[OCCRA]: Official Update #1

[Mike Martus]

Hi all,
If your team needs spare parts, please write me here. The finalized schedule is listed below. It has been proposed that the event slated for Rochester Adams be a “SPLIT” Tournament, where we have half the tournament structured so that all drivers, coaches, human players and pit crew are females with males serving as the supporting crew, then the other half of the tournament the roles switch. This will need to be developed a little further and approved by OS administration before we release any more details, but the G & K Committee likes the idea because it promotes diversity by showcasing the work of each gender. We’ll keep you posted.

We started the 2007 OCCRA season yesterday with a VEX presentation by Marc Center and Mark Taylor: thank-you, gentlemen! You should all be building a basic square-bot’ by now…

We had several mistakes in the rules brought to our attention that I would like to rectify:
---the opening of the central goal is approximately 39” from the floor
---the edge of the cradles is approximately 60” from the floor.
---the top rail of the scoring trough is approximately 14” from the floor

Detailed CAD drawings should be posted on the Chiefdelphi.com site within the next day or so. By the way, have you noticed that OCCRA now has its own separate listing on the site?

Reminder: The 2nd workshop, tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, September 12th, has been canceled.

The schedule for the remaining workshops is now set:

Thursday, September 13 "Pneumatics" at Oakland Schools Conference Room C from 4:00 to 6:00 P.M. Presented by Sam Skelton, Mike McIntyre and maybe Mike Martus. Participants will build a complete pneumatic circuit using the actual kit components. Workshops will usually begin with refreshments and the passing out of supplies, information, etc. for the first 15 min. The presentations will generally start at 4:15 or so.

Tuesday, September 18 at Oakland Schools Conf. Rm. D from 4:00 to 6:00 P.M.Presented by Tom Barch and Jim Zondag. The topic will be Electrical Controls and "C" programming, Mr. Barch will give an overview of the electrical controls system, then the group will split into two: a beginners group and an advanced programming group.

Wednesday, September 19 at Oakland Schools Conf. Rm. D 4:00 P.M. presented by Mark Taylor (and Marc Center?)
VEX programming Part II, This second VEX workshop will help teams that are having trouble assembling a basic "Square-bot" from the items supplied in the VEX kits and get into the finer points of VEX programming.
Since there are no rookie teams this year and most teams are likely to keep the same chassis, there will not be a separate drivetrain workshop this year. We will, however, have a one-hour breakout session for anyone interested in reviewing drivetrain fundamentals such as breaking chain, calculating sprocket ratios, using chain drive systems, etc.

The schedule for competitions is:

Thursday, October 18th Walled Lake Tournament – Walled Lake Northern High School 6:00 p.m.

Thursday, October 25th Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Tournament – 6:00 p.m.
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Preparatory

Saturday, November 3rd Rochester “Split” Tournament – Rochester Adams High School 9:00 a.m.

Thursday, November 8th Birmingham Tournament – Birmingham Seaholm High School 6:00 p.m.

Saturday, November 17th County Championship - 9:00 a.m.
South Lyon East High School

Thursday, November 29th Awards Banquet – Oakland Schools 6:00 p.m.
Conference Rooms A, B, C & D