Greetings FIRST LEGO League Oregon,
In today's FIRST LEGO League Oregon Update we will cover these items:
- National Registration Closes - NEXT WEEK!
- Am I too late to start a team?
- What you need to apply to attend a Qualifying Tournament
- What's in a Name? - Team Names
- Team Led Expert Opportunity at OHSU
- Using the Team Meeting Guide
- Why is my mat too short? and other changes for returning teams
- Intel Oregon FIRST LEGO League Tournaments from last update.
If you are new to this email or blog this is the place where you will find all of the OREGON specific FIRST LEGO League information, as well as helpful guides to get your team through the CITY SHAPER FIRST LEGO League season. Coaches and team administrators in the FIRST system for the CITY SHAPER season will be added every Monday until March, automatically. Every update this season begins with CS (CITY SHAPER) and a number, that number lets you know which update it is, if you miss an update you can find it on our blog.
1) National Registration Closes - NEXT WEEK!
2) Am I too late to start a team?
3) What you need to apply to attend a Qualifying Tournament
To complete the application for your team you will need the following information:
- Your OFFICIAL FIRST team number, this should be no more than 5 digits. If you have a number that is longer, your team is not officially registered, you must complete this task first. Your FIRST team number can be found on your Dashboard at www.firstinspires.org
- The Team Name your team intends to use at the qualifying tournament - what you put in this box is what will be used on all printed materials for the Qualifying Tournament.
- If your team is affiliated with a school, youth organization, or another group that should be recognized as a Team Affiliation, and how they want their name to appear on printed materials. Not every team has an affiliation.
- Your city, zip code, and COUNTY
- Contact Information for your 2 Lead Coach/Mentors, 1 Chaperone/Mentor, an Emergency Contact, and a Program Coordinator, if applicable. The Emergency Contact is used when emails fail and there is an instant announcement, like a weather closure 😢
- For tournament day information we would like to know how may Teen Mentors, if any, help your team (up to 2 will be able to join the team at the tournament), the programming language your team is using with their robot - for most teams this will be EV3-G, and if any of your team members need accessibility accommodations, including knowledge of the quiet room, braille Core Values challenge, visual or hearing interpreter, language interpreter, elevator access - where applicable, etc.
- For team information, we need to know how many team members you have on your team (with a max of 10 for the entire season and their grade levels, estimations are find for team members who are not in a traditional grade-level structure.
- The experience level of your team members, and their interest in the high school level programs.
- Then things get real. In your order of preference, we need the top 3 tournaments your team or most of your team is able to attend. We will do our best to assign your team to one of these three events. If you are in La Grande, you will probably go to La Grande, but if you pick a popular venue, you may not get your first choice. Please remember, Mentor Graphics has asked that teams who do not need financial need or who are very experienced, please allow teams who can benefit from their volunteer mentors at the event and those who would most benefit from a free lunch have the preference, if you can attend a different location.
- To aid in assigning your team we would like to know why you have chosen your preferences; location or date and why. We would also like to know if you are part of a group of teams that should or should NOT be put together. Some coaches of multiple teams like to have all their teams at one event, other coaches prefer to only bring one or two per event. We will do our best to combine and separate teams as we can.
- Finally, we need you to verify that you and all adults associated with your team understand the Participation Rules and the FIRST Core Values. Failure to understand and follow these can result in a team being disqualified because of the failings of their adults, and no one benefits from that.
And that's it! You hit send, you pay your application fee and you wait for November 1st when assignments will be posted on the ORTOP website.
YOU DO NOT NEED TO HAVE YOUR TEAM ROSTER COMPLETE TO APPLY TO FOR A QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT.
4) What's in a Name? - Team Names
Your team name must meet the following criteria:
- It must be a name that meets the intent of Gracious Professionalism. Terms like "killer" (when used as a noun), "murder", references to violent video games, violent TV shows, or violent music groups, references to alcohol, racial slurs, etc will not be accepted. We have young people who check our team names, and we know how to use Google. If the name raises a red flag, we will ask your team to change it or I will rename your team "W3 LUV ORTOP"
- Your team name should be relatively short, please note if you have a long team name we may have to use a microscopic font in programs and your full team name may not appear on all material.
