

The shot above was from the PTC event held at their world headquarters in Needham Massachusetts.

As FTC continues its incredible growth it is clear that the power of FTC is in the people involved. From wonderful sponsors like PTC and Rockwell Collins to the thousands of volunteers who donate time and knowledge to the tens of thousands of students involved.

FTC is a product of "FTC Nation." This is your program and the things you accomplish this season will continue to amaze all of us here at FIRST.

Thanks!
Ken

Kickoff Day!!

It's here, the big day. There are about 20 live kickoffs around the world happening as I write this. The official posting of the game happens at 3:00pm eastern time on the FIRST website.

PTC is hosting the northeast kickoffs at theory corporate headquarters in Needham, MA. They're also streaming the unveiling at 3pm here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ptc-ftc-kick-off.

If you're not already at a live kickoffs check it out.

Also, the links on this blog will be updated early next week directing you to the same spots covering this years game.

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Things are looking up

Tomorrow's the day

You now know it all and more

Reach great heights and score

Almost Saturday...

What a whirlwind late summer huh? Back to school, crazy weather, and all kinds of things ramping up. None of that will hinder the roll we're on to launch the FTC game Saturday.

Old and New

Hard to believe it's already Thursday, and already September. Feels a bit cooler this morning, maybe it's just my imagination?