FIRST Newsletter - June 2011 - FTC Volunteer of the Year
FIRST Tech Challenge Volunteer of the Year – John Toebes
At the World Championship in April, FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) honored John Toebes, Director of Patents and Engineering at Cisco Systems, as FTC Volunteer of the Year for his work on the new FTC “Samantha Module” which was introduced for the 2010-11 Get Over It!™ season. John's leadership in the creation, development, and support of this module have been exceptional.The Samantha Module is a wireless, proprietary communications device, developed for FIRST by Cisco Systems engineers. It sends data from each robot to the Field Control System (FCS) during competition, and enables FTC teams to wirelessly communicate more reliably with their robots.
The new FTC Samantha Module provides for a faster and more reliable wireless connection to the robotics playing field ― a critical element during fast-paced FTC competition matches. Samantha can operate on any computer and also integrates with a proprietary FTC Field Control System originally built to be used in a stand-alone environment. Cisco also developed a non-competitive version of Samantha that runs on an iPod to allow for both individual and team operation ― or on-field competition with several robots. The major benefit of the innovative module is a simpler, more elegant control system that seamlessly alternates wireless communications from team robots to the FCS and back again during FTC events.
In developing the module, Cisco provided FTC students with not only a new wireless system, but also a hands-on lesson in how to apply creative problem-solving to projects. Cisco talked with FTC students, Coaches, Mentors, Judges, and organizers before developing the Samantha Module. This kind of creative and collaborative problem-solving is a fundamental tenet promoted at FTC. Students were able to witness how an industry supporter, such as Cisco, was able to resolve challenges that they faced during our competitions. John has demonstrated the extraordinary commitment of one technology leader to making FIRST successful.
