Spectrum 3847 Blog

Day 2: Full STEAM ahead

2017-01-08T23:57:00.002-06:00

Robot Design is Beginning

We started brainstorming designs and working through solutions to our strategy goals. A bunch of sketches were done today for various parts of our robot design. There is a ton of things to in this game and it's going to be a lot of fun. We moved a few of prototypes into 3D as well but they are still a work in progress. We should be getting our first shooter and drive train models finished up over the next couple days.

Completed Loading Station

We had a group of students working on field construction today and finished this awesome loading station. We also have started the team version of the Lift and a mock version of the real lift as well. If you are going for the gears you may want to try building a moving version of the lift. We think building a version of the lift that is able to be activated will be a big help to teams and it's not a very complicated part.

Tip of the Day:

The loading stations are going to be asymetrical for wide robots. Keep this in mind especially when loading gears into your robot.

- Spectrum

“Random Results are the Result of Random Procedures” Geoffe Portes

Day 1: STEAMworks has arrived

2017-01-08T02:47:00.002-06:00

After months of anticipation the 2017 FRC game is finally here. Check out the video below.

Today we accomplished the most important task of the season. We read and understood the game manual. This is a critical task for anyone involved with FRC. If you haven't sat down and one this please do it, you will have a far better understanding of your next 4 weeks.

Things we noticed

- Bumpers are part of your robot volume. This is critical that all teams know this rule. Read G04 and R03 very carefully. Bumpers are not however part of your frame perimeter. You do have to start in frame perimeter but you don't have to stay that way. So extending over your bumpers is totally cool as long you don't break the total volume.

- Bumpers can be touching the ground this year. We assume this is show the balls aren't traveling under teams bumpers but just know your bumpers will be getting nice and low this year.

- The field is asymmetric when you are Red the boiler is on your right, when you are blue the boiler is on your left. This changes everything for your auton modes and for your driver practice.

- You have to a score on the goals nearest your alliance station. This means you are shooting at the goals while your robot is practically facing your drivers. It will be much harder to align this way since you can't just use an aiming light and aim front across the field. Camera streams back to the driver station and vision processing will be much more important.

- There are big points available in auton. If you can get to a hopper and load your robot, it's possible for your to score 60+ kPa just in autonomous mode. This is enough for your to get the ranking point for building enough pressure. A simple gear hang in Autonomous is gives your alliance 20 more points then the same action if performed by the drivers in teleop.

- Speaking of Auton at the highest level of game play this game could be amazing. With only 5 hoppers on the field and 6 robots, if everyone wants to try to autonomously get a nice large load of 50+ fuel at least two teams will be racing towards the center hopper to see who can get away with the most fuel balls. Autonomous interaction in the neutral could become a very interesting part of the game at higher levels of play.

- The gears are a game of diminishing returns. Your first gear is 40 points, then 2 gears is 40 points, then 4 gear, and then finally it takes 6 gears. It pays to do a few gears a match but very quickly the rewards stop paying out if you aren't going to be able to get all 4 rotors spinning. You might want to focus on ball scores after the first few gears. Also the first one is freebie right after auto ends so it's really your first 2 gears scored that have the highest payoff. This gets a lot more complicated in the playoffs.

- There are two different games being played in Qualifications and Playoffs. In Qualifications it's far easier to score 40 kPa and get your additional ranking point then it is to secure 12 gears in the air ship. In the playoffs if you work with your alliance securing 12 gears is far more valuable to the end score then the 40kPa pressure goal you will covet in the qualification rounds.

- Event Finals no longer can end in a Tie. Any finals tie will be replayed up to three times before going to tie breakers.

- The 2nd sort for rankings after Ranking points is cumulative match points. This has been auton points in the past and a few other things but this year you want to score as many points as you can in every match to break the tie with anyone who has the same ranking points.

Rest of the Season
We are planning to still post nightly updates like we have in the past but they may be shorter except for our Tuesday night updates where we will combine a lot of our progress from the previous week, videos, tests, etc.

check_in
Also be sure to check to check us out on the new RSN show check_in every Tuesday at 6 PM CT.

This is the Year
Fantastic Chiefdelphi post from 2005 but still rings true today.
https://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40933

- Spectrum

"Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure." - George Edward Woodberry

Dialing Back the Server Turbine

2017-01-07T22:50:00.003-06:00

Backstory

We recently outfitted room 3103C (our side room/kitchen/overflow) with the rolling A/V rack we use for events, and a 2U dual-Xeon server for storage and possibly for rendering some new content for the season. To supplement this computer setup we added a shelf to the room that doubles as a desk and storage for assorted A/V supplies (projector screens, tripods, speakers, etc.).

The Problem

While both computers were running without a hitch and the shelves had decidedly not fallen while in use, there was one small problem: the sheer size and quality (not PWM or static pressure optimized) of fans used to cool the components produced a sound comparable to a small turbine, making any communication with persons outside of the room near impossible and generally being a nuisance.

Of the five total fans present in the case: three were an easy solution. The two 80x38mm fans used to cool the CPUs and the one directed over the RAM and PCIe slots were replaced with specimens of approximately one-half the thickness. This, however, turned out to be only part of the problem, as the 40mm fan in the PSU, which turned out to be two fans back-to-back, continued to produce a significant roar.

Some initial investigation revealed a few important details about these fans:

It would be difficult, if not impossible to separate them from each other without permanently damaging their housings.
The PSU would shut down if one or both fans were forcible stopped, and would not start if one were wholly unplugged.

These made it impossible to simply remove or unplug one fan. So a slightly more roundabout solution was conceived. Amidst much debate over whether or not the PSU's controller was also smart enough to kill power if it sensed the fan spinning but not being powered, we opted to test this fact, arriving at the conclusion that no, the controller did not care if there was power to the fan header or not so long as the signal pin told it the fan was moving.

The Solution

With this newfound insight into the inner machinations of our PSU's controller, we stripped off a length of insulation from one fan header's wire and spliced on a jumper cable from a hobby electronics kit. The female head on the cable had to be taken down to size a little bit, but it managed to hold itself together with a little help from some electrician's tape and didn't short anything out when we turned it on. The PSU, having been tricked into thinking both fans were running, turned on and functioned properly, and with a significantly less tumultuous sound to boot.

2017 FRC Season Starts Today

2017-01-07T07:46:00.001-06:00

season starts today

View this email in your browser

Season Kickoff is today at 9:30CT

Watch live here:
http://ift.tt/2i1MVDo

Videos of the game challenge will be posted here after the kickoff
https://www.youtube.com/user/FRCTeamsGlobal

We start strategy and design at Noon

We will be at the school at noon to start strategy and design for the game. Stop by if you want to see how we are going.

