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Bill's Blog

News direct from the Director of FRC at FIRST
  1. Two places at once
    Good Afternoon Teams,

    The week zero events in Nashua, NH and Suffield, CT went well this weekend.  In Nashua, the FRC Engineering Staff were able to test both a standard competition field and the emergency radio system (Operation Bondé).  Bondé worked flawlessly, we just have some tweaking to do to make sure radio distribution goes smoothly in the unlikely event we encounter a hostile wireless environment during competition. 



    Below is a picture of what we believe to be the first Coopertition Bridge balance of the year.  The teams both have red bumpers, however 2067 was on the blue alliance when this match took place.  The high score at Nashua was 42-32.  Quite a few teams were able to score in Auto and there were a number of matches that ended with two robots on alliance bridges.





    While the FRC staff and local teams were enjoying week zero, FRC team 359 Hawaiian Kids and FTC team 5159 BuffnBlue gave up their Saturday to help me present at the Hawaii Council of Teachers of Mathematics spring conference.  The students were well spoken and made quite an impression on the teachers in attendance.




    I was able to track down the Hawaii Regional Field that is kept in Honolulu during the off season.  It’s in a storage container below. 




    I also had the pleasure of meeting with Don Kunitomo Manager of Terminal Operations at Matson Navigation. I thanked him for all that Matson does for FIRST and FRC.


    Don’t forget.  Tomorrow is Stop Build Day.  Operations is still getting calls from teams who are unsure what happens then.  Please spread the word.  On Stop Build Day, stop building, bag your robot and start preparing for your first competition event.  If teams have questions, encourage them to reread this.
       
    1 day until Stop Build Day
    See you soon!
  2. How are you feeling?
    Good Morning Teams,

    If you have that feeling you’ve forgotten something, online award submission closes TODAY at NOON EST.  If you haven’t submitted for the Website, Woodie Flowers, Chairman’s or Dean’s list Awards yet, (the first three submissions happen in STIMS, the last submission happens in TIMS) the clock is ticking. 

    If you are concerned about getting everything done by Feb 21st, Stop Build Day, re-read [R26]  “FRC teams may bring a maximum of 30lbs of Fabricated Items to each competition event to be used to repair and/or upgrade their Robot at the competition site.  The Operator Console and any Battery assemblies are not applicable.”  Although your team must bag your robot on Stop Build day you may keep your battery and continue to work on up to 30 pounds of additional items plus your Operator Console.  Decide now what you want to keep out, then focus on getting your robot running and ready to ship.  You can schedule team meetings after Stop Build day in order to build the Operator Console and work on the final 30lbs.

    If you are feeling pretty good about the shape your robot is in, be sure to run through the robot inspection list  BEFORE you bag your robot. 

    For those of you who’ve been calling Operations and asking about drayage, if you were granted an exemption to Bag & Tag, Operations will contact you with your drayage information as soon as we have the information to share.   If you didn’t apply for and receive an exemption to Bag & Tag, you are responsible for transporting your robot to every FRC competition event you attend in North America, except the FIRST Championship in St. Louis.
       
    5 days until Stop Build Day
    See you soon!
  3. Packing my bags
    Good Morning Teams,

    I’m tying up loose ends and packing my bags in preparation for a whirlwind trip to Hawaii.  No, this isn’t a vacation tucked in the busiest time of the FRC year.  I have the honor of being invited to speak about FIRST at the Hawaii Council of Teachers of Mathematics spring conference in Honolulu and since I’m making the trip anyways, I’m doing my best to tuck as many FRC related side trips in as I can. 

    Matson Navigation generously transports the FRC game specific elements of the competition field, plus the game pieces, trophies, pins, medallions and a host of other essential components of the Hawaii Regional from California to Hawaii at their own expense every year.  I’m looking forward to visiting with them and thanking them for their contribution to the Hawaiian event.

    In addition, Matson Navigation graciously stores the basic FRC competition field from year to year in one of their warehouses.  Our FTA and the field set up volunteers take very good care of it, but since it isn’t returned to HQ every summer like the other FRC fields, no one on the FRC staff has had the opportunity to examine it closely in over three years.  I’m trying to schedule a visit while I am there.

