<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_extra">At least three DPRG members coach teams that will be competing in the FTC Regional Championship in 8 days. To give you an idea of what this year's game looks like, here's a video of Patrick's team, Technical Difficulties, completely trouncing my and my wife's team, Iron Reign, in their world record score a month back:</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><img src="cid:ii_izacwmoy0_15a4e14cea83c6f7" style="margin-right: 0px;"></div><div class="gmail_extra"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFxCVCEKUnM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFxCVCEKUnM</a><br><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra">At the tournament you'll see some pretty cool robots with autonomous programs that incorporate odometry, IMUs, machine vision using Vuforia and OpenCV for target tracking and absolute field positioning and a host of other sensors. You'll see teleoperated phases that include autonomous behaviors to simplify controls for the drive teams. All controlled by Android phones and all developed by high school teams. If you judge, you will see these robots close up and will learn the details of their development.</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra">And who better to help judge the merits of all North Texas teams than DPRG members? You'll recommend which teams get to advance to the 12 State South Super Regional Competition.</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra">Patrick stepped up and became the tournament director. The event has grown to support 48 teams, so more judges, inspectors and other volunteers are needed than ever. If you can help out, see the full info below.</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra">Best,</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra">Karim</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><p class="gmail-MsoPlainText">We are looking for volunteers for the North Texas FIRST
Tech Challenge (FTC) Regional Championship.
The Regional Championship will be held on Saturday February 25th at Ford
Middle School in Allen. Forty eight
(48!) of the top teams in North Texas will compete to determine regional
winners and opportunities to advance to the next level of competition. </p>
<p class="gmail-MsoPlainText">We’re planning this to be a showcase event for the year,
and we’re looking for volunteers to help with the event in all areas. Due to the expanded size of this event we
need more judges, referees, and inspectors than in previous qualifier or league
events. Of course there are many other
roles that we will be filling, including scorekeepers, runners, queuers,
announcers, and the like. Don’t worry if you haven’t done this before or feel
like you might not be qualified… training is available and we have experts to
help guide you. And if you’re looking at
coaching or mentoring a FTC team in future competitions, then volunteering
(e.g. as a judge) is an outstanding way to see what the top teams are doing and
understand how things work "behind the scenes".</p>
<p class="gmail-MsoPlainText">Judging is an all-day commitment consisting of panel
interviews and observations of teams and robots in action. Ideally, judging panels are comprised of
people with a technical background along with those with skills in
communication and outreach. No one will judge alone.</p>
<p class="gmail-MsoPlainText">Referees observe team matches to observe rule violations
and “call” them. They also keep track of
which elements have been scored and record these items on scoresheets. There is online training to become a referee
and a certification exam (which usually isn’t very hard). Refereeing also gives
you “the best seats in the house” for watching the matches take place. :)</p>
<p class="gmail-MsoPlainText">Inspectors meet with teams in the morning to check robot
designs for safety and compliance with build rules and restrictions. This involves going through a short checklist
of items for each robot, informing teams of any infractions that will prevent
the robot from competing or certifying the robots as being compliant with the
game requirements. This also has
training materials and a short certification exam for the role.</p>
<p class="gmail-MsoPlainText">To learn more about FIRST Tech Challenge, check out <a href="http://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/ftc">http://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/ftc</a>
.</p>
<p class="gmail-MsoPlainText">Registering as an event volunteer is a two-step
process. First go to the Volunteer
Registration System site, <a href="https://my.usfirst.org/FIRSTPortal/Login/VIMS_Login.aspx">https://my.usfirst.org/FIRSTPortal/Login/VIMS_Login.aspx</a>
. It can be a bit confusing, so here is
a video about how to create a new VIMS account: <a href="http://www.screencast.com/t/pTL7rCsb">http://www.screencast.com/t/pTL7rCsb</a> If you already have a VIMS account from
volunteering in a previous event or season, you should use that account.</p>
<p class="gmail-MsoPlainText">Then select “Apply for an event” tab, select “FTC” as the
program, select “Texas” as the state/province, and enter “North Texas” in the
“Search event by name” field. You can
also search by ZIP code by entering “75002” as the ZIP code. You can then
select the event and add any event roles you would like to have. We’re always happy to have “Assign Me as
Needed” volunteers, but we also encourage you to indicate your preference for
any other roles you would like to have at the event. We will want an array of volunteers:
concessions, referees, judges, inspection, load in, load out, queuers, etc… so
please feel free to forward this information to any friends or colleagues who may
be interested in helping.</p>
<p class="gmail-MsoPlainText">Please contact Patrick Michaud at <<a href="mailto:patrick.michaud@utdallas.edu">patrick.michaud@utdallas.edu</a>>
if you have any questions. Thank you so
much and we hope to see you soon.</p>
<p class="gmail-MsoPlainText">Pm<span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoPlainText">=====<span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoPlainText">Patrick R. Michaud, PhD<span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoPlainText">Asst Director for Robotics<span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoPlainText">Science and Engineering Education Center University of
Texas at Dallas<span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoPlainText">800 W. Campbell Rd, FN 2.002<span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoPlainText">Mailstop FA 31<span></span></p></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div></div>