View Full Version : New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
The China Urban Youth Robotic League (CUYRA) is holding a scrimmage in Shenzhen, China in August, 2014. Details are still being worked out but it looks like the scrimmage will take place from August 18th through the 20th. A 2 day workshop retreat will follow on the 21st and 22nd.
The 8 teams from China that participated in 2014 FRC events are expected to attend. 10 new teams from China are also expected to attend the scrimmage.
In addition, three teams for the US have been invited and are expected to the scrimmage:
FRC 525, “Swartdogs,” from Cedar Falls, Iowa.
FRC 694, “StuyPulse,” from New York City
FRC 987, “HighRollers,” from Las Vegas
From the brochure about the event:
“China Urban Youth Robotic League (CUYRA), a NPO that registered in Hong Kong, endeavors to develop and promote the knowledge & applications related to robots between teenagers. Commitment to developing & training science innovation ability of teenagers. With same aims as FIRST, arouse teenagers’ interest & enthusiasm in science, technology, engineering, and providing a communication platform for teenagers.”
We (FRC 525) are looking for some help for the 10 new teams. One challenge is that the 2014 control system can’t be used in 2015. It will be difficult for the new teams to buy the parts of the control system for the August scrimmage and then a few months later pay for the 2015 control system (and the high travel costs to regionals.) We’re hoping some existing FRC teams have spare control system parts that they don’t need for off season events and would be willing to donate or loan. We’d need these parts in the next few weeks so we can arrange for them to be shipped to China. Some parts we need:
cRIO (4 or 8 slot)
Analog Module 9201
Digital Module 9403
Solenoid Module 9472
Digital Sidecar AM-0866
Analog Breakout AM-0867
Solenoid Breakout AM-0868
120 Amp Breaker AM-0282
Power Distribution Board AM-0865
DC Power Convertor 12V/5V AM-0899
Connector-cRIO Power 4-pole AM-0295
Connector-cRIO Power 2-pole AM-2076
Connector-Wago AM-0296
DB37 Extension Cable AM-0500
DAP-1522 Bridge, Rev B AM-0839
Also, if anyone has the 2014 kitbot that they didn't use and would be willing to donate, that would be very helpful as well.
We are so excited for the event and very honored that we were invited to join in. I'm going to ask around during our meeting tomorrow to see which parts we might be able to help out with.
Fletch1373
05-05-2014, 23:05
The China Urban Youth Robotic League (CUYRA) is holding a scrimmage in Shenzhen, China in August, 2014. Details are still being worked out but it looks like the scrimmage will take place from August 18th through the 20th. A 2 day workshop retreat will follow on the 21st and 22nd.
The 8 teams from China that participated in 2014 FRC events are expected to attend. 10 new teams from China are also expected to attend the scrimmage.
In addition, three teams for the US have been invited and are expected to the scrimmage:
FRC 525, “Swartdogs,” from Cedar Falls, Iowa.
FRC 694, “StuyPulse,” from New York City
FRC 987, “HighRollers,” from Las Vegas
From the brochure about the event:
“China Urban Youth Robotic League (CUYRA), a NPO that registered in Hong Kong, endeavors to develop and promote the knowledge & applications related to robots between teenagers. Commitment to developing & training science innovation ability of teenagers. With same aims as FIRST, arouse teenagers’ interest & enthusiasm in science, technology, engineering, and providing a communication platform for teenagers.”
We (FRC 525) are looking for some help for the 10 new teams. One challenge is that the 2014 control system can’t be used in 2015. It will be difficult for the new teams to buy the parts of the control system for the August scrimmage and then a few months later pay for the 2015 control system (and the high travel costs to regionals.) We’re hoping some existing FRC teams have spare control system parts that they don’t need for off season events and would be willing to donate or loan. We’d need these parts in the next few weeks so we can arrange for them to be shipped to China. Some parts we need:
cRIO (4 or 8 slot)
Analog Module 9201
Digital Module 9403
Solenoid Module 9472
Digital Sidecar AM-0866
Analog Breakout AM-0867
Solenoid Breakout AM-0868
120 Amp Breaker AM-0282
Power Distribution Board AM-0865
DC Power Convertor 12V/5V AM-0899
Connector-cRIO Power 4-pole AM-0295
Connector-cRIO Power 2-pole AM-2076
Connector-Wago AM-0296
DB37 Extension Cable AM-0500
DAP-1522 Bridge, Rev B AM-0839
Also, if anyone has the 2014 kitbot that they didn't use and would be willing to donate, that would be very helpful as well.