    There are 36 FRC teams in Hawaii, including last year’s Chairman’s Award Winning Team, Team 359 The Hawaiian Kids.  As you know, I travel to FRC competition events every season, but I’ve never been to the Hawaii Regional so I don’t get the opportunity to hear about FIRST from the point of view of our Island teams very often.  I’m hoping to be able to talk with one or more of the teams while I am there.

    I have a few other visits scheduled with potential donors and sponsors, but I won’t bore you with those plans here.  I’ll be in touch with the FIRST HQ throughout my stay on the islands and have absolute faith in the FRC staff to continue moving forward while I am away.  I’ll let you know if anything of interest pops up.

    Aloha!
    7 days until Stop Build Day
    See you soon!
  4. How many days?
    Good Afternoon Teams,

    We’re less than two weeks from Stop Build day.  Are you ready? 
    • Make sure you review the Robot Transportation Section of the 2012 Administrative Manual now so that you will be ready then.
    • For teams that have been calling Operations to ask about building a robot crate.  All North American FRC Competitions with the exception of the FIRST Championship are Bag & Tag.  Teams attending Bag & Tag events must bring their equipment and the robot in its bag in by hand through the public access entrance (please no robot crates).  If you requested and were granted a Bag & Tag exemption, yes, definitely get started building your crate.  If you are already registered for Championship, yes, you can build your crate anytime.  Otherwise, teams attending events in North America will only need a crate if your team earns an invitation to Championship.  If that happens, bag your robot at your final regular season event, take your robot home in the bag, build a crate, pack your bagged robot inside, and follow the shipping instructions in the FedEx packet you were handed when you won the Rookie All Star Award, the Engineering Inspiration Award, or were on the Winning Alliance.
    • Before you bag your robot, be sure to run through the Robot Inspection Checklist
    • Complete the Inspection Bill of Materials available in the Tournament Section of the 2012 Administrative Manual.
    • Make plans for last minute challenges and delays.  There will be no build season extensions granted this year.  If bad weather is predicted for your area, plan accordingly.
    • Look for a week zero event in your area.  On the last weekend before Stop Build Day (February 18-19 this year), many veteran teams host scrimmages where FRC teams can test out their design in a competition like atmosphere and start planning game strategy.  Contact the hosting team to find out if your team can participate.
    Week One competitions start in just over three weeks.  Are you ready?
    • Public agendas and other information for individual FRC Events are being posted to the event information page as they become available. 
    • If you don’t have hotel reservations yet, you should be aware the on-line Hotel Reservation system has a three week cutoff date for most hotels.  Check now if you still need a hotel.
    • The Senior Mentors are hosting a team training call entitled Getting Ready for Your Regional.  You are invited to join them 2/23/12 at 7PM ET.  1-866-951-1151 Conference Room 9533018
    In other news:
    • My congratulations to teams  254 The Cheesy Poofs from San Jose, CA; 111 WildStang from Schaumburg, IL; 973 Greybots from Atascadero, CA; and  1311 Kell Robotics from Kennesaw, GA who sent representatives to yesterday’s Second Annual White House Science Fair.  Thank you for making sure FIRST and FRC were represented to the President and the Press at this event.
    • FIRST is looking for presentation proposals for the ninth annual FIRST Robotics Conference at the FIRST Championship. 45-minute workshops on topics of interest to FRC, FTC, and FLL teams, coaches, mentors, students and prospective leaders will be accepted.  Deadline to submit is February 17th, 2012. Full details.  Submission Form 
    • NASA has an interesting opportunity for female High School Juniors.  Deadline to Apply February 15th, 2012. 
    • Submissions for the FIRST Future Innovator Award presented by the Abbot Fund are pretty thin on the ground which gives any team that applies by the deadline March 16th, an advantage. Details available here.
    13 days until Stop Build Day
    See you soon!
  5. Busy like a bee
    Good Afternoon Teams,

    HQ is a hive of activity.  On the first floor we’re prepping fields as fast as we can.  There will be 11 trucks on the road this year bringing Regional events to the continent.  Michigan and the Mid-Atlantic Robotics Regions have three additional fields they will be transporting to District events.  Hawaii and Israel each have a field (because it’s tough to drive a truck to either location from HQ) and as always, we will have a spare field positioned in Memphis ready for rapid deployment in the event of an emergency.  This makes for a total of 17 separate shipments scheduled to leave our warehouse this month. 

