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.

Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
 

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.

Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
 

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.

Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
 

More teams than you think have these kinds of parts and definitely won't be missing their digital sidecars.

Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
 

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.

Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
 

Don't even get me started, so excited to have the RoboRio next year.

Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
 

I may be able to get our team to loan out an 8-slot CRIO. I will check that and the other stuff.

Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
 

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!

Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
 

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.

Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
 

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.

Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
 

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.

Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
 

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!

Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
 

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 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.

Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
 

I hope you guys bring a camera along and film some stuff!

Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
 

We were there during our workshop last Christmas - it was amazing. Here's a view of Victoria Harbor.