FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

All,

I've been thinking about guests and families of teams who will be in the stands during the upcoming competitions. I'd love to have a handout available that has some of the terms and their meanings that FIRSTers can reference when explaining the game, the awards, and the philosophy of FIRST. It's long been a wish a mine to have something like this in the information that FIRST distributes at the events. This handout would be something we could make available to the teams to help their guests enjoy the event with a deeper understanding.

There is a thread that was created last season called, FIRST Acronyms. It might be helpful to combine that with the terminology. The last post in that thread listed all of the acronyms that were posted in the thread and it is a very helpful resource.

I'm not great with technical definitions and would appreciate it if members would help think of common terminology in FIRST and terminology that is specific to LogoMotion.

An example would be:

autonomous - definition (provide the definition)

another would be:

minibot - definition

I asked a couple of friends' opinions on whether this is a good topic or not and they gave positive responses. Hopefully, this could be a helpful guide that would increase our guests/visitors' understanding and appreciation of the game and FIRST.

Thanks for your help with this.

Jane

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

Jane

I've used this autonomous definition for the past few years while announcing.

Autonomous - The robot is operating using it's own on board programming and sensors with no human interaction.

Mini Bot - ahhhh still working on that one :)

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

Judge: the people with blue polo shirts that hand out awards

Referee: the people with striped shirts that call penalties

These two definitions should be mandatory reading for everyone in FIRST since at least 10% of the people I hear refer to referees as judges :rolleyes:

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

How about terms that might help rookie teams as well?

Queuing - the process of staging a robot and drive team in a line to be ready for an upcoming match. Teams should be prepared to get into the queue several matches (typical = 3) before theirs is scheduled.

Pit Admin - the area in the pits occupied by a group of volunteers who will answer questions, resolve problems and help teams find things or who know how to find other people who can answer questions, resolve problems and help teams find things.

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

I never understand why refs are called judges. It's weird.

@Cynette - yes!

Jane

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

Teleop - Period of game time that the robot is controlled by human drivers

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

There are so many things to cover and trying to keep it concise is difficult. Our team used to do this and I think it is a great idea!

Another good break down would be the game, how it's played, the scoring system, and the game pieces.

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

A good place to start might be with Section 1.5, the official game summary. Without the pictures and the scoring summary, it reads: Total, one page with the field illustration and the scoring tables. Just might need a few other terms defined. If you're at an event, the field illustration won't be needed, so that space could be used for other things, like extra definitions (teleop/teleoperated, robot, end game, deployment, etc.).

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

The blue shirts also get to select the award winners, as well as handing the awards out ;)

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

I'm not really worried about conciseness at this point, Cassie. I'm really looking for a nice dump of info that can be sorted out/worked through/edited and used for multiple purposes.
--
I think the FIRST community makes too many assumptions about a lot of things. One is the robotics environment that the teams are steeped in; some year-round. Many rookie teams have not been steeped in the mindset, terminology, game play. Many of the folks in the stands show up because of family members, friends, or curiosity and don't have the background or information to help them engage in the game or FRC/FIRST as much as they could with a little bit of support/outreach from our knowledgeable community.

Example: If I go to a football game, I need a little more help understanding it than if I go to a baseball game. If I go to a rugby game, I need a whole lot of help and a very patient person who is willing to help me understand what I'm seeing and why the plays are being called the way they are. In my opinion, the FRC game can be understood by all ages, much like football but - it becomes rugby because of lack of support in helping to understanding it.

There can be some easy fixes to helping grow FIRST in user friendly ways. This is one of them. It would also support what the emcees and announcers are doing, already.

Jane

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

Robot Inspectors- A teams' best friend. :D

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

I like this idea! I can see this being divided into two parts (or the words differentiated somehow). One for terms that are evergreen (i.e. autonomous) and one for terms that are particular to that year's game (i.e. minibot)

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

We use Student Ambassadors (and adult ones) at Chesapeake.
I'm always teaching the "elevator pitch."
Would love to have something like this to include in training.

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

Well, it's not generating many terms/definitions. Maybe I can come up with some terms and people can add definitions.