    Every year we rebuild the game specific road cases to fit the new game elements and pieces.  The field for this year’s game is both bulky and heavy and the engineering department did an impressive job managing to fit everything into place.  Because the first floor is full of game specific road cases under construction, the second floor (usually reserved for FIRST Place) and third floor (shared with the See Science Museum) have been overrun by road cases that are being packed with the materials necessary to support Pit Administration, Robot Inspection, the Judges, the Volunteers, Awards and everything else necessary to run a FRC Event.

    On the fourth floor, and across the street in our overflow facility, staff are hard at work.  Key Volunteer training is underway, the Senior Mentors are planning a Robot Transportation conference call for teams on February 9th and the FIRST Green e-watt saver program has announced a sales incentive for teams.  If you remember (or participated in) the 2010-2011 Brandeis Cross Program Survey, the executive summary  has just been posted on the Impact page of our website.

    At the same time as we’re preparing for events, we’re arranging to test the field and field management system at Week Zero events, and planning for the FIRST Championship in St. Louis.  A draft Championship agenda should be released soon (a lot of different departments have a hand in planning this FIRST wide event).  I can tell you that FRC is working to change the Wednesday night pit access.  Last year FRC teams were allowed to enter the pits starting at 5 p.m.  This year we’re trying to make that access available a little bit earlier.  The challenge is we have to get the pits set up and the robot crates in position before we can open the doors.  As soon as I have an agenda I’ll let you know.

    20 days until Stop Build Day
    See you soon!
  6. Is it week three already?
    Good Afternoon Teams,

    We are rapidly approaching the halfway point of build season.  I hope all is going well for your team.  Keep checking those Team Updates: http://frc-manual.usfirst.org/TeamUpdates/0 and don't forget to build in safety both for the team members who work on the robot and for anyone who will be lifting/transporting the robot.  We provided a pair of gloves in the Kit of Parts.  Remember to wear gloves when lifting the robot in and out of your practice area to prevent cuts and be sure to use good lifting practices.

    2nd Regional Event and FIRST Championship Registration payments are due this Friday, January 27th.

    We have been working diligently and the "Save as PDF" function has been fixed on the Competition Manual page: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/competition-manual-and-related-documents

    We have added the ability to download all of the TeamUpdates to the Game and Administrative Manual as a PDF. We are working on theability to download individual Team Updates and will let you know when we’veadded that functionality.

    Do you have an innovation inspired by your FRC season experience you think is worthy of recognition?  Apply for the FIRST Future Innovator Award, presented by the Abbott Fund!  We begin accepting applications this Friday, January 27th.  Submissions must be received by Noon EST, March 16th to be considered.  This award will be presented at the FIRST Championship in St. Louis.  Check here for more information: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/future-innovator-award 

    Microsoft is very excited about supporting the FRC teams by providing direct technical support and assistance.  If you have a Microsoft store nearby, call and ask for the Community Development Specialist.  If you have questions specific to the Kinect, contact skills@microsoft.com

    If you're traveling a long distance to your FRC events this year you're going to want to check out these discounts on flights and car rentals: http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/travel-discounts

    28 days until Stop Build Day
    See you soon!
  7. A Few Questions Answered
    Good Morning Teams,

    Do you have technical game questions?  The FRC Q&A is open.  See what other teams have asked the GDC and leave a question of your own.

    Don’t know your password for FIRST Choice or the FRC Q&A?  Your team’s log in and password for both systems are available in TIMS on the team summary page on the right hand side.

    Don’t know what to worry about next?  The FRC season deadlines are all available on the Season Calendar. 

    Are you having trouble saving the FRC Manual to PDF?  You’re not alone.  We know there’s a problem.  The developers are working on it now.  Please stand by.

    Are you traveling to a Regional Event and don’t know what to do with your robot the night before the big day?  This year, most US and Canada Regional Events will allow teams to drop off their robot and equipment between 6 & 8PM the evening before practice day (Wednesday night in most cases- Thursday if your event starts on Friday. Check the event agenda when it is published for more details.)  Teams may ONLY drop off their robot and equipment, no unbagging, no plugging in batteries, no work of any kind.  Teams are, however, encouraged to leave their Robot Lock Up forms in plain view so that robot inspectors can get a jump start on approving forms for the morning. 

    Do you need help with your Robot? Do you have expertise you’d like to share with a team? Visit the FIRST Virtual Technical Advisor System to form relationships with teams, mentors and technical experts who are available either through email, phone or instant message.

