FTC Qualifier at Bethesda Christian School

2018-01-27, Bethesda Christian School

This is a North Texas FTC Qualifying Tournament scheduled for Bethesda Christian School in Fort Worth, Texas.

More information about this event will be available soon.  More information about qualifying tournaments in North Texas is available here.

Teams registered for this event as of 2018-01-09:

4705
6566 Circuit Breakers
6728 Frostbyte
8130 Vikings
8242 Steerminatorz
8346 Lorotech 1
9161 Overload
9886 MESH
10577 ThunderChicks
10756 Purple Vipers JV
10945 Toaster Squad
11030 Metal Jackets
12139
12577 Eastside Robotics
12764 RoboVik
12874 Lorotech 3
13110 Southwest Robotics
13509 Lorotech 1
13539 RoboChargers – Thunder
13542 RoboChargers – Typhoon
13551 Road Runner Robotics
13780 Steer Clear
13783 ThunderChicksToo
13811 High Voltage
10985 Toxic Geckos

2017-10-03 0 Comments

FTC Qualifier at Hedrick Middle School

2018-01-20, Hedrick Middle School

This is a North Texas FTC Qualifying Tournament scheduled for Hedrick Middle School in Lewisville, Texas.

Teams competing at this event as of 2017-01-09:

5970 The Ambassadors
8114 Lewisville HS
8514 BA GREEN: Robotonics
8811 Robo*Bison Amistad
9054 Viridian
9167 Robosapiens
9256 Robo*Bison Esfuerzo
9511 Dallas Nation
10526 BA WHITE: Structural Rampage
10573 Garza Robotics
11327 Tech Avatars
11419 Jasper Jaguar Robotics
11745 Red Scare
11761 Theory of Robotivity
12034 Euless RC
12167 FABOO
12619 FTC Master Mechanics
12791 Junior Jags
12977 Rust in Peace
13227 Mechanicats
13489 Al Quinn
13644 Bobcat Robotics
13819 Tigers
13916 Retrobots
12929 Electric Lions
12503 POPBOTICS!

 

2017-10-03 0 Comments

FTC Qualifier at Wylie East HS

2018-01-13, Wylie East High School

This is a North Texas FTC Qualifying Tournament scheduled for Wylie East High School in Wylie, Texas.

Teams competing at this event as of 2018-01-09:

3734 Imperial Robotics
3899 Terror Bytes
6832 Iron Reign
7172 Technical Difficulties
7904 HSA Dallas Robotigers
8418 The League of Legendary Scientists
8565 Technicbots
8626 Prototypes
9386 Elmer & Elsie Robotics
11097 Cybersurge
11339 Williams Warriors Robotics
11341 ViBoTs
11366 The Smarty Party
11425 Murphy Maverick Robotics
11563 Hedrick Garage
11594 FireCats
11629 Todoians
11791 Marvin the Martian
11793 TRICERABOTS
12061 Long Buccaneer Engineers
12430 Raider Robotics
12810 QuantumX
12930 ScitoboRRobotics
13376 Cyber Wolves
13850 Raider Robotics 2

 

2017-10-03 0 Comments

FTC Qualifier at TCC – Trinity River Campus

2018-01-06, Trinity River Campus – TCC

This is a North Texas FTC Qualifying Tournament scheduled for the Tarrant County College Trinity River Campus in Fort Worth, Texas.

Please bear in mind that the schedule may have to adapt to changing circumstances throughout the day and it is each team’s responsibility to keep up with those changes.

The competition will take place at the TCC Trinity River Campus, 300 Trinity Campus Circle in Fort Worth. When arriving at the campus, we suggest unloading teams and equipment at the Rotunda (circle drive), then proceed to the parking garage off of Belknap Street and park on the 3rd or 4th levels. Buses and other large vehicles not suited for the parking garage should head to the Overflow Parking off of Henderson Street.

Doors will open around 7:30am and the competition will be on the second floor in Action Room A. Come up the elevators and proceed to the team registration table. Coaches should supply a completed team roster (available via the FIRST Dashboard) and any Consent/Release Forms for people not listed or released in the FIRST-provided team roster. You will receive a packet containing any schedule updates for the day, and your teams can proceed to the Pit Area in Action Room A.

