Star%ng a WI FTC Team By FTC 4106 Supposable Thumbs 6/12/2017 What is FIRST Tech Challenge • Youth robo<cs program aimed at teaching 7th-12th grade students real- world engineering, business and interpersonal skills. • A judged compe<<on involving a range of technical and non-technical areas. • A sports-like compe<<on where robots bale with and against each other with the goal to winning a championship. • A hands-on opportunity for students to develop skills in mechanics, electronics, soLware programming and a variety of business skills. • Coaches and mentors teach teach concepts and real-world skills and bring perspec<ve from Industry. • Students design, build, plan, compete, win, lose, succeed, fail, learn. Flow of a season (Wisconsin) Timeframe Ac+vity September to November/December Kickoff, start designing, building, programming December/January Regional compe<<ons (1-3), possibly advance to state championship 1st Weekend of February State Championship (UW-Milwaukee), 2 teams advance to “Super Regionals” 1st Weekend of April “Super Regionals” (Cedar Rapids, IA) – Possible advancement to World Championship 3rd or 4th weekend of April World Championship (Detroit) Year Round Improve Skills Year Round Make connec<ons with academia, industry professionals, other teams Year Round Do outreach ac<vi<es to spread FIRST and STEM in the community Time Commitment • Regional Level: 4-6 hours per week • State Level: 6-10 hours per week • Super Regionals Level: 10-20 hours per week • Worlds Level: 15+ hours per week There is significant value in the program at any of these engagement levels. First Year Startup Costs ($6,500-$9,000) • FIRST Registraon ($275) • Tools ($1,500) • Alan Wrenches, screwdrivers, hammers Look for crea+ve ways to cut costs! • Dremel Tool • Metal cung saw (recommend DeWalt DW872) • Corded or Cordless Tool set (Drill, sawzall) • Drills, blades, etc. • FIRST sponsorship of registraon • Op<onal Tools • Band Saw, Lathe, Mill, CNC router, logic analyzer, voltage meter, 3D Printer • Does your school already have a metals • Ini<al Mechanical Kit of Parts ($1,000+) shop? That is huge! • Need to decide on which part vendor to start • Rummage sales for tools – or put an • Ini<al Electronics Set, incl. 2 sets of phones ($1,500+) • New op<ons available (but unproven) announcement out at school to have • get enough baeries and chargers to handle long prac<ces. (min 4) • Consumable Materials ($200-$500) people bring unused tools in • Lexan, sheet aluminum, paint, tape, etc. • Can the school provide the computers? • Computers x2, printer ($1200) • Laptop for Programming, anything from tablet to desktop to do Engineering Notebook, prin<ng of team materials, social media, hun<ng for Can you use the computer lab for answers, etc. • Relic Recovery game Field Elements – can purchase ¼, ½ or whole this year ($150-$600) ‘business’ ac<vi<es? • Field Perimeter and <le ($100-$900) • Can a parent get a gently used laptop • About $650 for the perimeter and $250 for the <le. • Many teams do not buy the field perimeter in their early years. It can be made from PVC or wood, too. from a parent’s workplace? • Many teams buy ½ field and some <le and work from that • • NOTE: We are selling our older (nicer) field Not everyone starts with a full field of • Supplies ($250) game elements and many teams go • Team T-Shirts ($150) without the perimeter or simulate it • Tournament Registraons ($175/regional, $250/state) with wood or PVC for their first season. A place to meet • Ideally, a dedicated >25’x25’ space • But almost nobody gets that! • Usually, some temporary space to setup, prac<ce, tear down • The field is the primary space eater at 12’x12’ • If you do a par<al field, this can be easily set up and torn down each prac<ce • Many teams work from mentor’s/parent’s homes • Probably over 50% • Provides more ready access to facility any <me • Basement, garage, Unused room • OLen mentors have some preKy nice shops sing doing nothing Mentors • Two minimum at every prac<ce • Strictly speaking, no special skills needed. Students do the work. • To maximize learning, it can be good to have mentors with training in • Programming (FTC uses Java on Android phones) • Machine Shop Tool usage • CAD (if you will have mill or 3D print) • Marke<ng / Business / Finance • It can be a good arrangement to have one coach work with robot students and one work with business students. • Recommend that every student have ac<vity in both areas Engineering Notebook • This an essen<al ar<fact of the team’s journey in FTC. If you want to be nominated for an award, it is a minimum requirement for all of them. • Document everything you do as a team • Outreach, aend kickoff, design, brainstorming, build, test, compe<<ons, etc. • There is no standard. There is no best way. • 