It's National Robotics Week!
This week marks the seventh annual National Robotics Week. From April 2-10, robotics-related events are being hosted all over the country. To see what events are being held in your area, visit the National Robotics Week website.
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Week 5 Event Results
Results from our Week 5 Boston and Hartford events are available. All event results are available here. To watch archived match videos from NE FIRST competitions this season, check out the NE FIRST YouTube page.
District rankings are available here and will be finalized for New England this weekend shortly after the conclusion of the Pine Tree District Event.
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Qualification for District Championship
This year's New England District Championship will host 64 teams. Teams that win the Chairman's Award at a District event will qualify for the event automatically. All other spots will be given to the top ranked teams in the District until we reach 64 spots.
Email invitations will be sent by FIRST to the Main and Alternative Contacts of teams that qualify for District Championship on Monday, April 11. If a team declines their invitation, the next highest ranked team that has not already qualified for District Championship will be invited. If your team is high in the rankings but does not initially qualify for the event, please keep an eye on your email for the invitation.
If your team is planning on attending District Championship and will accept the invitation, you can send FIRST a PO (Purchase Order) or other letter of payment confirmation for the $4,000 registration fee before you have confirmation on your qualification. If you later find that you did not qualify, FIRST will destroy the PO and/or letter of commitment and your team will not be billed.
Please respond to your email from FIRST either accepting or declining the spot ASAP. There will be a very tight turnaround between District Rankings being finalized this weekend and load-in for the event on Wednesday. If you already know you will be declining your District Championship invitation, please email info@nefirst.org so that other teams on the waitlist will be able to receive information about whether or not they qualify in a timely fashion. Additionally, if your team will possibly qualify for District Championship and is looking for funding to be able to attend, please reach out to your Regional Director as soon as possible.
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District Championship Reminders & Updates
This year's District Championship will run from Wednesday, April 13 to Saturday, April 16 at the XL Center in Hartford, CT. Here's some information to keep in mind in the week leading up to the event:
- Because District Championship is a 3-day event, teams will not be able to use 6 hours of unbag time to work on the robot prior to load-in.
- The updated Public Agenda for District Championship is now available on the NE FIRST website. Please note that load-in runs from 5-10 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13 and teams are allowed to start arriving with trucks and trailers at 4.
- All New England teams can submit VIPs they would like to invite for Invited Guest tours here.
- If your team has a tow trailer for robots, tools, etc., you can request trailer parking inside the venue here. Tow vehicles are not allowed to remain inside the building after dropping off the trailers
- Information on registering for the Team Social was sent out to teams over the weekend and will be sent out to all teams again once rankings are finalized.
- Registration for the Alumni Reception on Friday, April 15 from 6:30-8 p.m. can be found here.
If your team qualifies to compete, be sure to bring:
- Your FIRST Consent & Release forms or TIMS Team Roster in hard copy
- Your robot lock-up form
- Driver, Coach and Safety Captain buttons
AcceptU College Admissions Workshop
AcceptU will be hosting two free "Inside The College Admissions Office" workshops during District Championship. Hear from college admissions experts from AcceptU as they offer an inside perspective on the college admissions process. Learn how admissions decisions are made and what your child can do to best prepare for success. Appropriate for parents and students in 8th - 12th grades.
The workshops will be held on Friday, April 15 at 3 p.m. and Saturday, April 16 at 11 a.m. Both workshops will take place in the Directors Suite at the XL Center. More information can be found on the registration website. Please call 855-437-8252 with any questions.
District Championship Volunteering
Interested in volunteering for District Championship? Be sure to sign up in VIMS ASAP. We still have several spots that need to be filled including Field Repair/Reset, Practice Field Attendant, FLL/FLL Jr. Expo Volunteer and Field Assembly/Disassembly. Please contact the Volunteer Coordinator, Ellen McIsaac, at emcisaac@gmail.com with any questions.
