FTCNJ Tuesday Newsday - October 25 2022 ... (Sent via Google Group)

[Vince Frascella]

Greetings Newsletter Subscribers and FTCNJ Coaches

This email is being sent to everyone on the existing Newsletter
Distribution list.

As always, you can very easily opt-out from receiving it. (See that process
at the bottom of this email.)



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 – Some impressive
statistics shared by our RVSTS host



Added Features Developed for January Events <> – “Practice Judging” &
“Elimination Matches” at select events.



Spectator Policy <> - Replacing Last Season’s Ban with Gradual Allowance
of Spectators



A Word of Caution <> : Social Media – Don’t Believe Everything You Read.



Quick Links:



LEAGUES, CONFERENCES and TEAMS <>

MEET REGISTRATION, AM/PM MEETS, VENUE UPDATE <>


FIRST NEWS <>


FTCNJ NEWS – Captains Caucus, Coaches Caucus <>








OFF-SEASON ACTIVITIES


Raritan Valley Science & Technology Showcase (October 1st/2nd)


Thanks to our great volunteers and 21 teams that made this multi-Program
Outreach such a success. Thanks to all coaches who have provided feedback,
as well.

Here are some information shared by the event organizer ….

* Unique Visitors to the Mall over Oct 1-2: 57,629. Compared to the
count for the weekend before (45,708) and the weekend after (46,983), that
is a 24% increase in traffic over a “normal weekend.”

* The dwell time (minutes spent in the mall) was also averaged 12.5
minutes higher per visit, so that was a total of nearly ~ 12,575 additional
hours. (Those that were engaged stayed a significant amount of time.)

* It’s estimated that the event exposed roughly 10,290 people to a
FIRST event.

* The Mall is very interested in next year and the current intent is
to repeat the RVSTS event September 30 - October 1, 2023





Final Practice Day of October 2022





Central NJ Practice Day – October 23rd


Thanks to the Highland Park OWLS and PSA’s Short Circuits for co-hosting
the Practice Day last Sunday.

Teams tinkered on their robots and received help, when requested,
throughout the morning.

o The STEM Girls presented Tech Talks on “Linear Slides” and “Onshape
CAD’ … to a very full room of interested team members.

o Mentor Joe L, along with students Sujay and Manassa held an Advanced
Pgm’g Forum with the students presenting on “Odometry” and “OpenCV”.

o Sujay and Manassa also delivered an “Introduction to Java”
presentation that led into an “Basic Java Programming” session by Mentor
Narmada K.

o Coach Kathy R and Pat F held an informative Coaches Forum which
included an FTCNJ website tour and review of Event Registration.

By day’s end, nine teams were organized into 2-robot Alliances and played
nine 4-robot PowerPlay matches, including ‘Battle of the Undefeated’.

Top performing robots were Team #16367 (Krypton Warriors) and rookie Team
#21226 (Hillsborough’s RoboRaiders)!
Thanks Volunteers! … Keisha S, Kathy R, Joe L, Chris K, Bala K, Narmada K,
Julia B, Charlotte B, Randy G, Sunil M, (and Wei, Yuan, Susanna & Anna of
TECH-tonic)




LEAGUES, CONFERENCES & TEAMS





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
Conference’s season-ending tournament.


“Team (Pin) Map” Enhancement


FTCNJ continues to update the Team Map on the website.
<https://www.newjerseyftc.com/team-map.html> Team Map - FIRST Tech Challenge
- New Jersey (newjerseyftc.com)

It can now be used to view “who are the other teams in my League”!



POWERPLAY Season Team Registration

167 of the 169 have registered; while two more Rookie Registrations are
currently pending.

154 of the 167 are returning teams … and 13 registered rookies.

As of this moment, 183 FTCNJ Teams have registered or confirmed their
intent to do so for the upcoming season.

WELCOME Rookie Teams!

* A big WELCOME to our 13 brand new teams, below.

o 22504 (STEM Robotics) – South Orange

o 22348 (Minds of Steel) - Robbinsville

o 22261 (Hornet Blue) - Holmdel

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



COMPETITION NEWS





Spectator Policy (Period #1)


Recall that last season, as FTCNJ returned to in-person competitions,
spectators were not allowed.

FTCNJ began to “livestream” the Freight Frenzy competitions and limit
attendance to participants only.

This season, we will continue to livestream the competitions but do want to
begin allowing spectators.



It is difficult to apply a blanket policy when venue sizes differ … with
some Meets in large gyms and others in smaller spaces.

Also, it is not prudent to shift immediately to an “anything goes” policy.

Our approach is to set (what we believe to be) a fair and reasonable limit
which takes into account venue size, team size, and changing conditions.



For events that are held in gyms, spectators are allowed BUT with a cap
that is based on team size… specifically team member count.

