[FRC Blog] FIRST Championship Eligibility Beyond 2015

[Hallry]

Posted on the FRC Blog, 11/3/14: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...ty-Beyond-2015

FIRST Championship Eligibility Beyond 2015

Blog Date: Monday, November 3, 2014 - 10:01

FIRST Championship Eligibility Beyond 2015

In this blog I said I would be finalizing longer-term changes to FIRST Championship eligibility by the end of October this year. I've missed that deadline.

Current forecasts show that changes to eligibility would not neet to be made until 2018 or so, and forecasts that far out are very speculative, requiring accurate estimates of FRC team growth, percent of teams in the district model, average regional size, and several other factors. With this level of uncertainty, there is a chance that changes to eligibility would not need to be made until later. There's also a chance eligibility changes would need to be pulled in earlier to 2017, but I think it think this is less likely than changes being pushed out.

For these reasons, I've decided to hold off on assembling a final proposal, getting it approved by Senior Management, and releasing it to the community until after the 2015 season when we will have a much clearer vision of what later years will look like. The proposal I make may change based on the forecast.

I apologize for this delay. You have my commitment that any changes to eligibility will be communicated well in advance of them going into effect.

Another Episode of Behind the Lines

Make sure to tune in for the third episode of Behind the Lines, “Motor and Gearbox Selection” Wednesday, 11/5/14 at 8:00 pm Eastern Time. The special guest expert is Ken Stafford, the Director of the Robotics Resource Center and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at WPI. Learn about how to select a motor for your robot, and how to get the most out of it by choosing the right reductions and gearboxes. Sounds like important stuff to me! Find more information here: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/behind-the-lines

FIRST Internships

Have you seen the new FIRST Internship portal? Check it out: http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/internships We're trying to connect FIRST sponsors in need of interns with alumni. Most of the internships are for college-aged applicants, but some are or will be available to high school students as well. If you have any questions or comments about the portal or its content, please email alumni@usfirst.org

Frank