I’ve posted this in the original thread n the offseason events (where it belongs), but its not gaining much attention there. If you have questions, please post in that thread instead of this one. Thanks!
The time for the 2006 Milwaukee VEX League and 2006 Fall WIRED Robotics Challenge is here! These two events, while not affiliated with the official FVC program, promise to offer some of the best opportunities for training new team members, learning new techniques and practices, and having fun. All this at a ver LOW cost too! Most teams that will see this here on CD will be too far away to attend, but if you want to develope your own league or tournament with this game, feel free to do so.
Registration
Registration is open NOW at http://www.wirobotics.org/vex/2006/index.html and will remain open until just before the tournament. If you participated in the tournament last year, please re-register. You must register before you can participate in the league. Costs are as follows:
Fall WIRED Robotics Challenge: $50 per robot
Milwaukee VEX League AND Fall WIRED Robotics Challenge: $75 per robot
FRC teams are encouraged to field more than robot. For example: FRC team 1234 registers two teams and plans to have one for veteren students and one for rookie students. Teams typically work best with 5-10 students and 1 mentor, but feel free to organize your teams however you choose.
Registration is not limited to FRC teams. If there are other groups that feel they are up to the challenge, encourage them and offer them any assistance they may need. This includes pre-high school groups, but we ask that before younger groups register, they fully understand that the event will be run similar to an FRC event, which can get pretty intense. The emphasis is on fun and learning above all other aspects, so younger teams with those desires should have no problems.
Kickoff
The game and manual will be released online at the above website on Saturday, September 16th. There will be an actual kickoff event held that same day at the new Discovery World Museum located on the lakefront in Milwaukee. This kickoff will run similar to an FRC kickoff, but not as long. The actual game field will be on display and this will be the first opportunity for Q/A. Some other surprises are in store as well. Details will be provided soon for this event. Again, this game will NOT be the game that the official FVC program will be using. This game has been created by students from MSOE, all of which are former FIRST participants.
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Milwaukee VEX League**
The Milwaukee VEX League is somethiung that was tried on a very small scale last year and seemed to be a great success. It has been largely expanded this year. The league will run from Tuesday, September 26th until Tuesday November 14th. For 8 weeks, teams will have a chance to come together and listen to a presentation on a specific topic geared toward the FRC and play a series of matches with their Vex robots on the official field. Go home and tweak your design and see if you’ve improved the following week! Statistics for the league WILL be kept! It is not required that a team attend all 8 weeks, but it is heavily encouraged.
The League Nights will run approximately from 5:30pm to 8:30 pm every Tuesday and will be held at Discovery World Museum. The first hour wil be dedicated to a presentation on various topics, ranging from safety, to animating, to pnuematics, to material selection. Topics during the first coupe of weeks will be broad and basic while topics towards the end of the league will be more advanced and specialized. The rest of the time will be spent playing matches just like at a real competition. It is likely that each league night will be limited to the first 20 teams that sign up to attend. Again, details will be provided soon.
If teams step forward to host a league night at their school, we will try to accommodate that request. We are still looking for presenters - contact me if you would like to be one.
Obviousy we can’t expect all teams to participate in the league. Teams that are unable to attend the league are encouraged to start their own league with other nearby teams.
2006 Fall WIRED Robotics Challenge
This is the culmination of everyone’s hard work. Last year’s event was a huge success and we hope to nearly double the participation this year. This year’s event is:
Sunday, December 3rd
Milwaukee School of Engineering’s new Kern Center in downtown Milwaukee
Approximately 8:00am-5:00pm
This event will run just like an FRC event, with pits, qualifying matches, elimination matches, judges, and awards. Stay tuned for further details.
If you ave a ny questions, please feel free to email myself or the contacts listed in the above website. We hope to hear from you soon!
Kevin
