This is Team Blast - Week #4. In case you were wondering, we did not publish a blast for Week #3. (Have you missed a FTC-Iowa Team Blast? An archive of these messages are located on our blog: http://ftc-iowa.blogspot.com/)
Thank you to the teams who completed/submitted the September Monthly Report. These on-line surveys are "highly encouraged", so we can gauge the progress of the teams, and get help to those who need help. ~~If you are a new team, and are still waiting on your kit, please contact Rebecca immediately.~~
Finally, we apologize for the lengthy e-mail. Please grab a cup of coffee, put on some music, kick-back, and enjoy the read. :)
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1. Upcoming Events
a) Skills Driving Event - Oct. 16
b) Team Build Days - Nov. 6 & Nov. 13
c) Scrimmage Events
d) FTC-Iowa Championship - Feb. 25 & 26, 2011
2. Game Manual - updated versionb) Team Build Days - Nov. 6 & Nov. 13
c) Scrimmage Events
d) FTC-Iowa Championship - Feb. 25 & 26, 2011
3. Senior Mentor Calls
4. FIRST Consent and Release Form
5. Scholarships for FIRST students
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1. Upcoming Events:
We are very fortunate to be able to offer a many of events during the FTC season. Attendance to at least one scrimmage event is "highly encouraged" for all teams.
A listing of all of the upcoming events can be found at:
https://sites.google.com/site/
Pre-registration for these events is required, which will typically close two weeks prior to the event. Also, several of the events have limited capacities, so registrations will be on a first-come/first-serve basis.
a) Skills Driving Event - Oct. 16
The goal of the Skills Driving Event is to give teams experience with driving a basic chassis of a robot. We believe this will help as teams proceed through the "Get Over It!" season. Although we will have a few elements from the field incorporated into the skills challenge, we will not be using the official "Get Over It" field. As you register your team, you will be asked if your team would benefit if we had the official "Get Over It" field set up and on display.
Saturday, Oct. 16 - Skills Driving Event
Coralville Public Library
1401 5th Street
Coralville, Iowa
(Lower Level meeting rooms)
Registration will be closing on Monday, Oct. 11
https://sites.google.com/site/
b) Team Build Days - Nov. 6 in Algona and Nov. 13 in West Des Moines
For the build days, we are not asking for teams to bring a fully functioning/completed robot, we also don't want the teams to just bring a kit of parts. If your team just has a chassis completed, please bring it. Teams are highly encouraged to bring what they have completed. We are coordinating a wide selection of volunteers to be ready to assist you with various needs, including helping with software.
Saturday, November 6 - Team Build Day
Water's Edge Nature Center
1010 250th St.
Algona, Iowa
12:30pm-3:30pm
https://sites.google.com/site/
Saturday, November 13 - Team Build Day
Valley Southwoods Freshman High School
625 S. 35th St.
West Des Moines, Iowa
1:00pm-4:00pm
https://sites.google.com/site/
c) Scrimmage Events
The goal of the scrimmage events is to prepare teams for a competition environment. Like in various sports, a scrimmage is a mini-competition. During each scrimmage, the following will happen: teams will have an assigned pit area; robots will be required to pass inspections (hardware & software); matches will be generated; robots will be competing!
We aren't expecting perfection, but we are expecting robots to move. We will be having referees, judges and inspectors for the scrimmage events. Please bring the engineering notebook, as judges will be available to give you feedback on your notebooks.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Kirkwood Community College
Main Campus
Cedar Rapids
Time: to be determined
Capacity: 14 teams
https://sites.google.com/site/
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Iowa Children's Museum (within CoralRidge Mall)
1451 Coral Ridge Ave
Coralville, Iowa
Time: 1:00pm-4:00pm
Capacity: 14 teams
https://sites.google.com/site/
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Putnam Museum
1717 W. 12th Street
Davenport, Iowa
Time: to be determined
https://sites.google.com/site/
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Central College
Kuyper Athletic Complex
Pella, Iowa
Time: 12:30pm-4:00pm
Capacity: 20 teams
https://sites.google.com/site/
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Advanced Technology Center
Indian Hills Community College
Ottumwa, Iowa
Time: 1:00pm-4:00pm
Capacity: 14 teams
https://sites.google.com/site/
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Oelwein High School
315 8th St. SE
Oelwein, Iowa
Time: 11am-2pm
Capacity: 12 teams
https://sites.google.com/site/
d) FTC-Iowa Championship: Feb 25 & 26, 2011
Mark Your Calendar!! The FTC-Iowa Championship will be Friday, Feb. 25 & Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011 at the Iowa Memorial Union on the University of Iowa campus. This year is going to be a great competition - FIRST has approved for us to host a 48 team competition! As teams register, they will be divided into two divisions.
A few items to take note of:
- Due to our large capacity, we are asking all teams to arrive on Friday for team check-in, and hardware & software inspections. All teams must pass inspections prior to competing in any matches on Saturday.
- Please prepare your teams: Saturday, Feb. 26 will be a long day - although the start time hasn't been determined, it be early. :)
- Registration for the FTC-Iowa Championship will be opening in late October. Registrations will be on a first-come/first-serve basis, and Iowa teams will have priority.
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2. Game Manual - updated version
There is a new revision of the "Get Over It" Game Manual (version #2). Please make sure you download the correct copy. Page 4 has a listing of the updates included in the new version of the Game Manual.
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3. FIRST Sponsored Senior Mentor & Samantha Calls
Recently, FIRST has coordinated and held some great conference calls for teams.
Call #1: Samantha Expert Conference Call (held on Sept. 14) - for teams wanting to know the details about the Samantha module
Call #2: Teams in Transition (held on Sept. 30) - for teams who transitioned from FLL into FTC.
Call #3: Senior Mentor Calls (held on Sept. 23) - for any team who need assistance with season planning, recruiting mentors, organizing a team, and what happens at a tournament.
Recordings of these calls, as well as agendas, can be found at: http://www.usfirst.org/
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4. FIRST Consent and Release Form Students, coaches and mentors attending a Team Build Events, Scrimmages or FTC-Iowa State Championship are required to turn in a completed Consent and Release form at every event. The form is available for download from the FIRST web site: http://www.usfirst.org/
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5. College Scholarships for FIRST students
Did you know there are college scholarships available to your FTC students? A listing of scholarships, for FIRST Students can be found at: http://www.usfirst.org/
Its a great "perk" for participating in FIRST, please share the above link with your students
Exciting News!!! Beginning this season, The University of Iowa College of Engineering will be offering several "big" scholarships to FTC & FRC students! We are in the last stage of setting up the process with FIRST, and once its been completed information will be passed to you. Please prepare your students, as this is will be an excellent opportunity!!
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Please do not hesitate to ask if you need help.
Thank you and we hope you enjoyed the coffee and music. :)
Rebecca Whitaker & FTC-Iowa team
P.S. Have you missed a FTC-Iowa Team Blast? (An archive of these messages are located on our blog: http://ftc-iowa.blogspot.com/)
