Chief Delphi - VEX Challenge at Monty Madness

Vince Frascella, the coordinator of the NJ FVC tournament, and Team 3053 will be running the FVC competition this year. Depending on how many teams show up will greatly influence what occurs.

I encourage everyone who enjoys Vex or is interested in Vex, but is not part of an FVC team to come. Our team will be building several extra robots that are just drive trains (no manipulators), for people to use all day long.

I'm going to talk to the rest of my team first, but it is also my hope that we will allow anyone who is interested to take a turn driving/operating our competition robot.

This info below was emailed to all NJ teams:

Hello New Jersey Tournament Teams,
I am writing to invite you to an upcoming off-season FVC event. Is your robot still together? ..or recoverable?

We have an opportunity to attend the Monty Madness event which is being help at Montgomery Township High School on May 19th.

For those who have attended in the past, you know that it is a large and beautiful facility and the folks there do a masterful job in holding an off-season FRC tournament. Here is a website that can give you plenty of general information about the event. http://www.montymadness.org/Contact%20Us.html (Our FVC info is not yet posted, but details are below.)

Last year, an FVC field was set up in their Cafeteria and some of us (about four teams) came to Monty Madness for a little competing with each other and a little demo work for our future robotics enthusiasts. This year, we really want to build on that. We would love to have your team come and join us.

This is not an official competition by any means, but we have laid out a program. (See the schedule below) which should be different, interesting, and a lot of fun.

Notice that along with playing the "Hanging-A-Round" Game, we thought we'd also hold a little "Skills Competition" and even try a variant of the Game that we call "Extreme Hanging-A-Round".
Similar to last year, we are seeking 12 teams to play. Unlike last year, we now have a nice database of NJ Tournament Teams who we are herein soliciting... you folks!

We thought that we'd better limit the number of participating teams so that we can reasonably fit all three Games in. If we have more that 12 teams interested, it'll be the first 12 that can play. Of course, all are invited to come and watch ...and share FVC enthusiasm with our on-lookers ...and watch the great FRC competition as well.

Also, similar to the September Workshop and November Scrimmage, if a team is willing to have a couple of their people lend a hand during the event, that will help assure that all goes smoothly. We already have a core of key volunteers, but more hands means better coverage, more calm, and more chance for folks to take a break an enjoy. Please consider offering one adult (part time) and/or two students (part time) to lend a hand during the event. (Yes, we know that some teams may be too small to do this.)

Other than pulling together and getting a few volunteers here and there, there is no charge for this event. Come and have good time. That's what its all about. Hopefully, no one will come with intensity. We will have Referees to keep things fair, but don't expect formal "qualifying matches", etc. We will be organized for a good time, though. Hope that you can come.

Again, it will be first-come, first-served, relative to registering a spot to play. So, please get back to me with your response as early as you can.

Thanks, Vince Frascella (Chair FVC NJ Planning Committee)

Below in JPEG format is the tentative schedule

More Notes follow ... if you care to keep reading ....
What we have in mind is less of a formal scrimmage or competition and more along the lines of three fun & challenging activities
You will see the intent to play a game of good ole “Hanging-A-Round” (though we might assign Alliances somewhat randomly) and shorten the game.
Doing that, gives us more time to take a shot at a “Skills Competition” followed by the announcement and play of an “extreme version” of the game. The extreme version of the game would build upon what teams are already doing in the Skills Competition. It would not require a modification to any robot to compete, though some teams may want to make some quick changes. That’ll be part of the fun!

Regarding all of the colors on the chart - - Competitions are shown on gold, prefaced by a explanation period in bright yellow, and a practice time in light yellow. Future team members’ time to drive a ‘bot on the fields is shown on gray background.

You will also see the desire to connect with the FRC folks at various times (CAPS and black text). Part of the rationale behind this initiative is cross-exposure of the Programs. And, of course, you will see that we want to let the public (and very young robot enthusiasts) drive some of our ‘bots….similar to the Sovereign Bank activity.

Ben Mitchell, who was one of our Refs in NJ and who I recruited to be our Head Ref at Atlanta, has signed on to be our Head Ref at this May 19th event. Occam’s Engineers, who were our Amaze Winner in NJ and won Inspire in Atlanta, has signed on to be Ben Mitchell’s Ref Staff.

Regarding the solicited volunteers. We'd try to hold none for any longer than half of the day.
The 2-3 team members that you would supply would be involved in demonstrating the robots, assisting future robotics people in driving the ‘bots, answering questions, distributing information, possible field reset, generally lending a hand …

The 1-2 adults would be distributed among the major functions. The Refs will keep things fair and moving, but we’d like to take some of the function management responsibilities off of their shoulders. For instance, an adult might be involved in getting the Skills Competition Field cleared of “practicers” and overseeing the set up of the modified goals and timekeeping pieces. Another adult might keep an eye on the distribution of hand-outs and assure that parents wanting information or small ones wanting to drive are somewhat tended to. We can plan in more detail in the coming weeks to make sure that all bases are covered and that volunteers are assigned a compatible role. We want to be well staffed, calm and organized.