FTCNJ Tuesday Newsday - November 1 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.
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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:
Results of the Past Weekend’s Competitions – Kudos to new hosts Governor Livingston and Bergen Catholic!
November Caucuses – Coaches Caucus this Friday; Student Leaders on November 18th
Advice from FTA’s – Tips to get your season off to a good start.
Quick Links:
LEAGUES, CONFERENCES and TEAMS
MEET REGISTRATION, AM/PM MEETS, VENUE UPDATE
FIRST NEWS
FTCNJ News
LEAGUES, CONFERENCES & TEAMS
Season Plan – Conferences
There 4 Leagues in FTCNJ with each comprised of 2 Conferences of 20-25 teams, organized by county. (Shown on attachment)
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”
FTCNJ continues to update the Team Map on the website. 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
168 of the 172 have registered; while four more Rookie Registrations are currently pending.
155 of the 168 are returning teams … and 13 registered rookies.
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
First Northeast Edge League Meet – October 29th at Governor Livingston High School
Kudos to Mike M, FTC Team #10785 (Highlanders) and their supporters for a very solid event.
This was the first time that Highlanders have hosted a Meet and everyone did a great job!
It was a “Northeast Edge Saturday Meet” that led off the PowerPlay season.
Our teams played six Matches each and congrats to the top ranked teams at day’s end ….
#1-11180 (Beaks n Bolts)
#2-18051 (Robotic Llamas)
#3-10553 (RaidX)
#4-5573 (Payne Bots)
#5-8405 (Millburn Robotics)
Northern League Season kicked off – October 30th at Bergen Catholic High School
FTC Team #15715 (Crusader Robotics), Coach Purva P, and their school had a great inaugural event.
This was our first two-field event of the season. The action was non-stop. Kudos to all of our teams.
Bergen Catholic is another first-time host who did a terrific job. It was a super comfortable venue!
After teams played six Matches each, here are the rankings …
#1-7026 (Jdroids)
#2-247 (Reboot)
#3-7251 (Comets)
#4-13103 (Ironmen Omega)
#5-11456 (Blair Academy)
Congratulations to our new hosts, to our highly ranked teams, and to all of the teams who came out to compete.
All teams should be proud about bringing out your robot so early in the season, to try it out, to learn, and to plan design improvements.
Nice work!
Coming Up …
Saturday, November 5th, will be our first AM/PM Meet of the year!
We return again to Don Bosco Prep HS …scene of last year’s first AM/PM event … and of the 2021 Parkway Division Championship Finals.
Sunday, November 6th, a FTCNJ Meet will be held at yet another new host site, Hillsborough High School.
Hillsborough HS is home to longtime FRC powerhouse Team #75, and now two new FTC teams, … and they are hosting on Sunday!
Spectator Policy (Period #1)
Recall that last season, as FTCNJ returned to in-person competitions, spectators were not allowed.
This season, we will continue to livestream the competitions but do want to begin allowing spectators.
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”).
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. : Event Registration and Acceptance Criteria - FIRST Tech Challenge - New Jersey (newjerseyftc.com)
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.
Robot not quite perfect? You now have a “throwaway match” during Period #1! Come out. Try! Learn! Iterate! Have fun!
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 FTC SIM
· Overview Presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1AReLrefnN_tfnVjEDhB8fn27WKeeQ38TMlNm02PcP78/edit#slide=id.p1
· 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.
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!!
Coaches Caucus (Nov 4th) ß 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_MhrxMHb
Captains Caucus (Nov 18th) ß 3rd Friday of the Month
Coaches should encourage student leaders to attend. Notes are distributed to attendees and their coaches following the sessions.
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.
The next Captains Caucus is 8pm on 11/04/22. Here’s the Registration Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtdeCspjkoHdxKWoDH3HJzRVM_UzfoCxX2
TIPS FROM FTA’s (to make your first Meets better)
Number 1
Remember that you must be running Version 8.0 of both the RC and DS apps.
The full field inspection checklist can be found on page 62 and 63 of Game Manual Part 1.
Here are some brief instructions on how to perform a self-inspection using the DS app.
· Establish connection between RC and DS
· Open Driver station app
· Click 3 dots
· Self-Inspect
· Choose RC and clear all RED flags
· The RC app version should be 8.0
· Choose Driver station and clear all RED flags
· The DS app version all should be 8.0
Number 2
All teams should download the REV Hardware client.
This tool automatically detects connected device(s), downloads the latest software for those device(s), and allows for seamless updating of the device(s).
Use the link to download: https://docs.revrobotics.com/rev-hardware-client/
Number 3
Backup and Restore of Config files
REV hardware client allows to backup and restore config XML files, OnBot java files and blocks BLK files.
Teams can use this option to backup before they update firmware or the robot controller app.
After the latest version is updated, they can use this to restore their config files, OnBot java files or Blocks BLK files.
Our next newsletter will be on November 8th, 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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