2016 BEST Robotics Conference and Workshop

2016-07-11 - 2016-07-15, University of Texas at Dallas / SEEC

BEST Conference and Workshop Topics include:
– All About BEST
– Tools and Safety
– Engineering Design Process
– BEST Practices for a Coach
– Simulink(r) and programming
– bESTology
– Integrating BEST in the Classroom
– What to teach in the off season
– Building prototype in the classroom
– Team building activities
– and much more!

Cost:

– $500 for early registration (by May 1)
– $600 for regular registration

For more information, please visit the registration page or emailinfo@bestinc.org.

2016-06-30 0 Comments

FTC 2016 Texas Robot Roundup and UIL State Championship

2016-07-28 @ 10:00am - 2016-07-29 @ 12:00pm, Austin Convention Center

The pilot UIL Robotics State Championship – FIRST Division for FIRST Tech Challenge is scheduled to coincide with the 2016 Texas Robot Roundup held on Thursday, July 28th and Friday, July 29th at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, TX. 64 UIL eligible FIRST Tech Challenge teams will qualify based on their performance at their FIRST Texas Region Championship tournaments. An additional 8 spots will be reserved and allocated by the event planning committee. In total, up to 72 FIRST Tech Challenge teams will compete at this event.

2016-06-18 0 Comments

UIL Robotics Training for FTC and FRC @ SMU

2016-07-11 - 2016-07-15, SMU Lyle Engineering Camp

UIL Robotics Training FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) and FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC)

This is the first year that Robotics is a Varsity Sport in Texas! Be one of the first schools to compete in the new events. During this training you will learn about the fundamentals of coaching a robotics team in the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) and FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). Learn how to organize your team, understand project management for the season, implement the most effective ways to build and program a robot. We cannot promise you a winning team, but we will promise you will learn a lot in this training that will make you a better coach and give your team a leg up on the competition. Activities will include building a robot chassis, robot programming, and robot attachments.

Tuition: $550, includes supplies and snacks.

Registration: This professional development course is open to all teachers at the 9th through 12th grade levels.  Register here!

2016-06-18

UTD Coaches Clinic – Intermediate FTC mechanics, programming, & competition

2016-07-21 @ 1:00pm - 4:30pm, University of Texas at Dallas / SEEC

REGISTRATION IS LIMITED!

Calling all FTC coaches, mentors, and educators! Come brush up on your knowledge & skills during the summer break and hear proven tips for improving team performance. Sessions are facilitated by Dr. Patrick Michaud, renowned FIRST coach with several world-ranked teams. Space is limited – first come, first serve. Pre-registration is required and all sessions will remain open for registration until filled.

This session examines the FTC competition in more depth, analyzing common season and game element components. The session also presents strategies and mechanisms commonly used by highly successful FTC teams. Topics include:
– FTC competition structure: robot game, judged awards, advancement
– Engineering notebooks
– Other common building materials
– Successful and unsuccessful robot designs and mechanisms
– Principles of leverage, gear ratios, center of gravity
– Additional sensors and programming

2016-06-18 0 Comments

UTD Coaches Clinic – Programming FTC Robots

2016-07-20 @ 1:00pm - 4:30pm, University of Texas at Dallas / SEEC

REGISTRATION IS LIMITED!

Calling all FTC coaches, mentors, and educators! Come brush up on your knowledge & skills during the summer break and hear proven tips for improving team performance. Sessions are facilitated by Dr. Patrick Michaud, renowned FIRST coach with several world-ranked teams. Space is limited – first come, first serve. Pre-registration is required and all sessions will remain open for registration until filled.

FIRST Tech Challenge robots use an electronics control system designed around Android smartphone technology. This session presents the common control system components and provides hands-on training in FTC application programming using Android Studio and the Java Programming Language. No prior knowledge of Android or Java programming is needed for this session. Topics include:
– Introduction and connections of control system components
– The Android Studio / FTC application programming environment
– Basic gamepad programming for robot navigation
– Arm and servo programming
– Touch and other sensors
– Autonomous mode programming
– (time permitting) Motor encoder sensors

2016-06-18 0 Comments