Registration

Team registration is open for both ORTOP and FIRST! For the 2021-22 season, we will be asking teams to pay a one-time Season Registration Fee. This will cover a team’s participation in a qualifying event or league, as well as participation in any non-competitive programming, such as workshops, kickoff events, FIRST Fair, etc. The value teams will receive is much the same as it has always been, but we hope this model will be simpler and more flexible in the long run.  For more information about registration with ORTOP, please click here.

Team Support

Apply for ORTOP’s Team Support award and receive financial support for your robotics team! ORTOP believes all young people in Oregon should have the opportunity to participate in FIRST. However, financial and systemic barriers create opportunity gaps that disproportionately affect students from underserved, underrepresented, and vulnerable communities. Thanks to the generosity of corporate sponsors, charitable foundations, the Oregon Department of Education, and individual donors, ORTOP is able to provide Team Support awards to reduce barriers to participation. Click here to apply.

ORTOP Event Dates

Once you have registered with ORTOP, we will continue to keep you updated on tournament dates. Here is what we know right now:

Learning Opportunities

FIRST Lego League coaches can register for a few learning opportunities coming up this month!

• Our first opportunity is called Introduction to Coaching FIRST LEGO League Challenge, it is a 3-part course August 30th through September 1st.
• Guiding a Team in Programming SPIKE Prime or EV3 Robots Using Scratch is a 4-part series that will teach coaches how to program using scratch starting September 6th.

Learn more about these opportunities on our blog.

FIRST Lego League Challenge & Explore:  August 16th on twitch.tv/firstinspires

FIRST Tech Challenge: September 18th with in-person kick-eff events across the state. More info to come soon.

Team Number Team Name
11725 Team Minions
20540 The Master Builders
23765 Ultimate Flopping Caterpillars
30966 Brobdingnagian Builders
34002 Fitbot Back Breakers
34455 Wonderful Wizards
37946 SALT Robotics
38896 6 Androids
40955 U.S. Donuts
41588 Gear Riders
42166 Technocoders
42289 WorkoutBroBotsl
45284 LEGO Invasion
45676 RoBobs
45685 IncrediBots
49477 The Terrific Turtles
49801 Mystic Galaxies
50765 Mission Impossible
51032 WayFinders
51586 Tech Team
51660 Big Brains 6
51693 Wild Wings Robotics
51933 Tech Rexes
51996 Nuclear Gummy Bears

We’re thankful to have incredible event volunteers, team mentors, and coaches who helped ensure virtual events were a success and that Oregon students had a chance to participate in hands-on STEM education opportunities. Below you can watch the awards ceremony besides see the list of award winners.

Award	Team Name	Team Number
Core Values	Mystic Galaxies	49801
Innovation Project	Wonderful Wizards	34455
Robot Design	Ultimate Flopping Caterpillars	23765
Robot Performance	Brobdingnagian Builders	30966
Rising All-Star	LEGO Invasion	45284
Champion’s Award	The Master Builders	20540

]]> https://ortop.org/fllchallenge/2021-intel-oregon-first-lego-league-state-championship-results/feed/ 0 7465 https://ortop.org/uncategorized/2021-ftc-qualifying-tournament-results/ https://ortop.org/uncategorized/2021-ftc-qualifying-tournament-results/#respond Tue, 20 Apr 2021 19:38:30 +0000 https://ortop.org/?p=7448 Since March, Oregon FIRST Tech Challenge teams have been competing in remote league tournaments where they would run matches and see who got the highest score in their league. There were six leagues based on the competing team’s location in the state of Oregon with a few teams deciding to compete from outside of Oregon. On April 17th FTC teams came together to compete in three separate qualifying tournaments with around half of the teams from this season moving onto the State Championships which will be held virtually on May 1st. 

During the remote tournament teams, ran robot matches and uploaded scores to the FIRST scoring system and met with judges to discuss their robot, how the teams gain sponsors and mentors, along with any outreach and/or charity initiatives they manage. Below you can find the summary of the winners in each qualifying tournament or you can watch the awards ceremony on our YouTube page. 