    Are you hosting a week zero event?  Here at HQ we’re planning to be involved with two events on Saturday, February 18th so we can get feedback on how the game plays and how the field performs.  If your team is hosting a week zero event, please let me know by sending an email to FRCTeams@usfirst.org. 

    Are you following the Team Updates on your smart phone?  Down load the FRC Manual app today.  The iOS App to follow the Q&A is now available in the App Store.  Search for FRC Q&A by Quextit Media Corp.  Android users, we haven’t forgotten you, the app is in development and we’ll let you know when it is ready.

    35 days until Stop Build Day
    See you soon
  8. If - Then
    Good Afternoon Teams,

    Are you a little busy?  A lot busy?  I want to remind you of a few things, then I’ll let you get back to what you were doing.

    If you haven’t noticed yet, one of the three driver stations on each alliance will be just 44” wide this year (narrower than last year).  Be sure to design your driver station to fit this new dimension.

    If you haven’t seen them yet, Field Walk Through Videos are posted on the FRCTeamsGlobal YouTube page.  Here at HQ we think of them as the Matt & Derek show and wonder who would win the best supporting actor category.

    If you haven’t used it yet, a group of four FRC alumni from Diamond Bullet Studios developed a simulation of the 2012 FRC game that was used by the Game Design committee during game development.  Go here   to register and download the game.

    If you didn’t make it to Manchester for kickoff, the workshops are now available online. 

    If you haven’t heard, the FRC manual is copyright.  © FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC®) 2012.

    If you can’t get the FRC Manual updates on your iphone, reload the app.

    If you aren’t sure what the FRC sticker in the Kit of Parts was for, use it to help fulfill Dean’s Homework.  Take pride in FIRST and place the FRC sticker somewhere prominent on your finished robot so it will show up in photos.  Let everyone know your robot is a FIRST robot.

    If you’re wondering how to get your robot to your first event.  The February 9th Senior Mentor call will be all about Robot Transportation.  Join us at 7PM ET Call Toll-free: 1-866-951-1151 And use Conference Room: 9533018

    If you’ve forgotten, be sure to check the team updates every Tuesday and Friday.  Update #1 is already posted.

    If you still have questions, Q&A opened today at noon. There will be a “How To” there for the new system and a link to the system itself. The login information for your team's account is in TIMS.

    42 days until Stop Build Day
    See you soon
  9. Flash update IV

    Good Morning Teams,

    If you can’t make it to your local kickoff tomorrow.

    24 hours until Kickoff
    See you then!
  10. Flash update III
    Good Afternoon Teams,

    All the Kit of Parts shipments to Kickoffs have left the warehouse and are on their way.  Some are already waiting for your local Kickoff to start.  Shipments to My Site teams start tomorrow.  (Don’t expect yours until the week after Kickoff.  We’re shipping to international sites first.)

    During the broadcast follow #FRCKO.  You never know what you might learn

    3 days until Kickoff
    See you then!
  11. Flash Update II
    Good Morning Teams,

    The new FRC Android and iOS apps are now available on line.   Don’t know why that’s exciting? Read my November 28 blog.  If you have an Iphone, search for “FRC Manual” in the App Store.  If you have an Android, you can use this link right now.  The App is expected to be available in the Android Market soon.

    The Apps currently show the 2011 game information and will automatically update after Kickoff with the new Game Manual.  Our thanks to Enable Training & Consulting and Appdelegates for their work on these Apps.

    The encrypted Kit of Parts Checklist has been added to the Competition Manual page on our website. 

    3 days until Kickoff
    See you then!
  12. Flash update
    Good Evening Teams,

    The Decryption Test page is ready. http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/2012DecryptionTest
    The encrypted game manual is now available to down load.  http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/competition-manual-and-related-documents?id=452

    4 days until Kickoff
    See you then!
  13. Kickoff is coming your way
    Good Afternoon Teams,

    The first shipment of kits of parts headed to the most distant local kickoffs will leave our warehouse today.  The challenge is getting palette loads of equipment to all of the local kickoff locations in time while accounting for weather delays and accommodating holidays and business closings.  If all goes well, these kits will spend six business days in transit.  If things don’t go well, these kits will have a small cushion of time to make up for snow in the Rockies or other shipping delays.  More kits of parts shipments will go out tomorrow, then Friday, then Tuesday and so on until all 74 local kickoff sites have kits ready and waiting on the morning of Jan 7th. 

