[Bruceb]

This from FIRST

Dear FRC Teams:



Thank you for your continued support as we conduct our examination of issues surrounding the Einstein matches from Championship.



This past weekend we duplicated, to as great an extent as possible, conditions as they were on Einstein in St. Louis. All Einstein robots and one to two representatives from each team were present. Matches were run in the same order, with teams in the same driver stations, as at Championship. In addition to 1-2 representatives from each team and FIRST staff members, highly respected independent experts and key volunteers participated in and contributed to the evaluation. Additional specialized tests were also conducted.



The FIRST staff were in awe of the Gracious Professionalism exhibited by all participants. At each turn, teams illustrated camaraderie – loaning parts, helping carry and set up others teams' robots, and even helping drive competitors’ robots when necessary.



We have learned a great deal, and have much more to learn. With the large data set to be analyzed, and a few additional tests still planned to be run, it will be several more weeks before we are prepared to draw and share our initial conclusions.



We have asked all weekend participants not to disclose details concerning weekend testing until our additional testing, results and initial conclusions are available to the entire community. The FIRST Engineering staff, with support of the external experts and the FIRST community experts are working with all deliberate speed on their analysis and recommendations. We understand everyone's desire to hear initial results and appreciate your continued patience.



Please continue to provide your experiences, thoughts, questions and concerns as we move through this process. We are checking the 2012frcfeedback@usfirst.org in-box and teams' input has already played an important role, including being the inspiration for some of the specialized testing we performed this past weekend.



Sincerely,



Jon