I would love to volunteer my time and abilities to help these teams! (I'd also kinda like the adventure/vacation to China)
As for the parts, I would contact FIRST. The spare parts cases for each of the fields have multiple of all of the parts listed. Considering many of them aren't usable with next year's game, FIRST might be willing to make a charitable donation to these teams(or at least loan them out for the event). I know FIRST loves expanding into new areas, and this would be a big leap in China.
PayneTrain
05-05-2014, 23:10
I would love to volunteer my time and abilities to help these teams! (I'd also kinda like the adventure/vacation to China)
As for the parts, I would contact FIRST. The spare parts cases for each of the fields have multiple of all of the parts listed. Considering many of them aren't usable with next year's game, FIRST might be willing to make a charitable donation to these teams(or at least loan them out for the event). I know FIRST loves expanding into new areas, and this would be a big leap in China.
More teams than you think have these kinds of parts and definitely won't be missing their digital sidecars.
MrTechCenter
05-05-2014, 23:30
Wow! This is incredible! If you need someone to teach LabView and/or electronics, shoot me a message! As for the parts, I know we have most of these but I'll have to check if we are in a position to donate them.
Dunngeon
05-05-2014, 23:34
More teams than you think have these kinds of parts and definitely won't be missing their digital sidecars.
Don't even get me started, so excited to have the RoboRio next year.
orangemoore
05-05-2014, 23:34
I may be able to get our team to loan out an 8-slot CRIO. I will check that and the other stuff.
It may be helpful to point out that our 3 teams are only sending a limited number of student and adult representatives as a fair share of our travel costs are to be covered by our hosts. In addition to attending the scrimmage we will be training organizers and volunteers, facilitating the set up and operation of the field and matches and putting on the workshops. We are certainly fortunate one of our alumni/mentors is an FTA and others are robot inspectors, etc...One of the goals of the visit is to help our Chinese friends learn how to ultimately put on their own regional as early as 2016. There has also been some discussion about members of their teams coming to Las Vegas in July for additional workshops, dependent upon availability of financial support from their benefactors in China. We certainly hope everything works out as planned and are excited to partake in this new chapter in the growth of FIRST FRC!
cadandcookies
06-05-2014, 00:13
With the help of three teams as fantastic as you guys, I'm sure a China regional is well in the future. I will be very interested to see how well FRC catches on overseas. Soon enough we may be looking at a truly global competition.
With the help of three teams as fantastic as you guys, I'm sure a China regional is well in the future. I will be very interested to see how well FRC catches on overseas. Soon enough we may be looking at a truly global competition.
I know that the team out of the Netherlands that was at champs was talking about working towards a European Regional by 2018, so hopefully that will work out for them as well. I'm so excited to see this kind of growth.
The FRC 525 mentors and recent graduates are flying out of Chicago to Hong Kong tomorrow. The students and our team leader will fly out on Saturday. (Cedar Falls school starts tomorrow so they can't leave until Saturday - the students will miss 5 days of school.)
The scrimmage is in Shenzhen. We'll spend Saturday and Sunday getting things set up. The scrimmage will run from Monday until mid-day Wednesday. Then we'll have a workshop for the rest of Wednesday and all day Thursday. Friday is for sightseeing and back to Chicago on Saturday the 23rd.
There will be 4 US teams (525, 694, 987 and 1595). We're expecting 6 of the 8 Chinese teams from last year and 11 new Chinese teams.
This is really, really cool. It's amazing to see that FIRST has spread so far, and there will be 11 new teams just this year! If I ever study abroad I'd love to meet these teams. I wish all the teams best of luck!
artdutra04
13-08-2014, 20:13
When you're sightseeing, Victoria Peak in Hong Kong has beautiful views of Hong Kong island and Kowloon.