2017 Events - Save the Dates

Dallas Scrimmage - Feb 17-18th
Hub City Regional (Lubbock) - Mar 1st-5th
Lone Star Central (Strake Jesuit Gyms) - Mar 15-18th
Alamo Regional (San Antonio) - Apr 5th - 9th
FIRST Championship Houston (GRB Convention Center) - Apr 19th-22nd

check_in

We will be a part of a new live web show every Tuesday for the first 7 weeks of the season starting Jan 10th. More information can be found here.
http://ift.tt/2hlvgpO

Remember to follow us on media

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Blog = Blog.spectrum3847.org
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Copyright © 2017 Spectrum, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:

Spectrum

9000 Bellaire Blvd

Houston, TX 77036

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Copyright © 2017 Spectrum, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:

Spectrum

9000 Bellaire Blvd

Houston, TX 77036

Add us to your address book

unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences

from Spectrum Archive Feed http://ift.tt/2iN7TKh

Pre-season Meeting 2017 Presentation

2017-01-03T21:40:00.001-06:00

Updated CAD Library

2016-12-30T18:38:00.000-06:00

We've updated our CAD Library that we published last year with new models from VEXpro, AndyMark, REV Robotics and more.

Also included now are Solidworks sketch blocks created by team 4183 (Bit Buckets), and Versaplanetaries that have almost every configuration you could want created by Kevin Ainsworth of Pwnage FRC#2451.

CAD.Spectrum3847.org will take you to our Grabcad Partnerspace

The github version of the library is located here.
https://github.com/Spectrum3847/Spectrum-CAD-Library

Let us know if there are models that you want added or how we can improve the library.

- Spectrum

2016 Texas FRC Mentor Workshop Videos

2016-12-27T23:24:00.001-06:00

This is from a few months ago but we finally have the video posted to Youtube. This is over 11 hours of content but if you are a new mentor there is a lot of great information in here.

- Spectrum

Spectrum Pre-Season Update

2016-12-27T16:46:00.001-06:00

FLL, Jr. FLL, Build Season

View this email in your browser

Spectrum Pre-season Meeting Parents & Students Jan 3rd - 5:00 PM

We will be having our Pre-season Meeting on Jan 3rd at 5:00PM. Parents and Students should attend. We will talk about the season, expectations, etc. We will discuss meals, tentative event plans, and more. Please plan on attending.

RSVP Here

Alumni Meetup - Jan 1st

We will be meeting for dinner with any Alumni that are interested on Jan 1st at 6pm. Sign up here if you are able to come.

RSVP Here - http://ift.tt/2iBjX1T

2017 Events - Save the Dates

FRC Kickoff - Jan 7th
Dallas Scrimmage - Feb 17-18th
Hub City Regional (Lubbock) - Mar 1st-5th
Lone Star Central (Strake Jesuit Gyms) - Mar 15-18th
Alamo Regional (San Antonio) - Apr 5th - 9th
FIRST Championship Houston (GRB Convention Center) - Apr 19th-22nd

check_in

We will be a part of a new live web show every Tuesday for the first 7 weeks of the season starting Jan 10th. More information can be found here.
http://ift.tt/2hlvgpO

New Website

Our website has been updated to make it more useful. Please visit and see what you think. It should be easier to direct people here if they are interested in starting a team at a school or volunteerng at events.

www.spectrum3847.org

Fall Recap

Winners 2016 The Remix FRC Off-season Event - Photos
NRG FIRST Football Showcase - Photos
Canstruction 2016 - Donated 3,000 Cans - Photos
FIRST Lego League Qualifier - Photos
Volunteering - Photos

Copyright © 2016 Spectrum, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:

Spectrum

9000 Bellaire Blvd

Houston, TX 77036

Add us to your address book

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from Spectrum Archive Feed http://ift.tt/2iBox0b

Illuminations 2016: Rookie Resource Guide

2016-12-18T19:11:00.001-06:00

Are you new to FRC, you probably have a lot of questions. Illuminations is here to help you get up to speed in FRC.

Here is the 2016 updated version of Illuminations

Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Developing your Brand
3. Communication
4. Build Season Tips
5. Post-Bag Pre-Regional
6. How to Get Picked for Eliminations
7. Texas Specific FRC Information
8. Other Advice
9. Resources Guide
10. FAQ
Appendix A: Spectrum Pit Design Guide
Appendix B: Team Tool List

- Spectrum

Woodie Flowers: The Father of Competitive Robotics

2016-12-13T02:16:00.003-06:00

Woodie Flowers is the co-founder of the FIRST Robotics Competition. His contributions to educational competitive robotics is remarkable. In his MIT Course 2.70, he developed a way to inspire students to work extremely hard, use engineering principles, compete like crazy, and work together with even their opponents. This model is used in nearly all of modern educational robotics competitions today, not just FIRST.

Please watch the videos below to learn more about Woodie Flowers, his course, and his legacy on competitive robotics.

Here is another good video about the course as well.

Here are a couple other great videos about the 2.70 course.

Without Woodie Flowers non of the robotics programs that we have today would ever be possible. Many of the foundational things that we take for granted like gracious professionalism, limited build time, novel challenges each year, etc all were developed under his guidance.

Thank you Professor Flowers for all your work and inspiring so many students,

Spectrum

Spectrum 2016 FLL Qualifier

2016-12-06T19:43:00.002-06:00

Our 2016 Spectrum FLL Qualifier Tournament was held Dec 3rd in the Strake Jesuit Dinning Hall.

Photos, videos and the results can be found below.

Photo Gallery

Spectrum FLL Photo Gallery

Video Archive

Live Stream Archive

Event Results

Award Scripts
Robot Scores Webpage

Thank you to all our wonderful Volunteers!

We hope to see all the team back next year for our 2017 event.

- Spectrum

Competitive Robotics: It's More Than Robots

2016-12-05T03:58:00.004-06:00

Our mentor Allen Gregory gave a talk at the 2016 Houston Mini Maker Faire about why Competitive Robotics is one the best programs for students and what the students get from it. The audio and slides from the presentation is now posted to our YouTube channel and you can watch it below.

- Spectrum

Space City Vex & Houston Renfest

2016-11-22T18:53:00.003-06:00

We spent this past weekend at two events. On Saturday we were at Space City Vex helping out our friends the Robonauts FRC#118 with their VEX tournament. 11 of our members volunteered as refrees and field reset.

Our head coach received the volunteer of the year award for being the Head Referee of the tournament.

Sunday we did some team bonding at the Houston Renfest.

Lots of STEAMworks related items at Renfest, including this store.

We'll be off for Thanksgiving break, but we have our FLL qualifier on Dec 3rd and lots of preparation are underway for that.

- Spectrum

"Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon." - Susan Ertz

Houston Mini Maker Faire and Spacecom 2016

2016-11-18T19:56:00.004-06:00

This past weekend we took the Stronghold field to George R. Brown Convention Center for a two very special events.

Houston Mini Maker Faire

First was the Houston Mini Maker Faire, celebrating makers and DIY experts in a variety of areas.
Full Maker Faire Gallery can be found here: 2016 Houston Mini Maker Faire

Spacecom

Our second event of the week was the 2nd Annual Spacecom Expo. This is a very exciting event for the space industry. NASA and many of the other organizations and companies that looking to commercialize space flight were on hand. We were able to speak to many engineers that are working to make space the next big industry. We even got to speak with Astronaut Josh Cassada about FRC.