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Qualification for FIRST Championship
New England will send 34 teams on to the FIRST Championship Event in St. Louis at the end of April. This includes:
- Four (4) New England District Championship Chairman's Award Winners
- Two (2) New England District Championship Engineering Inspiration Award Winners
- One (1) New England District Championship Rookie All-Star Winners
- Three (3) New England District Championship Winning Alliance
- The next top 24 teams from the FRC Leaderboard in New England
- Team 125, the NUtrons, has already earned one of these spots by winning the Arizona North regional.
Teams that qualify for Championship by waitlist, through the Hall of Fame, by being Pre-qualified, or by being an Original/Sustaining team are not included in the 34 team spots for New England. Additional information can be found in Section 7 of the Administrative Manual.
Teams that qualify for FIRST Championship at District Championship should pick up their FedEx shipping forms at Pit Administration before they leave.
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NE FIRST Buses to FIRST Championship
As a reminder, NE FIRST has reserved 4 buses (total of 200 seats) to help teams that qualify for Championship and need transportation. The buses will leave New England on Tuesday, April 26, depart from St. Louis on April 30, and arrive back in New England on May 1. The cost will be $325/seat and each bus group will need to reserve and pay for a room for the driver while in St. Louis. However, teams will have access to the bus to go to and from the venue each day.
If you have not already, please respond to info@nefirst.org and let us know if your team may need a bus, as well as the hotel you are staying at in St. Louis and the number of seats you will need.
Additionally, if your team may have some room to take another team's materials to St. Louis, please email Steve Cremer at scremer@nefirst.org.
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Robot Transport to FIRST Championship
All teams competing at the FIRST Championship event must have a crate to ship their robot in and must ship their robot to the FIRST Championship via FedEx. Teams will either receive their shipping documents at Pit Administration during District Championship or FIRST will email teams their shipping documents after they qualify for Championship. Teams will then need to promptly reply back with the completed shipping document. Failure to provide the document in a timely fashion could result in your robot not making it to the FIRST Championship in time.
Teams should make arrangements to ship their robot immediately after receiving their shipping documents. Please do not leave your robot at District Championship if you qualify for FIRST Championship; you must bring your robot home with you and ship it from your location after receiving instructions from FIRST.
Information for shipping crate construction can be found here and in Section 5 of the Administrative Manual. Please do not crate and ship your robot without prior confirmation from FIRST. Filled crates must be kept to less than 400 lbs. to avoid being charged overage fees.
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FIRST Championship Volunteers
FIRST is looking for more volunteers for FIRST Championship in St. Louis. Specifically, there are openings for:
- Robot Inspectors
- Inspection Managers
- Practice Field Attendants
- Field Reset
More information about volunteering for Championship is available here.
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District Event Lost & Found
Lose something at an event? We will be bringing the lost and found for all events to District Championship. Check Pit Administration at the event for the location. After District Championship, lost and found items will end up back at NE FIRST HQ.
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Where is Wolcott Invitational 2016
The Where is Wolcott Invitational (WIWI) post-season event, hosted by FRC 1071, will be held on Saturday, June 11 at Wolcott High School in Wolcott, CT. In addition to normal match play:
- During qualifications, anyone can sign up to be a Guest Announcer. Every fourth match, a guest announcer will be given the chance to try out play-by-play style game announcing.
- Mentors will have a chance to compete as a drive team with a designated mentor robot during the qualification matches.
- Playoff brackets are run double-elimination style with a winner's bracket and a second-chance bracket.
Registration is $250/team. To register, email the registration form to Rob Cormier at rcormier@wolcottps.org. This event is limited to 24 teams and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
Hosting an off-season event and want an official field? Information about how to borrow one of NE FIRST's fields will be available within the next few weeks.
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District Event Lost & Found
Lose something at an event? We will be bringing the lost and found for all events to District Championship. Check Pit Administration at the event for the location. After District Championship, lost and found items will end up back at NE FIRST HQ.
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Upcoming Events
National Robotics Week
April 2-10
Pine Tree District Event
April 7-9
Androscoggin Bank Colisée
190 Birch St, Lewiston, ME 04240
New England District Championship
April 13-16
XL Center
1 Civic Center Plaza, Hartford, CT 06120
Cambridge Science Festival
April 15-24
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