LogoMotion - Eric's post

Purpose of Logos in the game, LogoMotion -

Jack Kamen -

Dean Kamen -

Dr. Woodie Flowers -

Gracious Professional - definition and how the role it plays

--
Reffing - where the refs are responsible for.
(Some folks get all riled up because the 'ref wasn't even looking' - and it wasn't their area.
Yellow card -
Red card -


Positions on the field: field reset, scorekeepers, FTA, etc.
The Pits -
Pit Admin -
Lost and Found -


cRio -
Programmer/ing -

drivers' station -
human player -


points (example: minibot) -

drive train -
manipulator -
end effector -
arm -

camera -
line(s) -

Collaboration -
Coopertition -
Alliance (Red/Blue) - Purpose (?)

STEM -
sponsor -
FIRST Scholarships -
HoF teams -
Awards -

Autonomous - The robot is operating using it's own on board programming and sensors with no human interaction
Teleop - Period of game time that the robot is controlled by human drivers
Judge - the people with blue polo shirts that judge/select the teams and hand out awards
Referee - the people with striped shirts that call penalties
Red Card - A team does not get anything from a match due to nasty play. (Soccer: Rough play, a player is off the field for the duration of the game.)
Yellow Card - A team almost got a red card, and if they do that again, they will. (Soccer: Same thing as FRC.)

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

Red Card--A team does not get anything from a match due to nasty play. (Soccer: Rough play, a player is off the field for the duration of the game.)
Yellow Card--A team almost got a red card, and if they do that again, they will. (Soccer: Same thing as FRC.)

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

::rtm:: http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles...ction_RevD.pdf
There is a pretty good list here that could likely be trimmed down.

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

NEMO: A person who deals with all the stuff that has nothing to do with the robot.

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

There is a list of volunteer roles and a definition for each found at http://www.usfirst.org/community/vol....aspx?id=15692

These can at least be adapted for your list. Example - Judge:
Select team award recipients through interaction with teams, review of documentation regarding team background information to familiarize judges with teams, and serve as role models for the competitors.

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

Of these two definitions, I like Mike's better, for the intended purpose that Jane has in mind.

To be useful, the quicky guide should be written in easy to understand language.

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

I think so, too. I don't want to give wrong info but I do want to provide something easy to explain and to understand.

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

Speed Holes: All the holes in a robot to reduce weight. (usually frantically put in at the last minute)

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

Jane, this is a great idea. We had a build post-mortem for our teams in the Inland Empire on Wednesday, most of them are rookies. One of the problems that the rookie teams had is not knowing the FIRST lingo, they said it was very intimidating. Can't wait to see where this thread goes, then compile it into a cheat sheet to hand to all the rookie teams next year.

Thanks for taking it on.

Kitbot - A robot drive train built from components received in the Kit Of Parts
Kit Of Parts or KOP - Large totes filled with robot components. Received by each team at the beginning of the season.
Kickoff - An event held early in January to announce the competition and distribute kits to each of the teams

Today's lesson brought to you by the letter "K" :D

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

Here is one team's effort I found a little while back also.

http://froggypedia.com/

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

If we haven't already, we should add:
Hostbot

--
If we could get these listed/defined over the weekend, I can organize them and have a couple of 'volunteers' :) check over everything w/me. It'd be nice to have them available for first week competition.

Thanks for your interest and help,
Jane

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

ooohhhh, then I can get mine in person at Alamo :D

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

Jane,
This is a great idea! I work for an engineering firm and frequently pitch the concepts of FIRST in my business meetings. I've also tried to explain FIRST to visiting families at regional events. It is definitely a daunting task in either environment. A simple handout would be extremely helpful to make our visitors feel more welcome and informed.

We also should consider the target audience when creating this handout. I typically focus on the purpose of FIRST when speaking to a business audience and focus on the game / tournament when I talk to a visiting family. I think both can be accomplished as long as the information is simple and to the point. The amount of potential information could be overwhelming to the casual observer. Trust me, it will be the passion of your speech that visitors will remember.

I would recommend a single sheet of paper, front and back. The front should cover key terms about FIRST, the tournament format, the pits, and the awards. The back should cover the game description, arena layout, game terms, and team roster. It will be a real trick to get that amount of information packed into a small flyer.

I would love to see what you create. I will also see if our team would like to create a flyer to share.

Thanks, David

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

I think FIRST has the game description covered here.

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

Where is the "like" button?

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

I love the idea! What we at Frog Force found, was that our new team members would sort of back away slowly and hide their faces when we started saying terms like "Pits" and "Alliance Selection". So we started by creating a forum where our own students could ask questions about these terms and we could answer them.

It turned into a website for our team, and now we are hoping that other teams can use it too-Where people can go to learn about FIRST lingo.