For example, a team with 6 members is allowed 6 spectators; a team with 15
members is allowed 15 spectators.

The view is that tying the spectator cap to the team size is more fair than
a blanket limit (e.g., “6 spectators per team”).



Of course, we are checking with each venue to obtain their concurrence.
We’ll begin adding that information to the FTCNJ website.



We’ll watch what schools are doing relative to spectators at their sporting
events, and hopefully loosen up further as the season progresses.

Conversely, if we begin to hear of COVID outbreaks at large events, we’ll
reconsider the spectator policy.



Meanwhile, coaches can poll team members and allocate the spectator slots
in a manner most fair for them.

FTCNJ appreciates all of the support throughout the pandemic situation and
continues to navigate carefully forward.

We don’t want to take a step backwards. Let’s continue to cautiously open
things up …gradually and safely.



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.




Period #3 (January) Added Optional Features


* Teams participating in Saturday Meets in January may partake of
optional in-person “Practice Judging”.

o While it does not affect advancement or earn a trophy, the face/face
judge interview is very good practice for the February events.

* Teams participating in Sunday Meets in January may partake in
optional “Elimination Matches”.

o Again, this added feature does not affect advancement but does provide
teams with experience in Alliance Selection ….

* In both cases, the added features are strictly optional.

o Teams can opt out of the judge interview on January Saturdays, or
depart prior to Alliance Selection on January Sundays.

* FTCNJ has been communicating with the venues (regarding judging
rooms) and with volunteers.

o We thank all for helping us to organize and offer these added features
in the January events.




Meet Registration, AM/PM Meets, Venue Update




Meet Registration

AT THIS POINT, your team should really have submitted the Meet Requests
including any Bonus Event requests.
If you are a coach who has not submitted the request yet, please do it now
…or let FTCNJ know the nature of your problem.

Here is the Registration link that coaches can use. :
<https://www.newjerseyftc.com/event-registration-and-acceptance-criteria.htm
l> Event Registration and Acceptance Criteria - FIRST Tech Challenge - New
Jersey (newjerseyftc.com)

The attached “Executive Summary” shows the sites and locations of the
events.



AM/PM Meets

A handful of Meets will be AM/PM configuration in order to support
24-teams. Those Meets are ….

* Saturday, November 5th – Northern League Meet at Don Bosco Prep,
Ramsey

* Sunday, November 20th – Upper Central League Meet at Dickerson
School, Chester

* Saturday, November 26th – Upper Central League Meet at Grace Church
Recreation Center, Randolph

* Sunday, November 27th – Southern League Meet at Girl Scouts Pgm
Activity Center, Farmingdale

* Saturday, December 3rd – Essex County – West Caldwell Tech, West
Caldwell

* Further Notes:

o Sometime shortly after an AM/PM site has >16 teams registered, FTCNJ
will solicit AM or PM preference info from coaches.

o For AM Events, Team Check-In Opens at 8:00am; AM Events end by 12:00pm

o For PM Events, Team Check-In Opens at 12:30pm; PM Events end by 4:30pm



Venue Update

* It has become necessary to move the December 11th Meet to River
Dell High School in Oradell. (Thanks, River Dell)

* A separate notification is being sent to the teams/coaches who have
applied for the December 11th competition.

* Apologies for any inconvenience. Hopefully, this far advance notice
mitigates the impact.


Period #1 Meets feature 6 MATCHES PER TEAM!


ALL Period #1 Meets will provide each participating team with 6 Matches,
rather than 5 Matches on event day.

Consider that ‘extra match’ to be a perk for readying your robot early and
coming out to participate in a Period #1 Meet.

Thanks to our nifty Lead Scorekeeper and generous supporting volunteers for
helping to make this happen.
Robot not quite perfect? You now have a “throwaway match” during Period
#1! Come out. Try! Learn! Iterate! Have fun!




“Bonus Meet Process”


As posted on the FTCNJ Website, 2 weeks prior to event date, teams on the
Wait List are offered Bonus Slots until the event is best filled.
[We also ask “accepted teams” for reconfirmation at that time. Please
respond promptly so that everyone can benefit from efficient use of slots.]

This is the timing of Wait List assessment (i.e., Bonus Slot disbursement)
throughout the season. Don’t miss out!






FIRST NEWS!





FTC SIM as Programmer Training Tool


Even if you are not a rookie team, you may want to take a serious look at
FTC SIM as potential training tool for your programmers.

It was discussed at the recent Coaches Caucus and, after just a brief
review, more than one coach commented on the high quality and potential
usefulness of FTC SIM. Pretty impressive!