- Your team name will be printed EXACTLY how you spell it, including capitalization.
- Our system will not let you enter superscripts or subscripts easily, you may use them, but please accept that it may not appear as you intended.
- "Battle Bots" is a trademark and can not be used by teams, sorry.
- LEGO (if used) must be in all caps and should never be plural. (I may change your name if this is not followed)
- Star Wars themed names are wonderful for our Force for Change season!
5) Team Led Expert Opportunity at OHSU
At this meeting event, Grace will give a talk and followed by a question and answer session. Teams, please prepare some questions so that we can get most out of this meeting. Also, if your teams already have some project problem or ideas in mind, feel free to share with Grace so that she can give you some expert insight and feedback on the problem and ideas.
The time will be at Sunday, Oct. 13th from 2:30pm to 4:30pm. Please come at around 2:15pm so that the talk can start on time. We are limiting 12 teams for this event as the auditorium can host up to 130 people. So, please submit this google form to signup. Only one submission is needed for each team. We will send you a confirmation email. Feel free to send us questions at biajee@yahoo.com.
Below is the location and time of the event:
Time:
Sunday, Oct 13th, 2019, 2:15pm to 4:30pm
Location:
OHSU School of Nursing
Room 144
3455 SW US Veterans Hospital Rd, Portland, OR 97239
Map:
https://goo.gl/maps/v1TBWvg6Q2E9c9wt9
Bio for Grace:
Grace Liu has a B.S. in Civil Engineering and M.S. in Computer Science. She has been a structural design engineer at Benson Industries, Inc. since 1992, participating in the curtain wall design of many landmark buildings around the world. Besides curtain wall system design, she likes to work on single family homes and interior design. With over 30 years of career experience, she has accumulated many design ideas, and enjoys sharing these in mentoring new generations of design engineers.
Please sign up at this google form: https://forms.gle/kW59sb7Kue5XT83U6
*this event is not organized by ORTOP
6) Using the Team Meeting Guide
Foundations
Goals to check off this week:
- Team should be able to make the robot stop reliably using the ultrasonic sensor
- Team should understand the difference between the move and tank move blocks
- Team should be comfortable addressing problems highlighted in the CITY SHAPER sparks, beyond ideas that already exist.
- Team should know how to find digital resources around their ideas
- Team should understand the Core Value of Innovation.
This week the team will continue to build on their basic robotics skills. Including using a sensor to control motion. Using the wait block with a sensor is a very powerful utility that the team can adapt to many situations and other sensors. Before programming a sensor it is very important to understand how that sensor “sees” the world.
One of the easiest ways I’ve found to get comfortable with sensors is to use the EV3 brick with the sensor plugged in and Port View. Not only is knowing how to use Port View helpful in debugging code, but Port View also shows the team member exactly what the sensor sees. Just like programming, understanding sensors is a different language; often a mathematical language. By using the sensor to take many readings just using Port View a greater understanding of the sensor can be gained. I strongly recommend creating a data sheet to record how the readings change in different locations, with different shaped items, and at different distances and angles. For this exercise, it is best to put the FIRST LEGO table away and open up the entire space for exploration, and a bit of safe FIRST LEGO League fun!
For the project group, the team will be tackling the challenge of building quickly, efficiently, in difficult, unstable terrain in a cost-effective way. This is a huge issue that many people are addressing.
About 1.6 billion people live in substandard housing and 100 million are homeless, according to United Nations' statistics. These people are increasingly urban residents, and every week more than a million people are born in, or move to, cities in the developing world.
With this knowledge, creating cost-effective housing in less than ideal locations is a worldwide problem, maybe even in your community. This is a great spark to branch out on. After solving the spark for Peru, what would be a similar problem in your community? Will your solution still work? Is there somewhere else your solution would work better? Now is the time to start getting serious with the questions we ask, but there is of course still plenty of space for FUN!
7) Why is my mat too short? and other changes for returning teams
Warning: The following does not replace carefully reading the Game Guide. The game guide will explain exactly what the rules are and aren't. Remember if it isn't a rule, it isn't a rule!
