FIRST Tech Challenge Kickoff Week! September 10th

September 16, 2016

Happy back to school week! Wishing everyone a great start to the new academic season. 

FIRST Tech Challenge OREGON Kickoff 2016 

Please save time to attend our FIRST Tech Challenge Kickoff on Saturday, September 10th at one of four locations across the state - Portland - The Dalles - Bend - Medford. Each site will have a field and the new game elements for you to see and touch, measure and ponder. 

Portland and Medford sites will attempt to live stream their events in case you can't attend in person. 

Please click this link for detailed information about our kickoff plans.
Coaches please click the KICKOFF RSVP link so that we can print appropriate numbers of handouts and if you are attending in Medford, that they can order lunch.

Everyone is invited to attend. Please bring someone new to FTC,  team members, a prospective mentor or volunteer. We'll need about 700 league meet and tournament volunteers this season. 

Beacon Updating Veteran teams are encouraged to bring last year's beacons to kickoff sites for reprogramming. ORTOP has purchased the AndyMark re-programmers for updating the beacon firmware for this season's game. This will save your team $64. ORTOP is happy to provide this service. We'll be sending more re-programmers to League sites. We encourage non-league teams to visit a league meet to have their beacons updated. If that is not possible, contact Cathy Swider to make other arrangements for updating. 

KEY LINKS FOR GETTING YOUR FTC SEASON STARTED

• National Registration Information for FIRST Tech Challenge 
• FTC Oregon Event Fee Restructure Information - please read about these changes for 2016
• FTC Game 2016 Information  - Suggestion! Read Game Manual 1 prior to Kickoff
• FTC Curriculum 
• Southern Oregon Area Robotics (SOAR) FTC Workshop Slide Sets presented by #8372 - TNT, #9851- C4, #7013 Hot Wired. All three teams represented Oregon at the FTC World Championship 
• FTC Oregon 2016 Season Calendar  - scroll the center column 

2016 FIRST Tech Challenge Field Elements

Building your 2016 Field Elements instead of buying from AndyMark. Wise or unwise this season?

This past weekend our Championship Field Technical Advisor  Dale Jordan built 4 sets of 2016 Game Elements for Kickoff Day.  This season FTC will release building plans in case teams want to build their own set of elements.  We asked Dale to consider if it would save teams time/money and what he would recommend teams do.

Dale's recommendation to teams is to purchase at least a half field of elements from AndyMark because of the variety of building materials needed to source. To have the optimum field conditions present in team practices that will be at competition events,his opinion is it would be best to use the field kits sold by AndyMark. Teams should look at the field elements and make their own best decision. 

Should we join a League or stay a QT team or switch from League to QT? What is the best choice for your team? 

FIRST Tech Challenge Oregon is a hybrid FTC region offering both League and Non-League participation options. Choosing the best fit for your team is made by the Coaches, Mentors, Team Members with input from parents/guardians as well as school administrators. 

As of today, September 6th we anticipate having 11 leagues in the communities of Beaverton, Hillsboro, Portland, Hood River, Bend (Central Oregon), Pendleton (2), Salem, Springfield, Roseburg and a new league in the Port Orford area on the Southern Oregon Coast. Each league will have approximately 12 teams each, some a few more, some a few less. 

Leagues will hold team meetings and attend three or four league meets, about 4-hours in length League Meets in November and December and ALL league teams participate in a League Qualifying Tournament. Pros and information about  Leagues:

• Provides teams a jump start to the season and encourages iterative design meaning the robot is improved upon during the two weeks between league meets. 
• Teams do not need to be fully ready with a completely built robot to participate. The robot evolves over the 7-week League meet season. 
• Provides teams driving experience prior to qualifying tournament competition. 
• Teams accumulate Qualifying Points and Ranking Points during League Meets. Best 10 Qualifying Points with their associated Ranking Points are carried to the League Qualifying Tournament. All League Teams participate in the Tournament
• Teams learn what does and does not work in real competition prior to attending the League Qualifying Tournament in January. Frequently league teams will collaborate and assist each other in solving building, IT and programming issues. It is a collaborative community of teams.  

Non-League teams hold team meetings in the fall where they design and work on their robot in November and December prior to the Non-League Qualifying Tournament in January. 

• Non-league teams design and work on their robot between September and January on the schedule that best works for them prior to the Non-League Qualifying Tournament held in January. 
• Non-league teams only compete with other non-league teams at the Non-League Qualifying Tournament. 
• Teams work independently on their robot or with other teams at their school. 
• Non-league teams can attend informal scrimmages if offered by other non-league teams to gain field experience. 
• Non-league is a good option for teams with team members who have very busy schedules and do not wish to commit to a fall league schedule. Also, travel budget constraints may impact a team's decision to be a non-league team. 

DATES for SIGN-UP

• All tournament sign ups will open on September 15th. 
• Signups for League Teams will close on October 1st. Meaning if you are not signed up by October 1 you'll be a non-league team. If a league is over subscribed in a specific area, teams will be chosen on a first come, first serve basis.  All teams not 
• Signups for Non-League Teams will close on October 15th. 
• All teams must be nationally registered and paid to signup a tournament in Oregon. 