The entire Spacecom Gallery can be found here: Spacecom 2016

In all over 5,000 people saw our FRC robots over the past week. Many were able to drive them, speak to our students and get a better understanding of FIRST's mission to change the culture.

- Spectrum

This Isn't a Robot

2016-11-17T08:16:00.004-06:00

Fantastic video about FIRST Robotics!

- Spectrum

Greg McKaskle - This Is How I Work

2016-11-11T08:43:00.001-06:00

This week’s How I Work focuses on Greg McKaskle, a FIRST mentor of not only 2468 Team Appreciate, but also a FLL and a FLL Jr team. Greg began his involvement in FIRST through his work with LEGO which eventually led him into FRC where he has gained many years of experience mentoring 2468. Greg tells many interesting stories and advice about robotics in his article so be sure to read more to get some more insight on how he does what he does!

[Responses from October 11, 2016]

Name: Greg McKaskle

CD Username: Greg McKaskle

Current Gig/Job: Chief SW Architect-Education Focus, National Instruments

Alma Mater/Degree: Texas A&M, BS in Computer Science, EE minor

Current Team(s): 2468 - Team Appreciate, Club Oreo (FLL), Blue-Jay-Bots (FLL Jr)

Former Team(s):

Location: Austin, TX

Hobbies: SCUBA diving, wood working, raising kids

What inspired you to do what you do? Tell us a story.

I’ve always enjoyed technical diagrams and illustrations. Chilton manuals showing how a brake assembly goes together, a Popular Science article showing the subsystems of the space shuttle -- those were like a candy bar for my brain. My math and science teachers were also willing to feed me more material. Don’t be afraid to ask your teachers for more.

What is your day job, and how’d you get there?

National Instruments was just a few hundred people when I joined, so the president and other owners also performed interviews. It was very cool, because I could see that they were smart, energetic, and hard-working. I felt at home. We were writing software for Macintosh, Windows, and UNIX, all at the same time. There was a lot of work and a great group of smart people to do it with. I’ve always enjoyed talking to our customers, learning about their research or how they tested some product. Time flies when you’re having fun, and I’ve been at NI for over 25 years, providing tools that help to measure and control things in the real world.

I’ve held a number of roles over the years, but in 2004 I was given the opportunity to work on educational products with LEGO. It was a new challenge because you really need to be aware of who will use the product in what setting. You need to understand their goals and understand how to motivate them to take on a challenge. I was the technical lead, but I worked closely with designers and researchers. This naturally led to involvement in FIRST programs and eventually FRC. In my current role, I spend the majority of my time focusing on the design of the software that will allow the user to be more productive. I still review architecture and write code, but it isn’t my primary responsibility.

What is your favorite story to tell about robotics?

For the 2008 championship we needed a robot to demonstrate the cRIO control system. About a dozen people received project time to build NItro, a three-wheeled kiwi with an air cannon. I was only involved at a high level to make sure it came together. A few days before we were to ship, I reviewed the software to find that things weren’t well integrated. Everyone’s code was in their own project -- there was no flow, no coordinating panel, etc. I had a fishing/camping trip planned for the weekend, but signed up to do the integration and UI work. I picked up an inverter from Frys, packed the camping gear, kids, and laptop and went to the lake. The weekend went sorta like this -- wake up early, start campfire, write code, put water on to boil, write code, coffee, code, repeat a few times. Later in the day it was -- bait hook for kids, write code, clean fish, write code, fry fish, write code, … hand washing inserted as appropriate.

By Monday there was an editor for defining waypoints, a fancy display of controller inputs, wheel speeds, video feed, etc, just in time for the celebratory gathering where the robot showed its dog-n-pony tricks. Part of the celebration was a platter of breakfast tacos placed on a table near the wall. A new driver took the controls and immediately drove the robot into the table, dumping a large bowl of salsa into the robot. Chunks of tomato and onion were flying out of the custom CAN motor controllers, the cRIO looked like a fiesta bowl, and lots of engineers turned very pale.

The electronics were taken apart, some elements went into the sink, others went to the board wash machine. A few of us worked through the night, and 24 hours later, the robot was going again with much better safety, without driving lag, and was soon on a truck to Atlanta. No food near the robot.

What's your favorite robot that you didn't help build?

I have been impressed with many of the 1986 robots. Cool team, cool designs, and they deliver the autonomous points.

What apps/software/tools can't you live without? (Work/Robotics/Home)

I use Sketchup quite a bit -- for furniture design, landscaping, and basic 3D sketching. I use Keynote for slides and 2D work. I fell in love with Painter when it was by Fractal Design. It is not as robust these days, but I still love using it. And of course I write a ton of stuff in LabVIEW, Mac and Windows versions, and my go to dev tool is XCode.

What's your workspace setup like? (Work/Robotics/Home)

My primary computer is a MacBook Pro. It is pretty loaded and runs Windows on Parallels. I often have twenty apps open. I do lots of work away from my desk, but here is a photo of that.

What do you listen to while you work?

Long periods of listening to nothing, then I binge on stuff. Lately, Brown Sabbath, Reckless Kelly, and Sia.

What’s your schedule like during build season?

I think it is important to balance shop and family time. So sometimes my kids are at the shop on Saturday or for an afternoon. I probably spend between six and twenty hours on a given week. I stay in touch in between visits, reviewing code and answering questions via email, etc.

What everyday thing are you better at than anyone else?

Modesty. Next question please.

What's the best advice you've ever received?

Our CEO, Dr T, is retiring this year, and to paraphrase him -- Know where you want to go, start from where you are.

What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

I’m pretty fond of coffee I guess.

Fill in the blank. I'd love to see _ Joe Ross__ answer these same questions.

Anything else you want people to know about you?

I’m not into the robots that much. I do FIRST because of the impact I believe it makes to future generations.

“Make it work” -- Tim Gunn

Canstruction and Barnes&Noble Mini Maker Faire 2016

2016-11-07T22:17:00.001-06:00

Press releases from this weekends events.

Canstruction

Spectrum 3847, St. Agnes Academy & Strake Jesuit Preparatory students, use their engineering design skills to combat hunger at the CANstruction Houston Design Build Competition benefiting the Houston Food Bank

(Houston, TX) Spectrum 3847 took on the challenge of building a structure made of 3,000 cans on Saturday, November 5th. The fun event showcased 32 design and high school teams’ colossal structures made out of full cans of food which will be donated to the Houston Food Bank.