Leagues A and B Winners

Leagues C and D Winners

Leagues E and F Winners

Advancements

]]> https://ortop.org/uncategorized/2021-ftc-qualifying-tournament-results/feed/ 0 7448 https://ortop.org/fllchallenge/2021-fll-qualifying-tournament-results/ https://ortop.org/fllchallenge/2021-fll-qualifying-tournament-results/#respond Tue, 20 Apr 2021 19:00:58 +0000 https://ortop.org/?p=7446 Competitions looked different this year as we utilized various technology to ensure teams could participate in remote events. Teams brought their A-game while playing this year’s game RePlay which is part of the GAMECHANGERS powered by Star Wars Force for Change season. While most teams competed on April 10th, some presented their innovation project on April 3rd for the Global Innovation Award. This award is optional for teams to compete for, however, we advanced two teams for the award, which they will now compete against FIRST Lego League nominees from other states and countries in mid-June.

For the competition on April 10th, teams uploaded videos of their robots running matches prior to the event. The day of, teams met with judges through zoom and discussed their robot, how their team functioned, and what real-world problem they learned about this year that fit into the overall theme of sports. Teams were split up into four divisions; Archery, Baseball, Curling, and Diving which was location-based.

Teams learned who won each award Sunday, April 11th. They also found out who was selected to move onto the Intel Oregon FIRST Lego League State Championships which will take place Saturday, April 24th.

You can see the award winners, teams advancing to the Intel Oregon FIRST Lego League State Championships, and the Global Innovation Award below or you can watch the award ceremony on our youtube channel.

Award Winners

Advancing to State

Global Innovation Award Nominees

34002 – Fitbots
51996 – Nuclear Gummy Bears

Congrats to the teams who have been participating in our league meets! Competitions would not be the same without each of you and we are excited to see you all compete in the league meets. Saturday, April 17th is an important day to mark on your calendars but because of the Remote Event format, some elements of the competition will happen BEFORE that day. Below are key dates your team needs to know to be successful. Reminder: You can access this document and any others that have been sent out on our blog. We have a few reminders as we head into this event.

Key dates:

• April 12th @ 5:00 pm – Deadline to submit:
  • All Team members added to your team profile on the FIRST Dashboard
  • Consent and Release forms must be completed
  • Team Roster submitted via Dropbox
  • Team Judging Information Form submitted with Zoom Accounts (email addresses) for each Team member attending the judging session via Dropbox
  • Judging documents must be submitted to FSS
• April 15th @ 7:00 pm Coaches Meeting (This is not required. It will be a Q&A format that will be recorded and uploaded to the ORTOP YouTube channel.)
• April 17th @ 5:00 pm – Deadline to submit Robot Game Runs
• April 17th – Opening Ceremony and Judging
• April 18th –  Closing Ceremony and Award Determinations Announced

Helpful links

• Discord
• Sign up for a free Zoom account
  • If your school does not allow Zoom, please email us
• ORTOP’s Youtube Channel (Opening & Closing Ceremonies)
• Required Zoom Registration Form

Additional Reminders to teams:

• Sign up for Discord and make sure you follow the instructions in #react-for-roles to see the FIRST Tech Challenge virtual pit for each league
• All teams are moving on into the League Tournament Events.
• About 50% of teams will be moving onto the State Championships.
• While videos are not required, we would like to show off your work this season! Please submit robot-run videos to your league’s Dropbox folder. These links will be sent to individual teams for upload.

Opening ceremony premieres at 8:30 am

Teams will be able to watch the Opening Ceremony at any point after the premiere; there is no need to watch this live.  It will be posted on the ORTOP YouTube channel.