If all the changes in this year's game were LEGO elements, I'd need to get the big cart out to drag them to each event. That means if you haven't carefully read the CITY SHAPER Game Guide, you are probably doing it WRONG. All of our amazing volunteer referees are being trained to help your team follow all of the rules, but finding out that all of your missions don't work without losing a precision token during the practice round (which will happen again this year) is not the ideal time to learn that. So let's explore a few of the most common questions I am getting:
I think that's enough for today. I don't want you all to be too confused with all the changes! As always make sure you check the game guide and the CITY SHAPER Updates before using any specific strategy. I highly recommend everyone check out RG13 which was released on September 16th.
If all the changes in this year's game were LEGO elements, I'd need to get the big cart out to drag them to each event. That means if you haven't carefully read the CITY SHAPER Game Guide, you are probably doing it WRONG. All of our amazing volunteer referees are being trained to help your team follow all of the rules, but finding out that all of your missions don't work without losing a precision token during the practice round (which will happen again this year) is not the ideal time to learn that. So let's explore a few of the most common questions I am getting:
Why is my mat so short? Do I need to build a new table?
Yes, this year's mat is shorter than last year. That's on purpose. PLEASE DON'T CUT YOUR TABLE! The table is still the same size. Your team is to place the new shorter mat squarely in the Southeast corner (the corner 8ft straight from Launch). This should leave approximately 13" of exposed table, this part of the table is extremely important! It is called Home, and we will come back to that later. If you have two tables at your school or youth center the tables need to be shifted East and West so that the bridge aligns. That means the tables will not be perfectly flush on the ends.Your Base Are Belong to Us.
There is no Base. Base is gone. We now have two areas that fulfill the role of Base; Home and Launch. Each area serves a different purpose. You will use the Launch to send your robot out on missions, and any apparatuses that are needed for that process. However, once you make it GO Launch is off-limits to the team. You can not remove a jig, you can not place equipment in this space. In fact, you can't even touch your robot without losing a precision token if your robot has left the Launch area, even if it's back in Launch!
What about my cart? I don't want to drop my robot!
This year, carts, side tables, and human tables will not be permitted at the competition table. It's best to practice without them. EVERYTHING you bring with your robot to the competition table must stay in Home for the entire 2.5 minutes of competition. Home is a pretty big space, but your robot will also be using Home to safely return for any additional missions you want to run. Luckily, team members can move the items in Home at any time during the match, they just can't leave Home. If your team chooses to use a cart or box for robot safety (a good practice) the referees will direct you to a safe place it can be stored away from the competition table.Wait, now there are two robot inspections?
Yes, we will want to do our normal robot inspection where your robot components and wifi and Bluetooth settings are checked. However, when you get to the competition table the very first thing your team needs to do is prove that all of your components fit in one of the two inspections squares in Home at the same time. The little red line on the mat (by the end of Launch) will tell you where the two zones are divided in Home. Don't forget, that like Launch, Inspection has a 12" ceiling, that's roughly the length of a clipboard. After inspection, you can run your configuration programs and set up for the match. You have 1-minute to do everything, so make sure you can do the inspection quickly.Why are all the penalty tokens on the board?
This year the tokens are precision tokens, although they are the same color as a penalty token, which did get a color change when it changed from compost/manure. In it's new role the precision token will reward teams for their ability to create an efficient and accurate robot. Each token does not have the same value, so if most of them are gone anyway, it's not a big deal to try again!Why should everyone do the Crane mission?
FIRST and LEGO Education have provided a downloadable program that takes a robot from Launch, follows the black line, and lifts the Crane lever to release the suspended Blue Block. This is why I expect to see every single team completing this mission. This is not a complete solution, but it's a good start. Your robot will need a color sensor to use the provided code. Oh and if you have the small inspection bonus this mission is worth 10 extra points, so there is that too!
What is the big deal with 'Independent'?
This year almost every mission must be completed with the word Independent in the requirements. Independent means not touching any equipment. That's anything on your robot or that you brought for your robot to use. Pay close attention to how your robot works to make sure you can get the most points for your efforts.How do I get flag points? when my robot leaves the bridge, they fall down.
All missions are only scored at the end of the match, and the only mission which has a required method is your robot holding the flag(s) up on the bridge. This means, that if your robot is on the bridge holding the flag up at the end of the match you will get the flag point. If not you won't. It is our suggestion that you don't do this mission first.The bridge doesn't sound very much like Gracious Professionalism.
