TeacherMentor Meeting

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Teacher/Mentor Meeting

• Punahou School
• Saturday, September 15th, 2007

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People of Interest

• Jim Beck
• Hawaii Regional Director
• Alex Ho
• Hawaii Regional Planning Committee Chairperson

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Presenters

• Osa Tui McKinley High School
• osa_tui_at_notes.k12.hi.us
• Elaine Owens Hawaiian Electric
• elaine.owens_at_heco.com
• Alan Ing
• alan.ing_at_heco.com

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Getting Up to Speed

• Vex competition
• Details still being worked out and should be
  finalized next week
• Early October start
• Mid/Late November competition

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Getting Up to Speed

• Using last years manual as a guide to help us
  prepare for the upcoming season
• Kickoff event to be held at McKinley High School
  with broadcast to begin at 5am on Saturday
  January 5th, 2008
• Will be broadcast live on Olelo which is only
  available on Oahu at that early hour
• Game to be revealed

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Kit of Parts

• Kit of Parts distributed at/near kickoff site
• May choose to send to yourself at your own cost
• Arrangements being made to have kits available to
  outer island teams without additional expense

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Chapter 0 Introduction

• Self explanatory

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Chapter 1 Communication

• frcteams_at_usfirst.org not always the most
  responsive or helpful
• Better luck with chiefdelphi.com to get answers
• FRC QA Forum for official game questions
  (usually will just say Refer to Rule such and
  such), but need to keep track of what is being
  asked and how answered

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Chapter 1 Communication

• Competition Website www.usfirst.org
• Team Updates (21 updates to rules and
  clarifications last season alone) come out every
  couple of days during the season
• TIMS Team Information Management System
• Make sure data entered is accurate and up to date
• Essays etc for judging manual dont be late

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Chapter 1 Communication

• Autodesk Inventor
• CAD program given out for FIRST teams
• Downloadable with training at firstbase.autodesk.c
  om

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Chapter 1 Communication

• Unique regional will probably have a bunch of
  event specific information
• Under what events and teams are in my area at
  top of www.usfirst.org website

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Chapter 1 Communication

• FIRST Logos dont butcher or recolor
• Volunteering if you know people who can follow
  tasks well willing to volunteer for the Hawaii
  Regional, they should enter their information
  into VIMS
• College aged and above desired
• Jobs and descriptions available on VIMS website

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Chapter 2 Team Organization

• Main, Alternate, and Shipping Contacts necessary
  to be inputted into TIMS as they will receive the
  bulk of the emails that come out
• Emails sent by FIRST also available on their
  website in the E-Mail Blast section
• Student team members should not be in TIMS
  entering information

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Chapter 3 At the Events

• Safety
• Safety Captain for each team wears a badge and
  should be focused on safety within the pit
• Safety glasses required of ANYONE who enters the
  pit area
• Regular glasses are NOT safety glasses and will
  need to be able to accommodate safety glasses
  over them or else you need to use goggles over
  them

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Chapter 3 At the Events

• Robot Carts
• Fits through doors
• NO MUSIC
• Competition Agenda
• Well come back to this

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Chapter 3 At the Events

• Robot inspection
• Get it done early
• Can play on Thursday if robot seems safe, but
  Friday and Saturday only if inspected
• You can get partially inspected (weight, size)
  and come back for further inspection later
• Modifications reinspection
• If everyone waits until the last minute, there
  will be a backlog of teams waiting

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Chapter 3 At the Events

• Practice field
• Not sure if the plan is to have one as the venue
  is small
• Registering
• Adult must check in by noon on Thursday
• Must submit consent forms for all members of the
  team (including adults) attending event

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Chapter 3 At the Events

• Pit area
• Usually about 10 by 10 but could be smaller
  depending on venue (anticipate smaller)
• Keep out of aisles and neighbors
• Will have a table
• Pit admin
• Utilize for needed item announcements
• Will answer event questions

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Chapter 3 At the Events

• Queuing
• One match plays, next match participants on the
  perimeter of field waiting to play
• Following two match participants in line waiting
  to enter field area
• Ceremonies
• Pits usually closed and people have to go out to
  watch the ceremonies

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Chapter 3 At the Events

• Pit closing - Be aware of pit closing times
• Robot packing
• Take care of paperwork before its time to pack
  on Saturday
• Team Socials
• Usually Friday night need one adult minimum
• Medallions
• Dont leave without bronze medals if you dont
  receive a gold or silver one

