Re: BETA 2015?
 

Team 900 (The Zebracorns) from Durham, North Carolina, is part of the beta, and we are looking forward to experimenting with the new system and sharing our results.

Re: BETA 2015?
 

Re: BETA 2015?
 

842 is honored to have been chosen to be beta testers. It also looks like we are the only team from Arizona.

Re: BETA 2015?
 

159 is looking forward to testing with C++.

Re: BETA 2015?
 

3620 is eager to jump in with Java.

Re: BETA 2015?
 

This is definitely a little confusing. MORT is absolutely a role model team in the region, and I know they'll do an excellent job of sharing their findings, but MAR isn't exactly tiny, and it'll be tough for them to get their experiences out to the teams in southern NJ/Eastern PA/Delaware without some serious travel and $ pitched in. For comparison-- If I counted right, there are 7 Michigan teams & 5 New England teams.

Hopefully MAR-the-corporation puts in some effort/resources to help get information to all the region's teams, so that the burden doesn't entirely fall on Team 11. Also crossing my fingers that fall off-seasons will allow MORT to come and share their experience at the events as 25 did during their time as a beta tester way-back-when.

I know it'd be tough for us to get up there to MORT's school pre-kickoff for the required seminar-event, and we're not even that far away as compared to other teams. Definitely seeing the need for online and at-event sharing with only one region team testing.

Re: BETA 2015?
 

I really never understood how FIRST determines who the BETA test teams are. Not saying they make bad choices, just saying the process is a little fuzzy. ::rtm::

Re: BETA 2015?
 

Team 832 OSCAR eagerly anticipates being able to share their Labview beta experience with other Georgia teams!

Re: BETA 2015?
 

I definitely agree here, very strange that there was only 1 MAR team selected as there are many very competent teams in our region of doing this, I would have expected at least 3 (1 for each state). That being said I know when we did the beta test a few years back we demonstrated it at all the off season competitions we went to in the fall, I'm hoping they will be able to do the same. MORT is a great team and will do this very well, just wish there were more testing in our area.

Re: BETA 2015?
 

I third this. Out here in the Midwest only 1 Ohio team was chosen and 3 Indiana teams.

Re: BETA 2015?
 

They want a selection of teams that is representative of all of FIRST. Some "elite" teams, some "average" teams and some "lower-level" teams.

Re: BETA 2015?
 

But even if you make this argument, there is still all those different calibers of teams in each of those different regions.

Re: BETA 2015?
 

I also voice these concerns. In my mind there are a lot of other teams that probably would have made more sense. Interested to see how this plays out

Re: BETA 2015?
 

From what I understand, FIRST looks at a number of criteria.

First, they only consider teams that apply for it. As the blog said, "more than" 200 teams applied, which to me says less than 250... and FIRST selected 90 teams. That's a pretty large percentage - probably somewhere around 40% of applicants.

Next, they look at languages. With 90 teams selected, they probably have 30 for each language (at least in the past they've balanced the number for each language, and that's what they did for Alpha Testing).

Next, they look at geography. Based on the teams selected, they want to try to go for a wide geographical distribution, and they want to hit the areas that are geographically dense with teams. It may not be possible, as you may not have any teams apply from a given state or region.

Taking all of that into consideration, they might select two teams from the same city (like St. Paul) who do different languages (like 2177 and 3130), in a densely populated region (like the 180+ teams in Minnesota). At the same time, another team in that same area might be rejected because they use the same language as a team that was accepted.

All of that is pretty much guaranteed - the Beta Test program wouldn't accomplish their goals without considering those items.

The rest is speculation. There's a lot of data that FIRST can consider, but I don't know if they do or not. If a team has been a Beta/Alpha tester in the past, it could affect the results either way (you may want them involved again if they did a good job, or you may want to give another team the opportunity this year. For example, I believe, but haven't verified, that all of the Alpha teams have become Beta teams, and I know that my team has been a Beta or Alpha team every year for the past 4-5 years or so). FIRST may look for recommendations from the RD's for an area, on the assumption that the RD's would have an idea of which teams in an area would do better, with both the testing and outreach portions. FIRST may look at past regional results - consistent on-field performance could be an indication as to a team's technical success, while awards could be an indication of a team's ability to successfully communicate or interact with the FIRST community. It's not a perfect metric, to be sure, but we can all picture teams from our regionals who always seem to have technical issues with their robots, or who don't interact with other teams very well. Again, that's all speculation, but any of it could play a part.

Re: BETA 2015?
 

I don't speak on behalf of 11 or 193, but as an alum who has seen how hard David Bodmer and his crew work to attend other events and create resources for other teams, I am sure the students and mentors will work even harder to ensure the proper information is presented to all teams within MAR to the best of their ability, especially with the added stress of being the only team Beta Testing in the area.

Admittedly, I was surprised only 1 MAR team was selected as well. But I was also surprised to see both 340 and 1511 selected, as they are both from Rochester. Guess it depends which language each team is doing.