FTC Qualifier Event - Florida

Last weekend Michael Coleman's team hosted a qualifying event leading up to Florida's State Championship to be held later in the year. The teams were in great early season shape and had a great time.

We're now ready for take-off as we approach our Championship season week one events December 4-6. The FTC staff will scatter to all points to cover as many of these events as possible.

Events that weekend include South Carolina, Missouri, upstate NY, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Arizona.

The constant drum-beat is preparation. Download and use the FCS (Field Control System) and template with your code. If we've seen anything in early scrimmages and qualifying events it's that teams who show up without having practiced with the FCS spend the first half-day struggling - so get going and use it!

See you out there,
Ken

More IR Seeker Examples and Code

I recently posted a quick video of Steve Hassenplug and the robot he built to follow the IR beacon you'll be using in HotShot! Check out this link to see a RobotC video and the supporting code used. The object being tracked is an IR ball, but it runs at the same 1200Hz frequency as the beacon in HotShot!

You can see the video and code here: http://www.education.rec.ri.cmu.edu/content/lego/resources/index.htm

Ken

Software Knowledge

Just yesterday I posted a note about software and understanding both the field control system (FCS) and programming languages. Most mentors and students intuitively "get" the mechanics of building a robot and develop a variety of solutions. Software (in general) is a bit less intuitive and requires some practice. If you and your teams don't get some practice time with the software your FTC experience will suffer.

For those of you reading this who are mentors check out this resource (below). It's a mentor/coach training call focused on software. There are limited spots but there should be room. The call is also recorded if you want to listen later. If your a student reading this - get your mentor(s) the note.

Ken

Senior Mentor/FTC Coach/Mentor Training Call

**Please note there are only 150 lines open for these calls, first-come, first- served. All calls are recorded**

Call Topic: FTC Software basics

Hosted By: FSM Mike Henry, TX, partnered with Andrew Schuetze (FTC Affiliate Partner, San Antonio), Sean Kelly (FTA, San Antonio) , and Richard Jennings Labview Consultant

When:
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 @ 7pm EST

How:
1-800-503-2899
Access Code-6663906

Areas of Content:

Software
• Software Options
• RobotC Pros and Cons, required templates and how to use them properly
• Labview Pros and Cons, required templates and how to use them properly
• Controlling your robot at the tournament on the Laptop YOUR TEAM PROVIDES
o What is the FCS
o How to Establish a connection and assign joysticks
o What can cause Bluetooth communication errors

Screamage

We held the now annual FIRST scrimmage/workshop here at FIRST Place last Saturday. Ten teams from as far away as South Carolina made the trip to Manchester.

Thanks to all that attended and volunteered. It was a great day, lot's of learning, building, and some pretty impressive robots.

I'm convinced that the key contributor to success in FTC is preparation. Learn the software including the field control system. I'll post tomorrow links to these resources - they're all on the FIRST web site. Check them out sooner rather than later.

See you out there - Ken

Video of IR Seeker Program

I just got this quick video from our friend Steve Hassenplug. He uses one of our IR beacons and an IR Seeker sensor - just like our teams have this year.

He put together a quick NXT-G program and showed how he used the seeker to play "cat-and-mouse" with the beacon.

We don't recommend using NXT-G in competition but it can be useful for prototyping work. In fact please don't use NXT-G in competition. As programs in competition get larger NXT-G is not the optimum solution as it can get cumbersome.

That said - this is a neat example with just a bit of code.

Ken

FTC Championships - Extended

Many of you responded to a poll posted on this blog recently regarding extending the FTC World Championships into Saturday - thanks.

As most of you know FTC has traditionally ended late Friday - leaving Saturday exclusively for FRC events and the closing ceremonies.

We've decided to extend the FTC Championship into Saturday for a few reasons. It will give teams more plays, allow a bit more freedom for FTC'ers to interact with others, and put FTC on a "bigger stage" by extending it into Saturday.

The plan is to hold the semifinal and final FTC rounds Saturday morning and FTC closing ceremonies mid-day.

FTC continues to grow and we're excited to be including Saturday as part of the World Championship experience.

Ken

The FTC Experience - Input

We go through several planning cycles each year here at FIRST. The time between the FTC game release and the start of the FTC season is one of those cycles.

An interesting question came up here at FIRST the other day. I'd love to hear feedback from the FTC community on their opinions.

The question was "what does the FTC community value about the FTC experience?" Good question.

Answers came back ranging from 'inspiration to become technology leaders of the future' and 'hands-on experience with technology and gracious professionalism' to the more basic 'a fun way to compete using technology.'

These are valid answers but it also begs another question. What does FIRST offer that other programs don't or can't? When FIRST got started 20 years ago we were unique. Dean saw a widening gap in the need for qualified young engineers and the number of kids interested in science and technology. As a result FIRST was born in that gym in Manchester.

20 years later there are a variety of robotics programs out there. None however have as their core mission to 'Inspire the next generation of technology heroes.' As a result FIRST attracts great sponsors who share this goal. We also attract a wide range of the best engineering schools in the country - this year FIRST scholarships will total about $13M. That's up about 30% over last year - in a tough economy.

Internally most people at FIRST believe they're helping to change the world. If however FIRST is viewed as just another robotics competition among many...

At the end of the day you, our community, determine what you take away from the FIRST experience. Like any group there is undoubtedly a diversity of reasons why you are involved with FIRST and FTC. I'd like to hear them - feel free to comment here.

Thanks - Ken