Exciting news for FTC-Iowa | Upcoming Events | Call to host an FTC event | 2012-2013 Qualifiers

What a busy summer! Lots of important information to share, so please read through all of the items. (There are a lot of links, so please save this note so you can refer to the links in the future.)

1. Exciting news for FTC-Iowa

2. Upcoming Events -- Mark Your Calendar
a) Kick-Off Celebration
b) Call to host a 2012-2013 FTC Event
c) 2012-2013 Qualifier Tournaments

3. Changes for 2012-2013

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1 Exciting news for FTC-IowaOn Monday, July 16, the FTC program was selected as one of the State of Iowa Scale-Up Programs! This is HUGE!  (Thank you to all of you who wrote letters of endorsement/support for the Scale-Up application.)

What does being a scale-up mean? To put it simply, ALL students of Iowa will have access to FTC. ALL Regions of Iowa, (regardless of location, population density, district size, etc.) will be promoting FTC, and there will be financial assistance to help with the expansion of FTC. (More details to come soon!)

The hard work of getting to be recognized is over. Now, we NEED YOUR HELP as we recruit more rookie teams. Please promote FTC in your neighboring communities and school districts. Spread the word of FTC - Recruit more teams, volunteers, mentors, etc. We need to get 100 teams by Sept. 8th.

Resources for teams to get started:

• Rockwell Collins grants are still open. New teams, or teams who were rookies last season, can still apply. Complete the Rockwell Collins grant application.
  
• FTC Team Resources 
• FTC-Iowa Affiliate Partner (ftc.iowa@gmail.com) -- Please if you know of anyone who is interested, encourage them to email us.
• YOU! Current teams, volunteers and supporters are THE BEST way to promote and support FTC.

Also, if you haven't already done so, please register your team via TIMS.

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2. Upcoming Events -- Mark Your Calendar!!
The plans for the 2012-2013 FTC Season are well-under way. We have several events already scheduled on the books.

a) Kick-Off Celebration
 The 2012-2013 FTC Season will be Kicked-Off on Saturday, Sept. 8th at Vinton-Shellsburg High School (210 W. 21st Street, Vinton, Iowa). Similar to previous years, we will be having workshops in the morning (10am-12noon), Lunch (12noon-1pm), and then the Game Reveal. We do ask that all interested attendees to please register.

b) Call to host 2012-2013 FTC Events
We are currently seeking venues who are willing to host events (scrimmages, workshops) for the 2012-2013 FTC Season. Thank you to those who have already applied to host an event! If you are interested in hosting an event, please complete the 2012-2013 FTC Host Event form.
The form will ask for up to five potential dates, desired time, capacity, a lunch plan, and local volunteers.

c) 2012-2013 Qualifier Tournaments
Qualifier Tournament for the 2012-2013 Season are set! You can find a list of the Qualifiers on the FIRST Website -- click on "What FIRST Teams & Events are In My Area" -- narrow the search to "FTC", "Events", and "Iowa".

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3. Changes for 2012-2013A few changes for the 2012-2013 FTC Season:a) Many events will be on the same day. This includes workshops, scrimmages and qualifiers. The idea behind this is so we can have many events throughout the state to serve as many teams.

b) Remote Mentoring.
To help support and grow teams in all areas of Iowa, we have decided to implement on the concept of remote mentoring. Teams will be able to get help via the new technology of Google+ Hangouts. (Attached is a pdf to learn more about how to get started with Google Hangouts.) Please keep in mind, Google+ Hangouts is a new technology, so there may be some glitches. If you are interested or in need of remote mentoring, please fill out the Remote Mentor form.

c) Videos for Judges.
In order for the judges to learn more about the teams, we are encouraging teams to submit a 2 minute video one week prior to the qualifiers they plan to attend. Although this is not required (highly encouraged) for teams at the qualifiers, it will be required for any team who advances to the FTC-Iowa Championship. Benefits: Judges will learn more about the teams prior to the event; Teams will have the opportunity to put anything they want to in the video;  Reduces the "gosh, I wish we would have said/done this..."; Allows teams to show their creativity, their outreach, etc. Yes, we understand teams are usually stressed and worried about the function of the robot in the days/weeks before the competition, but the video will be a tremendous help at the competitions.

