Contents:
1.      New High Score of 504 set by FTC Teams 3539 and 4486 at the NJ Garden State Rumble FTC Championship Tournament!

2.      New PTC and NI webinars – Come join PTC and National Instruments every Thursday night from 7-9 PM (EST) to talk about FIRST Robotics,  answer questions and learn new information about programming, controls, kinematics, data management, etc.  Go to www.ptc.com/go/firstrobotalk <http://www.ptc.com/go/firstrobotalk> to register and submit questions that will be addressed in the next webinar.

3.      Install your programming templates – Reports from event organizers show that the biggest hold up at software inspection is teams not having the required templates installed on their NXTs!

a.      ROBOTC users, follow these steps:  Open Sample Programs-> FIRST Tech Challenge -> Autonomous Template -> Insert autonomous program into the template.  Follow these instructions for your teleop program.

b.     If you’re using LabVIEW, grab them from the NI website here <http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/ftcsoftware?opendocument&lang=en&node=seminar_US> !

c.      Remember, commenting out the “Wait for start” command will also fail you at inspection

4.      FIRST Scholarship news – Find out about three new FIRST Scholarship opportunities for 2012 and about LOTS of scholarships whose deadline dates are fast approaching!  Also, read messages <http://www.usfirst.org/sites/default/files/uploadedFiles/About_Us/Scholarships/2012_Assets/FIRST_Scholarship_News_2-14-12.pdf> from some of our FIRST Scholarship Providers.

5.      Travel Discounts for World Championship – If you are booking tickets through American Airlines online, please read the following instructions:

a.      The discount can be booked online at www.aa.com/group <http://www.aa.com/group> for AA/AE flights only, without a ticketing charge. Please allow at least 1 business hour for AA.com loading.  Use the Authorization Number noted without the preceding A as the AA.com Promotion Code. Please note: this may not apply to some contracts.

6.      Future Innovator Award – Applications are now being accepted for the Future Innovator Award, presented by the Abbott Fund.  Read more about it on Ken’s Blog <http://firsttechchallenge.blogspot.com/2012/01/calling-all-ftc-innovators.html> or visit the official application page <http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/future-innovator-award> for more details!

7.      Deadline for FIRST Robotics Conference proposals is Feb. 17. – Call for proposals:  FIRST is seeking presentation proposals for the 9th annual FIRST Robotics Conference.  45 minute workshops on topics of interest to FTC, FTC, FLL, coaches, mentors, students and prospective leaders will be accepted.  The deadline to submit is Feb. 17.   Submission Form <http://tinyurl.com/89vj2hm> .  Full Details <http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/firstplace/workshops-and-conferences>

De buis “Sonotube” voor het maken van de “Ball Tubes” is binnen gekomen en verwerkt. Hieronder de exacte maten en het gewicht van de “Ball Tubes” die we bij de finale gaan gebruiken.

Diameter = 20,3 cm.

Hoogte = 15,3 cm.

Gewicht = 300 gram.

Contents

1. New High Score
2. Future Innovator Award, presented by the Abbott Fund
3. Travel Discounts
4. FTC shines in latest Brandeis study
5. 2012 FIRST Robotics Conference – call for proposals
6. Share your curriculum ideas

1.  New high score set by teams 4240 and 4154 at the Diamond State FTC Tournament!  444 points.  Way to go!
2. Applications are now being accepted for the Future Innovator Award, presented by the Abbott Fund.  Read more about it on Ken’s Blog or visit the official application page for more details!

3.    Travel Discounts for FRC Regional Events and FIRST Championship: If you are booking tickets through American Airlines online, please read the following instructions:

The discount can be booked online atwww.aa.com/group for AA/AE flights only, without a ticketing charge. Please allow at least 1 business hour for AA.com loading.  Use the Authorization Number noted without the preceding A as the AA.com Promotion Code. Please note: this may not apply to some contracts.

4.    Brandeis University has released findings from research it conducted on FIRST programs!  Check out all the good stuff the researchers had to say about FTC by reading Ken’s Blog.

1. FIRST is seeking presentation proposals for the ninth annual FIRST Robotics Conference. 45-minute workshops on topics of interest to FIRST Robotics (FRC), FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) and FIRST LEGO League (FLL) teams, coaches, mentors, students and prospective leaders will be accepted.  Deadline to submit is February 17^th, 2012. For submission form, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/89vj2hm

 For full details, please visit: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/firstplace/workshops-and-conferences

1. Are you a teacher?  Do you use FTC in the classroom? Have you developed a curriculum for teaching your students? Now you can share your work with the rest of the FTC community by posting it in the Curriculum portion of the FTC Forum!

1.       New high score was set at the January 14 Maryland FTC Qualifying Tournament by Teams 2818 and 4240.  437 Points! View a photo <http://www.usfirst.org/sites/default/files/2012%20FTC%20MDQ%201%20437%20Points_0.JPG>  of the 9.5’ crate stack on the website!

2.      ROBOTC 3.05 is now available!  Read all about it on ROBOTC.net <http://www.robotc.net/blog/2012/01/13/robotc-version-3-05-has-been-released/> .

3.      Has a FTC affected your life in positive way?  We want to hear about it!  E-mail your story to stories@usfirst.org.

4.      Are you a teacher?  Do you use FTC in the classroom? Have you developed a curriculum for teaching your students? Now you can share your work with the rest of the FTC community by posting it in the Curriculum portion of the FTC Forum! <http://ftcforum.usfirst.org/forumdisplay.php?51-FIRST-Tech-Challenge-Curriculum-and-Classroom-Resources>

Een aantal enthousiaste FTC deelnemers heeft het idee opgepakt om een Nederlands FTC forum te ontwerpen. De motivatie van Friso Hartog (één van de ontwikkelaars) is als volgt:
“De bedoeling is dat van élk FTC team, iedereen zich hier registreert, om met elkaar te discussiëren over zaken als:
- Welke materialen zijn het beste voor bepaalde constructies?
- Hoe programmeer je het slimst?
Ook kunnen mensen vragen aan elkaar stellen en deze beantwoorden, om elkaar op weg te helpen.
Op deze manier hopen we dat het niveau van FTC in Nederland omhoog gaat, dat we de community in Nederland groter kunnen maken en natuurlijk het belangrijkste: Dat we veel van elkaar kunnen leren.”

Wat ons betreft een heel goed initiatief dus meld je snel aan om ook te kunnen posten. We wensen Friso en zijn collega’s veel succes!
Je vindt het forum onder deze link.