4106 has created a way for new teams to get started (we use it too) • It is not intended to be a tradi<onal engineering notebook that tracks inven<on for patents. • It is meant to be a story of the team’s journey. FTC Landscape (North Region, Global) • Last year there were about 5,400 FTC teams in the world. • This is split almost perfectly between West, East, North and South regions • About 1400 teams in the Midwest (North) region. • Iowa & Michigan are the biggest states in the region due to government support • North Super Regional (NSR) held in Cedar Rapids Iowa • 72 teams from 13 states make NSR • Spots allocated by state team count, not compe<<veness • MI gets 14 teams, IA gets 16 teams. MI is only middle school. • WI=2, IN=3, OH=5, MN=6 – many top teams for Inspire and World Champion come from these states… FTC Landscape (Wisconsin) • Last year Wisconsin had ~40 teams that competed. • Down a bit from the previous years • Held 2 regionals, needs more. • Wisconsin’s compe<<veness at the top is very high • 9956 didn’t win an award at WI state, but won Inspire 1st at regional and state level in Missouri • MO is considered a strong state. • The WI championship doubled the number of high RP scores in the Midwest when it was played and accounted for ~¼ of them overall. • Every year, every team that advanced past state has done well • Last year, for example: • 4106 and 9956 made finals at super regionals and 10294 was highly ranked. • 4106 was NSR Rockwell Collins Innovate Award 3rd at NSR • 10294 was World Edison Division Finalist Captain. • 4106 was World Mo<vate Award Finalist • 4106 Member (Tim) won World Dean’s List Award • 75% of teams are in Southeast Wisconsin. Where to get Help • gracious Professionalism is strong in WI. Many strong programs are willing to help new teams • Some tradi<onally strong programs to ask for help: • 4106 Supposable Thumbs (New Berlin) • 4605 RoboHackerz (Beaver Dam) • 4116/8680/4115/etc. (Mequon Homestead) • 265/5650 Viking Robo<cs and Viking II (Milwaukee) • 10686 Phoenix (Madison – BadgerBots) • 6981 Hortonville Robo<cs (Hortonville) • Web Resources • FTC Forums are the best place hKps://Lcforum.usfirst.org/ • Reddit community is growing hKps://www.reddit.com/r/FTC/ • Chief Delphi is weak • TwiKer is very useful for keeping up with teams (search FTC) State FTC Informa%on • State FTC partner is UW-Milwaukee • Contact is Juli Pickering ([email protected] ) • State web site is super weak • hKps://uwm.edu/engineering/our-people/community/2015-16-first-tech- challenge/ What happens at a Tournament • Early Morning: • Hardware Inspec<on • SoLware/ Field Inspec<on Inspec<ons & Interviews • Judging Panel Interview might happen the night • Late Morning before at 2 day tournaments. • Opening Ceremony • Qualificaon Matches begin • Randomly assigned partner, randomly assigned opponents • Aernoon • In-Pit Judging for Awards • Qualificaon matches con<nue un<l complete (usually 5 matches) • Alliance Selec<ons (generally 3 team alliances unless <24 teams at event) • Championship Rounds • Awards Ceremony Inspecons Hardware: 18” Box. Make sure build is legal, power s<ckers and safety s<ckers are in place. Soware: Ensure all proper soLware is on phones and that they are named properly Field: Brief test to ensure robot behaves properly in all game modes. Must pass all 3 tests to be eligible to compete Judging • Usually a panel of two to three professionals. • 15 min with team, 5 min to score • Can break up 15 min any way team wants • Presentaons • Videos • Robot Demos • Q&A me • Best teams in each category per panel are then judged for each award. Robot Game • 30 Sec Autonomous • 2:00 Driver Controlled • Last 30 Sec is End game • 2 Points for Win, 1 for Tie • RP = bucket of points scored by losing team in your matches. RP Breaks es in QP. • Points are based on rules announced at Kickoff Alliance Selecons • Top 4 seeds are captains • Each picks a partner team • Then if 24+ teams, they pick a 2nd partner • Can pick each other Championship (Elimina%on) Matches • Must win twice regardless of <es • All 3 robots must play in 1st two matches • Can call 1 <meout Awards & Advancement Awards Advancement • Inspire goes to the top overall team • FTC Values community • Think = Engineering Notebook engagement VERY heavily, so Inspire 1st, 2nd, 3rd all are top • PTC Design = robot design and process advancement spots • Rockwell Collins Innovate = most • Inspire 1st innovave and creave robot • Winning Captain • Control = most impressive control nd algorithms in auto and Teleop • Inspire 2 • Connect = How you connected with • Winning 1st Pick professionals • Inspire 3rd • Mo<vate = How you keep yoru team going and how your reach out • Winning 2nd Pick (if made) to share FIRST with other teams, get more teams going, etc.