The lines at the Shenzhen Bay border crossing always seem to be shorter than the Lok Ma Chau or Lo Wu HK/mainland border crossings, but unless it's a major travel day you can probably get through any of these in 30 minutes or less. If it's a major travel day it might take 2-3 hours to get through customs and immigration.
Also, the Google Maps views between Satellite and Maps view are intentionally off by a random amount (sometimes up to a half kilometer) due to a Chinese law. However if you go to ditu.google.com (https://ditu.google.com/) the maps view will be the same between Satellite and Maps view. The reason this version works fine is because this maps view shows the Chinese territorial borders as claimed by China.
Edit: you can leave the lights and AC on in your hotel room 24/7 by sticking any random card into the slot by the door. Otherwise the AC will turn off when you leave the room.
Steven Donow
13-08-2014, 20:15
I hope you guys bring a camera along and film some stuff!
When you're sightseeing, Victoria Peak in Hong Kong has beautiful views of Hong Kong island and Kowloon.
We were there during our workshop last Christmas - it was amazing. Here's a view of Victoria Harbor.
We're here in Shenzhen. It's a long trip to get here - left home about 5:15 AM Thursday to drive to Chicago. The flight is 15 1/2 hours and we were held up at the gate for 2 hours for repairs - so we were on the plane for 17 1/2 hours. Arrived in Hong Kong about 8:00 PM Friday. (China is 13 hours ahead.) Had to go through the line for immigration into Hong Kong, then a ride to the border with mainland China and immigration into mainland China, then the drive to the hotel and finally got into our hotel rooms around midnight.
This is very exciting news...good luck to all involved in making it a big success.
Here are a couple of pics. The venue is the basketball arena that was built for the 2011 University Games.
Clem1640
16-08-2014, 20:36
好了!
MARS_James
16-08-2014, 23:12
Here are a couple of pics. The venue is the basketball arena that was built for the 2011 University Games.
I don't know why but seeing the FIRST Field in white instead of just metal looks really nice, and I personally would love to see it in person
Woah this is one of the coolest things I've seen on Chief Delphi so far, hope you guys have sweet footage of your adventure over there and also goodluck !
waialua359
17-08-2014, 17:07
Awesome! Thanks for sharing.
Never been to China, but we are looking forward to competing there for the Asia Pacific VEX Championships in December.
Our visit has been quite an experience so far for sure, Glenn. Challenges like finding proper tape (no gaffers to be found) and language aside, our hosts have been fantastic helping us help them put on this event. We will be posting pics on Facebook and on team987.com soon to add to the collage Tom has started here. Today is practice day for the 20 teams here, quals next day with alliance selection at end of day and elimination next morning (round robin affair). American teams will not select each other for elims...
BTW, driving around is the experience of a life-time...poor pedestrians in China do NOT have the right of way:yikes:
We completed 10 practice matches yesterday. Overall things went well - all robots got onto the field at least once which was pretty amazing all things considered. Had some minor problems such as teams changing bridge settings after they were encrypted.
A few pics from yesterday. A couple of the English translations on the sponsor banner are amusing. The trophies are really good looking! The building in the last image is a long distance shot I took from the top of a hill behind the hotel.
waialua359
18-08-2014, 18:26
Our visit has been quite an experience so far for sure, Glenn. Challenges like finding proper tape (no gaffers to be found) and language aside, our hosts have been fantastic helping us help them put on this event. We will be posting pics on Facebook and on team987.com soon to add to the collage Tom has started here. Today is practice day for the 20 teams here, quals next day with alliance selection at end of day and elimination next morning (round robin affair). American teams will not select each other for elims...
BTW, driving around is the experience of a life-time...poor pedestrians in China do NOT have the right of way:yikes:
Thanks for the links! Looking forward to seeing more.
DampRobot
18-08-2014, 22:46
*Sponsor Banner Picture*
Too bad more of our stateside competitions aren't sponsored by our municipal propaganda agencies.