“It was so rewarding for Spectrum 3847 students to participate in this unique design competition to help end hunger. The students designed their CANsculptures with an engineering software called Solidworks. This is the same software the team uses to build their FIRST FRC robot. The teens constructed “Hunger is no imaginary” featuring the famous duo Calvin and Hobbes. They took what they learned in the classroom and applied it to real life. Fred Wilson, Jr. from Wallace Garcia Wilson Architects, Inc sponsored the team.” said Spectrum 3847 Engineering Coach/Mentor Allen Gregory IV. “This is our fifth year participating in CANstruction. We have donated over 15,000 cans to the Houston Food Bank. It helps provide meals for the holiday season.”

Photographer: Suanne Bouvier

More Photos are located on our smugmug page: https://spectrum3847.smugmug.com/CANstruction/CANstruction-2016/

Barnes and Noble Mini Maker Faire

We were also at the Barnes and Noble Mini Maker Faire this weekend as well.

Spectrum 3847 inspires young children and their families at the Barnes & Noble Mini Maker Faire

(Houston, TX) On Saturday, November 5th Spectrum 3847 engineering high school students showcased their FRC robot at the annual Barnes & Noble Mini Maker Faire. Children had an opportunity to talk to the teens about the robot, learn about FIRST, and get excited about their potential in science, technology, engineering and math.

The Mini Maker Faire at Barnes & Noble brought together tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, engineers, science club members, students, entrepreneurs, hobbyists and Makers of all kinds to learn from each other, get craft ideas and science fair project ideas, hear the experts, and work on projects.

Photographer: Suanne Bouvier

More Photos on our smugmug: https://spectrum3847.smugmug.com/Demonstrations/2016-Barnes-Noble-Mini-Maker-F/

Katie Widen - This Is How I Work

2016-10-26T15:25:00.001-05:00

In this week’s How I Work, we’re delving into the life of a Katie Widen a former student of 1675 who is also the Co-founder and former mentor of 3928. Katie is currently working as a Software Engineer at VEX Robotics while mentoring 1296 and training to be an FTA. Katie tells interesting stories about her time on her team and the different things she has learned through her many years in robotics. Read more to know more about Katie and her experiences to become the amazing mentor she is now!

[Responses from September 28, 2016]

Name: Katie Widen

CD Username: Katie_UPS

Current Gig/Job: Software Engineer at VEX Robotics

Alma Mater/Degree: Iowa State University - BS in Computer Engineering

Current Team(s): 1296 - Full Metal Jackets

Former Team(s): 1675 - The Ultimate Protection Squad (student), 3928 - Team Neutrino (mentor and co-founder)

Location: Greenville, TX

Hobbies: Rock climbing, sewing, ukulele, painting, and playing with my dog

What inspired you to do what you do? Tell us a story.

Unlike many kids who join FRC, I had no intentions of becoming an engineer: I was going to be a journalist or a psychologist. I joined 1675 (UPS) because my siblings did it and I wanted to animate/write but quickly was whisked into welding and building. When I was 15 I went to Boston with my mom and visited the MIT Museum of Science. I got to interact with these very delicate and precise kinetic sculptures that combined engineering and art. There and then, I decided I wanted to be an engineer. Because of all my work building and designing with 1675, I figured I would be a mechanical engineer. It wasn’t until college when I took a programming class on a whim that I determined I wanted to be a computer engineer.

By my sophomore year of college, I got hired as a Teaching Assistant and ran hands-on programming labs where students applied what they learned in lecture to write functioning code. I had to answer questions, reteach concepts, and started running review sessions for additional help. I loved that job so much I almost switched to teaching, but instead decided I wanted my engineering work to apply to education (a large part of how I ended up at VEX).

What is your day job, and how’d you get there?
I write firmware for VEX Robotics, which is to say I write code that enables student’s programs to turn motors and read sensors.

I had a friend working here who encouraged me to apply for an internship. I received an offer but declined it because I wanted to try working at one of the big programming companies. While that was an interesting experience, I wasn’t really interested of the type of work I was doing and the company’s values didn’t resonate with me.

I applied again to VEX because I wanted to work somewhere that was making products with social impact and for the educational sphere. I interned the summer before my last semester at Iowa State and created an automated tool for testing firmware updates. During my time there, I got an offer for a full time position that I later accepted. I’ve been a full time employee since February of 2016.

What is your favorite story to tell about robotics?
When Neutrinos (3928) was a rookie team:

First: Our team name was almost “i.” Not “Team i” or even a capitol “I,” just lowercase “i.” The next day we came back to the shop and all agreed that we should pick a different name.

Second: This was 2012 when part of the game involved balancing on a bridge with other robots and we were looking for the easiest way to balance with other teams. The Q&A said the plastic ball deflectors under the bridge counted as bridge, so we set out to build a 7 in’ tall robot that could fit between the ramp and plastic and also shoot high goals. This was incredibly difficult, but we went at it anyways.

During Week 5, the Q&A deemed our strategy illegal. The shooting part of the robot didn’t work that well anyways so we decided to do a major rebuild. Our students bagged a belly pan, bumpers, and some wheels and then completed Build Season Round II: Withholding Allowance Edition, where we completely rebuilt our ball grabbing and shooting mechanisms to be under 30 pounds before our regional (where we seeded 5th).

What's your favorite robot that you didn't help build?
Simbotics (1114) 2008: This is probably one of the most popular answers to this question, but that robot was seriously incredible. I was a rookie that year and we played against Simbotics at our first regional. My team bit off more than we could chew and ended up with a drive base and a non-functioning telescoping elevator. In contrast, there was Simbot SS: a beautiful machine that played the game with ease at our week 1 regional. I was in awe of this dominating robot and saw the potential of what could be built. My team’s alliance somehow beat them in a qualification match but they went on to win the event and worlds that year.

I also have to give some love to Winnovation’s (1625) robots from 2008-2011. They liked to do a lot of crazy things (6-wheel swerve drive, anyone?) without a lot of technical mentors or excessive resources. My high school team was always fond of them: we loved that you could see holes in the wrong places (evidence of lots of student involvement) and how they proved you could succeed with the right attitude and hard work.

What apps/software/tools can't you live without? (Work/Robotics/Home)
My short-term memory is pretty terrible, so I live off of to-do lists for work and home, and I really like Trello for this. I use the app, the web version... I even have some email filters set up so I can email myself items to add to cards. In a similar vein I use a lot of sticky notes, both virtual on my desktop and physical on my desk.

I also use google calendar pretty heavily to keep track of my time and prevent over scheduling. I used to block out what I was doing every hour in college/high school to get my homework and projects done on time, but now it’s just to make sure robotics doesn’t overlap with vet appointments and to remember when Battlebots is on.

What's your workspace setup like? (Work/Robotics/Home)
My work desk is very messy, as a side effect of the type of work I do. Because my job involves programming various microprocessors, I currently have 6 different boards on my desk and associated wires to power/program/debug. I use three monitors, typically one with code, one with my communication (email, slack), and another one with whatever reference material I need. On top of all that, I have a power supply, oscilloscope, headphones, and a cup of tea.

For home, I like to sit on my couch with my feet up. I don’t do much productive work at home, unless it’s sewing - where I use a basic Singer sewing machine on whatever surface I can find (typically my kitchen table).

