FTCNJ Tuesday Newsday - October 4 2022 ... (Sent via Google Group)
Vince Frascella
Greetings Newsletter Subscribers and FTCNJ Coaches
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Remember that the updates are shown in blue bold text. If you are a weekly reader, you can just quickly scan the BLUE to see what is NEW.
The black text is included for completeness sake and for our new readers.
HEADLINES:
Raritan Valley Science & Technology Showcase ß Thanks to the >150 people (20 FTCNJ teams) that supported this super- successful Outreach event.
October Practice Day Events ß The Oct 15th Practice Day is Full-Up. Some room remains in the other two. Come and make sure that your robot is ready to compete!
Official Competitions Begin ß The Northern and NE Edge Leagues kick off the new season with official Halloween Meets, not Scream-ages.
Quick Links:
LEAGUES & CONFERENCES, TEAMS & HUBS
MEET REGISTRATION and SEASON EVENT PLAN
FIRST NEWS
FTCNJ NEWS – Leadership Caucuses, STEM Girls
OFF-SEASON ACTIVITIES
Raritan Valley Science & Technology Showcase (October 1st/2nd)
The FTCNJ Activity Area at the RVSTS was constantly busy throughout the two day event. Teams showcased FTC on the 2nd Floor and sent teams down to our area.
Highlights included tournament bots on Freight Frenzy and PowerPlay Fields, two Demo Tables, two Driving Zones on the fields, and a Robot Racetrack.
Pre-FTC young people had an opportunity to drive one of eleven “jersey-bots” in three different driving zone throughout the busy day.
Our team members worked with the young people, demo’d and explained FTC, and kept those “jersey-bots” fully engaged during the two exciting days.
FIRST and FIRST Tech Challenge information was given to adults. Sticker and rubber ducks were given to our young patrons.
Hopefully, we have planted a lot of seeds for our future team/team members.
Thanks to our great volunteers – Randy G, Chris K, Narmada K, Leslie M, and Daniel H. Thanks also to our amazing coaches and their teams (below).
Saturday
3774 (Hive Voltage) - Bayonne
4890 (AArcHive) - Bayonne
7040 (Cyber Falcons) - Hillsborough
7350 (Watt NXT) - Edison
8812 (Cyber Raptors) - Hillsborough
8902 (Cosmic Goose) - Glen Rock
9889 (Cruise Control) - Flanders
11697 (TECH-tonic) - East Brunswick
16102 (Short Circuits) - Princeton Junction
16557 (Honey K-Ohm) - Bayonne
19823 (Jolly Blue) - Bloomfield
Sunday
6037 (W.A.G.S.) - Cherry Hill
6934 (Transisters) - Farmingdale
9848 (Mechanical Pioneers) - Mulica Hill
9853 (Chatham Cougars) - Chatham
11248 (// Cougars) - Chatham
12441 (GearView) - Mulica Hill
12636 (IHA Blue Eagles) - Twp of Washington
16367 (Krypton Warriors) - Parsippany
17670 (Raider Robotics) - Scotch Plains
Practice Days (October 2022)
Making progress on your PowerPlay Robot? Need help? Need time on an official PowerPlay Field? Practice Days can help with all of this!!!
Similar to Outreach Scrimmages, these are unofficial events at which students can “compete” in the afternoon and tinker on bots in a stress-free environment in the morning.
The event will feature an official PowerPlay field and teams wll shaking out the new year’s “PowerPlay” robots. Bring that robot, no matter what shape it is in.
· Registration is still OPEN for 2 of the 3 October Practice Days.
o With 21 teams (>200 people) coming, the Oct 15th Northern NJ Practice Days is CLOSED.
o The October 16th and October 23rd Practice Days still have room, but for how long? Don’t miss this low-stress “shake-out” opportunity.
· There are 9 teams (93 people) already registered for the Southern event (10/16) and 10 teams (116 people) registered for the Central Event (10/23).
· Coaches can sign up for either of the two open Practice Days, regardless of their League/Conference. Filling fast. Don’t wait too long to get off to a great start!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd98FKnY-3OpWcnbw3SNl4iKA9Ax4l-OwG_Sk5JfKe8BJaZeA/viewform
o “Central NJ Practice Day” – Sunday October 23rd. Co-hosted by Highland Park OWLS and Princeton STEM Academy Teams at Highland Park High School.
o “Southern NJ Practice Day” – Sunday, October 16th. Co-hosted by Toms River FTC Teams at Toms River High School North.
o “Northern NJ Practice Day” – Saturday, October 15th. Payne Tech, 498 West Market St, Newark, NJ ß CLOSED – FULL UP!
LEAGUES & CONFERENCES, TEAMS & HUBS
Season Plan – Conferences
Once again there will be 4 Leagues in FTCNJ with each comprised of 2 Conferences of 20-25 teams, organized by county. (Shown on attachment)
Remember, all teams in a League may compete at any Meet within that League, regardless of Conference.
