@frcteams Twitter feed 10/13/10

[JohnBoucher]

NASA grants, Rookie vs. Veteran Kits of Parts and a few deadlines


Good Morning Teams,

Tell every team you know: The NASA grant application process is now open. I suggest you read the directions very carefully, the process is dramatically different this year. Applications close Saturday, October 30, 2010.

Deadline alert: If you need special shipping support to get your robot to a bag & tag event, you must inform FRCTeams@usfirst.org by 12/15/10. As always, the sooner you tell us, the better. If you don’t know what Bag & Tag is, see my September 28th blog post.

The variations between the 2011 Rookie and Veteran Kits of Parts are listed below. (Please note, not every item in the Kit of Parts is listed here, just the items veteran teams may need to reuse for the 2011 season.) The table includes source information in case your team decides it needs additional or replacement parts. For more detailed information about the parts listed below (part numbers, photos, etc), please refer to the 2010 Kit of Parts Checklist

Remember, we discourage teams from purchasing items, especially high ticket ones, before Kickoff as the official game rules may significantly influence team purchasing decisions. The one exception is buy your pool noodles now.



All other details about the 2011 Kit of Parts and robot rules will remain confidential until the 2011 Kickoff on January 8, 2011, at the latest.

In other news:

Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. (they donated the Microcontroller in your cRIO) is hosting a sensor video contest.

Do you know (or are you) a tech-savvy High School girl? The National Center for Women in Technology is offering an award for aspirations in computing. Dead line to enter is October 31st.

The JCPenny contest deadline is rapidly approaching. Winners will be announced next week. You are invited to vote daily.

The AMEX Member Project contest runs until November 30th. You are invited to vote weekly.

I’m headed out the door to attend the launch of Dean’s new Planet Green series “Dean of Invention” which will premier Friday, October 22nd at 10PM

87 days to Kickoff
See you then!

[JohnBoucher]

The one exception is buy your pool noodles now.

This has been repeated so many times, I wonder if it's a game piece hint

[buildmaster5000]

Originally Posted by JohnBoucher

This has been repeated so many times, I wonder if it's a game piece hint

Its not even November. Can we wait for the real game hints before we start speculating?

[NickE]

I was a little bit worried that Victors and PWM Control were going to be eliminated for 2011 in favor of Jaguars and CAN. Luckily, it seems that such is not the case.

[Chris is me]

The whole "not getting a few thousand dollars of stuff" thing is starting to get a little old now. Gutting out the entire robot every year or spending $3000+ on new parts is really not that much fun.

On the bright side, we still get Victors and PWM. Anyone want to trade some Jags?

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

The whole "not getting a few thousand dollars of stuff" thing is starting to get a little old now. Gutting out the entire robot every year or spending $3000+ on new parts is really not that much fun.

On the bright side, we still get Victors and PWM. Anyone want to trade some Jags?

Yup we will now be using a cRio that has been through two hard years of competition and a classmate that teams were lucky if their connectors survived a year.

It's frustrating but then I look at the rookie kit costs and feel a little better.

[buildmaster5000]

Originally Posted by IndySam

Yup we will now be using a cRio that has been through two hard years of competition and a classmate that teams were lucky if their connectors survived a year.

It's frustrating but then I look at the rookie kit costs and feel a little better.

Now I can can convince my team to buy another cRIO. It might be thought to include an ethernet pigtail or USB to ethernet converter in the veteran KOP.