Build a better Robot Seminar- meet the World Champion in Kenosha, Wisconsin

FTC Teams:

Cougar Robotics, one of this year's FTC World Champion teams, is interested in having a hands-on seminar focused on "How to Build a Better Bot" in our area (Southeast Wisconsin).  The tentative date for this seminar would be either Saturday, August 31st or Sunday, September 1st.  I am writing to see if your team would be available on that weekend and also if your team would have an interest in attending the 6-8 hour event?

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1xRb4n4c_tKEH3OkTAOCnU14J6MCFJUrHPdnJ5jcdI10/viewform

Please RSVP by Monday Aug 5- Sorry for the late notice

Time to register, Season info

Thank-you to all the veteran teams who have already signed up for another season of exciting FTC competition, learning and fun.  If you have not yet signed up, please do so.

FTC is the fastest growing FIRST Robotics program.  To keep up with that amazing growth, adjustments are being made at the state, national and world levels.

In Illinois, we have adjusted our season schedule to fit the national model.  Here is an outline of this season’s dates:
Sept 7, 2013:  Worldwide Kickoff and game release.
Sept 14, 2013: IL State Kickoff workshops (save the date!).
Dec 7, 2013 to Feb 8, 2014:  Qualifying events.
Feb 22, 2013: State Championship.
April 2013: Super-Regionals in Iowa
April 23-26, 2013: FIRST World Championship

This year, all Illinois FTC teams will be allowed to compete at two qualifying events.   We also plan to hold several unofficial scrimmages throughout the state so teams can get more practice.  If your team would like to host a scrimmage in your area, please contact khall@usfirst.org.

There are still some $500 rookie grants available, if you know of anyone interested in starting an FTC team this year, please be sure to send them here: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/ftc/grow

John Deere and PTC have released their FTC grants for this year.  If you qualify, please apply before the specified deadlines.
http://www.deere.com/wps/dcom/en_US/corporate/our_company/citizenship/john_deere_inspire/jdi.page
http://www.ptc.com/appserver/wcms/forms/index.jsp?&im_dbkey=130376&icg_dbkey=482

The kits are currently shipping and with the rapid growth, we recommend you order early.  Also, be sure to double check your Samantha module and order a replacement or a spare.

Illinois FIRST has a new website: http://www.ilfirst.org/ .  Navigate to the FTC portion and take a look around.  If you have photos, stories or news articles about your team, please send those to khall@usfirst.org and we will do our best to feature them on your state website.

The IL FTC Co-partner and the Senior Mentor are experimenting with a blog, http://ftcillinois.blogspot.com/ .  Please take some time to look through the blog and give us your feedback and suggestions for how to improve FTC in our state.  Your comments will be reviewed before making them public.

Finally, if your team is facing unusual hardship, please contact khall@usfirst.org.  The Illinois team will do all we can to help your team!

FTC Robotics in the News- Read more

Robotics contest gets kids excited about science  (click to see some photos) BY PHIL ROCKROHR

FIRST Tech Challenge robotics competitions are so popular that some 150 students from six states and Romania converged here last weekend — during summer vacation — to do battle.  “What I am most amazed at is this is what they want to do with their time off,” said Tom Bredemeier, a computer science teacher at Barrington High School, who took one of his school’s 10 teams to the event held at Deerfield High School.

It almost didn’t matter that Fish in the Boat, the World Champions from Minnesota, tied with Barrington’s That’s a Good Question team for first place.  What seemed to matter more was the joy of designing, building, programming and operating their own robots to complete tasks designated in the competition.  It is no coincidence that FIRST is an acronym for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.

Asked why he is spending his summer vacation in a high school gym operating robots, sophomore A.J. Priola first explained how he and friend J.J. Xu petitioned to launch the robotics team at Barrington High School and how they spent countless hours in Bredemeier’s lab every day after school.

Roshaan Siddqui, a seventh-grader at Chicago Math and Science Academy said: “I want to be a computer engineer. I can get a scholarship doing this.”

Jonathan Weiland, a biology teacher and robotics mentor at Highland Park High School, confirmed that Siddqui is not exaggerating. The FTC awards between about $15 million in scholarships each year, Weiland said. Last year one of every three robotics students who applied received a scholarship, he said. “Of the 10,000 students I’ve taught at Highland Park in 10 years, about five or 10 turned professional in sports,” Weiland said. “But we’ve sent thousands of kids to high-powered science and engineering schools. We know every kid on this field today will be successful professionally.” 

Dan Green, executive director of Illinois FIRST, said the goal of FTC is simply to get kids as excited about technology as they usually are about sports.

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Copyright © 2013 — Sun-Times Media, LLC

The new game rules?

Did you check  out the new game rules? 

Some very interesting tweaks. Game Manual Part 1

 Some  highlights 

1. Springs of any type and material (coil, extension, compression, leaf, etc.)that are used in a safe manner.
2. . Wheels of any type up to 4” diameter. Wheels that have exposed features likely to cause damage to field and/or 
3. Pulleys including sheaves, timing belt, etc

Taste of Chicago-A Great Event for FIRST Teams

Taste of Chicago-A Great Event for FIRST Teams

Wed 7/10 Thursday 7/11 Friday 7/12, 10am-4pm

Join the other Illinois FIRST programs at the Family Center of Taste Chicago

This is a fun time to share the joy of FIRST FTC to the general public,  All you need is some pads and your robot! Your welcome to bring the game elements but kids want to drive robots or see the robots driving.  Also, you will get reduce prices for Taste Tickets.

If you and your team can attend- please email me jweiland1@gmail.com

taste of chicago                                                                                       http://www.ilfirst.org/ftc/ 

FIRST teams build communities that grow people

FIRST teams build communities that grow people. Robot teams build robots and compete.  They are VERY different!  We at ILFIRST will be working with experienced teams to host virtual and in-person workshops and support groups.  Since FIRST teams build communities, you should never feel like you are alone.