Only in February’s League Tournaments must teams play only at their Conferences season-ending tournament.
Coaches! – Check the county cross-reference below and take care to register for Meets in the correct League/Conference. Mistakes cause costly delays.
POWERPLAY Season Team Registration OPEN
152 of the 155 are fully registered; while three registrations are currently pending.
142 of the 152 are returning teams … and 10 fully registered rookies.
As of this moment, 182 FTCNJ Teams have registered or confirmed their intent to do so for the upcoming season.
WELCOME Rookie Teams!
· A big WELCOME to all of our brand new teams, below.
· And, ….there are three more teams with Temporary #’s and pending registrations.
o 22219 (MORT JR) – Budd Lake
o 22062 (Cyber-Tigers) - Tenafly
o 22050 (Pirate Robotics) – Egg Harbor City
o 21995 (Aquinas Trojans) - Edison
o 21807 (Incinerators) – Edison
o 21767 (Quadra) - Edison
o 21630 (Argonauts) - Somerset
o 21505 (HHS Robotics FTC Raiders) - Hillsborough
o 21480 (C3 Loco-Motors) - Elmer
o 21226 (RoboRaiders) - Hillsborough
Expansion Hubs for our Rookie Teams!
· We are hearing that REV is beginning to ship Control Hubs to Rookie teams. Yay!!!
· As our new folks receive their permanent hardware, FTCNJ will facilitate getting the loaned hubs back to their generous owners.
· Super kudos to the veteran teams who’ve stepped up to loan Expansion Hubs…
o 11241(Blue Steel)
o 7149…(Enforcers)
o 16367(Krypton Warriors)
o 14481…(Princeton STEM)
o 7040…(Cyber Falcons/Raptors)
o 17009 (Steel Magnolias)
o 13302 (MKA Robotics)
· Thanks to the Cyber Falcons/Raptors for offering more Hubs. It looks like we will not be needing to deploy any more.
· The patience of our rookies and the super support of our veterans is really appreciated. Great GP and spirit!
COMPETITION NEWS
World Championship Allocations
In case you have not heard, New Jersey has been allocated three advancements to the World Championships in April (Houston)
State Championship – March 12, 2023
The FTC New Jersey State Championship will be held on Sunday, March 12th
In-Person Judging is anticipated at the State Championship, as well as at League Tournaments.
It is also our goal to have “Practice Judging” at four of the Period #3 Meets; one for each League.
Meet Registration & Season Event Plan
Have you submitted your Meet Request yet? Now is the time to pick your primary event in each of 3 competition timeframes. Don’t forget your Bonus Event requests.
Remember that you CAN submit your requested events EVEN IF your team is not yet fully registered and paid. Don’t get left out. Submit your events asap.
Events are filling quickly. Here is the Registration link that coaches can use. : Event Registration and Acceptance Criteria - FIRST Tech Challenge - New Jersey (newjerseyftc.com)
· FTCNJ is again holding six Meet choices per League (3 Saturdays, 3 Sunday). Teams can pick three plus apply for bonus Meets.
The attached “Executive Summary” shows the sites and locations of the events. The attachment replaces the long list that appeared in previous Newsletters.
The attachment shows that our final competition site (Nov 20th) has now been confirmed. Thanks very much to all of our returning hosts and our many new hosts!
Note –
The vast majority of Meets have a 24-team capacity; a handful will be AM/PM configuration in order to achieve 24-teams, if needed.
Capacity Info is being added to the FTCNJ website along with potential AM/PM events.
The Capacity Update to be completed by Oct 10th. It has been delayed from the original ECD of Oct 4th. Apologies. Anyone with urgent need before Oct 10th, drop us a line.
Period #1 Meets Begin!
The new season is off to a howling start with two brand new hosts supporting Halloween Weekend Meets.
Best of luck to the Highlanders (of Governor Livingston) and Crusader Robotics (Bergen Catholic HS) for their inaugural hosting endeavor.
Continuing our Halloween tradition, teams are encouraged to decorate themselves and their haunted pits. Teams often bring extra Spirit to these events.
- 10/29/22 Halloween Saturday – Meet (Northeast Edge League) – Governor Livingston High School, 175 Watchung Blvd, Berkeley Heights, NJ
- 10/30/22 Halloween Sunday – Meet (Northern League) – Bergen Catholic HS, 1040 Oradell Avenue, Oradell, NJ
FIRST NEWS!
SDK 8.0 Release
Programmers: The new FTC SDK version 8.0 has been released! This is the minimum version allowed for competition this season.
Get it here: https://github.com/FIRST-Tech-Challenge/FtcRobotController
Do read the Release Notes. You may have to change the way you initialize I2C devices.
There's also a warning about broken compatibility with the popular EasyOpenCV and FTC Dashboard libraries.
FTC SIM Grant
This opportunity was brought to our attention by our FIRST Senior Mentor, Chris N.