For robotics, 1296 has a really neat build space inside an industrial building. The whole shop used to be just for us (and the owners who worked out of some offices) but it very recently has been turned into a Makerspace, which will be an interesting dynamic for the team. The best part of the makerspace -for me- is that it partially enabled/encouraged our team to acquire an in-house welding set up.

You’ll most often find me in the welding booth during build season. Other welders know that safety and prep are the most important parts of welding, so most of the set-up revolves around that. I keep lots of wire brushes (clean surfaces make better welds) and a grinding wheel for electrodes (they need to be sharpened like pencils), and everyone in the booth with me is wearing protective gear (jackets, gloves) and welding masks so no one goes blind. I run a tight ship when welding is involved because the risk for injury is so high, and I train team welders to do the same. I can never remember which welders I’ve used: as long as it’s TIG and functioning, I don’t really care.

What do you listen to while you work?
Lately I’ve been really into the soundtrack from Guardians of the Galaxy, but typically I like to listen to a lot of electronic music, namely house, to get my energy up and keep my focused. If I’m in a more mellow mood I listen to a lot of instrumental/orchestral music. However, I’ve been known to listen to one song on repeat for hours if I really need to zone in which can be anything from pop (“Chandelier” by Sia) to house (“Hey Hey Hey” by Thomas Jack) to acapella (anything by Pentatonix), or even video game music (“Rainbow Road” from Mario Kart 64).

What everyday thing are you better at than anyone else?
I’m pretty good at noticing when someone gets a haircut. Not amazing, but pretty good.

What's the best advice you've ever received?

“Always ask questions.” The first time I vividly remember receiving this advice was at a performance review in an internship, where despite asking lots of questions, they thought I wasn’t asking enough. Since then, I realized asking questions has led me to a lot of opportunities and knowledge that I would’ve had otherwise (and helps with grades, you learn more when you ask questions).

I think it’s important to ask how and why about everything... and not just in an academic sense. I think people worry that asking questions/asking for help makes them look dumb, but it doesn’t - and struggling for no reason other than not wanting to look dumb is way worse. Additionally, I’ve noticed most people genuinely tend to enjoy answering questions and sharing their knowledge. This ties nicely with one of my favorite mottos: “If you’re the smartest person in the room then you’re in the wrong room.”

What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

I love watching teen dramas on Netflix. I’m in the middle of Switched at Birth and just started Secret Life of the American Teenager. I hear Pretty Little Liars is good, so I might add that to the list.

Fill in the blank. I'd love to see Renee Becker - The Executive Director of IndianaFIRST answer these same questions.

Anything else you want people to know about you?

I’m training to be an FTA - a process that has led me to a lot of different places and meeting a lot of different people. Big thanks so some folks in Indiana who helped start my journey and to Iowa FTC for giving me a place to grow and learn. The volunteer group in Texas has also been pretty awesome in welcoming me and providing opportunities, and my employer has been very supportive of this endeavor.

Outside of robotics (and everyone should have a life outside of robotics), I make a lot of quilts, climb indoor (and occasionally outdoor) rock walls, and tell a lot of dad jokes.

"I have not failed. I've just found 10000 ways that won't work." - Thomas A. Edison

Jonathan Bryant - This Is How I Work

2016-10-07T17:02:00.000-05:00

In this week’s How I Work, we are going to look a little bit into the life of a familiar face from FIRST HQ. You might remember him as the guy who says “Bring out the dead!” in the FRC Stronghold Game reveal: Jonathan Bryant. When Jonathan joined FRC, he instantly became mesmerized by the regional atmosphere and years later became a FRC Kit of Parts Engineer. In this article, you can find out more about the amazing stories and advice Jonathan has to offer!

[Responses from September 21, 2016]

Name: Jonathan Bryant (JB)

CD Username: JB

Current Gig/Job: FRC Kit of Parts Engineer

Alma Mater/Degree: Drexel University BS in Mechanical Engineering

Current Team(s): 238 (2016-present)

Former Team(s): 1403 (2008-2014)

Location: Manchester, NH

Hobbies: Food, video games, sports, robotics, and spending time on the water.

What inspired you to do what you do? Tell us a story.

FIRST_® inspired me to do what I do. I know that sounds cheesy. My technology teacher, Mr. Leicht, convinced me to join the team during my junior year at high school. I will never forget the first time I walked into an official competition, it was the 2008 NJ regional and the game was Overdrive, it was like some kind of high. The buzz in the air, the scale of the competition, the elegance of the machines, I knew I was home. That was the defining moment when I said to myself, okay I want to keep doing this and I want to be an engineer. Without a mentor leading the way for me, I would not be an engineer, I would not be in my dream job working at FIRST, and I would not be trying to give the same experience to the students on the team I mentor.

What is your day job, and how’d you get there?

I work for FIRSTas the FIRST Robotics Competition Kit of Parts Engineer. Being the Kit of Parts engineer is a very interesting job and my roles and responsibilities are always changing, which I love. During the build season I work on team updates, q and a’s, and I also oversee the LRI and RI program here at FIRST. During the competition season I go out to events and FTA as well as LRI. During the off season I get to work on game design, manual development, and most importantly the kit of parts, which includes sourcing parts, logistics planning, testing items, and working with suppliers. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that I get to hang out with amazing people while working.

(apparently I really like making that face)

What is your favorite story to tell about robotics?

I love to tell the story of the buttons that 238 brought to Asheville this year. The whole team is standing outside in the cold waiting for the doors to open for the first day of the competition. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not the most alert person in the wee hours of the morning. Eventually I notice that some of the students are giggling and looking at me. I start to think do I have something on my face? Am I wearing the wrong outfit? What does my hair look like? Eventually I notice a button that one of the students is wearing.

For those of you who don’t get the joke, I am the bring out your dead guy. https://youtu.be/3lBiwIt2Xh8?t=32m27s The entire team was wearing them, mentors, students, parents. It was kind of perfect. The team gave these buttons out at the event so they were everywhere. I would walk around and see my face everywhere it was very funny.

What's your favorite robot that you didn't help build?

Barrage (254-2014) – The detail that went into every aspect of that robot, along with the simplicity and effectiveness of it, was astounding. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication and like all magnificent things, it was very simple. Plus, it was fun to bring some skeleton of it to HQ.

What apps/software/tools can't you live without? (Work/Robotics/Home)

My cell phone. Everything I do is on my Nexus. Recently my phone stopped working for a day while I was traveling and I felt completely lost. I also use google applications extensively for home and robotics. In the robotics lab there is a locked cabinet, that the students do not have access to, with a complete multi tool set and a complete drill set that comes in handy during very stressful times. I really like to walk to and from work while listening to music and my QC35’s allows me to really wind up or shut down. The other tool that we use extensively in the robotics shop is post its. I am a very big fan of tracking progress via post-its. I feel that it really allows people to take ownership of projects while ensuring everything gets done.

