Out to New England FIRST Robotics Competition teams...
Week of February 29, 2016 |
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Competition Reminders
This weekend is the first week of competition in New England! Last week, we posted notes and reminders from several of our NE FIRST Lead Key Volunteers. That information can be found here.
FIRST posted a blog update on how they're improving the defenses based on observations from Week 0.5. Additionally, they included some great reminders for teams regarding what they saw during matches:
- Wait for the green light on the tower before entering the field after your match to avoid receiving a yellow card for a safety violation
- Make use of the hook & loop tape on the driver stations to make sure your control board doesn't get knocked off during autonomous due to robot impact force
- Check all of your electrical connections to make sure they're secure
Keep in mind that every team needs their team roster from TIMS or hard copies of the FIRST Consent & Release form for all team members and mentors. Additionally, your team must provide copies of the NE FIRST Consent & Release form for all team members and mentors at your first district event.
Finally, check out Team Update 14 if you haven't already!
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Team Advancement and Event Results
Section 7 of the Administrative Manual outlines how teams can qualify for the New England District Championship and FIRST Championship. This year, we will have 64 teams attending our District Championship event (the manual incorrectly lists 60 teams). District Chairman's Award winning teams will automatically qualify for the District Championship regardless of the number of District Ranking Points they receive. Teams that win the Chairman's Award, Engineering Inspiration Award, or Rookie All-Star award at any District Event should expect an email on the Monday following the event with information about the next steps for District Championship.
FIRST published a blog on the updated official ranking and result sites. The results for all events will be available here. Please note that live district ranking data will not be accessible during week 1 events due to testing.
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District Event Webcasts
This year, NE FIRST and STEMtv are working together to stream and automatically record all NE District Events and the New England District Championship!
All NE events will be streamed through STEMtv's servers, recorded, and passed along to NE FIRST's Twitch channels. As soon as the event is over, STEMtv will parse and upload all of the recordings as soon as possible. Over the season, STEMtv will be working on decreasing the amount of time between live matches and their recordings going up on YouTube.
Be sure to share the webcast links with anyone who might be interested in seeing your team compete!
- Week 1: Waterbury District Event (March 5-6)
- Week 2: WPI District Event (March 12-13)
- Week 4: Rhode Island District Event (March 25-26)
- Week 5: Hartford District Event (April 2-3)
- Week 7: District Championship (April 14-16)
- Week 1: Granite State District Event (March 5-6)
- Week 2: North Shore District Event (March 12-13)
- Week 3: UMass Dartmouth District Event (March 19-20)
- Week 4: UNH District Event (March 25-26)
- Week 5: Boston District Event (April 2-3)
- Week 6: Pine Tree District Event (April 8-9)
- Week 7: District Championship (April 14-16)
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Calling All 25-Year Volunteers & Mentors!
FIRST is looking to recognize any volunteers or mentors that have been with FIRST Robotics Competition since its first year of events in 1992. We're also interested in knowing what volunteers and mentors have been with the program for 20+ years. If you are a 20+ year volunteer/mentor or know of one, please reach out to Carol Scully at cscully@nefirst.org.
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NE FIRST District Event Practice Match Policy
At all District Events this year, teams will be able to run practice matches in a "filler line" queue on Day 0 and Day 1 of each event (please refer to Section 5 of the Game Manual or Section 4 of the Administrative Manual for more information on how filler lines work). Teams may only enter the filler line queue for practice matches once they have been fully inspected. Due to scheduling constraints, events will only run filler line practice matches on both Day 0 (load-in and setup day) and Day 1 (the first official day of competition) instead of scheduled practice matches.
Please note that practice matches are not guaranteed at any District Event. The availability of practice matches at each event will vary depending on when the field can be set up and any field hardware or software issues. The Field Technical Advisor (FTA) present at the event will inform teams whether or not there will be time to run practice matches as soon as possible.
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Spam & Canned Chicken Drive
Team 1761 is holding a Spam and canned chicken drive for the Be Like Brit orphanage in Haiti which houses 67 children. Currently the orphanage has a huge shortage of Spam, a staple item, and they are looking for donations.
Be Like Brit was formed in honor of a Britney Gengel, a student from the Worcester area. At the age of 19, she attended a trip to Haiti with her college, Lynn University, as part of a Food for the Poor mission trip. The catastrophic earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010 killed Britney along with hundreds of thousands of others. Her parents formed Be Like Brit and built the orphanage in her memory.
The team is hoping to collect at least 500 cans of Spam and canned chicken before sending them to the orphanage. Donations can be brought to the North Shore and Boston District events and dropped off in 1761's pit. Please contact Victoria Davis, Team Mentor for 1761, at vdavis@umassd.edu with any questions.
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NE FIRST Swap Meet Rescheduling
Hold onto your spare parts! At the request of teams last fall, the Swap Meet & Sale for NE FIRST FRC Teams will be rescheduled for some time in May after the competition season is over and just in time for spring cleaning. More details will be available in the coming weeks.
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Cambridge Science Festival
Celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Cambridge Science Festival with us! The Cambridge Science Festival, the first of its kind in the United States, is a celebration showcasing the leading edge in science, technology, engineering and math. A multifaceted, multicultural event every spring, the Cambridge Science Festival makes science accessible, interactive and fun! The festival takes place from April 15-26, 2016, runs for 10 days & nights and welcomes all ages and backgrounds.
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FIRST Championship Conferences Request for Proposals
FIRST is accepting presentation proposals for the thirteenth annual FIRST Championship Conferences. Presentations can be on topics of interest to Teams, Coaches, Mentors, Students, and prospective leaders of any FIRST program. If you are interested in submitting a proposal for a presentation in St. Louis, please submit your idea by filling out a short application on or before Friday, March 4,2016. More information about the process, topics, and conference can be found here.
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Practice Field Elements & Robot Access Period
The list for practice field element sharing and useful information can be found here. Updates can be submitted through a form on the NE FIRST website and most updates since last week have been posted here.
You will be able to use your six hour "Robot Access Period" before any of your District Events for practice or making modifications to robot. See Section 5.6 of the Administrative Manual for more information on how this time can be used.
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Upcoming Events
Granite State District Event
March 4-6
Windham High School
64 London Bridge Rd, Windham, NH 03087
Waterbury District Event
March 4-6
Wilby High School
460 Bucks Hill Road, Waterbury, CT 06704
North Shore District Event
March 11-13
Reading Memorial High School
62 Oakland Rd, Reading, MA 01867
WPI District Event
March 11-13
WPI Harrington Auditorium
100 Institute Rd, Worcester, MA 01609
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Contact Us NE FIRST Executive Director NE FIRST Advisor NE FIRST Regional Directors NE FIRST Senior Mentors |
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Archives of NE FIRST Things FIRST are available on the archive page and on the NE FIRST site under "News." Submissions can be sent to ljefferson@firstinspires.org.
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