ADVANCEMENT 

• All league teams compete in a League Qualifying Tournament.
• All non-league teams compete in a Non-League Qualifying Tournament.
• Teams can only compete in one advancing tournament prior to Super-Qualifiers. 
• Approximately 1/2 of League Teams will advance from the League Qualifying Tournament to a Super-Qualifier Tournament held in February. 
• Approximately 1/2 of Non- League teams will advance from Non-League Qualifying Tournaments to a Super-Qualifier Tournament held in February. 
• All four Super-Qualifiers are a mix of both League and Non-League teams at each event. 
• Approximately half of Super-Qualifier teams will advance to the State Championship. 
• FIRST will determine the number of slots for Oregon teams for FTC West Super-Regional Championship in March. Last season Oregon was awarded 14 slots.

And finally..... What would a kickoff blog post be without a game hint? Keep your game guesses to yourself....remember the game is a secret until September 10, 2016 at noon Eastern Daylight Time. shhhhh..........
 

Respectfully submitted,

Cathy Swider 

July 12, 2016

FIRST Tech Challenge Oregon Community:

2016/2017 FIRST Tech Challenge Game Materials 
Game Manual I has been published. Great summer reading for teams, mentors and volunteers. Read between the lines for game hints. :-)
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS GAME MANUAL I 

Field Beacons 
Yes, it has been released that there will be 4 Beacons in this season's game. There is an upgrade kit that can be purchased from AndyMark.  PLEASE NOTE: ORTOP will be purchasing multiple Beacon Programmer Tools that will be distributed to League sites around Oregon. All teams, league and non-league can bring their beacons to a site for the firmware update at no cost.

FIRST Tech Challenge Oregon Tournament Fee Structure Change
An email send to the ORTOP Community by Bruce Schafer, ORTOP Executive Director, outlined the new tournament fee structure change implemented by an executive committee of the ORTOP Board of Directors.  If you have questions, comments about this change, please direct an email to Cathy Swider.  The new policy is as follows: 

(1) ORTOP Registration Fee Changes for the 2016-2017 Season

As most of you know, the registration fees charged by ORTOP cover only a portion of the cost of operating our FIRST programs in Oregon. Fortunately, we have been able to recruit sponsor dollars to make up most of the difference but most sponsors want us to use their donations to help teams that couldn’t participate otherwise. To help assure the sponsor dollars are used most effectively, we have decided to make the estimated full cost per team more visible. Starting with the fall 2016 seasons we are asking teams to pay twice the amount as last year but giving them the option to pay less than that amount. The minimum fee for the upcoming season will be same as the full fee for last season.  Starting this fall, the ORTOP registration system will provide an easy way to request a discount and give a reason for the request.  All requests that are completely filled out will be honored at least for the upcoming season.

Teams that need additional financial assistance can apply for ORTOP team financial support by filling out an online application:

• FIRST LEGO League: www.ortop.org/fll/resTeamSupport.html
• FIRST Tech Challenge: www.ortop.org/ftc/res.htm

We request that teams that have adequate funding pay the full ORTOP registration fees to help ORTOP cover the cost of its programs and provide these programs to more youth in the future.                                                        

Examples:

• Last year the ORTOP registration fee for an FIRST LEGO League qualifying tournament was $100.  This year the requested fee will be $200.  If the person registering the team for the tournament feels the team cannot afford the full fee, he or she can pay the full fee or request that ORTOP sponsor funds be used to bring the fee down to as low as $100. The reason for the request can be documented by checking a few boxes during the payment process.
• Last year the ORTOP registration fee for an FIRST Tech Challenge Qualifying tournament was $150.  This year the requested fee will be $300.  If the person registering the team for the tournament feels the team cannot afford the full fee, he or she can pay the full fee or request that ORTOP sponsor funds be used to bring the fee down to as low as $150. The reason for the request can be documented by checking a few boxes during the payment process.
• Last year the ORTOP registration fee for an FIRST Tech Challenge league play was $75 and the registration fee for a league championship was $150. This year the requested fee for the combination of league play and the league qualifying tournament will be $450.  If the person registering the team for the league feels the team cannot afford the full fee, he or she can pay the full fee or request that ORTOP sponsor funds be used to bring the fee down to as low as $225. The reason for the request can be documented by checking a few boxes during the payment process.

                

2015/16 Tournament Fee	Tournament Event	2016/17 – Full Cost	Sliding Scale	2016/17 Minimum
$225	FTC League & Tournament	$450	<-.......->	$225
$150	Qualifying Tournament	$300	<-.......->	$150
$200	Super-QT	$400	<-.......->	$200
$250	Championship	$500	<-.......->	$250

ORTOP integration with Oregon FIRST Robotics Competition
As of July 1, 2016, the Oregon Robotics Tournament & Outreach Program, integrated with FIRST Robotics Competition Oregon.  This integration is limited to fundraising and promotion of the 4 FIRST programs together; FIRST LEGO League Junior, FIRST LEGO League, FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition.  The integration will also include hiring Cindy Labeau as Development Director (former Oregon FIRST Regional Director)  and someone as paid Executive Director. Debbie Kerr will remain as the FIRST Senior Mentor serving all four programs. The FIRST Robotics Competition district events and district championship will be organized and implemented by FIRST Washington.  Please join me in welcoming FRC to ORTOP. 

RESOURCES
Check www.ortop.org/ftc for links to "Getting Started in FTC" and "What Veteran Teams should know", plus national registration links,  funding resources and outreach activities. 

Regards,

Cathy Swider
FIRST Tech Challenge Affiliate Partner