What's your workspace setup like? (Work/Robotics/Home)

All my workspaces are basically the same, computer with two big monitors and ample desk space so that I can clutter it up. I am obsessed with my Logitech mx master and have at least one at every workspace.

What do you listen to while you work?

Usually nothing, but when I do it is alternative rock (Blink-182, etc.)

What’s your schedule like during build season?

Work from 0900 to 1800, then robotics with the team from 1800 to 2200ish, Monday to Friday. Saturdays are typically 0900 to 1600 with the team and Sundays are typical down time until about week 4, when the team will meet for a few hours.

What everyday thing are you better at than anyone else?

I do not think I am better than anyone else at some everyday thing. There are almost 7.5 billion people on this planet, it would be absurd to think I am better at something then every one of those 7.5 billion people. Although who knows, maybe I am the best at hitting snooze on my alarm clock.

With that being said I think I excel at handling pressure, dealing with problems, and coordinating chaos.

What's the best advice you've ever received?

The only truly finite resource that we have is time, so ask yourself at the end of every day, did I use my time wisely?

What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

Cooking. The reason it is a guilty pleasure is because I spend way too much time and money on it. I will spend hours researching what I am going to cook, ensuring I have the best possible cooking apparatus, procuring the best possible ingredients, and prepping the meal, all for this short 30-minute experience. Basically every time I cook I try to make it the best meal I have ever had. 9 times out of 10 it is not the best but it is that 1 time that keeps me addicted.

Fill in the blank. I'd love to see Adrienne Emerson 148 answer these same questions.

Anything else you want people to know about you?

I am always available to answer questions, provide feedback, or work through problems with people.

You can contact Jonathan at jbryant@firstinspires.org

“You may delay, but time will not.” - Benjamin Franklin

Versaplanetary Bolts

2016-10-01T17:59:00.000-05:00

As we prepare for the upcoming season we realized we needed more bolts for mounting versaplanetaries and motors. We found most of them from Zoro.com, they often have 15-30% off coupons making buying from them even cheaper. The chart below shows all the bolts we believe we might need when using VPs and 775pros.

Size	Length	Head	Finish	Qty	Price	$/Bolt	Use/Link
Versaplanetary and Motor Mounting Bolts
10-32	1/2	Low	Black Oxide	100	$10.48	$0.10	Mounting to < 1/4"
10-32	3/4	Low	Black Oxide	100	$10.93	$0.11	Mounting to ~1/4"
10-32	1	Low	Black Oxide	50	$8.21	$0.16	Mounting to ~1/2"

Versaplaentary Assembly Bolts
8-32	0.5	Socket	Black Oxide	100	$8.56	$0.09	Motor Plate to VP
8-32	0.875	Socket	Black Oxide	100	$10.23	$0.10	1:1 VP - No Stages
8-32	1.25	Socket	Black Oxide	100	$13.58	$0.14	1 Stage VP
8-32	1.75	Socket	Black Oxide	100	$21.37	$0.21	2 Stage VP
8-32	2.25	Socket	Black Oxide	25	$9.89	$0.40	3 Stage VP
8-32	2.5	Socket	Black Oxide	25	$4.82	$0.19	3 Stage VP
8-32	2.75	Socket	Black Oxide	25	$6.42	$0.26	4 Stage VP

775 pro mounting bolts
M4x0.7	10mm	Socket	Metric Blue	50	$4.33	$0.09	775pro Screws

Versaplaentary Set Screw
10-32	3/16	Set Screw	Alloy Steel	50	$4.76	$0.10	Set Screw

- Spectrum

“Reduction of content can make all the difference in the outcome of a design.” - Josef Muller-Brockmann

Spectrum October News

2016-10-01T10:59:00.001-05:00

Upcoming Events

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Upcoming Events

10/11 - NRG FIRST Football Showcase at NRG Stadium
10/22 - The Remix - Off-season Event - The Woodlands, no hotel stay. Optional Setup Day on Friday we will drive up. Sign Up - http://ift.tt/2dwhUFE
10/29 - Mock Kickoff - Brainstorming Training and Engineering Design Process. - http://ift.tt/2dwjlnR
11/5 - Canstruction - Building a sculpture out of Canned food.
11/5 - Barnes and Noble Maker Faire Demonstration
11/12 - 11/13 - Maker Faire Demo at George R. Brown Sign Up - http://ift.tt/2cTkx7e
11/15-11/17 - SpaceCon Convention Demonstration at George R. Brown
11/19 - Space City VEX Volunteering - Clear Lake - http://ift.tt/2cTlk8e
12/3 - FLL Qualifier - Hosted at Strake Jesuit - Volunteer Sign Up Students and Parents - fllvolunteer.spectrum3847.org

FLL Qualifier - Dec 3rd

We need team members, parents, teachers, and everyone else to volunteer at our FIRST Lego League qualifier on Dec 3rd.

This event is for teams of 4th - 8th grade students to compete in a robotics challenge.

We host the event in the Strake Jesuit Dining Hall and we are in charge of all aspects of the competition.

We especially need judges for the event. You don't need to have any experience or knowledge about robots to help us judges. You should need to enjoy talking to students and helping to promote STEM education.

Please sign up here: fllvolunteer.spectrum3847.org

The Remix, October 22

This is our last off-season event of the 2015 season. It will take place in The Woodlands at College Park High School and is hosted by our friends Texas Torque and CRyptonite.

All students, parents, supporters, etc. are invited to attend this event. It's a fun event and a good introduction to FRC for our new students.

Sign Up: http://ift.tt/2dwhUFE

Mock Kickoff, October 29th

We will be hosting the 2015 FRC Mock Kickoff on Oct. 31 in the Strake Dining Hall. It's a event designed to give students an introduction to the FRC season and engineering design process.

All spectrum team members should plan on attending this event. It will end before 4 P.M. so people can enjoy their Halloween evening.

Sign Up: http://ift.tt/2dwjlnR

FRC Lone Star Central Regional hosted at Strake Jesuit

We are holding the Lone Star Central Regional during spring brake March 15th-18th. Please save the date we want everyone to be there to give our team a home field advantage of cheering fans.

Parents and Supporters
If you would like to help at the event please sign up to volunteer here and we'll pass your information on to the volunteer coordinator for the event.

VOLUNTEER

Social Media

Follow us on social media.
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Smugmug

FRC Season and Competitions

Here is a presentation about the FRC build and competition season. It may give you a bit more insite into what is going to happen during the spring semester.

FRC Season and Competitions

Spectrum

9000 Bellaire Blvd

Houston, TX 77036

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Spectrum AV Case

2016-07-01T21:03:00.001-05:00

We built a new AV Case to help with make running events such as TRI easier. We have attached some photos below and also listed out what's all inside it.

The advantage of this box is much of the system is able to stay wired together between events. The microphones are already connected to the mixer. The PC is setup and ready to connect to the network cameras we use and start the streaming. This should dramatically reduce our setup time at events.

