2010 Washington DC Regional

[Steven Sigley]

We're very excited to go way out east and compete in D.C.

While we'll need to put back in the electronics we withheld, we should also be good to help teams, and have a lot of fun.

Best of luck to everyone.

[Travis Hoffman]

Received this information from the DC Regional organizers.


*****

February 26, 2010

Greetings! You are receiving this email because you have registered a team for the 2010 FIRST DC Regional, March 4-6, 2010 at the Washington Convention Center.

Information and details are available on our website: http://www.dc-first.org


*** 2010 FRC Technical Notes ***

Charge your classmates early and often.

Update your Driver Station software http://usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/....aspx?id=10934 now. Teams must have the latest software update to compete.

Practice your ball return technique and read the delay of game algorithm. http://usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/Com...DOGMA_RevA.pdf If you don’t get the ball back into play soon enough, the point scored with that ball will be nullified.

Check your bumpers. This year, teams must have a system in place to change their bumper colors from blue to red and back again during competition.


*** DC Regional Details ***

Walter E. Washington Convention Center
801 Mount Vernon Place NW
Washington, DC 20001


AGENDA: http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedfiles..._DC_Agenda.pdf


FEATURING:

· Team Showcase – We invite up to twenty (20) FRC teams to demonstrate a product, to make a presentation on center stage, to show a video, to conduct a charity drive or to give-away cool stuff. Teams will be assigned a one-hour time slot on Thursday March 4, between 9-7 pm, starting on the hour. Each team will be provided a standard 2' by 6' table at a site in the pits. Two teams at two tables will be featured in the Showcase at the same time. Need more teams to sign up for the Showcase!

· Technology Row – BAE Systems, Booz Allen Hamilton, Norfolk State University, Northrop Grumman and more! (daily)[/font]

· College/Scholarship Row – We are pleased to welcome Catholic University, George Washington University and Howard University (Thursday only), DeVry University and Capitol College (daily).[/font]

· FIRST Expo - featuring a JrFLL, FLL and FTC Showcase of local teams (Friday and Saturday).[/font]

Friday, March 5, 2010
Need FLL Teams for morning and afternoon, Need FTC Team for afternoon
7:30 am – 11:30 am (VIP Breakfast) Jr.FLL, FLL – Mount Airy in Action Robotics (display), FTC – ILITE Robotics
11:30 pm – 3:30 pm (VIP Lunch) Jr.FLL - Friendship Public Charter School - Southeast Campus, Jr.FLL, FLL – Mount Airy in Action Robotics (display)
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Need FLL Teams for afternoon, Need FTC Team for afternoon
9 am – 12 pm – Jr.FLL, FLL – Mount Airy in Action Robotics (display), FLL 3747 GiRo (Girls In Robotics) Transporters, FTC – Mount Airy in Action Robotics (High Voltage)
12 pm – until Closing Ceremonies - Jr.FLL, FLL – Mount Airy in Action Robotics (display)

· Field Trips to the DC Regional – We are pleased to welcome local schools and community organizations (Friday and Saturday). So far, 350 students!


ADULT VOLUNTEERS:
We have adequate volunteers for this event.


STUDENT VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES:
Students are needed as VIP tour guides on Legislative Day (Friday, March 5th) and as Field Trip tour guides on Friday and Saturday. Training for Team Ambassadors will take place on Thursday, March 5th at 2:00 pm. Need more Team Ambassadors!


SITE INFORMATION & VENUE:
DC Convention Center: http://www.dcconvention.com/

Directions and Parking: http://www.dcconvention.com/Visitors...ttingHere.aspx

Floorplans: http://www.dcconvention.com/Planners...formation.aspx

Washington, D.C. Tourism Information: http://www.house.gov/house/tour_dc.shtml


Wireless networks are not permitted.


Bring safety glasses for everyone on your team. No one is allowed in the pits without safety glasses. Safety goggles will be available for VIP and guest use only.


Power is provided to each pit table. Please do not tap into power anywhere else in the hall, especially while seated in the bleachers.

Scooters, skates, etc. are prohibited.


IMPORTANT PAPERWORK NEEDED FOR THE DC REGIONAL:
FIRST Student Team Members and Parents/Legal Guardians Information System and FIRST 2009-10 “Consent and Release” Form: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...t.aspx?id=8128
Don't forget your special FedEx shipping way bills which you received with your kit of parts. There will be no replacement forms available at the event.


SHIPPING & DRAYAGE:
http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedfiles...C_Shipping.pdf



PIT AREA:
Each team will have a 10’x10’ “Pit” area on the floor. You will be notified of your team’s location in the “Pit” area.