Doesn't it? Are you sure? While we all like watching robots brute force into each other like in Sumo bots, that is not the only possible solution here. What can your team come up with to turn this mission more GP? Talk it out. I can't wait to see your solutions.
I think that's enough for today. I don't want you all to be too confused with all the changes! As always make sure you check the game guide and the CITY SHAPER Updates before using any specific strategy. I highly recommend everyone check out RG13 which was released on September 16th.
8) Intel Oregon FIRST LEGO League Tournaments from last update.
Qualifying Tournaments are 50% of the FIRST LEGO League program. By attending a qualifying tournament your team gets to learn from their peers, practice their communication skills with 3 separate panels of judges, come together as a team in a way they never have before, and have loads of fun. Sure, only a small percentage of teams will be receiving a trophy or advancing to the state championships, but all teams have the opportunity to take home new skills and ideas that will help them grow and improve as engineers, teammates, and people. The impact the events make on kids I've watched grow through this program can not be understated. All of the Intel Oregon FIRST LEGO League Qualifying Tournaments will take place on December 7, 8, 14, & 15. Teams in Malheur County will register with Idaho again this year, the following does not apply to you. Your team should select 3 tournaments they are able to attend (unless you choose La Grande, that event needs more teams!) Your team will be assigned to one of those three events unless all of those events fill prior to the receipt of your application, then your team will be assigned to the nearest event that meets your date or location preference. Mentor Graphics is happy to welcome teams with financial need this year, they will be providing lunch and assistance for these teams. ORTOP asks all experienced teams without financial need to not choose Mentor Graphics as your 1st choice to allow these teams the opportunity to learn at this event. If the events do not fill we may select to send your team there to fill the event.
The 2019 Intel Oregon FIRST LEGO League Qualifying Tournament Schedule:
| Location and Website | City | Tournament Dates 2019 | Volunteer Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain View High School | Bend | December 15 | Dec 15 |
| Oregon State University | Corvallis | December 7 & 8 | Dec 7 Dec 8 |
| North Middle School | Grants Pass | December 7 | Dec 7 |
| Intel Jones Farm Conference Center | Hillsboro | December 14 & 15 | Dec 14 Dec 15 |
| Hillsboro High School - Spanish/English Event Escuela secundaria de Hillsboro-Evento en Español Hillsboro High School (English) | Hillsboro | December 7 Diciembre 7 December 8 | Dec 7 Dec 8 |
| Hood River Middle School | Hood River | December 7 & 8 | Dec 7 Dec 8 |
| Eastern Oregon University | La Grande | December 7 | Dec 7 |
| Hedrick Middle School | Medford | December 14 | Dec 14 |
| Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum | McMinnville | December 14 & 15 | Dec 14 Dec 15 |
| South Umpqua High School | Myrtle Creek/Roseburg | December 7 | Dec 7 |
| Treasure Valley Community College | Ontario | December 14 | |
| Catlin Gabel School | Portland | December 14 & 15 | Dec 14 Dec 15 |
| Concordia University | Portland | December 15 | Dec 15 |
| SEI? | Portland | December 7 | |
| Stephens Middle School | Salem | December 7 & 8 | Dec 7 Dec 8 |
| The Dalles Middle School | The Dalles | December 14 | Dec 14 |
| Mentor Graphics Commons | Wilsonville | December 14 & 15 | Dec 14 Dec 15 |
Events without individual pages will be updated over the month of October.Teams may pay their qualifying tournament application fee anytime between now and October 31st. Applications are not considered complete until the payment is received. Your team must be nationally registered as your payment is matched by your official FIRST LEGO League team number!
If your team is in a neighboring county, but not registered under the Oregon Region, please sign up to be included on tournament information using this form. Or change your region to Oregon on your team profile on the FIRST Dashboard.
I hope you all are as excited as I am to see this season underway. I hope your team is getting started well. As a reminder, I am out of the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and even though I am frequently backlogged, the best way to reach me is still email. Remember if you don't get a response in a few days, bump me another message. I might reply twice, but I'll see it!
Best Wishes,
Loridee
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