Front of the case (Starting from the top)

Rugged Polyethylene Road Case - 10U

Inexpensive case for all this gear.
If we did it again, we might by the 12U version instead of the 10U

BEHRINGER EURORACK PRO RX1202FX

Allows us to input microphones, music, game sounds, etc and control all the volumes
Doesn't have push button mutes, but it's FX outputs let us easily send the MC and announcer audio to the stream without sending music.

dbx266XL Compressor

Not required but can be useful for adjust microphone audio, etc.
We purchased ours off craigslist, used.

GTD Audio G-787HL UHF Wireless Microphone System

2 handheld, and 2 body microphones
Very good range and quality for the price
We noticed some feedback issues but that happens with more expensive units as well.
These are great upgrades over any cheap system. Battery meters, auto channel selection, and other features make these much nicer to use.

3U drawer for holding microphones, a laptop for music playing, etc
A custom built PC to stream the event with

Core i5-6500 3.2GHz
ASUS H170M-Plus/CSM LGA 1151 mATX Intel Motherboard
16GB 2 x 8GB DDR4-2400 PC4-19200
iStarUSA Server Chassis Cases D-214-MATX
CX Series 850 Watt ATX Modular Power Supply
Samsung 950 PRO Series - 256GB PCIe NVMe
Elgato Game Capture HD60 Pro
Logitech Wireless Keyboard with Mouse Combo

The Drawer

Currently holds the microphones
We also can put a laptop on top of them

The Back of the Case (Starting from the top)

Tripp Lite Rackmount Network-Grade PDU Power Strip
NETGEAR ProSAFE JGS516PE 16-Port Gigabit Rackmount PoE

Used to connect network cameras to the computer
cameras powered using the POE ports

ASUS AC66W Wireless Router

provides DHCP and NAT for the box, this lets us use a single internet connection and distribute to laptops, and other PCs
Also keeps the network cameras at the same IP address every time we connect them.

Cameras

Hikvision DS-2CD2432F-IW 3MP Indoor IR Wifi Cube Camera 2.8mm

Work very well for our purposes and far cheaper than a pro quality SDI camera.

Additional stuff

HDbaseT - HDMI extender
Lots of cables from Amazon and Monoprice

Future Additions

UPS power supply
HDMI 1x8 splitter
4 port output graphics card

- Spectrum

"My three Ps: passion, patience, perseverance. You have to do this if you’ve got to be a filmmaker." - Robert Wise

Final TRI 2016 Team Update

2016-06-29T18:25:00.002-05:00

Thank you to everyone that came out to TRI 2016. It's always fun to have so many great teams come and play robots for the day. I hope everyone had a good time and I hope to have you all back next year. Please take a moment to go through the links below to find the post event team survey, photos, videos, and more from the event.

Post TRI Survey (Help make this event even better)
http://goo.gl/forms/fAoNfNmsPfxZ21EG3

Free FRC Mentor Workshop July 8th and 9th
hosted by Scott Rippetoe(FRC#1477) and myself
please come out and join us.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/16-u...-Bpjo/viewform

TRI 2016 Photos
https://goo.gl/photos/9R9JTLupE5HYCLqa7

If your team took photos you would like everyone to have you can even join the album and upload them for others to use as well.

TRI 2016 Match Video
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...ff6pk35HJXrr9n

TRI 2016 Offical Results
http://www.thebluealliance.com/event/2016txri

TRI 2016 Workshop Videos
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...A46UWsYp9xAj2I

TRI 2016 Team Interview Videos (More will be going up in the next week or so)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...i2TLbQUvZfIuDF
Thank you to all the teams that participated in this project.

Volunteers Needed for Texas Robot Roundup July 29th & 30th
Just a reminder that TRR needs volunteers
Sign Up Here: http://firstintexas.org/uil/volunteers/

Thank You,

Free Robot Competition - TRI - Saturday June 25th

2016-06-18T12:17:00.001-05:00

TRI is June 25th. Hope to see you there.

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June 25th 8 A.M. - 5 P.M.

8900 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX

Free Robotics Competition

Have you seen 120 pound robots shoot boulders, go over castle defenses, defend and scale a tower? If not, watch as 42 FIRST® Robotics Competition high school student teams from around the region compete on a specially designed castle themed field at the 3rd annual Texas Regional Invitational (T.R.I.). This free family event is on Saturday, June 25th from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory located at 8900 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX, 77036. Come watch all the fast paced action! It is a video game come to life.

T.R.I. is organized by Spectrum #3847, a FIRST Robotics Team from Houston, Texas. T.R.I.’s goal is to introduce families to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and how much fun it can be. Spectrum #3847 is made up of high school students from St. Agnes Academy and Strake Jesuit College Preparatory two Catholic college preparatory schools in southwest Houston, Texas.

For more information on the Texas Robotics Invitation (TRI), please visit http://ift.tt/1sLKVoC or contact Allen Gregory at (360) 390-5244 or e-mail us at TRI@spectrum3847.o

FIRST® Robotics Competition

FIRST® is an acronym for: "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology". The FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC) is an annual extra curricular activity for High School students to design, build, and operate point-scoring robots with help from community mentors. The mission for FIRST® is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership. It’s as close to "real-world engineering" as a student can get!

FIRST® FRC is a six-week competition program for high-school students to build 120 pound (54 kg) robots that can complete a task that changes every year using standard set of parts, plus any additional off-the-shelf or custom parts. The winning teams from those tournaments join the global competition at FIRST® Championship. http://ift.tt/1TFzvd9

In 2017, Houston will be hosting the FIRST® Championships until 2020 at George R. Brown Convention Center, Toyota Center, and Minute Maid Park.

Team List

Team #	Name	School/Location
57	The Leopards	Washington High School
118	Robonauts	Clear Creek ISD
148	Robowranglers	Greenville High School
231	High Voltage	Pasadena Independent School District.
441	DEVIL DOGS	Reagan H S
456	Siege Robotics	Vicksburg, Mississippi
457	Grease Monkey Robotics	South San Antonio High School
624	CRyptonite	Cinco Ranch High School
1011	CRUSH	Tucson, AZ
1296	Full Metal Jackets	Rockwall High School
1477	Texas Torque	The Woodlands, TX
1710	The Ravonics Revolution	Olathe Northwest High School
2158	ausTIN CANs	Anderson HS
2582	PantherBots	Lufkin H S
2585	Impact	Bellaire H S
2587	DiscoBots	Lamar HS & Carnegie Vanguard H S
2721	Blue Mite	Lasara H S
2789	TeXplosion	Manor New Technology High
2881	Lady Cans	Girl Scouts of Central Texas Troop 3993
2950	Devestators	Harmony Science Acad
3005	RoboChargers	Emmett J Conrad H S
3103	Iron Plaid	Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart
3335	CY-BORGS	Cypress Ranch H S
3366	Roscoe Plowbots	Central Fasteners & Roscoe Collegiate H S
3481	Bronc Botz	Louis D. Brandeis High School
3735	Klein Bots	Klein ISD
3847	Spectrum	St Agnes Academy & Strake Jesuit
3991	KnightVision	Episcopal High School, Baton Rouge, LA
3999	Shadetree Robotics	Killeen, TX
4335	Metallic Clouds	Waco, TX
4587	Jersey Voltage	Jersey Village High School
4639	RoboSpartans	Seven Lakes High School
5052	RoboLobos	The Cedar Park High School
5261	Cyber Shock	Humble ISD
5427	Steel Talons	Tompkins High School
5414	Pearadox	Pearland ISD
5431	Titan Robotics	Plano ISD & Academy High School
5566	Sugar Rush	Clements H S
5829	Awtybots	Awty International School
5892	High Energy	Energy Institute High School
5908	Spartans	Stafford H S
5986	Iron Fangs	Central Catholic HS & Providence Catholic

