An exciting opportunity is available for your team to greatly increase its contact and collaboration with other FRC teams. Need some urgent help with programming? Want to show off your latest prototype? How many teams are also working late tonight? Imagine being able to meet face-to-face with your pick of many other FRC teams at any time during the hectic build season to seek help, share ideas, or offer your expertise!
FRSee is a virtual collaboration network of FIRST FRC teams that stay in touch via Skype video conferencing. While video-calling between FIRST teams is nothing new, getting them organized into a single nationwide network is. By logging into the FRSee network during their build season working hours, teams can instantly seek or provide help at any time by browsing the list of online teams, and initiating a video call.
Information about FRSee has been sent to all FRC regional directors to be forwarded to team contacts. The more teams that participate, the larger the collaboration community will be. The number of teams available to contact could grow into the hundreds.
**How can you participate? **
It’s easy. Read the attached Getting Started Guide to learn how to install Skype on your computer, register with FRSee, update your contact list, and you’re in!
FRSee is administered by Team Titanium 1986 from Lee’s Summit, Mo. Once you register with FRSee, we’ll keep you continually updated with the latest contact list of FRSee teams and other updates.
Have questions or need help getting started?
Drop us an email at [email protected]
Visit the FRSee website at www.teamtitanium.org/FRSee
or contact our Skype account: FRSee_admin
Our understanding of the VTA program is that it is targeted at connecting adult mentors/advisors with teams that might not otherwise have adequate technical help. Technical advisors can communicate with teams in any of a variety of ways of their choice. The VTA program was announced after we had begun efforts to organize FRSee, but given the current rapid development of electronic communication means, it is not surprising to see these two programs emerge.
FRSee is designed to promote team-with-team collaboration, and takes place entirely via Skype video calls. FRSee also welcomes mentors, alumni, and advisors to join and monitor the network if they would like to visit with teams at their build sites. Just give us a Skype name that we can share with the network.
Just a reminder that when you join FRSee, please also send us your email address to [email protected] so that we have another means of sending you team contact list updates. It appears contacts sent to you through Skype can sometimes experience long delays in reaching you. Not sure if this is normal behavior. The team contact list can also always be found at www.teamtitanium.org/FRSee
Skype appears to be back up now. We would be interested in knowing if anyone is still having trouble establishing an account, or if you have not received a message and contacts from FRSee since you sign-up.
This is an excellent idea! I’ve created a team account and added you to our contacts. I’m hoping this will be as useful as it can be, there’s definitely a lot of potential here.
We would like to encourage everyone to spread the word about FRSee at your local Kick-Off Events next Saturday. If you have input to the agenda at your event, please consider making your teams aware of this opportunity. If you are a team mentor or member that is aware of FRSee, please help spread the word to other teams in your region.
Just wanted to tickle this thread one more time before Saturday as a reminder for everyone to sign up as you get your students and computers together for your build season. Mentors, give a student that needs something to do the task of getting your FRSee account set up and monitored. They live for this stuff.
Every team at the Newark, NJ (NJIT) kickoff got an FRSee flyer in their KoP. I emphasized this with the two rookie teams as a way to connect with many veterans right form the start.
Question - would it be “legitimate” (for lack of a better term) to register for FRSee but not use it during build hours? We do not have an internet connection at our build site (the school has blocked Skype on student computer accounts, and the wifi is limited to school-owned computers connected to the school network), but would be interested from helping with questions from home.
I regularly leave our account running when I’m at home, and even assisted a team earlier today. So to answer your question, I guess it could be “legitimate” to leave it running anytime.