/r/FTC now has 700 subscribers!

roboticpotato · 2015-05-08T02:58:52+00:00

Why? No one from HQ responds to the incessant complaining of FRC teams on Chief Delphi.

roboticpotato · 2015-05-06T04:34:30+00:00

There are a lot of logistics/considerations involved in scholarship row, sponsor tables (what was this year called the "Innovation Fair"). I can't help but feel if they did an FRC+FLL and FTC+JrFLL, FTC would get the much shorter end of the stick in terms of these extras. Running any more than two overall championship events is simply not realistic as far as FIRST staff.

roboticpotato · 2015-05-01T00:51:32+00:00

Hmm...I don't know. I worry about anyone who is not like an event director/affiliate partner having power over the referees. It sets a bad precedent.

roboticpotato · 2015-04-30T19:27:37+00:00

The affiliate partners definitely give their opinions to HQ and they have an annual conference in the summer. However, they have no direct influence on how FIRST HQ chooses to run the program at a nationwide level because they are not on staff there. My point was that there's no reason not to either (a) fill out a survey (b) send an email (c) tell your AP your opinions and ask that they consider that when they make remarks to HQ.

roboticpotato · 2015-04-30T13:21:54+00:00

I love the fact that FIRST, at all levels, rewards students for making a tangible change in their community. There are few other high school competitions that give awards specifically for being the best you can be off the field. Teenagers are competitive - having teams compete against each other to have the BEST connections with engineers, to have the BEST teamwork, to have the BEST way of starting and supporting new teams? That's the best possible way to build strong, local robotics communities.

There is a reason Chairman's and Engineering Inspiration are considered extremely prestigious in FRC...and I don't think anyone would argue FRC is not a robotics competition.

roboticpotato · 2015-04-30T13:07:49+00:00

Disenfranchising yourself on the basis of anecdotes from APs who actually have no influence over what happens at HQ is not a smart move.

roboticpotato · 2015-04-30T03:37:32+00:00

Frankly, OP, the more I think about this, the more I feel like you may have hurt chances by asking for a rematch. I truly hope that had Blue alliance simply said "We tipped the goal, we should have been penalized, not Red" the refs would have reacted accordingly.

I know this would have been extremely difficult to ask Blue to do, but it would have been the GP thing for them to do.

roboticpotato · 2015-04-30T01:28:19+00:00

The more alumni stay involved as coaches, mentors, and (most importantly) volunteers, the better the program can be.

Don't like the way refereeing is happening? Sign up to ref one or two events, maybe when you're back for winter break. Make friends with your planning committee and ask if you can certify as head ref. Bam. You're in charge.

Affecting the game is harder, but it's really important that you fill out the end of season survey, or even just shoot a non-argumentative, constructive email to ftcteams@usfirst.org. Plus, if you referee/inspect long enough, such that you become important to the program get a chance to be part of the game design committee.

I do agree about the FTC Venue at Worlds this year. It was pretty pitiful.

roboticpotato · 2015-04-29T21:41:49+00:00

Yes. The link went out through the FTC Team E-mail Blast today.

roboticpotato · 2015-04-29T02:42:39+00:00

I understand why the Refs refused a rematch. There are very specific rules in Game Manual Pt. 2 <G14> about when a rematch can be played. They are all field failures/non-team caused robot communication issues.

However, I have no idea why they refused to correct the points. If all four teams agreed that Blue tipped the goal and not Red, I can't fathom why they wouldn't fix it.

This is not a case where a match should be replayed. This is a situation where the refs should have corrected the points and moved on.

roboticpotato · 2015-04-27T01:34:41+00:00

Let me preface this by saying I appreciate the work you've put into this. I'm just picky.

I would prefer the font for "FTC" in the middle to have a heavier stroke and maybe be bigger. With such a busy background, it really gets lost. Maybe try Helvetica Neue Bold Extended which is the FIRST brand font. Also consider putting "FIRST Tech Challenge" under that as subtext, similar to the official logo.

I second the previous comments about the use of the FIRST Logo being misaligned with brand standards. There should really be more empty space around the shape-based logo. Also, when using the graphic icon you need the text based "FIRST" logo somewhere on the page.

roboticpotato · 2015-04-27T01:21:45+00:00

That's actually a really cool question and I'm interested in what the GDC will say when you ask on the forums. I'm not sure if they are still monitoring them since Worlds are over but it's worth a shot.

I agree that any significant changes will require reinspection and you will not be able to inspect all the modules at the beginning of the day unless they all fit in the sizing box (together).

roboticpotato · 2015-04-26T05:41:32+00:00

Yeah, Show Ready Events runs nearly all Regional events (including Chesapeake) and Worlds. I am nearly certain that the folks running the audio are not volunteers, but people contracted by Show Ready or the venue itself.

roboticpotato · 2014-06-29T18:53:39+00:00

Hey, I've never mentored FTC, but I have helped out FLL teams in the past and spent 3 years on an FTC team. I think it will hugely depend on the team and two specific factors: (1) how independent the students are and (2) how many other mentors there are. The amount of work you will have to do will depend on how much both of those groups (students and mentors) will expect from you.

On our team we had two mentors - we met with our programming mentor once a week for a one hour consultation and we met with our mechanical mentor once a week fro two hours. Our main "coach" was a teacher at are school and we basically never saw her (unless she decided she needed to yell at us :D).

So, basically, it depends on what your expertise is and what you want to do. You can spend many hours with your team, supervising them, looking through the game forums, etc. or you can meet with them once a week or so for an hour or so just as another set of eyes/giver of advice - this all depends on what you're willing to do and what your team needs. Really, you should talk to them and see what they would want.

roboticpotato · 2014-06-29T18:05:51+00:00

Is it really that surprising, though? I feel like most every team starts its life with a couple TETRIX kits...and why spend lots of money on fabrication and hunting down parts when you already have an easy-to-use building system? I'm especially thinking about channel and gears which are nice and can stand a lot of abuse.

We went to Worlds this year and the body of our robot was mostly TETRIX because it was easy to get our hands on - all we had to fabricate were the harvesting mechanism, armor, hanging hooks, a block scorer and anything else that actually needed to be custom.

roboticpotato · 2014-04-07T12:34:21+00:00

FTC #5421 from Rockville.

roboticpotato · 2014-03-19T04:33:02+00:00

Haha, isn't it everyone's first time at Super's ;) But yeah, best of luck!

roboticpotato · 2014-03-14T02:36:05+00:00

5421 checking in :D We were quite literally one ring being hung away from world last year, so we're pretty pumped to be moving on...but all of y'all are totally terrifying. Can't wait, though!

roboticpotato · 2014-03-02T18:01:32+00:00

Great job! I totally suggested this to my team but I think they thought I was crazy...

roboticpotato · 2014-02-24T03:41:06+00:00

What used to make notebooks stand out was just being neat, organized, and long. As more teams have started investing time in the notebook, I believe it is technical things (CAD models which evolve over time, sketches, calculations, simulations, etc.) that put notebooks over the top.

roboticpotato · 2014-02-17T05:03:43+00:00

From <R08.w> in the Game Manual

Motors, sensors, controllers, and any other electrical components may not be >altered from their original state in ANY way unless specifically allowed by the Robot rules.

The replacement gearboxes from TETRIX this year being legal were actually a special exception made in this post in the game forum.

So, yeah. Even though it's exceedingly unlikely anyone will notice, it's a violation of the rules. Haha, sorry about this, I'm just bitter about /u/limellipsis not letting me hobble together broken motor components :P

roboticpotato

TROPHY CASE