Spectrum

9000 Bellaire Blvd

Houston, TX 77036

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TRI Team Update #2

2016-06-06T23:33:00.003-05:00

1. Waitlist

2. Payment

3. Houston FIRST World Championship Meeting

4. Team Information Survey

5. Pre-Order Lunches (Due 6/20)

6. Call for Workshop Proposals

7. Volunteers

1. Waitlist

If you will not be attending TRI, please let me know ASAP. We have several teams on the wait list that would love to take your place.

2. Payments

If you have not sent your payments please do so ASAP and email me letting me know you are still coming.

Registration is $250 per team.

Please make checks payable to

St. Agnes Academy

Memo Line: Engineering Team and your team number.

Send Checks to

St. Agnes Academy

9000 Bellaire Blvd.

Houston, TX, 77036

If I owe you a receipt or an invoice please email me again. I think I went through and got most of the people that asked for them, but I'm betting I missed someone. Apologizes in advance.

3. Houston FIRST World Championship Meeting

"An informational meeting will be held in Room 3102 on the Houston FIRST World Championship from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. We look forward to seeing you there."

- Lucia Sevcik

4. Team Information Survey

We are asking that you please fill out this brief survey so we have a few more details about your team that we can use to make the event even better. We want to know your theme song, and favorite accomplishments, we want links to your chairman's videos, and recap videos and a nice picture of your robot. Please fill this out as soon as you can but no later than the Tuesday before TRI please.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/17xOduQ863360pk-APiqcX39hA3TUz98oLumNR5S8Qx8/viewform

5. Pre-Order Lunch

If you would like to pre-order lunches please fill out the form below. We will have some concession but not hot food (no pizza or sandwiches, etc). There are many places around the school to eat if you would rather do that.

"Please fill out this pre-order lunch form. You will be expected to pay for the lunches before you retrieve your lunches. You will need to pay with cash or check at the time of the event (or mail a check before the event, email Allen if you are doing this). Each lunch will cost $6 for a Subway 6" sandwich (Italian bread, American Cheese, tomato, lettuce, & pickle), chips, cookie/dessert, and drink (can of soda or water bottle). Orders are due by 11:59PM 6/20/2016, Please put in orders early or let Allen@Spectrum3847.org know if you are planning on ordering lunches (helps us know how many cookie/desserts, chips, etc to buy.

Checks are made out to

St. Agnes Academy

Memo Line: Engineering Team"

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/10-hwl_YwUzN5iIYjKxQX3x8vDj9fTp4dUEi4VTfn1H0/viewform

6. Call for Workshop Proposals?

We have several planned workshops by some awesome members of the FIRST community including a "FIRST & Social media workshop", "Sustainability, Fundraising, and Grants", "Vision Processing", and "Competition organization and Strategy". A full schedule will be coming out soon. But now we want to ask if any teams have any workshops they would like to give. This is a great chance to help educate more of the FRC community.

Fill out this form if you would like to apply to give a talk.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1EyRePvAomeZSJr8vnKRXX5rp3zfhOzibSilo2t3kEho/edit

7. Volunteers

We are just about fully staffed but there are few spots we still would like to feel. We are also open to training people in areas we already have filled as well.

Spots still needed

Interview Lead

- Looking for a volunteer to help lead the interviewing of team members about aspects of their robots. We want to educate the audience as well as entertain them. This would basically be asking brief questions about teams favorite parts of the robots, and making them feel comfortable on camera. These interviews would not be live.

Assistant Lead Queuer (Red Side)

- Would work to ensure the red side is queued up for every match. Would be working with the Lead Queuer to make sure the field is always ready on time.

Presentation Floater

- Help make sure the workshops/presentations are going smoothly. Probably help set up some of the camera equipment, etc. Start and stop cameras. Direct people to the right place, etc.

Emcee in Training

- We would like to train a new Emcee as well. You would help Logan and fill in for him from time to time. If you always wanted to be on the field and help get the crowd excited and push the flow of the event along now is your chance.

If you would like to sign up please register here or if you have friends/family members/acquaintances/etc who would like to volunteer give them this link as well.

http://trivolunteer.spectrum3847.org/

Spectrum 3847 Blog

Day 2: Full STEAM ahead

Day 1: STEAMworks has arrived

Dialing Back the Server Turbine

Backstory

The Problem

The Solution

2017 FRC Season Starts Today

Season Kickoff is today at 9:30CT

We start strategy and design at Noon

2017 Events - Save the Dates

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Pre-season Meeting 2017 Presentation

Updated CAD Library

2016 Texas FRC Mentor Workshop Videos

Spectrum Pre-Season Update

Spectrum Pre-season Meeting Parents & Students Jan 3rd - 5:00 PM

Alumni Meetup - Jan 1st

2017 Events - Save the Dates

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New Website

Fall Recap

Illuminations 2016: Rookie Resource Guide

Woodie Flowers: The Father of Competitive Robotics

Spectrum 2016 FLL Qualifier

Photo Gallery

Spectrum FLL Photo Gallery

Video Archive

Live Stream Archive

Event Results

Competitive Robotics: It's More Than Robots

Space City Vex & Houston Renfest

Houston Mini Maker Faire and Spacecom 2016

Houston Mini Maker Faire

Spacecom

This Isn't a Robot

Greg McKaskle - This Is How I Work

Canstruction and Barnes&Noble Mini Maker Faire 2016

Press releases from this weekends events.

Canstruction

Barnes and Noble Mini Maker Faire

Katie Widen - This Is How I Work

Jonathan Bryant - This Is How I Work

Versaplanetary Bolts

Spectrum October News

Upcoming Events

FLL Qualifier - Dec 3rd

The Remix, October 22

Mock Kickoff, October 29th

FRC Lone Star Central Regional hosted at Strake Jesuit

Social Media

FRC Season and Competitions

Spectrum AV Case

Final TRI 2016 Team Update

Free Robot Competition - TRI - Saturday June 25th

June 25th 8 A.M. - 5 P.M.

8900 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX

Free Robotics Competition

FIRST® Robotics Competition

Team List

TRI Team Update #2

Website = www.spectrum3847.org
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Photos = photos.spectrum3847.org
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