Rookie FTC teams who leverage the FTC SIM tool, developed in Canada, may want to check this out! https://www.firstroboticscanada.org/ftc/sim/grants/
Participants need to use the FTC SIM tool to do the exercises in this block-based (or Java) programming that's relevant to FTC, and earn "lightning bolts" that go towards the grant eligibility.
There are a limited number (140) of these $1000 grants available, so teams should act soon if they want to be a recipient.
Note: Has any team pursued this opportunity? Are any of our teams using FTC SIM (either the Canada or Illinois version).
FTCNJ would like to know the level of use and level of interest out there. Please let us know if you are a user, and believe that this topic should get more visibility.
FIRST TECH CHALLENGE New Jersey News
Coaches Caucus Returns (Oct 7th) ß 1st Friday of the Month
New and veteran coaches met at 8pm to discuss Kick Off, Workshops, and other topics of mutual interest.
Thanks to all of the Coaches who attended and participated in the September 2nd discussions on the Game Reveal, Workshops, and Season Start-Up
Topics for the coming Caucus include Season Start-Up, getting the most out of Practice Days, and the Oct/Nov Period #1 Meets!
The next Coaches Caucus is October 7th. https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIvcOGorD4oH9dFMuNZqDZqfuuyune3TTzr
Captains Caucus Returns (Oct 21st) ß 3rd Friday of the Month
Coaches should encourage student leaders to attend. Notes are distributed to attendees and their coaches following the sessions. A sample from Sept 16th to be distributed to all coaches.
On Sept 16th, student leaders discussed: Season Start-Up Topics, Mechanical Design, and Outreaches for Recruiting Sponsors, Mentors & Members.
Thanks to our Breakout Room Facilitators: Eldrin B (Reboot), Michael D (FIRE), Vincent F (Clearview), Shruti M (Outer Galaxy), Kyle T (Enforcers) and Chase W (FIRE).
The next Captains Caucus is October 21st. https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMoc-qqqz8tHN0KDjMWCgyVDCg9_Xyh1x1K
VOLUNTEERS – “FTCNJ Tech Crew” Initiative
Thanks to the folks who attended the FTA Tech Crew Zoom on September 22nd
Attendees included representatives from: Princeton STEM Academy, Pope John, Dynabytes, Jdroids, and Cruise Control. Thanks for stepping up to help!
We look forward to additional fruitful meetings and to having the extra assistance at the Practice Days and coming Meets.
Once the FTA initiative is rolling, we will follow up with those interested in the student FTAA roles.
STEM GIRLS News!
STEM Girls Supporting Workshops
The STEM Girls not only presented Tech Talks at the Aug 20th Workshops in Kean, they have committed to come back again to help out at the Sept 24th Southern NJ Workshops!
STEM Girls Shreya and Tanya did a Tech Talk during the Blended Topics Track, helped kick off the Onshape Track at day’s start, and served as instructor assistants throughout the day!
STEM Girls Supporting Kick Off Events
Beyond Workshops, with the help of WAGS and the Jdroids, STEM Girls Tables were staffed at both the Hightstown and Livingston Kick Off events.
If you are one of the folks who visited the STEM Girls at either Kick Off, you can opt in via the link below or send an inquiry to this address.
STEM Girls New Season – Opt In
In addition to welcoming all of the girls who have opted-in following the Sept 10th Kick Off, it is time for returning STEM Girls to opt-in for the new season.
Unless you have opted-in since the closure of the Freight Frenzy season (e.g., April 30th), you should opt-in now to continue your connection with the STEM Girls organization.
Otherwise, per FIRST policy, the email addresses of STEM Girls participants during our previous season will be deleted (“forgotten”) within the next week.
Don’t get disconnected if your interest continues. We’d hate to lose someone that way.
Simply use the link below to “opt-in” and receive the periodic notices of STEM Girl Happenings!. You can “opt-out” at any time!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfca5j11yjtAW6OJmRzbbwKyrSOrt8a5tty9SojZkwYLJLvCw/viewform
Field Construction Tip
Have you experienced difficult in pressing the black rubber stopper into the yellow pipe, or haven’t attempted it yet?
Kathy R (PSA) and FTCNJ used a piece of ½ inch schedule 40 PVC pipe and a mallet to “encourage” the stopper in.
FTCNJ reported the similar use of a PVC pipe but was able to use a drill press to push the stopper into the shorter pipes.
John G (Officiating) has suggested using an appropriate size socket wrench piece in lieu of the PVC.
Note – When PVC is used both PSA and FTCNJ marked the PVC to show how deeply recessed the stopper needed to be.
Just passing along the information in hopes of helping. Take your time. With some patience, it is not too bad.
Our next newsletter will be on October 11, 2022.
If you have any questions, comments, or needs as you read this newsletter, simply write back and we’ll be happy to assist.
Making that comment here, rather than embedding it throughout the long newsletter above.
Thanks again for the interest in FIRST Tech Challenge New Jersey and being part of our community
Thanks much, Vince Frascella
FIRST Tech Challenge New Jersey