Re: I've been out of FIRST for a while and decided I want to mentor again.
 

I actually just moved to the Dayton area. I got a full time job at Wright-Patterson AFB.

Re: I've been out of FIRST for a while and decided I want to mentor again.
 

If you want to catch up with lots of old friends, there's an offseason competition on October 15th in Indianapolis. It's at Southport High School, about 2 hours from Dayton. You can see the 2011 game in action, visit with 20-something Midwest teams, and see what you've been missing.

Welcome back.

Re: I've been out of FIRST for a while and decided I want to mentor again.
 

Just re-read your first post. Which team are you in touch with? We are great friends with 3138, we mentored them their first year and have been helping each other out ever since.

We are on the north side of cincinnati, in Butler County, about 45 minutes from the base. I was jus up there for the FLL Tournament Director Meeting a couple weeks ago.

Re: I've been out of FIRST for a while and decided I want to mentor again.
 

Macanum wheels are not only easy to buy (and in multiple sizes) but there is also a kit-code for them.

Morgan Freeman attended Champs 2011.

George Bush (Senior) attended the 2008 champs. Popular quote "Its like the WWF, but for smart people" was said in his speech.

There is no more FVC, its now FTC (I'm pretty sure that shift happened after 2007).

We have a fundraiser similar to girl-scout cookies now. Its super efficient LED light bulbs. Extraordinarily profitable for teams provided they market/target correctly.

West coast team, 1717 "D'Penguineers" was featured (as well as a few other teams) in "The New Cool" giving FIRST some publicity in mainstream literature.

Hiwiian Kids, Miss Daisy, Techno Ticks, and Falcon Robotics won the Championship chairman's award from 2008-2011 (reverse order). Also, a video is now required with Chairman's submissions (to be played at the award ceremonies).

Dave Lavery and Woodie Flowers left the GDC.

Bumpers are now replacing the flag/colored insert system previously used to indicate robot alliance.

Tube skirts are back.

Re: I've been out of FIRST for a while and decided I want to mentor again.
 

3186. You know, I'm surprised there aren't any teams with much lower numbers in this area. The Dayton area is rich with engineers because of the base, and there are no shortages of high school students.

Re: I've been out of FIRST for a while and decided I want to mentor again.
 

3138 is a rising power in FIRST.
They went to Einstein their rookie year and were the top seed in their division this year. They're no joke.

Re: I've been out of FIRST for a while and decided I want to mentor again.
 

Not to mention their performance at IRI. We had the experience of playing against them at the 2011 Buckeye Regional, adn they were a fun team to play against!


And tube skirts are definitely back in :D

Re: I've been out of FIRST for a while and decided I want to mentor again.
 

Oh! And you can buy swerve too!

Re: I've been out of FIRST for a while and decided I want to mentor again.
 

We're trying to change that...Team 144 is back in the game and working on building a sustainable program. We're on the northwest side of Cincy.
I'm going to try to get Fairborn HS via Greene County Career Center into FRC. They have an awesome lab set-up and are just down the street from WPAFB. They are hiring a new teacher for the Engineering Tech Prep Program and should be perfect for a team. PM me if you're interested in talking to them.

Re: I've been out of FIRST for a while and decided I want to mentor again.
 

Michael,

Welcome back to FIRST and welcome to the Dayton area.
I'm with the Innovators and here is our contact info.

Innovators Robotics Inc.
3569 Ginghamsburg-Frederick Road
Tipp City, Ohio 45371
Email: Innovators@woh.rr.com
Web site: innovatorsrobotics.com



I would also like to thank everyone for the for the previous posts. It has been a wonderful first two years.

Re: I've been out of FIRST for a while and decided I want to mentor again.
 

If there is anything we can do to help get this going just let us know.

Re: I've been out of FIRST for a while and decided I want to mentor again.
 

seconded. CAGE match is a perfect chance to see what FRC is today. A lot of teams (including the two I have history with) use it a rookie training competition to train rookies on the dynamics of competition. not to mention it is fun seeing a bunch of robots beat up from the regular season (and for some, IRI) compete... it is kinda the last time a given season's bot is used competitively.

If you do decide to come, be sure to mention it here; there will be plenty of people to welcome you back.

Re: I've been out of FIRST for a while and decided I want to mentor again.
 

Does FIRST still push Autodesk Inventor?

I can use it, but what I really know well is CATIA (All they really taught us to use in school). If you don't know what CATIA is, it's a VERY popular piece of CAD software within the Aerospace industry (used by companies like Gulfstream, Boeing and of course Dassault).

Re: I've been out of FIRST for a while and decided I want to mentor again.
 

Autodesk is still a major sponsor, and used for the CAD and animation awards. Solidworks has also risen in prominence in the community, and is also avaliable for free to teams.

Re: I've been out of FIRST for a while and decided I want to mentor again.
 

In the time since you've left Beatty is still Beatty, but HOT is starting to give them a run for their money as the most consistently good team in the competition by making the championship finals 3 years in a row ('08-10) and winning back to back titles ('09, '10).

Also Beatty is no longer the only team to have multiple championships.
67 & 111 each have 3
148, 177, 217 & 294 each have 2.

The "commercial off the shelf" (COTS) parts rules have really revolutionized how easy it is to build a robot. The amount of parts you can buy now makes designing a robot that much easier.

Autonomous mode is serious now, you can't win without having a consistent auton program.