In the following email you'll find information pertaining to:
- Tournament Registration
- Practice Tournaments
- Other Upcoming events and Training
- Important Clarifications
Well now that Tournament Registration has come to a close I'm finalizing our tournament numbers and trying to squeeze in any last-minute teams to events. If you're one of those teams who haven't registered for a tournament yet, please register at available events now (NOTE: some events are full and not accepting any additional teams). Also, please note that if you are WEST of Toronto, you must register for a West event and if you are in Toronto or EAST of Toronto you must register for an East event. Please look at a map to see where you are situated to ensure you register for the correct event.
Practice Tournaments:
There are 4 practice tournaments planned for teams so far! Please make sure to take advantage of these great opportunities for your team to prepare for the official event. Meet other teams, try out your missions, have a run through of your project - they're fantastic!! There an event in Waterloo, Oakville, Hamilton, and Toronto! Further details can be found online at http://www.
Other Upcoming events and Training:
- 3rd Annual FIRST Symposium at St. Mildred's Lightbourne School in Oakville (October 27th). Details can be found here.
- Upcoming Training Webinars - register and participate from the comfort of your own home! OR download & watch the video afterward.
- Please join us for Robots Rule! at the Ontario Science Centre
taking place November 17-18. Check out all the cool robots on display
from fellow FLL teams to University robots and robots that are designed
for outer-space! Regular parking and OSC entrance fees apply.
- You received an email from FLL HQ last week regarding information about the Robot Design Executive Summary (RDES) and the Core Values Poster. As mentioned in a previous email blast #6, we will be expecting teams to prepare an RDES for all of our Qualifying Tournaments and Provincial Championships this year. It is a way to add some structure and consistency to the Robot Judging session. You can find out more information about the RDES here. We will NOT be using the Core Values Poster in Ontario Qualifying Tournaments nor at the Provincial Championships.
- Just a note that came up from a
workshop that was held in September at the Kick-Off at Crescent. One
presentation highlighted how teams successfully use "leave-behind"
attachments which do a certain task but are modules that are left behind
by the basic robot as it goes on to do another mission (for an example,
watch this video which was used by The Sentinels (World Champions in
2010, hailing from Ontario!!). In this video, you'll notice that the
robot starts off by shooting out a big attachment which activates a
mission model in the middle of the table. It leaves that module on the
table and continues on to do other missions. http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=WdQP8a0pAIE The reason this came up this year was because the "Robot" was actually defined in the rules this year and there was some confusion over whether or not this strategy of "leave-behind" modules was allowable. We have contacted game designer Scott Evans at FLL HQ to confirm, and YES, this IS an allowable strategy. Have fun! - In case you've missed anything or want to check an old email, all previous Team Email Blasts from me are archived here: http://fllontario.blogspot.ca/
Dave
Dave Ellis
Director, FLL Ontario
FIRST Robotics Canada
www.firstroboticscanada.org
