**FIRST EMAIL**/Be Ready for Robt Ship/Lock-up Day Feb. 22/Awards/Call for Proposals/

[Mark McLeod]

Greetings Teams:

**BE PREPARED FOR ROBOT SHIP/LOCK-UP DAY! CALL TEAM SUPPORT AT 1-800-871-8326 EXT. 0 TO ADDRESS ANY QUESTIONS ASAP. BEING UNPREPARED FOR ROBOT SHIP/LOCK-UP DAY COULD JEOPARDIZE YOUR TEAM’S PARTICIPATION IN THE REST OF THE FRC SEASON!**

Robot Ship/Lock-up Day: All teams must cease work on their robot on or before Robot Ship/Lock-up Day on Tuesday, February 22, 2011. Any team that fails to comply may jeopardize their participation in the rest of the FRC season.

Make sure you have the right "stuff" for to Robot Ship/Lock-up by Monday, February 7, 2011: Are you going to a traditional Regional Event this season? If so, did you receive your two FedEx donated Bills of Lading in your Kit of Parts? Are you attending a Bag and Tag event this season? If so, did you receive your bags and tags in your Kit of Parts? If you find that you are missing these materials, please email frcteams@usfirst.org no later than Monday, February 7, 2011 to request that these items are sent to you.

Robot Removal Requests: If you would like to request to remove your robot from a traditional Regional Event rather than shipping it home, you must submit a Robot Removal Request to Team Support at frcteams@usfirst.org no later than Friday, February 25, 2011. Please refer to Section 5.5.2 of the Administrative Manual for full details and a request template.

Adhere to the 400 lb. Weight Limit: If you do not have a scale big enough to weigh your crated robot, weight each part separately to ensure that your team does not exceed the 400 lb. weight limit. Any team that does not comply with the weight limit will be responsible for any overage charges, and may incur other sanctions from FIRST HQ. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Shipping & Drayage Documents: Keep your eyes on the website for the Shipping and Drayage documents to be posted specific to your Regional Event. You need this information in order to ship your robot!
http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...ts.aspx?id=430

Before you crate your robot – take a photo of your robot only and upload it to TIMS at: https://my.usfirst.org/frc/tims/site.lasso. These photos will be used for the judging booklets at competition.

Robot Transportation Checklist Senior Mentor Call Feb. 10th, 2011: Join Senior Mentor, Mike Henry; Frank Merrick, FRC Deputy Director; and Erin Robie, Operations Coordinator for the Senior Mentor call taking place Thursday, 2/10 to go over the parts of the Robot Shipping process that cause the most confusion for teams. Find an outline of the call here: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr....aspx?id=10124.

For everything related to Robot Transportation, please refer to
Section 5 of the FRC Administrative Manual.

Award Submission Reminders: Don’t forget that submissions for the Chairman’s, Woodie Flowers, and Website Awards are due by 2/17/11 at 11:59 AM EST in STIMS. Additionally, Dean’s List Award submissions are due in TIMS by 2/17/11 at 11:59 AM EST. Read more about all FRC Awards.

2011 FIRST Robotics Conference- Call for Proposals: FIRST is seeking presentation proposals for the eighth annual FIRST Robotics Conference. 45-minute workshops on topics of interest to FIRST Robotics (FRC), FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) and FIRST LEGO League (FLL) teams, coaches, mentors, students and prospective leaders will be accepted. Deadline to submit is February 11th, 2011. For full details, please visit: http://usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/....aspx?id=18959.

Consent and Release Forms: If you haven’t done so already, please consider which 2011 FIRST Consent and Release form your team members will be utilizing this season. Remember, electronic Consent and Release forms "cover" individuals at all 2011 FIRST competition events (students and their parents access the electronic form in STIMS; adult mentors in TIMS). If anyone on your team opts to do the hard-copy Consent and Release form, the form must be presented at your initial Competition event along with your Printed Team Roster. Full details on the process can be found at http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...t.aspx?id=8128




Print your Team Roster! No matter which method you choose (electronic or hard-copy), you MUST print off your Team Roster from TIMS and bring it with you to your initial competition event. To print your Team Roster:

1) On the Team Summary page, scroll down to the "Student/Roster" field.

2) Click "View" next to Team Roster.

3) Click Printable Roster.

4) If you have any students/mentors who are providing hard-copy forms, please write in their names on the printed roster and attach their consent and release forms.

For more information about the 2011 Consent and Release Form, including FAQ’s and a helpful Process Overview, please visit: http://usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/...t.aspx?id=8128.

Go Teams!

[XaulZan11]

Have they asked teams to take pictures of their robots before? I wonder if they could put the pictures online as it would be helpful for scouting efforts as well as just being cool to have all the pictures organized in one place.

[Mark McLeod]

They've asked for robot pictures at least since I became responsible for TIMS on our team. That was in 2005.

I don't remember what they do with those photos. The judges might be the only ones to ever get to see them.

[Chris is me]

I've seen those robot pictures appear on the awards screen at regional events.

[dez250]

Photos are used for judges to be able to look at robots during judging periods and also placed in the awards slides for the awards ceremonies. I would suggest to everyone, please submit one! Also try to find one that is as finalized as possible (not a week one prototype photo). It really helps the judges, and is a great "free plug" for your sponsors when you receive an award.

[Chris]

"Any team that does not comply with the weight limit will be responsible for any overage charges, and may incur other sanctions from FIRST HQ."


...Define Sanctions? Isn't having to pay overages enough of a penalty?

[Mark McLeod]

Originally Posted by Chris

...Define Sanctions? Isn't having to pay overages enough of a penalty?

Yellow card?