Friday, November 18, 2016


FIRST Tech Challenge Oregon - What you should know! 

Important Game Ruling concerning the contact with the Beacons 
There is a nationwide issue with beacon damage. There are several issues involved. FTC Oregon is working with our FTAs and League Managers to fix this issue.  Here are some insights.

  • We realize that the stability of the beacon attachment on IFI fields is less stable than on the newer  AndyMark fields. 
  • ORTOP has requested FIRST to provide an official solution to stabilization of the Beacons on IFI Fields (90% of Oregon League use IFI fields). Prior to that some League Managers have found temporary solutions to this issue to increase stability. 
  • IMPORTANT GAME RULLING: A note from the Game Design Committee (GDC): Aggressive Beacon Contact and <G15> Field Damage. Find it in the Miscellaneous Answers section of the FTC Forum
    "We are hearing reports of teams driving their robots aggressively and repeatedly making very hard contact on the Beacons and the walls adjacent to the Beacons.
     Aggressive contact that causes significant flexing of the walls or moves/dislodges a Beacon will be considered field damage and penalized according to <G15>. Teams should expect to receive warnings and may receive Major Penalties and a Yellow Card for excessive or chronic aggressive Beacon contacts."
  • Oregon FTC Referees will provide warnings to the teams about aggressive Beacon play and encourage them to come up with better engineered solutions.  
  • This ruling is the primary strategy being adopted by FIRST to avoiding damage to the beacons. 

Game Footage from FTC Minnesota QT  last week. 
Take a look at what some other teams are doing 


 FIRST Tech Challenge Oregon Event Payments
..........you may only think you've paid this.... please read

We have 62 teams that have not yet paid their for the events.  All payments were due on November 15 for everyone. Please pay if you haven't done so, or communicate to Cathy Swider why not.
 Check this list to see if we have received your ORTOP EVENT payment. 


For new coaches/mentors - There seems to be some confusion about National Registration paid to Pitsco (and ultimately to FIRST in Manchester, NH) and the Event Fee charged by Oregon Robotics Tournament and Outreach Program (ORTOP). These are two separate fees. National registration of $275 does not cover paying for anything related to the league meets or tournaments you attend. All of that money stays in New Hampshire.   ORTOP must charge their own event fee to pay expenses for those events and to support the FTC program in Oregon. There is a sliding scale for payments to accommodate team needs.
Full explanation of ORTOP Event Fee Structure.  


Non League Qualifying Tournament payments 
Online Credit Card Payments 

FIRST Tech Challenge Dean's List - detailed information 
This is a fabulous opportunity for FTC Sophomores and Juniors. Important note - for Oregon, all FIRST Tech Challenge Dean's List nominations must be submitted by December 15th. All nominations must meet all requirements and procedures. This award is primarily managed by the national FIRST organization and as the Affiliate Partner I have no authority to grant extensions. Nominations must be submitted on time and correctly. Read the guidelines carefully. Oregon will select four FTC Dean's List Finalists who will be invited for Dean's List Finalist activities at  FTC World Championship in Houston.
Congratulations to last season's national Dean's List Winner - 
Anshuman Radhakrishnan | Team 4855 | Batteries in Black | Portland, OR

Resources for your teams! 
Have you been making use of the following resources? Click on the links and see where it takes you.
http://www.ortop.org/ftc  - look in the right column for all the important current links. 

http://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/ftc/team-management-resources
http://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/ftc/game-and-season-info
http://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/ftc/robot-building-resources
 Programming -  http://www.firstinspires.org/node/5291

 This is an awesome resource  - https://www.youtube.com/user/FIRSTTechChallenge/playlists 
http://ftcforum.usfirst.org/forum.php
Know what the volunteers know!  http://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/ftc/volunteer-resources

FTC Oregon EVENT Results Page - link on www.ortop.org/ftc
Our FTC Oregon season is underway! Time for the scouting to begin. All event results will be posted by Monday following the events. By clicking the dates you can see the Team Roster, Matches, Rankings, Top Scores, etc. 


On the Spot Reporters - This Week in FIRST Tech Challenge Oregon    
This season you'll be seeing FIRST Tech Challenge Oregon "On the Spot" Reporters at our events. They will be filming video and doing interviews with team members, mentors and volunteers. Their work will be featured in a web broadcast  - This Week in FIRST Tech Challenge Oregon - streamed on our Oregon FTC Facebook page on November 23, Dec 7, Dec 21 & March 1.  Leaderboards, highlight reel, interviews and updates from key volunteers. We are still looking for team member -  On the Spot Reporters for Leagues - Portland, Capitol, Mid-Western, Columbia Basin. Contact our VISTA - Keala Cottrell - keala-cottrell@ortop.org

FIRST Tech Challenge/ FIRST Robotics Competition Team Social
There are plenty of tickets remaining for the first annual FTC/FRC Team Social scheduled for December 9th at World of Speed in Wilsonville (not Tigard) . Information Flyer    Online Ticket Order - free tickets 

And don't forget your Safety Glasses and STIMS Roster!
And check TripCheck before you go if the weather looks iffy. 


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