FRC Competition Manual Reminders

The following reminders correspond to sections in the FRC Administrative Manual:

Section 5.6 - "Robot Access Period"

Teams may unlock their robot for a total of 6 hours during the 7-day period preceding any Two-day event in which their team will be competing with their robot. The 6 hours may be broken up in any way the team wishes, with the exception that no single access period may be shorter than 2 hours. The robot must be locked up in between sessions and this must be documented on the Robot Lock-Up Form each time.

Form each time. During the Robot Access Period, teams may perform any activity they would normally. Teams attending Traditional Regional Events are NOT granted a "Robot Access Period" after "Stop Build Day."

Section 7 - Team Advancement

Section 7 of the Administrative Manual is now available. The section contains information on teams pre-qualifying for FIRST Championship, information on qualifying for FIRST Championship for teams competing in Regional and District events, and the Championship waitlist.

NEFIRST PODS Loading Volunteers Needed

NEFIRST still needs several volunteers to help load PODS on Saturday, Feb. 21 to prepare for the upcoming District events. We will once again be dividing the supplies into road cases and loading those into the appropriate PODS. To accomplish this in a timely manner, we will need the help of 25 to 30 volunteers. PODS loading will take place in our facility at 400 Woodland Ave, Bloomfield, CT. If you are interested, please email Scott Heaton at sheaton@nefirst.org.

Robot Inspection Checklist

Teams: Make sure your robot inspection goes smoothly! The Inspection Checklist, the same one Robot Inspectors use, is now available on the FRC Competition Manual page. Assign a couple of students to do an inspection now, before you're done building, to make sure you are in full compliance and avoid having issues at the event 

AndyMark Field Perimeter Build a Success!

For the 2015 Season, NEFIRST will be operating our events with the new AndyMark field perimeter! On Friday, January 30 a group of volunteers (thank you!) met at the NEFIRST warehouse in Bloomfield, CT to set up our new perimeters from AndyMark. We are confident that the decision to use the AndyMark perimeter will only have a positive impact on our district this season. If anyone has any questions or concerns about the new perimeter, please don't hesitate to contact Scott Heaton at sheaton@nefirst.org. Pictures of the assembled field perimeter can be found here and here.

FRC Blog Updates

New Championship Subdivision Names Released!

As mentioned before, FIRST will be expanding Championship to 600 teams and adding four new fields to adjust for the additional teams. The four new field names will be:

• Carson for Rachel Carson, a marine biologist, environmentalist, and educator whose 1962 book, Silent Spring, is often cited as a catalyst for the environmental movement.
• Carver for George Washington Carver, a botanist, inventor, and educator. Among other accomplishments, he is credited with developing several hundred uses for peanuts and soybeans, and taught methods of crop management to low-income farmers.
• Hopper for Grace Hopper, a computer scientist, Unites States Naval Officer, and educator who invented the first compiler for programming languages, among other 'firsts' in her career.
• Tesla for Nikola Tesla, an engineer and inventor born in what is now Croatia. He held hundreds of patents and created the first AC motor and wireless remote control.

The original post can be found here.

Safety

Congratulations to Team 133, BERT, from Standish, ME for winning the Safety Animation award! Be sure to look for their animation at all of the FRC events this year. The winning animation and the runners-up from Team 2473, Goldstrikers, from Cupertino, CA, and Team 2574, RoboHuskie, from St. Anthony, MN can be found on the original post.

FedEx Innovation Challenge

Have you ever wanted the chance to present a future game design idea to members of the FIRST Game Design Committee and staff? Your team now has the chance to win a trip for four team reps and two chaperones to travel to FIRST HQ in Manchester, NH to present your idea to the GDC with the help of one of the FedEx Vice Presidents of Information Technology.

This unique opportunity is only available to the winning team of the February phase of the FedEx Innovation Challenge. The Innovation Challenge is a way to show off your team spirit and creativity in a social media based contest. All entries are submitted via Instagram and Twitter. Submissions are due by Friday, Feb. 20 at 8 a.m. The rules and challenges are available here and the original post can be found here.

Connecticut Medal of Science Nominations

Selection of the annual Medalist is overseen by the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. Medal recipients will be permanently featured in a Hall of Fame at the Connecticut Science Center.

Volunteer for the NE District Events!

Several NE District Events still need volunteers for key roles. Interested volunteers should sign up through VIMS. Descriptions of event volunteer positions can be found in the Volunteer section of the FIRST website.

Upcoming Important Dates

Award Deadlines

• Woodie Flowers Award - Thursday, Feb. 12, noon
• Entrepreneurship Award - Thursday, Feb. 12, noon
• Dean's List Award - Thursday, Feb. 19, noon
• Chairman's Award - Thursday, Feb. 19, noon
• Media & Technology Innovation Award - Saturday, Feb. 28

Award requirements and instructions for submission can be found in the FRC Administrative Manual. All awards except for Dean's List should be submitted through the Youth Team Member Registration System. Dean's List applications should be submitted through TIMS.