Here are some links for those potentially interested:

* Access to <https://ftcsim.org/ftcsim/> FTC SIM

* Overview Presentation:
<https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1AReLrefnN_tfnVjEDhB8fn27WKeeQ38TMlN
m02PcP78/edit#slide=id.p1>
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1AReLrefnN_tfnVjEDhB8fn27WKeeQ38TMlNm
02PcP78/edit#slide=id.p1



FTC SIM Grant

* 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/>
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.
Though only (140) of these $1000 grants were available, we are hearing that
many are unclaimed. FTCNJ Rookie teams should really consider this. $1000!



FIRST TECH CHALLENGE New Jersey News


A Word of Caution


FTCNJ would like to take a moment to remind our teams and team members to
be cautious about your use of social media.

One of our teams has recently had an unfortunate experience with someone on
Discord publicizing inappropriate remarks and claiming to be on their team!

If you are aware of the situation, know that the person was misrepresenting
themselves, had nothing to do with our FTCNJ team, and has been banned.

PLEASE be careful out there. Beware of anyone requesting personal
information, contact information, etc.

Neither FIRST nor FTCNJ endorse Discord, though it is understood that many
teams use it and many teams are fans of Discord.

All that we can say is be very careful! Don’t believe everything that you
read and consider very seriously any requests for personal information. Stay
safe!!



Captains Caucus (Oct 21st) <-- Accomplished

Coaches should encourage student leaders to attend. Notes are distributed
to attendees and their coaches following the sessions.

Thanks Oct Breakout Leads: Eldrin B (Reboot), Jesse S (RoboTech Anomaly),
Shruti M (Outer Galaxy), Abigail P (Steel Magnolias), Vincent F (Clearview),
and Shreya K (Short Ckts).

Oct 21st topics included: Competition Prep, Programming Robots, Judge
Interview Tips, Robots Lifting Cones, Double-Revere Four Bars, and more!

Are you a Student Leader? You should join us on these 3rd Friday of the
Month Zooms.
Coaches should really consider sending their captain(s)! There is a lot of
very smart and very useful information exchanged.


Coaches Caucus (Nov 4th) <-- 1st Friday of the Month


New and veteran coaches met at 8pm on October 7th to discuss Kick Off,
Workshops, and other topics of mutual interest.

Thanks to all of the Coaches who attended and participated. Topics included
Getting the Most out of Practice Days and your First Meet.

Our Coach Presenters included: Deepak M, Marie A, Rich M, Katherine R, Joe
L. Thanks folks!

Nov 4th proposed topics …the experiences at Oct Practice Days & first Meets
on Halloween Weekend ... Team Management, Judging Topics, and Tech Topics.
Are you a coach who is missing out on these discussions? Join us for an
hour on the 4th. See what it’s like!
The next Coaches Caucus is 8pm on 11/04/22. Here’s the Registration Link:
<https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZApd-iurD0uHdIYZLNgCWUg-Ndm_MhrxM
Hb>
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZApd-iurD0uHdIYZLNgCWUg-Ndm_MhrxMH
b

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 appreciate the help by some of these folks at the Bridgewater Outreach
and others have signed on now to help at various Practice Days. Pretty
terrific!

Tech Crew help at Oct 15th/16th Practice Days included: Hillsborough, Pope
John, Enforcers, and alumni from Titanium Knights and Jdroids!

Tech Crew Help at Oct 23rd included FTA/Inspection Help from Dynabytes and
Princeton STEM mentors.

This space will continue to cover the progress being made and to recognize
the individuals/teams stepping up.



VOLUNTEERS – Adult Referees Needed

As most can see, our FTCNJ season is very full. There are no fewer than 33
official competitions.

Most weekends have Saturday & Sunday events and the majority are two field
affairs.

Are you an adult supporter of our FTCNJ teams? Ever thought of lending a
hand as a volunteer? How about being a Referee?

At the link, you can view various events, their dates, and their locations.
We are interested in people who can sign up for a few.
Of course, you won’t be officiating at the field when your team is up, but
we can manage that flexing of volunteers.

There is on-line FIRST training BUT we’ll also organize a Zoom and provide
an easy-in introduction.
Please give it some thought. We are a volunteer-driven organization!
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdVLCgbG4KNE8sKl8-FUnMQhtK2zdhqFRK
U-is7wDPqKTB_Rg/viewform> Volunteer Availability Meets (google.com)



STEM GIRLS

Did you take note of the STEM Girl contributions to the Kick-Offs,
Workshops and Practice Days?

If you are a female team member or a supportive female mentor, the STEM
Girls would love to have you join them.

Their “STEM Girls News” webpage has been updated to show the schedule of
the various STEM Girl Working Group Meetings.

Check it out! <https://www.newjerseyftc.com/nj-stem-girls.html> NJ STEM
Girls - FIRST Tech Challenge - New Jersey (newjerseyftc.com)

Want to help with Tech Talks, Guest Speakers, Mixers on Topics of Interest
or Program Promotion. Your help is needed!







Our next newsletter will be on November 1st, 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

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