Hello everyone!  Thanks for your amazing work and attendance this week!  We are now in the final push of build season, and we're ready to focus and get this done!

Many of you have heard about our fundraising efforts and I ask again to please keep trying to find sponsors. You all know that we charge no fee to be on the team since we want to keep the program open to all students which is why fundraising is written into the team contracts everyone signed.  I know we can make Team 4293 do great things, we just need everyone to help us get there.  The faster you all get this done, the less you have to hear about it from me!  

Meeting schedules for this week will be very similar to previous weeks:


Tuesday/Thursday: 5-7 pm


Our Saturday meeting will run an extra 3 hours for build time.  We're hoping that extra time will give everyone time to get some extra work done.


Saturday: 9-5 pm


Thank you to everyone for regularily attending meetings, we're looking forward to a great rest of the build season.

Thanks,
Grayson

Hello Team 4293!

First off, thank you to all students who attended the meeting on Saturday, we got a lot finished and are now in a wonderful position to continue the build season.  Thank you as well to the Stowe's for bringing hot chocolate, and to the Langer's for providing a wonderful meal for us.  This week we have important information regarding the Colorado Regional, meeting times and homework.

This year, we'll be participating in the Colorado FIRST Regional.  The competition is held at the Daniel L. Ritchie Center down at DU.  Please plan to leave April 3rd, 4th and 5th open, as those are the days we'll attend.  April 3rd is a day of just practice matches, so we can get used to the field, as well as working with other teams.  The 4th and 5th are the actual competition days, where we'll compete in the qualifies and then in the final rounds.  The agenda for the competition is the file below, so feel free to download and take a look at that.  

It is important to remember 51 other teams will be in attendance for the event.  This means we must be on the top of our game in 2 respects.  We need to be very polite and kind to other teams, and we also need to have team spirit.  Cheering in the stands, as well as getting down on the floor when we are competing are great ways to make an impression.

Additionally, the competition is free and open to the public, so we would encourage everyone to come, and please invite friends, family, etc. 

This information is also included under the FIRST Robotics tab on this website.

The meeting schedule this week is as follows:

Weekday Meetings:

Tuesday: 5pm-7pm
Thursday: 5pm-7pm

We are also having an optional Friday meeting starting at 4:30pm.  Please come ready to focus and work, as we are taking the shop's time being there.

Weekend Meeting:

Saturday: 9am-2pm

As always, meetings will be at the shop.

Additionally, for meeting schedules, as well as other important events, please check the new calendar tab of the website.  There is a google calendar embedded there, and all meetings, as well as the Regional, are marked.  Meetings have time and location, while events have time, location and information included.

Students, please remember that you have homework this week!  First, make sure to read and re-read the rules for the section of the robot you are working on.  It is imperative that you understand all of the rules for your subsystem.  

Also, for those of you wanting to help get the cRIO up and running, please check out this page (http://wpilib.screenstepslive.com/s/3120/m/8559/l/89727-imaging-your-crio) and the associated links on the left side of the page.

Finally, please send out those sponsor letters and get your list of 7 names and businesses.

Thanks,
Grayson

Hello Team 4293! 

Thank you to all of those who attended our kickoff meeting yesterday!  We were glad to see you all there, and welcome to our new team members!  If you want to watch the kickoff broadcast, the 2014 game animation or the field tours again, they can be found at FRC's Youtube Channel.  

Additionally, the game manual, rules and other files can be found here.  The password to unlock the encrypted files is "3Teams2Goals1Alliance!" (excluding the quotes).

Please also sign up here so you can check the FRC Q&A throughout the season.  And if you want you can get the App.

Thank you again to all the students that attended!

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, January 7th, from 5pm-7pm at the shop.  Directions to the shop will be below.  We would appreciate if all students attended.

Between now and then we'd also like all students to do a bit of homework:

Please reread and review the rules.  It is critical that you review all of the rules, as you may be asked to assist with any part of the robot or game throughout the season.

In addition to the Q&A, one of the major places for rule discussions is Chief Delphi.  Chief Delphi is also the prime place for FIRST related discussions.  I personally cannot stress enough how useful Chief Delphi is in answering questions, solving problems and providing inspiration.  All students should take time before Tuesday to browse Chief Delphi and get to know its interface.

Finally, if students could devise a strategy that they think will be optimal based on the scoring rules, as well as an approximation or robot capability and time per match, strategy brainstorming will go much faster.

Another big aspect of a FIRST team are the subteams within it. These subteams will be specialized towards a certain role in robot construction.  Students, please read the following list of possible teams and identify areas which you are interested.  You don't need to have a specific team isolated by next meeting, but please give it a thought.

Mechanical:

• CAD
• Manufacturing
• Drivetrain
• Manipulator

Electrical:

• Wiring
• Pneumatic
• Sensors
• Channelization

Programming:

• Controls
• Autonomous
• Cameras, etc.

Integration:

• Rules
• Systems
• Documentation

Directions to the Shop:

Focused on Machining:
8230 N. Cora St., Unit A
Louviers, CO 80131

Also, you may go to this link for a map to the shop:
http://www.focusedonmachining.com/ContactUs/tabid/61/Default.aspx

Thanks,
Grayson

Hello Team 4293!

Rules for this year's competition are posted and avaliable for download on FIRST's Website at: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/blog-information-for-2014-the-what-when-where-and-how

The files will be encrypted, and we'll recieve a password during kickoff.  So please have all of these files downloaded and ready so as soon as we get the password you can access them.

Thanks,
Grayson