    Plan ahead.  Veteran kits will be about 100lbs.  Rookie kits will weigh approx. 147lbs.  Also, remember that only an adult team mentor may sign for the kit of parts.  Your team will be asked to sign in at the kickoff when you arrive, you will be handed your team’s kit of parts receipt and someone trustworthy needs to hold onto it all the way through the broadcast.  The broadcast, by the way, is scheduled to begin at 10:30AM ET.  During kit distribution you will be asked to open a sealed tote and confirm that you have received  your Kinect.

    What to bring:

    Want to know what’s in a rookie kit vs. a veteran kit?  The list is now available online

    Had a change of plans and can’t make it to your local kickoff?  There’s still time to ask another team to pick up your kit of parts.  Talk to the team, complete the surrogate kit pick up form and get it to FIRST as soon as you can.  Directions are at the bottom of the page here

    Can’t make it to a local kickoff at all?  Last year, NASA broadcast the kickoff over their TV channels.

    17 days until Kickoff
    See you then!
  14. Some odds and ends
    Good Morning Teams,

    Have you ever volunteered at a FRC event?  Do you want to volunteer again?  While teams are preparing for Kickoff, Volunteer Coordinators are hard at work planning the 2012 FRC Events.  If you want to be one of the amazing, much appreciated, invaluable volunteers at any of our upcoming competitions, go to www.usfirst.org/vims and register.  Pick the events you want to support, indicate your preferences for the kind of help you can provide, and the Volunteer Coordinator will be in touch.  It’s the hardest fun you can have.

    Are you coming to the Manchester kickoff workshops?  Don’t forget to check the 2012 Workshop page. The abstract and presentation information has been updated and the schedule has changed slightly.  If you can’t make it to Manchester, keep checking the website.  We hope to have links to the workshop recordings live during the Kickoff weekend.

    Did you miss the most recent TIMS deadline?  Maybe this will help.  The deadline to get your team information into TIMS so that we can include it in the Program Books handed out at FRC events has been pushed back to December 19th. 

    Jon Dudas has written another guest blog post well worth checking out.  This one is on the Afterschool Blog. 

    And this just makes me smile. 

    24 days until Kickoff
    See you then!
  15. Go take a look
    Good Morning Teams,

    FIRST Choice  is open for viewing.  Never heard of FIRST Choice?  Visit my Oct 11th blog.

    Not every item is visible right now.  Some will be added as we finalize details with suppliers, and others will be added after Kickoff (we don’t want give away too much information regarding the game or the rules).  However, now is an excellent time to familiarize yourself with the site before the season starts in earnest.

    Watch the kickoff broadcast closely for more details about FIRST Choice and if you have questions, please don't hesitate to post on the FIRST Choice forum.

    25 days until Kickoff
    See you then!
  16. That’s a wrap
    Good Morning Teams,

    A number of important Email Blasts have been sent to team main and alternate contacts in the past week.  Dean sent a message about the second generation e-watt saver bulbs, and PTC gave teams access to the software they have donated for the 2012 season.  If you haven’t seen these emails, remember you can find all Email Blasts, Rookie Alerts and Blog posts on the FRC Team Email Blast Archive page of our website. 

    Also new on the website, the Regional Event detail pages (click on the event name to open the detail page) now include hotel information.

    And in case you missed it, Jon Dudas, the President of FIRST was featured as a guest blogger on the innovate-educate blog. 

    FRC staff (and a few key volunteers) spent this past weekend at Dean’s house filming segments of the Kickoff for the January 7th broadcast.  Dean was very gracious and moved his helicopter so we could fit a full competition field in his hanger.  (Some people have garages, some people have hangers.) 

    Set up started on Friday (it takes a lot to construct a full field) and filming took up most of Saturday and a little time on Sunday.  We filmed a segment on the Kit of Parts featuring Kate and Collin, several members of the GDC recorded segments about the game on the field and I delivered my remarks in Dean’s front lobby standing in front of his two story steam engine.   A few people will be filmed off site, and Dean has yet to add his remarks, but we have a great deal of the tape we need for the Kickoff broadcast in the can.   The production company will work their magic over the next few weeks and we’ll have a Kickoff broadcast ready to go on the 7th no matter what the weather throws at us in January.

