[SCRRF]: Robovations League

[DCA Fan]

Greetings to all teams! Hope you had a restful summer and are ready to get back into Robotics! This year we're introducing the Robovations League, a preseason workshop/competition series designed to help teams with a number of more technical skills.

California Robovation League

Goal: To prepare FIRST teams for the autonomous portion of the FRC

Format: Workshops on incorporating sensors in the Robovation system and applying C programming embedded in weekly competitions and team sharing sessions

Culmination: League and State Tournaments

Schedule (Tentative, may vary by region)
Workshop I: Touch sensors 9/25 Match 1: Week of 10/4
Match 2: Week of 10/11
Workshop II: Light sensors 10/16 Match 3: Week of 10/18
Match 4: Week of 10/25
Workshop III: Encoders 10/30 Match 5: Week of 11/1
Match 6: Week of 11/8
League Tournament: Week of 11/15
State Tournament: 11/20

Pilot Leagues:
South Bay (contact George Chen gchen605(AT)gmail.com OR PM me here)
Valley (contact Wendy Wooten ms.wooten(AT)hightechhighla.org)

Please let us know if your team would be interested! We look forward to hearing from you.

[DCA Fan]

The workshop planned for Saturday has been cancelled due to situations beyond our control. It has been rescheduled to October 3rd tenatively. We will provide more details as we have them.

[DCA Fan]

The first workshop is SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3RD at 4PM.

Location: Chatsworth High School Robotics Shop

Please bring: Robovation kit with control system along with microswitches (limit switches/touch sensor) which come in the kit and a laptop computer.

See you all there!

[Redhead Jokes]

"We are having our first workshop for the Robovation League to help teams learn how to do the autonomous portion of the game better on Sunday, 10/3, 4 PM at Chatsworth HS Robotics Shop. It would be great if your team and the teams you mentor could have a couple of kids there to learn how to use and program all of the sensors for the upcoming FRC. Kevin Watson and Rich Petras from JPL are leading and teams probably couldn't get better mentors for this anywhere! Kevin did the IR sensor program for FIRST and Rich is the driver of Spirit on Mars. It should involve only a small time commitment: attend 3 workshops between now and mid Nov and program their Robovation bot for a scrimmage on Wed afternoons each week where the teams will exchange strategies and programs. There are only 6 scrimmages between now and Thanksgiving. It is really a great way for teams to learn everything they need for the autonomous portion of the FRC. See the attached flyer for details.
Let me know if you will have students attending. Adults not required!
Wendy Wooten"

[Al Skierkiewicz]

What a wonderful opportunity, wish I lived closer, I would definitely be there.

[Redhead Jokes]

pertinent links
http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/robo...entorguide.pdf
http://www.innovationfirst.com/FIRSTRobotics/

[vegasmcse]

"FIRST Folks:

Because we haven't been able to communicate with everyone about a meeting or a conference call to discuss the formation of the Robovation Leagues, and after talking with Wendy Wooten this afternoon, here is her suggested game plan for all FIRST teams that are interested in joining the Robovation League.

Overview
We are inviting FIRST Teams to join one of the two Robovation Leagues being formed: one in the San Fernando Valley and one in the South Bay Area (broadly defined). The idea is that teams in these two leagues would compete with each other and culminate league play with a league tournament. The tournament winner and runner-ups would compete in the first-ever pilot California High School State Robotics Tournament, to determine the state championship. It has been suggested that the State Tournament be scheduled to take place at California Adventureland, at Disneyland.

If we can put put this pilot league together, based on Robovation robots, then we would anticipate promoting the creation of leagues in other areas of the state increasing participation at the league level and in the California High School State Robotics Tournament.

The good news about all this is that we are in the formative state and are free to work out any problems or conflicts you might find in the schedules, format, etc. So come and help us work out the details.

If you are interested and wish to participate (or to learn more about what's being proposed, please come to the scheduled 2-4 p.m. meeting at Chatsworth High School on Sunday, October 24. If you cannot come, personally, please send a representative, along with one or more student team members. Wendy suggests bringing the following items to the meeting, so that you can hit the ground running:

1. Your Team's Robovation Kit
2. A Lap-Top Computer
3. An Extension Cord
4. A Power Strip

If you want to come or send someone to learn more and particiate in the discussion, please do so.

Participating in the Robovation League will help to prepare your team for the November 13 Meeting at CSU, Northridge, and for the 2005 FIRST Robotics Competitions.

For more details, check out the attachment package. If you have any difficulty opening it, please let me know and I'll send the documents to you separately.

I will try to reach each of you by phone tomorrow (Thursday, that is) to learn whether you have any questions. In the meantime, if you want to contact me by e-mail or phone, my contact information is provided below. The most direct way to reach me is by cell phone: (310) 809-4168.

In the meantime, please let me know via return e-mail whether you will be able to be represented at the Sunday 2-4 p.m. meeting at Chatsworth. Chatsworth High School is located at 10027 Lureline Avenue, between Lassen and Devonshire. Enter the campus from Lureline, through the open gate. Drive past the gym through to the football field bleechers and turn left. After you turn left, you should see an open door in the building on your immediate left. The open door is the entrance to the Robotics Workshop. Should you need help locating the meeting, you can reach me by cell phone. My cell number is (310) 809-4168.

I hope to see you there.

Ralph Mills
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ralph D. Mills, Ph.D.
Vice President
Small Manufacturers' Institute
28067 Braidwood Drive
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275
Phone: (310) 809-4168
Home: (310) 377-1209
FAX: (310) 377-4459
E-mail: ralphmills@aol.com"

SCRRF press release
Robovations manual
Robovations Schedule

[vegasmcse]

All:

The Sunday, October 24th Robovation League workshop at Chatsworth High School will be from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

It is NOT 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. as I indicated in one of my transmissions, and innocently repeated in the SCRRF announcment.

I apologize for the error, and hope this note catches up with those of you who have conflicting information about the time.

Just to make sure that you get the information, on Saturday I will call those of you for whom I have personal phone numbers.

Mia Culpa.

Ralph
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ralph D. Mills, Ph.D.
Vice President
Small Manufacturers' Institute
28067 Braidwood Drive
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275
Phone: (310) 809-4168
Home: (310) 377-1209
FAX: (310) 377-4459
E-mail: ralphmills@aol.com

[DCA Fan]

From US FIRST:
For those of you working with the FIRST Robovation Kit this year, please click on the following links for assistance with getting the team started in preparing for a successful and exciting FIRST Robotics Competition season!
C Programming Resource Library http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/C_help.htm
Learn C Programming - Developed by Carnegie Mellon and the National Robotics Engineering Consortium specifically for FIRST, this interactive website will get your team prepared for the upcoming FIRST Robotics Competition season. http://www.rec.ri.cmu.edu/education/robot_builder/
FIRST Robovation - A Primer for Success Learning Modules http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/robo...mer/index.html

Please note these links and other helpful links are available off of our Team Resources page at http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/resources.htm

We hope you find FIRST Robovation helpful not only preparing your team for the season, but also introducing robotics to others.
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I hope all your robots are progressing well, please feel free to contact me if there are any problems. The next competition for the South Bay League is tenatively set for 11/6 (Fall Classic), we shall see how that works out.