Judging: Saturday, April 17

• Each Team will be assigned a 30-minute Judging session link, scheduled for sometime between 9:00 am-4:00 pm. Teams should plan to arrive 10 minutes ahead of their scheduled time. 
• Judging sessions will be hosted on Zoom. Sign up for a free Zoom account if you don’t already have one. Your team does not need to be in the same place for judging, but each student or group of students, as well as both coaches, need to have a free Zoom account. For security purposes and to coordinate the judging panels, all participants will need to pre-register for their assigned judging session.
• Each team will receive an individual Zoom link for their judging session by April 12th, 2021, as long as their information has been received by ORTOP.
  • Use this form to provide your team’s zoom accounts to assign your team to a breakout room. This form is due on April 12th along with your Team Roster and videos for the Compass & Promote award in your Dropbox folder. We cannot assign your team members to a session without them being registered ahead of time. 
• Materials required for your judging session should be uploaded via the FIRST Scoring System. All file names should include your Team number. 
• Dean List Interviews: All interviews will be conducted between Sunday, April 11 and Friday, April 23. Semi-Finalists will be contacted directly to set up an interview time. All interviews will be conducted via Zoom. Oregon’s four Dean’s List Finalists will be announced at the FIRST Tech Challenge Oregon State Championships during the Closing Ceremonies on Sunday, May 2.
• You will be receiving a separate email from your session host with your Zoom link and your team DropBox folder link.  This email will also include your judging time for April 17th. If you don’t see an email please contact your host and they will resend your links.
  • League Tournament A&B – Debbie Kerr will be your session host. debbie-kerr@ortop.org 
  • League Tournament C&D — Sonali Shivdasani will be your session host. sonali-shivdasani@ortop.org
  • League Tournament E&F – David Perry will be your session host. david-perry@ortop.org 

Closing Ceremony: Sunday April 18th @ 5:00 pm

• All of the teams who competed in their League Tournament will be recognized for their efforts at a Closing Ceremony on Sunday, April 18th @ 5 pm. This event will be live-streamed on ORTOP’s Youtube Channel and can be watched by anyone with internet access. Share this link with your families and friends!!
• The award winners for all tournaments of judged awards will be announced during a single closing ceremony. This recording will be time-stamped so you can reference specific awards and acknowledgments. We also hope to show a highlight reel of some of our favorite Robot Game videos.
• Advancements to the Oregon FIRST Tech Challenge State Championship will be announced at the end of the Closing Ceremony from the League Tournaments.

A few important things for our upcoming competitions:

• Teams are invited to send one representative to the Coach meeting on April 1st in preparation for the April 10th tournaments. Our referee and judging team will be available to answer questions from our teams at that time. You can pre-register to attend this meeting. This meeting will be recorded and posted on our YouTube channel for teams who were unable to attend.
• Judge material submission deadline is April 3rd. We want to give teams a chance to have any last-minute questions answered during the Coach’s meeting.
• For teams invited to State Championships, the Coach’s meeting will be held April 15th @ 6 pm, prior to the State Championship judge material deadline, for coaches to ask questions from our Head Judge and Referee. Half our teams will be moving on so add this date to your calendar! Here is the link to register.

Teams and Volunteers,

Thank you for helping us test the Remote Hub this past weekend. We appreciate all of the feedback you provided and the effort FIRST put into developing it. However, during our test, we found too many issues with the Remote Hub to make it usable for tournaments of our scale. We have decided to utilize our “Plan B” instead of having teams and volunteers use the Remote Hub. 

Plan B is to handle all uploads, including your Robot Game video and any materials for judging, through Dropbox. Each Team will receive a unique link for uploading; no Dropbox account is required. If you have already submitted any official Robot Game videos or judging materials to the remote hub, please re-upload them to Dropbox when you receive the link. You do NOT need to re-upload your roster or Judging Info sheet if you already provided it. Judging Sessions will still be handled through Zoom. We will send your team-specific time slot via email instead of through the Remote Hub.

• Video Recording Rules (updated!) 
• Table Setup Checklist (This will help make sure your Robot Game Table is set properly before you film your run)
• Robot Design Judging Worksheet (Optional-This useful worksheet will help your team prepare for Robot Design Judging)

Frequently Asked Questions