We are planning to provide pizza and bottled water for teams and mentors at this event — we will have a mix of pepperoni, sausage, and cheese pizzas available.

COACHES: DON’T FORGET TO BRING YOUR TEAM ROSTERS AND CONSENT/RELEASE FORMS with you. Any team without a valid roster cannot participate — any team members without a Consent/Release form on file cannot participate. See the “How to Prep for an Event” blogpost at http://firsttechchallenge.blogspot.com/2016/11/how-to-prep-for-event.html .

For more information, contact patrick.michaud@utdallas.edu .

Teams competing at this event as of 2017-01-04:

4745 Thorn’s Army
5970 The Ambassadors
6169 Men in Black
6566 Circuit Breakers
6728 FrostByte
8130 Vikings
8291 Bulldog Robotics
8406 Filthy Horde
8626 Prototypes
9161 Overload
9886 MESH
10437 Robo-Sapiens
10985 Toxic Geckos
11097 Cyber Surge
11676 Lexan Pixies
12577 Eastside Robotics
12688 Bass Noise
12690 Lost Cause
13075 Coram Deo Robotics
13472 The Dork Side
13551 Road Runner Robotics
13657 Wonder Women
13662 Cujo Cougars
13811 High Voltage

 

2017-10-03 0 Comments

FTC Qualifier at Townview Magnet Center

2017-12-16, Townview Magnet Center

This is a North Texas FTC Qualifying Tournament tentatively scheduled for Townview Magnet Center in Dallas, Texas.

Teams competing at this event as of 2017-11-27:

3734 Imperial Robotics
8514 BA GREEN: Robotonics
8565 Technicbots
8633 Dragons
8811 Robo*Bison Amistad
9256 Robo*Bison Esfuerzo
10526 BA WHITE: Structural Rampage
10576 Hard Manual Reset
10577 ThunderChicks
11164 Electric Boogaloo
11745 Red Scare
11761 Theory of Robotivity
12791 Junior Jags
12810 QuantumX
13075 Coram Deo Robotics
13227 Mechanicats
13537 RoboChargers – Lightning
13539 RoboChargers – Thunder
13542 RoboChargers – Typhoon
13552 RoboChargers – Terremoto
13783 ThunderChicksToo
13916 Retrobots

 

 

2017-10-03 0 Comments

FTC Qualifier at Allen High School

2017-12-02, Allen High School

This is a North Texas FTC Qualifying Tournament being held at Allen HS in Allen, Texas.

 

Teams competing at this event as of 2017-11-27:

8204 mint++; (incrimint)
9000 Jesuit A
9001 Jesuit B
9200 Jesuit C
9201 Jesuit D
10890 Power Rangers
11185 Robotic Revolution
11366 The Smarty Party
11791 Robotanists
12503 POPBOTICS!
12900 Schim Robotics
12919 TechnoWarriors
12926 P@NTH∑R5 R0B0T1C5
12929 Electric Lions
13140 The P-51 Mustangs:Team Imagine
13141 The P-51 Mustangs:Team Innovate
13142 The P-51 Mustangs:Team Inspire
13187 Raw Material

2017-10-03 0 Comments

FTC 2017 Qualifying Tournaments Information

Note:  This information is for FIRST TECH Challenge (FTC) teams in North Texas.  FIRST LEGO League teams should get qualifier information from the Perot Museum FLL website .

2017 Qualifying Tournaments

Qualifier Event Waitlists

The pre-registration survey has closed and teams are being sent event reservations.  If your team didn’t get into an event that you want you can request to be added to the event’s waitlist using the form at http://roboplex.org/ftc/waitlist-form .

In general waitlisted teams for an event will receive slots according to priority:

– Teams without any events
– Teams with an early season (Nov) event obtaining a second event
– Teams obtaining a second event
– Teams with an early season (Nov) event obtaining a third event
– All other teams

Within any of the above groups teams will be given slots first-come-first-served in order of request.