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Chapter 3 At the Events

• Team Spirit
• Mascots are a common sight but dont let them get
  obnoxious
• Banners should be hung in the audience section
• Youre not supposed to save seats

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Chapter 3 At the Events

• Site restrictions
• Restrictions as listed usually depends on the
  event location
• Enforcement different at each location
• Lunches (unless the pre-ordered ones or bought at
  concession stands) need to be eaten outside venue
• So you need to find someone willing to take care
  of lunch duty for your team on competition days

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Chapter 3 At the Events

• Know where the stores are around the arena in
  case you need things
• Team packing checklist
• Not all of those items are really necessary
• Bring what you think is appropriate

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Chapter 9 The Tournament

• Thursday
• 1 adult and 2 students uncrate at 745
• Doors open at 830
• Team Captain meeting with Head Ref
• Practice Rounds
• Randomly assigned schedule
• Two matches back to back
• First is supposed to be exploratory
• Second is supposed to be competitive

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Chapter 9 The Tournament

• Thursday
• Rest of team should be scouting other teams for
  their strengths and weaknesses and watching how
  they play
• Scouting can be in the stands and in the pits
• Practice matches end in the early evening and the
  pit closes at 8pm

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Chapter 9 The Tournament

• Friday
• Venue opens around 8am
• Match numbers, times, alliances list put in each
  pit
• Qualifying matches
• Randomly selected alliance partners
• Win-Loss record determines ranking
• Win 2, Loss 0, Tie 1
• Tie breaker is average of losing teams prepenalty
  score in matches youve played

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Chapter 9 The Tournament

• Friday
• Qualifying matches
• Next tie breaker is highest match score youve
  had
• Last tie breaker is computer random selection
• Teams strategize while they are queuing who does
  what
• First batch of awards given out
• Pits close at 6pm
• Team social (probably)

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Chapter 9 The Tournament

• Saturday
• Qualifying matches continue
• If number of teams is not a multiple of 6, some
  teams are randomly assigned to play an extra
  match which does NOT count towards their rankings
  (surrogates)
• Top 8 ranked teams go on to Alliance Selection

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Chapter 9 The Tournament

• Saturday
• First ranked team will pick first
• If they pick from one of the top 8, that team may
  decline (say Team 9999 graciously declines)
• If they pick from lower than the top 8, that team
  may not be picked again (unless your robot has no
  chance of working, say Team 9999 graciously
  accepts)
• If a two top 8 teams ally with each other, the
  9th ranked team becomes the 8th picking alliance,
  etc, etc

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Chapter 9 The Tournament

• Saturday
• Selection goes 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 then
  8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 and then the alliances are done
  choosing
• The next few highest ranked teams not chosen are
  kept as backup and the rest can go and pack up
  their robots
• Last ranked teams are not out of the realm of
  being picked so dont despair promote!

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Chapter 9 The Tournament

• Saturday after lunch
• Matches are tournament style (1v8, 2v7) best 2
  out of 3 and go from quarterfinals to semifinals
  to finals
• Alliances are allowed one time out for the entire
  elimination rounds if they need it (6 minutes)
• Alliances are allowed one backup robot (the team
  on deck) during the elimination rounds

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Chapter 9 The Tournament

• Some other rules
• Robots can only be controlled when tethered if
  they are not competing
• No instant replays! If your team wants to
  contest something, one of your student members on
  the field has to inform the Head Ref before the
  next match begins
• Yellow cards given as a warning, red card is
  disqualification from the match

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Chapter 9 The Tournament

• Some other rules
• Yellow cards stay with you throughout the
  qualifications but you start fresh if you make it
  to eliminations
• Special equipment refers basically to PDAs to
  help with strategy

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Chapter 4 Robot Transportation

• A lot of robot shipment information with regard
  to the Hawaii Regional will be specific to the
  regional and have yet to be worked out
• The batteries need to be in their own compartment
  within your crate and labeled

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Chapter 4 Robot Transportation

• You ? FedEx ? Drayage ? Event
• You ? FedEx ? Drayage ? Event
• For Hawaii Regional only. Extra regionals
  require after the first event
• Drayage ? Shipper ? Drayage ? Event
• Drayage is free ONLY for the first 400 pounds.
• Shipper to a second regional is at your expense.

