MAR - FIRST Compass Workshops at Lenape High School on Saturday, May 20th

Competition Off-Season Events
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Hello!

At competitions this year, one of the best things teams get to do is mix with other teams, both on a mentor and a student level. We share ideas, strategies, and just chat. This sort of dialogue is something that should continually occur throughout the year, because it makes all of us better MAR teams. It is for this reason that FIRST Compass has been created.

The purpose of FIRST Compass is to bring together a variety of teams from the region. Too often, FRC teams become insulated and don’t often get a chance to mix and share information and resources with other teams outside of competition season. Thus, Storm Robotics 2729 has created this event, to be held on Saturday, May 20th, 2017, at Lenape High School in Medford, NJ.

We’d love it if you would sign up, either individually as a mentor, or to bring your team along with you! If you’re interested, below you’ll find a link to formally sign up for our event. Please fill it out as soon as you can. If you are a student, please share the link and form with your mentor, as they should be the driving force behind signing up the team as a whole to attend the event.

All of us have good momentum and adrenaline coming out of competition season; let’s keep that momentum rolling and all improve ourselves for next season!

Here’s the link: https://goo.gl/forms/uaPYVHCLPmaV32vo2

For more information, check out the FIRST Compass page on our website at http://stormroboticsnj.org/our-program/firstcompass/

Again, thanks so much for signing up. We and the other teams in attendance can’t wait to hear your expertise.

Clap clap whoosh,
Storm Robotics 2729

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Bump…

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Update time…

Things are beginning to come together for the workshops on Saturday, May 20th. We are up to 10 workshops and there still may be more to come!

Here are some of the topics we have so far:

  • The Driver’s Meeting: Hosted by Anirban, 2729. Are you a robot driver? Are you looking to be one in the near future? Join this forum to talk about this year’s game, how drive teams are formed, and how they work from team to team.

  • Scouting Strategies and Tactics: FRC 2729’s senior student Tom Orth has been developing our app for four years now and is ready to share his knowledge with anyone interested in developing their own Android Scouting app with QR code data. Come check it out to see how FRC 2729’s app came to be!

  • Inside the World of Judging: Lockheed Martin engineers and recurring Mid-Atlantic Robotics judges Jim Judd and Madiha Jafri offer their insight on judging, from the inside. They’ll offer a rare glimpse into the secretive world of the FIRST judging process.

  • Crayon Demonstration and Collection: The Storm Robotics Team is working on a project converts old crayons into a form that can be easily grasped by children with physical disabilities preventing them from using regular crayons. Try out and give feedback on a crayon that has been redesigned to fit the hand of a child who cannot grasp a traditional crayon. Stop by the cafeteria to visit this demonstration table during breakfast. Teams are challenged to bring previously used crayons for donation to get in the running for a prize.

  • Drivetrain and Gearbox Design: Mike Leicht from FRC 1403 is going to do a presentation on custom built drivetrain and gearbox design. He and other members from Cougar Robotics may bring this year’s drivetrain and gearboxes as a demonstration.

  • Robot Design with Autodesk Inventor: Owen Busler from FRC 303 is going to be going over some essential skills for designing a robot in Autodesk Inventor. He plans to use his team’s drive base as an example of what can be done with the software and how it aides the design process.

  • Robot Showcase: How often do you walk around the pits at a competition to look at other robots? Sometimes we just forget! This session will be an opportunity for teams to get an upclose look at other robots and here directly from team’s on their build process and design decisions.

  • FRC Team Safety: FRC 5401, the Fightin Robotic Owls, are going to present an overview of their award winning safety program from their team. Their Lead Safety Engineer Jimmy James Kane, will give a talk on creating and maintaining a safety culture on your FRC team.

  • Inclusion in FIRST: The founders of LGBTQ+ of FIRST will give a presentation to aid teams in being more inclusive of LGBTQ+ members of a team.

  • Vision Processing with the Raspberry Pi: FRC 2729 has been working on their implementation of Raspberry Pi based vision processing for over a year and had huge success in competition with it this year. See what we learned over the course of a year and find out about what we plan to do next with it. And no presentation on vision would be complete without LEDs!

We also have representatives from teams 87, 203, 303, 1403, 2729, 4750, 5113, and 5401 attending. It’s going to be a great opportunity to network and learn, and we still have space for you to come!

Here’s the link for you to register individually or as a team: https://goo.gl/forms/uaPYVHCLPmaV32vo2