Michael Hill
18-08-2014, 23:28
We completed 10 practice matches yesterday. Overall things went well - all robots got onto the field at least once which was pretty amazing all things considered. Had some minor problems such as teams changing bridge settings after they were encrypted.
A few pics from yesterday. A couple of the English translations on the sponsor banner are amusing. The trophies are really good looking! The building in the last image is a long distance shot I took from the top of a hill behind the hotel.
Those trophies are awesome looking
We had a brief rain delay - there was a leak in the roof right above the scorers table.
A really fantastic day today. Completed all the qualifying matches. Eliminations rounds are in the morning. I'll write more later.
What an amazing experience this has to be for all the students who made the trip over.
Steven Donow
19-08-2014, 10:58
I hope you guys write good summaries of this when you come back...in my (relatively short time) in FIRST, I can honestly say that this is one of the coolest things I've seen.
Here are a few thoughts:
Many of the Chinese teams only got their kits a week or so before the event started. They were all able to get the kit bot built and most had some form of game piece manipulator. The students and mentors from the US teams were all over the pits helping with the robots and software. Many had no software until yesterday.
Many of the teams drove their robot for the first time yesterday. They all wanted to have an autonomous mode - most do now. 987 will probably help the few remaining get autonomous this morning. At least 3 teams can score a low goal in autonomous. At least 1 team can score a high goal in autonomous - 2 other can score a high goal in teleop. Some can do the truss pass.
The first few matches had at least one US team. The first match with 6 Chinese teams finished with a score of 48 to 31 and no fouls - really quite good.
The level of game play improved dramatically over the course of the day yesterday. It was really impressive to watch. Given that many hadn't even driven their robots until yesterday and probably had never seen an FRC match, it was really quite something to see them learn driving skills and match strategy so quickly.
There were a couple of practice matches yesterday with 6 Chinese teams. To me, these seemed like the most exciting matches. Also, it seemed like we should highlight the Chinese teams at the first event in China. I made the proposal Monday night that the 4 US teams bow out of the elimination rounds and let it be an all Chinese team tournament. The other US teams and organizers agreed.
We did alliance selections last night based on the rankings and there are 5 all Chinese team alliances. We'll do a round robin tournament this morning to decide the winner. The US teams will do some exhibition matches in between the elimination matches.
Students from the US teams sang the US national anthem at the opening ceremonies yesterday. Hearing them sing it at a robotics tournament 8000 miles from home was really special.
The field control software was written by 525's programming team. They spent an enormous amount of time this summer getting it ready. They call it RMM (Robot Match Manager.) They referees use 2 ipads and 4 ipods to enter scoring and fouls. The entire system worked flawlessly all day. (There was only 1 field fault when an ipod wasn't scoring.)
The head ref and one of the other refs were 525 alumni. The other refs were Chinese. The other key positions were also a mix of both US and Chinese folks - we wanted to get as much training for the Chinese members as possible.
One mentor mentioned that this was possibly the smoothest running regional that they had ever been at. I tend to agree - everything worked smoothly all day.
We have workshops planned for this afternoon and all day tomorrow.
Is there a list of the teams participating in this event? I'm curious if the two teams that came to Lone Star (Houston) were there.
Thanks.
Is there a list of the teams participating in this event? I'm curious if the two teams that came to Lone Star (Houston) were there.
Thanks.
4830, 5304, 5306, 5307, 5308 and 10 new teams.
The finals are over. In the deciding match, the red alliance won with a shot in the last few seconds but after the refs deliberated the blue alliance won due to a penalty.
Everyone had a great time. The Chinese teams really liked the awards ceremony and walking the awards line.
The workshop sessions have started - we're still in the arena now. Tomorrow we move to the hotel for a full day of workshop sessions.
Here's a group photo of the 4 US teams. (That "FRC Ambassador" blue banner they gave us is pretty awesome - by far my favorite.)