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Chapter 4 Robot Transportation

• You ? FedEx ? Drayage ? Event
• ? Drayage ? FedEx ? Drayage ? Atlanta
• You ? FedEx ? Drayage ? Atlanta
• If you make it to the Championships and only go
  to Hawaii. Of course, two regionals and Hawaii
  is more complicated.

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Chapter 4 Robot Transportation

• You must call FedEx the day before your robot
  needs to be picked up
• Make sure you let them know that you need a lift
  gate on the truck which comes to pick up your
  robot

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Rookie Teacher/ Mentor Workshop
September 15, 2007
Special Thanks to Aaron Dengler Alex Ho Art
Kimura
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5. Awards
Various awards for website, animation, robot
design, functionality, etc

• Five awards that will get you to nationals
• Regional Winners
• Chairmans Award (Veterans only)
• Engineering Inspiration
• Rookie All-Star (partnership, inspire students)
• Rookie Inspiration

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6. Arena
Field Dimension 26 8 x 54 rectangular playing
field with carpet Alliance Zones (red and blue)
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Alliance Zone
Alliance wall is 6 ½ feet high 2007 Three teams
per alliance Each team Driver, Operator, Human
Player, and Coach E-Stop
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Field elements
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7. The Game
Match Format 215 min total 15
sec autonomous, 2 min user mode Starting
Configuration (28 x 38) Safety Penalties
Referee Rules Driver, Operator, Human Player
must be students! Time between matches
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8. The Robot Control System
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Power
Only two battery sources are allowed on your
robot. 12V main battery 7.2V backup
battery Both are provided but you will need to
buy spares (2). Spare chargers (lt 6A) are also
needed. Power Distribution Block 40A, 30A, 20A
Auto-Resetting-Breakers
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Wires
120A 6 AWG 40A 12 AWG 30A 14
AWG 20A 18 AWG Positive Red, Brown,
White Negative/Gnd Black or Blue
NO WIRES COME IN THE KIT.
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Operator Interface

• Human control of the robot.
• Powered using AC adapter or tether to robot.
• 4 - DB15 connection ports
• Joysticks, Switches, Steering Wheels, Game pads,
  etc.

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Robot Controller
Responsible for all control signals on your
robot Programmed using C language. Three modes
Autonomous/Disable/User Four different outputs
Analog, Digital, PWM, Relay
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Motor Control

• Victor 884 Speed Controller
• Variable speed control
• Fwd Neutral Rev
• 4 provided in the kit

• Spike Relay
• Only Fwd, or Neutral, or Stop
• Not variable
• Also used to control pneumatics
• 4 provided in the kit

Both use PWM cables
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CMU CAM
Used to track or monitor color (Introduced in
2005) Very dependant on ambient lighting Needs to
be calibrated at every new location If used,
should have a backup option
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Additional Sensors (opt)

• Switches Potentiometers
• Gear Tooth Sensor (GTS)
• Gyro
• Accelerometer
• Optical Encoder

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Pneumatics

• Compressor/switch setup already in default code
• No greater than 60psi working pressure
• Pressure can be adjusted using a secondary
  regulator
• Maximum of two tanks

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MPLAB/IFI Loader

• Serial Cable used to connect robot to computer
  (PC!)
• You will need a computer for programming at the
  competition. It is best to have a laptop for the
  team.
• For Veteran Teams or Rookie Teams that know C
  Programming.
• MPLAB IDE software available free at Microchip
  website.
• C Complier is given out during kick-off
• IFI Loader is used to download .hex files to the
  robot.

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Intelitek Easy C Pro Software

• No need to learn nitty gritty of C programming
• Free (2007) to all FIRST teams
• 7 Day Evaluation version available online
• http//www.intelitekdownloads.com/easyCPRO/
• Drag and drop programming
• Pull down menu options

Demo . . . . .
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The Crate

• 3/8 or ½ Plywood or Oriented Strand Board
• Max dimension 4x4 Base x 70 tall including
  2-4 4x4 stingers 28 apart for Forklift

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Tools

• What do you need to build a FIRST Robot

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General Shop
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Hand Tools
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Measuring Tools
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Power Tools
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Tooling
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Machine Tools
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Welding
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Kit of Parts
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Additional Materials
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Kit Chassis
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