    31 days until Kickoff
    See you then!
  17. FRC Game Hint #1
    Good Morning Teams,

    Rockwell Automation has again agreed to generously donate components we need for the 2012 FRC season. Check it out.  You may find it very interesting.

















    36 days until Kickoff
    See you then!
  18. Not the game hint
    Good Afternoon Teams,

    On Monday I announced the new Manual format and am delighted by the number of people who have gone to check it out.  For those of you who asked, yes, a pdf of the manual will be available in an encrypted version before Kickoff so teams may download it in advance and avoid the kickoff rush.  For all your other comments and concerns, please visit the Online Manual section of the Beta Test Forums because the staff involved in this project are monitoring those pages and are answering questions there.

    As your team plans for build season, (and if you haven’t started to plan for build season, now would be a very good time to do so) make sure you build in a cushion for unexpected delays and setbacks.  FRC is not planning to grant extensions to the build season for weather delays.  FRC is a microcosm of the real engineering experience.  Just like in the business world, your local climate is one of the many elements you must factor into the equation as you set your schedule.   Plan now, how will your team handle bad weather, unexpected power outages, cold and flu season, delayed shipments and anything else that might crop up during build season?  Businesses have to adjust to unexpected setbacks in order to meet their deadlines.  How are you going to respond?”

    As your team plans for competition season, you may want to visit the Steele Meetings/FIRST website before you make any hotel arrangements.  http://www.steelehousing.com The program offers best in class pricing and value added amenities. Plus, your participation in this hotel program will help support the local FRC regional events. 

    Tell everyone you know, FTC is looking for a full time engineer. 

    37 days until Kickoff
    See you then!
  19. The Manual may look a little different
    Good Afternoon Teams,

    FRC is excited to partner with Enable Training and Consulting (a Silver Supplier for 2011 and donor of this effort) to present the 2012 manual documentation in a format that we believe is easier for teams to navigate and use. It is a primarily web-based system that allows teams to easily find a specific section or rule. It’s easier to search and jump between sections, and, best of all, it keeps teams from having to download an entire PDF just to read one rule or section. 

    You can access the new manual format here.  You may also still download a PDF or print the Manual so that you don’t have to be connected to the internet to view it.

    As with many new components to FRC, we want your feedback.  As you test the Online 2012 Administrative Manual and the 2011 Game Manual that we converted to the new format, please let us know if you find anything that needs improving (or anything you like) by posting to the Online Manual section of the Beta test forums.

    40 days until Kickoff
    See you then!
  20. Over the River and Through the Woods
    Good Afternoon Teams,

    I’ll be headed to Pennsylvania tomorrow, so this week’s blog is a day early.

    NASA has posted the list of teams receiving 2012 participation grants. 

    A lot of important deadlines are coming up.
    • Dec 1st - Initial, 2nd and Unrestricted Regional Event registration, 1st & 2nd Qualifying Event registration, and Championship Registration closes.  We have 2260 registered FRC teams as of this morning and spaces at some events is getting tight.  If you know of a team that plans to join us this coming season, encourage them to register soon.
    • Dec 2nd – Initial Regional and 1st & 2nd Qualifying Event registration payment due.
    • Dec 2nd – Kickoff Registration closes.  (Manchester workshop registration remains open until 12/16.)  I’m surprised that 224 teams have not yet indicated in TIMS how they want to receive their kit of parts.  Kickoffs are filling up.  Register soon.
    • Dec 2nd – Request for Bag & Tag Exemption due. (Remember , Bag & Tag means you transport your robot to the event yourself.)  Details can be found in the Robot Transportation section of the 2012 Administrative Manual
    • Dec 8th – Safety Animation submission due. Contest Announcement is located on the Safety Page

    And as if the 2nd of December isn’t busy enough already, I’ve been asked to moderate deliver opening remarks and moderate a panel at the Future of Robotics Summit sponsored by the Mass Technology Leadership Council. 

    Two things to think about over the long holiday weekend:
    • Teams will not be restricted to using the Classmate as their Driver Station as long as certain criteria are met and all relevant rules are followed.  More details to follow in the 2012 Game Manual when it is released.
    • Software for 2012 is currently under development.  Teams may purchase the new cRIO-FRCII now and get it physically installed and wired into a test platform, but you won’t be able to program it until after kickoff. 
    I hope you have a safe and happy weekend.

    46 days until Kickoff
    See you then!

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