I think the idea of having an actual sheet to hand out it smart since not everyone has access to the internet at a comp- or at least I never personally have. After reading this thread I have some students who moderate the website start defining a lot of the terms on this thread and the links to other locations to find more FIRST lingo, and I think it's helped a ton with the site.

I think it’s completely possible for us here at Frog Force to take some of our terms and make "FIRST lingo" sheets for the community. We could upload these sheets on Chief Delphi when we are done.

The site is www.Froggypedia.com by the way. You can create an account and add terms/edit previous definitions if you would like. We really hope that anyone who goes to the site can have an enriched experience with lots of input for certain definitions.

thanks!! :)

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

Ramy,

FIRST Lingo Sheets = awesome. Please thank your students for stepping up on your website and with this project.

Jane

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

I thought I'd include what resources I use to train the student and adult ambassadors to help the VIPs and the public understand what they are seeing so they can become engaged. I've done a lot of public speaking about FIRST in different settings and these tools make a package that has helped in the past. A handout of acronyms would be a fun addition.

Existing resources:
1. Psychology of FIRST (originally developed by John Abele). My favorite tri-fold. http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles...d-2010-WEB.pdf
2. Lots of other handouts, including scholarships and stats: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...er.aspx?id=638
3. One-pager description of the game and point system used in the program book.
4. One-pager of talking points that have the following categories:
GAME DESCRIPTION
KIT OF PARTS & SHIPPING
ALLIANCES
FINDING THE ROBOTS/TEAMS
AWARDS
CHAMPIONSHIP
CHESAPEAKE REGIONAL STATS
EXPLANATION OF SCORING
BE PREPARED TO ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:
• How to get involved locally?
• Who can join a team?
• How do mentors and sponsors get involved?
• What is Gracious Professionalism?

All these go into a folder to be used as reference materials at the event and we have lots of student ambassadors who spend time with the public and VIP's, using these references. For example, sitting with the VIP/public in the stands, and pointing to the one-pager explaining the game, while watching the game.

There are some materials available as take-aways, but the items listed above are for person-person interaction.

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

FIRST: A repeated five minutes of insanity following six weeks of sitting around biting your nails following six weeks of 14-hour workdays.

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

So, these FIRST lingo sheets are nearly complete. We are going through final editing and then we are going to post them for even more editing :).

We decided since we are handing these out at competitions that we should spend more of the sheet explaining the game and then the rest explaining terms people just have to know while being at a competition.

Thanks!

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

Thanks again for taking this on.

Jane

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

Sorry about the wait!!!! A lot of work lately :/,

So this is the first run of these Lingo Sheets right before week two! Feel free to print them and/or give me feedback! I'd love to edit them and put anything else you guys feel is important! Feel free to edit them yourselves if you see something wrong!

All terms come from www.froggypedia.com

thankyou!!!
:D

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

This is an awesome job and a great resource! Thank you for making it!

Two suggestions I have: (My additions non-italicized.)

When describing FRC, I feel that it should be mentioned that this all takes place within a 6.5 week period.

FRC is a program where high school students around the globe come together each year to design and build a robot in 6 1/2 weeks that plays a specific game. The game changes each year. The 2011 game is FIRST LOGO MOTION.


The explanation of the pits doesn't cover all that goes on. Very rarely are the robots just sitting there.

Pit(s) - This is where the robots are put and/or worked on while waiting for matches.


Oh, after looking again, might want to considering explaining "seed". I know it confused me the first time I heard it.


Just my $0.02. Take it as you see fit.

Once again, amazing job!

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

Week 1 Competition: Behind Schedule due to Field Technical Difficulties.

Tube-Skirt: A skirt created by a deflated FIRST game piece(2007 or 2011 tubes)

I would recommend adding tube-skirt to your list of 2011 terms Frog Force. Just so people won't be puzzled at seeing the fashion of FIRST.

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

Resurrecting a thread from last season.

Any new lingo to add this season?

Jane

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

Inbounder - the name for the human player in the 2012 game, Rebound Rumble

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

The 2013 bump.

Wondering if there are any new acronyms or terminology definitions to add to the list. What reminded me of this was one of the threads on FIRST Choice. I noticed that some posts were using, FC, to refer to the term and it took me a bit to adjust. (Sometimes, I'm slow like that. :) )

Jane

Re: FRC Terminology And Definitions
 

Feeder - the name for the human player in the 2013 game, Ultimate Ascent