LOAD IN/OUT PROCEDURES:

Information on load in/out procedures will be provided as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience. We completed the walkthrough and meetings with Security staff yesterday afternoon.

FOOD:
Concessions will be available: Food Show, Harry’s Steak and Cheese, Funnel Cakes, Maui Wowie (smoothies) and Rita’s Italian Ice. Do not bring food on the site. If you bring your own food or purchase food from outside vendors/restaurants, do not bring it into the DC Convention Center. Local restaurants: http://www.dcconvention.com/Visitors...COverview.aspx.


TEAM SOCIAL:
Yes, we are having a team social! Nachos! Karaoke! Any updates about the team social will be posted here: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...ts.aspx?id=430


See you in the District of Columbia!

[Lil' Lavery]

There's already been some email blasts sent out about this, but please bring any spare parts, raw material, and TOOLS that you can afford to. Many teams lost significant chunks of the build season to the snow in the area and are going to be building furiously on Thursday, and any spare hardware, tools, and hands you have will be greatly appreciated.

[JesseK]

FYI Travis, all of the URL's actually link to some Delphi web mail portal login. Copy-paste works great though.

[Taylor]

We're going a day early - if you see us at the Smithsonian on Wednesday, say hi!

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by JesseK

FYI Travis, all of the URL's actually link to some Delphi web mail portal login. Copy-paste works great though.

Blarrrr I hate that thing. Copy/paste to notepad and back kills the formatting but gets rid of those insidious Delphi links. Should be fixed.

Originally Posted by Taylor

We're going a day early - if you see us at the Smithsonian on Wednesday, say hi!

We'll be at the Air and Space Museum sometime that day. We hope to meet with our congressman on the Capitol steps before that.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Taylor

We're going a day early - if you see us at the Smithsonian on Wednesday, say hi!

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

We'll be at the Air and Space Museum sometime that day. We hope to meet with our congressman on the Capitol steps before that.

The TechnoKats are splitting into separate sightseeing groups Wednesday morning, touring the Capitol Building around noon, and doing more sightseeing afterwards. I'm with the Air and Space Museum group. I'll be on the lookout for a neighboring-number team.

[gblake]

5th Gear will be back again, running an informal tournament or two and plenty of individual matches.

If your team has a mascot, start training them for the all-mascot match!

We will be on the same floor as the FRC field this year; probably near Scholarship row and the Concessions. Stop by to compete for glory and (modest) prizes, or just to shoot the breeze.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone again and making more new friends.

See you there,
Blake

[Doug G]

Team 701 is having a blast so far. We flew in from Cali on Sunday and have been seeing the sites for 3 days now. We did the Capitol, House Gallery, Union Station, and some monuments on Monday. On Tuesday, we visited the White House, memorials, Arlington, and the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. Today we went to the National Archives, Holocaust Museum and the Air and Space museum.

While at the white house we just happened to run into the two mayors of the cities from where our school is from.
http://www.vandenrobotics.com/plogge...icture&id=2886

We also ran into the Caveman shooting a Geico commercial.
http://www.vandenrobotics.com/plogge...icture&id=2933

Where's everyone staying? We are staying at the Hampton Inn.

[Chris/Fish]

Some sightseeing advice and tidbits from a Maryland-suburbs-of-DC native:

1. They got rid of the Foucault Pendulum in the Museum of American History
But they do have Stanford's autonomous car from the DARPA Grand Challenge, as part of the "Science in American Life" exhibit

2. The legs of the lunar module on display in Air & Space are fake. How can you tell? the real ones would collapse in 1g. Air and Space does have the real SpaceShipOne, however.

3. Best food at the Smithsonian: Museum of Natural History. They also have a little game where you can simulate smashing asteroids into the Earth (and some pretty rock called the Hope Diamond)

4. Best view: The old post office tower (NOT the Washington Monument). Gigantic windows, and zero crowds.
http://www.nps.gov/opot/planyourvisit/index.htm

5. The rule for Metro escalators is walk on the left, stand on the right. Just do it.

6. And the next time you fly into National, sit in a left hand window seat. If the wind is right, you fly in down the Potomac, past all the monuments. It's an epic view.

See you guys tomorrow!

[Taylor]

Having an absolute ball in DC. Definitely as good as advertised. Lots of inspirational robots and teams from both ends of the spectrum.
As an aside, we've got lots of old chassis aluminum, 1/4-20 bolts, 12 awg wire, and pneumatics tubing and fittings. If anybody needs assistance stop by 1529 pit and say hey.

[lexxasaurus]

I've been having a blast at DC, good job all teams and good luck tomorrow!