Middleton Parents and Students, Download Presentation
What an incredible turnout at yesterday’s FTC kick-off event on Orlando. There was 125+ students, parents, and mentors from across the state of Florida. Even more impressive was that we had 18 students and more than 10 parents from the three Middleton teams in attendance. With 18 students, we tied Lyman High School for the team with the most team members in attendance.
I would like to thank all of the parents that attending our first meeting last Friday, September 9, 2011. I am targeting our next parent meeting for October 7, 2011 at 5:30pm. I especially want to thank all of the parents that volunteered to help and provided feedback on suggestions to improve the organization of the team. Later this week, I will send out another newsletter that will include the volunteer committee structure and who has already volunteered. I am also hoping to have all of the students assigned to the teams and will also include a team roster in the next newsletter.
The following are the topics will be cover in this email:
1. FTC Game Information
2. Tempest N Tampa Event
3. New FTC Team in Brandon Area
4. Parent Meeting Presentation
5. FIRST FTC News
6. Learning How to Build Tetrix Robots
————————————————-
1. FTC Game Information: The new FTC season has officially started with the announcement of the new game called Bowled Over! It appears that the FTC game design team was trying to develop a game that was very different from any of the past games. There is limited scoring in autonomous, multiple scoring elements, and a long list of large penalties. If you are on an FTC, please make sure you review the game automation and read the game manual before the meeting next Wednesday. You can find this information at the following website:http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/ftc/2011-2012-game-info
At a minimum, please read Section 2—The Game and Section 4 – The Robot. All FTC team members need to be prepared to answer the following questions:
a. How many types of scoring elements are on the field?
b. How many racquetballs are on the field?
c. How many point penalty is making contact with an opposing Alliance’s robot or Ball Crate while in the process of Stacking in Protected Area.
d. Where do you score the Magnet Balls?
e. When can the bowling ball be scored?
f. How many Tetrix DC Motors can we have on the robot?
g. Where can a Stack not be knocked down by the opposing alliance robot?
h. What is the maximum number of points an alliance can score in the autonomous period?
————————————————
2. Tempest N Tampa – All FRC team members are encouraged to attend the FRC Tempest N Tampa (TNT) event at the University of Tampa on September 17, 2011. TNT is an offseason FRC tournament that is hosted by Team Crunch from East Lake High School. This is a great chance for people new to the robotics club and new to FRC to see how a robotics tournament in action. I am not sure what time the FRC events will start but I suggest you plan on arrive around 9am. TNT will be held at the Bob Martinez Sports Center at the University of Tampa, 312 N Blvd., Tampa, FL, 33606.
In addition to the FRC event, FIRST will also be conducting several FTC workshops. This is another chance for use to learn and be better prepared at our first competition. One of the most interesting presentations will be about Scouting. The following is the details about the FTC workshops:
10:00 a.m. – Using Scouting and Strategy to Your Best Advantage in FTC
12:00 p.m. – FTC Programming Sensors in ROBOTC
1:00 p.m. – Effective Design Process for FTC Manipulators for the 2011-12 Game
3:00 p.m. – What to Expect at Your First FTC Tournament
Location:
Sword & Shield Room or Room 104 [The rooms are adjacent]
Bob Martinez Sports Center at the University of Tampa
312 N Blvd., Tampa, FL, 33606
————————————————
3. New Team in Brandon Area – There is a parent in the Valrico area that is trying to start a team at the Boys and Girls Club in Brandon. The team will plan on meeting every Saturday. If you live in the Brandon, Valrico, Riverview and are interested in joining this team, please send me an email. Also, if you know of any students that live in this area that would be interested, please send me their contact information.
————————————————
4. Parent Meeting Presentation – The attached PDF file contains all of the slides I presented on Friday. It also has the more detailed definition of the FTC team role responsibilities.
————————————————
5. FIRST FTC News – On a regular basis, I receive emails from FIRST and our FTC affiliate partner in Florida with updates and information about FIRST activities. The following is some recent emails posting information I have received from FIRST.
FTC Vlog – Would you like to document your season for the FIRST World to see? We’re looking for a few volunteers to do just that. Interested? Send an email to ftcteams@usfirst.org with Vlog as the subject. Tell us a little bit about your team and why you’ll be a great Vlogger.
Senior Mentor Calls – Each season FIRST’s dedicated team of Senior Mentors partner with program specialists to share helpful hints with teams. The first two of these calls are scheduled for September – be sure to mark your calendars.
For both calls – Call in Number:
US/Canada 866-951-1151
Mexico +52 (01) 5 511638996
Netherlands +31 (0) 2 02629654
Conference Room: 1066578
a. Teams In Transition – Transitioning from FTC to FRC
Hosted by Tara Bowen-Biggs and Presented by Joe Passofaro
Wednesday, September 14th at 7pm ET
b. FTC Mentor 101 – Helpful hints for FTC Mentors including How to register a team, the season timeline, recruiting mentors and organizing a team Hosted by Mary Roberts and Presented by Jill Wilker
Monday, September 19th at 7:30pm ET
Are you a “Taker-Aparter”? Do you have a knack for dissembling and rebuilding things? For example, we’ve heard of a person taking apart an old computer monitor and turning it into a functioning fish tank!
FIRST® wants to know: What have you taken apart and rebuilt? Know of any cool things to make with an old cell phone? How ‘bout a VCR or a remote control car? Your submissions may be featured in the FIRST Newsletter or in other capacities in the coming months.
Join the conversation! Share your stories with us at ftcteams@usfirst.org by Wednesday, September 14th. Please include a photo of your cool creation, and if you have a team photo, send that along, too!
**Please pass this along to all of your student team members!**
————————————————
6. Learning How to Build Tetrix Robots – As I promised in my initial newsletter, I am going to include references to online websites that can be used to help the newer team members how to build the FTC robots. Tetrix published a new robot construction lesson manual this year. The lesson manual is online at the following website: http://www.tetrixrobotics.com/GettingStartedGuide/