The process is still being finalized, but more than likely teams will be asked to upload videos to YouTube. Teams will have the opportunity to make the video private or public.

Thank you all and have a fantastic summer!

Until Kick-Off,
The FTC-Iowa team

FTC Team Blast #5: Qualifier Tournaments | LabView Code Fest (1/16/2012) | FTC Success Stories | Forums | Promote Award

Hello, Teams:
We hope you all had a wonderful and safe Holiday & A Happy New Year!
2012 is going to be an excellent year for FTC in Iowa.

A few items for this message:

1. Qualifier Tournaments

a) Tournament Update
b) Remaining Events
c) Hosting Events for 2012-2013

2.LabView Code Fest: (Jan. 16, 2012)
3. FTC Success Story
4. Questions About Specific Rules: Forums
5. New Award for 2011-2012: Promote Award

1. Qualifier Tournaments

1a) Tournament update:
Wow! Qualifier Tournaments are going very well. A HUGE Thank you to the wonderful volunteers and the event coordinators!! They have done, and continue to do, a fantastic job!  Thank you, teams and coaches, who took on the stress of hosting a Qualifier Tournament.
Teams that we've seen at the Qualifiers, have also been very impressive! Kudos all around.
Check out the FTC-Iowa blog for a summary of the events: http://ftc-iowa.blogspot.com/

Qualifiers will be the norm in Iowa!

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1b) Remaining Events
We have received an interest from many teams, who want to attend additional tournaments. Although we would like to try to accommodate these requests, the remaining events are full. If additional spots open up, we will notify teams as to how to register.
Please view the site at: https://drupal.engineering.uiowa.edu/ftc-iowa-qualifier-tournaments-2011-assignments

Seeking Volunteers! If your students/mentors/coaches are not competing, but would like to watch an event, we would love to have them as volunteers!
Volunteers can sign up at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?hl=en_US&pli=1&formkey=dEdlcUJaT0lONS1nSHkzdjhDUm1mZWc6MA#gid=0

1c) Hosting an Event for 2012-2013
Are you interested in hosting an FTC event for next season? Many of the coaches/mentors have expressed an interest in hosting an event, either verbally or via e-mail. Even if you have expressed an interest, please send an email to Rebecca Whitaker (rebecca-whitaker@uiowa.edu) with the Subject: "2012-2013 FTC Host Event Request" so the requests can be collected - with the location (address), potential dates, etc. We will then collect these requests, look at the calendars, and go from there. Thank you, in advance for your interest and desire to host FTC events!
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2. LabView Code Fest: Jan. 16th
FTC teams who use LabView, or are interested in using LabView, are invited to attend the first ever FREE!! Code Fest! Monday, Jan. 16th at The College of Engineering from 10am-4pm. More information, including the goal of the event, is in the attached flier. RSVP to Andy Marshall (andy.marshall@ni.com) Coaches, mentors and students are invited to participate.
~Exciting Stuff!!~

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3. FTC Success Story
FTC National is looking for success stories from the teams and students who participate in FTC. Please send stories, brief or long, to stories@usfirst.org. They'll be kept as confidential as you like with names and team numbers used or not based on your preference. Feel free to share as much detail as you'd like - your privacy will be protected if you'd like to remain anonymous. We would love for Iowa teams to submit their success stories!!

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4. Questions About Specific Rules: Forums
Does your team have questions about specific rules which are confusing or are not defined in the Game Manual? Check out the FTC forums. (http://ftcforum.usfirst.org/)
FYI: The most recent version of the Game Manual is #4, dated 11/28/2011
The rulings on the forums are final. Teams are responsible for knowing the information provided.