I am Dick Hurban, a mentor for team 525 and a Robot Inspector and Judge at the recently concluded China Regional Challenge (CRC). This has been an awesome event; I have participated/volutnteered at FRC events since 2008 and I would have to say this was the most exciting competition I have witnessed. We had 10 new teams and 5 returning teams plus 4 American teams that Tom Ore lists in a previous post. Most new teams have only had parts for several weeks and many had not opened the kits till about a week ago. The ability of these Chinese team to build basic robots, program them, learn to drive them and then also be competitive was truly amazing. These students and mentors were able to keep machines running and there were few missed matches or non-moving robots. At first Chinese teams were reluctant to be aggressive but that quickly changed as the heat of competition built. Everyone involved gave their all to make this event a very smooth running and exciting time. We could all learn a lesson about Gracious Professionalism from our Chinese students, mentors, and volunteers, At the Awards Ceremony at the conclusion of Day 1 we had virtually every participant from China and USA dancing on or around the field and it was clear we were ALL FIRST particpants, not American or Chinese. The look as students faces as they came through the award line was inspiring and priceless. I will never forget this experience and look forward to a future FRC China Regional.
I would like to add to what Dick had to say about the event I helped coordinate and direct. I am so thankful for all of the hard work our key volunteers from 987 and 525 put into this fantastic, historic event. I am thankful for the assistance from the awesome guys from 694 and 1595 as they pitched in to help us get all of the teams up and running...and helped with some of the workshop sessions that followed the event.
What a pleasure to see all of my fellow 987 advisors/mentors and kids and all the other teams work constantly and even frantically to ensure every Chinese team had a great time. Very few teams missed even a single match. Great job 525 with their fantastic custom field management system.
Our Chinese hosts have been incredible. Countless volunteers ensured a wildly successful event as Dick indicated. Lessons were learned...acrylic is not the same as polycarbonate:D , it is important to have batteries that are not prone to leakage and one must have the correct tape for carpet (especially when faced with 90% humidity).
Kudos to all!
Thanks for the info, Tom. It is nice to see that both Grapefruit (5307) and Creation (5308) were able to participate. They both learned a lot and achieved "rock star" status that neither had expected. Few of them were wearing their original shirts by the end of the Lone Star Regional. We hope to see them back in Houston next year.
I also really enjoyed the chance to work closely with and socialize with the other US teams from literally all over the country. Having teams from the east coast, southwest, northwest and mid west all representing the US in China was pretty cool.
The field is gone and everyone is packing to leave...
stens987
24-08-2014, 21:59
I also really enjoyed the chance to work closely with and socialize with the other US teams from literally all over the country. Having teams from the east coast, southwest, northwest and mid west all representing the US in China was pretty cool.
Agreed! It was great to get to know all of you! Have a great build season :D
I've been sorting through the pics we took in China - here's one of the pre-rookie robots.
Word is our robot passed through US customs and we'll get it back next week.
The layout is very, very well thought out. The workmanship is amazing! Not what one would expect from a pre-rookie team or most teams that has been around a few years.
What does the vertically mounted motor do? Are they using a "double choo-choo" mechanism?
The layout is very, very well thought out. The workmanship is amazing! Not what one would expect from a pre-rookie team or most teams that has been around a few years.
What does the vertically mounted motor do? Are they using a "double choo-choo" mechanism?
I was surprised at how well it was built. I didn't get a chance to talk to them about the robot so I'm not sure how they came up with the design - not sure exactly how it works. A very good looking robot.
EDIT: I found a second picture. It looks like just a 4 bar linkage. If I recall correctly, their throw at the high goal was usually low - still very impressive for a pre-rookie team.
Caleb Sykes
13-09-2014, 13:19
I was surprised at how well it was built. I didn't get a chance to talk to them about the robot so I'm not sure how they came up with the design - not sure exactly how it works. A very good looking robot.
EDIT: I found a second picture. It looks like just a 4 bar linkage. If I recall correctly, their throw at the high goal was usually low - still very impressive for a pre-rookie team.
Edit: Just kidding, I got my directions confused
I uploaded about 500 pics from the scrimmage to flickr.
China Robotics Challenge 2014 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/127128077@N05/sets/72157647768635605/)
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