Latest published registration stats:

ftc2017-regstats

Registration Process

This season North Texas is taking a somewhat different approach to Qualifying Tournament scheduling for FIRST Tech Challenge. Whereas previous seasons have had all qualifiers held in January/February, this season will also have qualifiers available in November and December. This is consistent with what happens in other FTC regions, and also more akin to the scheduling of events in League Play. It also opens up the possibility for some teams to be attending as many as three qualifiers in a season (to provide a more league-like experience for teams unable to join a league).

We’re also expecting to substantially lower the costs of qualifier events this year — somewhere in the range of $150-$200 per event, and possibly/hopefully less. We’re still working out the event registration/payment details. (Note that leagues have a different payment structure altogether, specific to each league.)

And we’re also changing the event signup process. We started with a “soft” pre-registration phase, where teams can apply to reserve registration slots at the events they wish to compete at. No payment is needed — preregistration simply gives a team priority claim on available registration slots at the event. Then later this month when registration officially opens, teams that participated in the soft registration will be given their selections before other teams can register for the event.

The (pre)registration form is now closed — see “waitlist” options above.

With more events available they’re also likely to have smaller capacities — we’re trying to avoid large “mega-qualifier marathons” from previous seasons — so (pre)register soon to get a preferred slot before they’re all taken. And don’t write off the earlier events just because you think your team won’t be ready in time — often it’s a good strategy to push a little to compete in an early event, if only to get some early, direct on-field experience in preparation for a later event.

 

2017-10-03 0 Comments ftc

FCA FLL Programming Clinic

2017-10-14 @ 9:00am - 4:00pm, Fellowship Christian Academy

This clinic is for coaches/mentors.  Coaches are also allowed to bring up to TWO (2) student team members. Venue Space is limited!
Cost:  Free, pre-registration required

Fellowship Christian Academy (FCA) Robotics Club will be holding coaches clinics on programming Mindstorms for FIRST LEGO League.   The clinics are offered all day, with a beginning programming clinic from 9:00am-12:00pm and intermediate programming clinic from 1:00pm-4:00pm.

This clinic is free of charge, but we ask that you pre-register for the event so that we can communicate event details directly to you and have an estimate of attendance size. Attendance is limited to coaches, mentors, and up to two team members.

In each clinic session we will provide opportunities for attendees to try some (not all) exercises using their own robots and laptops.  Since the venue space will be limited, we will have to limit exercises. We won’t be providing any robots or laptops at the clinics, you need to bring your own if you want to do that.  Be sure your laptops and robots are fully charged, as there may not be power outlets available.  Also make sure your laptop has the EV3 Mindstorms software already installed on it, and that you’ve been able to get it to communicate with your robot (e.g., with a USB cable).  Even if you’re using an NXT robot, we recommend using the EV3 software to program it.

If you don’t have a robot already, we recommend building the “Educator Vehicle (with attachments)” for the clinics.  This is the robot typically used for demonstrations.  The instructions for this build are included in the EV3 Education Kit, and you can also find a PDF download at the top of http://robotsquare.com/2013/10/01/education-ev3-45544-instruction/ .

Of course, don’t feel as though you need to bring a laptop and robot to the clinics.  Many coaches and members have found that it’s much easier to just watch, listen, take notes, and ask questions.  And it’s always helpful to have people around who can help troubleshoot others’ programs and robots.

In each clinic there is a lot of material to cover in a short period of time, so please arrive on-time and be prepared that we’ll be proceeding at a fairly good pace.

Beginning Programming topics

  • Overview of EV3 Programming environment and programming basics
  • Motor block basics — moving forward and backward
  • Turning using a gyro sensor (EV3 robots only)
  • Using “port view” and “view mode” to see sensor values
  • Detecting lines, borders, and colors
  • Simple My Blocks (creating blocks for turning and missions)

Intermediate Programming topics

  • Programming and robot game strategy
  • Loops and sensor blocks
  • Moving along a heading with gyros
  • Line following / edge following
  • Specifying distances in centimeters
  • Understanding navigation error

Also, Builderdude35 created a YouTube video about using the gyro for driving the robot.

Lunch will not be provided, but here is a link to some of the fast-food restaurants near FCA.

For more information about these clinics, please contact Jay Jordan at info@fcarobotics.com

2017-10-02 0 Comments