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5. New Award for 2011-2012: Promote Award
All teams, regardless if they are invited to compete at the FTC-Iowa Championship, are encouraged to submit an entry for the Promote Award. Information can be found at: http://usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/ftc/promote
Now is the time to get stock footage of your team in the building/competing phase of the season.
Details about how to submit a video to FTC-Iowa will be sent at a later date.


Thank you all!
The FTC-Iowa Team

FTC Team Blast #2: Welcome to Bowled Over!

Hello, Teams!
We hope everyone has been "Bowled Over". This following topics are covered in this message.
Also, an archive of this can be found on our blog at: http://ftc-iowa.blogspot.com/

1. Upcoming Events
2. Team Status Check
3. Bowled Over Field & Materials
4. Excellent Resource "FTC Teams: Tips, Tricks, Strategies & Secrets (new edition!)"

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1. Upcoming Events
The best way to get some experience, and see what other teams are doing, is to attend some pre-competition scrimmage events. These events, are FREE! Teams are encouraged to attend at least one, if not two of them.

On Saturday, Oct. 1, Team #3550 - Beta, will be hosting our first event, the Skills Driving Challenge. Check out the events website at: http://staging1.engineering.uiowa.edu/ftc-iowa-2011-events
The Skills Driving event is a GREAT way for teams to get experience with the Samantha, how to drive a robot and to meet with other teams. This event was VERY popular last season.

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2. Team Status Check
We are asking for ALL teams to complete a brief on-line form about how your team is doing. (If you have multiple teams, you will need to complete the form multiple times.) This form gives our team a great snapshot of the progress of all of our teams and see if there are areas in which we can help you. The online survey can be found at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?hl=en_US&formkey=dENtNi16UGJ0aXRMRlQ2MHZvUi1DeGc6MA#gid=0

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3. Bowled Over Field & Materials
We have been asked, by many teams, as to where they can purchase the items for the Bowled Over game. Thank you, to Oregon FTC, for putting together this list.
**Please note: It is not required for teams to have a complete field to participate. If teams are only able to build a quarter of the field, that works as well.**

• Bill of Materials - Official "Bowled Over" Bill Of Materials
• The crates -  Sterilite 1695. Teams can also find them at Wal-mart. Teams don't need the clear ones. They are cheap at $1 per crate.
• Racquetballs - Teams don't need 100 of them for practicing. You can order them from AndyMark (www.andymark.com) at $16.28 for 24.
• Bowling Balls - check with your local bowling center and tell them what you are doing and ask if they would sell you a used 6lb. ball OR ask if they could order one at the their cost for your team. If your team decides not to attempt the bowling ball ramp part of the challenge you can skip purchasing one.
• Lights on the off-field goals - Teams don't need the lights in the ball containers at the side of the field and teams really only need to build one ramp.
• Low Cost Perimeter Option - Check it out on the FTC website: http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/Community/FTC/FTC_Documents_and_Updates/2008/Low%20Cost%20Field%20BOM.pdf
• Field tiles - The official tiles used for the FTC field floor are sold through Soft Tiles (www.softtiles.com), as they are the vendor for the official FTC Field Floor. They are offering FTC teams a 10% discount. To get the discount you must place your order by PHONE 888-477-6532 (toll free) (9am – 5:30pm EST). Ask for the 2’ x 2’ gray tiles 5/8” thick and tell them you are a FTC Coach. 12’ x 12’ field = 36 tiles = $187.92 + about $50 S & H.  Please note: You still get the discount if you order less tiles. 

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4. Excellent Resource: "FTC Teams: Tips, Tricks, Strategies & Secrets" (new edition!) A huge "Thank You" to Bill Mattaliano, of Solon Robotics Teams #367 & #5062, for letting us know about an updated version of the FTC book called "FTC Teams: Tips, Tricks, Strategies & Secrets". Although it is not required for teams to have a copy, teams can learn a lot from this book. Amazon is selling them for about $10. ISBN-13 #: 978-1463788728.
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Looking forward to working with your team! Hope to see you at one of the scrimmage events!

The FTC-Iowa Team
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