FIRST Robotics Competition Blog

 

We Got Game!

The Official Week Zero event Saturday went very well! The folks who design the FIRST Robotics Competition games are always a little anxious at the Week Zero event because we never know how games will play when we get actual FRC teams on the field. The event isn’t a perfect predictor for official events (which will be starting shortly), but if Saturday was any indication, FIRST POWER UP is going to be challenging and lots of fun. Some of those matches, even with incomplete robots, were genuinely exciting to watch! I can’t wait for us to start official events, only a week or so away.

Of course, we also learned a thing or two, and we’re working on some tweaks to make what looks like a good game even better.

 

R19-F?

Hey, did you know there’s a new rule this year, R19-F, that allows you to unbag your robot to get an unofficial pre-inspection by a 2018 Certified Lead Robot Inspector? You can’t work on your robot during this time, but the LRI might be able to give you a little heads up if she or he sees anything that may be an issue. And this unbag time doesn’t count against you in any way. This is our first year with this rule, and it’s certain to evolve, but I encourage you to take advantage if you are able.

 

Climbing

We saw lots of teams trying to climb during the Week Zero event, which is great! We want to emphasize, though, the final sentence in the blue box in Table 4-1: “AUTO-RUN and CLIMBING are both evaluated and scored by human REFEREES. Teams are encouraged to make these actions obvious and unambiguous.”. You know what this means – help our referees and yourselves by making it absolutely obvious that your robot bumpers are above those golden bricks! This is not a place you want to cut it close. The refs want to make sure you get credited with every climb you deserve, too, so lend them a hand!

 

Avatars

The Avatars teams at Week Zero had submitted were looking pretty sweet on the audience display screen. If you haven’t yet turned yours in, there is still time! Check out the details here. We’ve already approved hundreds of Avatars, but we are looking for many more. Show your team pride by making your unique mark on the big screen for all to see.

 

Stop Build Day?

Already? Yep, Stop Build Day is only a little more than 24 hours away! Check R16 in the Robot Rules section. Wondering when 04:59 UTC, Wednesday, February 21, is in your part of the world? Use this handy tool.

 

So many exciting things are happening!

 

Frank