Bill Blogged - A Unique Perspective

5/6/2011 Bill Blogged - A Unique Perspective

Good Morning Teams,

Today I would like to welcome a guest blogger. Collin Fultz was a student on team 234 CyberBlue, in college he helped start team 1747 HBR, then after graduation he returned to 234 as a mentor. Since 2005 Collin has volunteered as a game announcer and MC (mostly at Boilermaker) and currently he works for me as the FRC Kit of Parts Engineer. Talking to Collin after Championship, I realized he has a unique perspective on FRC as he is one of very few people who have experienced the program from all possible points of view. I asked him to share his experience. Here’s what he had to say.

Reactions from St. Louis.

My first exposure to FIRST and FRC was at Championships (then called Nationals) at Epcot in 2001. My family was returning from a Spring Break vacation in Cocoa Beach and the competition was on the way home. My math teacher at the time was a team mentor, so he encouraged my family to stop by and see what he had been talking about in class for the last four months. I was hooked. Ten years and three host cities later, I experienced my first Championship not as a team member or even a volunteer, but as FRC staff.

It’s easy to get caught up in what’s happening on the fields at Championships. After all, the competition fields are the reason for the event, the FIRST Championships. What was eye opening to me was exactly how much "other" stuff goes on at Championship. Until the start of Elimination matches on Saturday, I saw three matches total in St. Louis. This goal for this post is to let you know some of that other stuff that goes on at Championship. It will be focused on FRC, but I know there was a ton of stuff also going on with FTC and FLL.

It started when we landed Tuesday and went straight to the venue to start building fields and setting up inspection stations. In total, eight FRC fields were set up by a team of staff, volunteers, and venue labor. A huge thank you goes out to all of the volunteers that were there Tuesday to help get everything ready. As I said at the Boilermaker Regional, coming to work at FIRST has shown me exactly how much this organization relies on volunteers. We wouldn’t be where we are without you.

Wednesday morning was more set-up, including setting up the area for Supplier Showcase. Wednesday afternoon, Conferences started and we opened the doors for FRC teams to come in out of the rain. A big Thank You needs to go to all of the teams who dealt with the weather Wednesday night and kept a level head about it. That situation had a potential to get ugly, but your graciousness helped save the day.

Thursday started with the pits opening and the Conferences continuing. Next, we had a wrap-up meeting with the Beta Test teams from 2010. These teams are a critical part of the Control System development, and it was important for the Control System team (representatives from FIRST, NI, TI, Oracle, and WPI) to get feedback on both the Beta Test program and the season. I encourage all teams to apply to be a Beta Test team in 2011. It’s the best way to make your voice heard during the development-cycle for the Control System. Then, we had the first FRC Live! from the pits. This one was exciting to me because we were able to announce the new four-slot cRIO-FRC2. We also took that opportunity to thank AndyMark for all of their work with the FIRSTChoice pilot this year. Your feedback on the Kit of Parts Survey will help determine the future of FIRSTChoice.

Also around this time, Supplier Showcase officially opened. Based on feedback from the Suppliers who attended, you all took advantage of them being there and were able to ask technical questions, see potential new products, and get some hardware assistance. Every Supplier I spoke to Friday night (when the Showcase officially closed) was glad they had taken the opportunity to come to Championship to see you. Your enthusiasm is one of the things that helps keep Suppliers coming back each year.

Also opening at this time was Scholarship Row, the Alliance Exhibits, and booths from some of our largest Sponsors. Hopefully you took some time to check out what they had on display. The NI booth had some really cool robots to check out. The CIA booth had a robot that followed a closed-loop path on the floor. The PTC booth was showing how to do quick modeling to test robot designs. Each booth had excited people ready to talk about what they were doing and how what you’re doing is applicable.

Next was a meeting of the Control System team to discuss the changes coming for the 2012 season. Most of the discussion centered on what would be required to get the cRIO-FRC2 ready for Beta Testing and for Kick-off.

Thursday night we had a dinner for the Judges, Regional Directors, and Ambassadors. It was really cool to sit in the Invited Guest area for a little while and see the connections being made. We also had to do the first "switch" of the fields and get them fully tested. We were swapping the dome fields during the i.am.FIRST practice, which was very cool to see.

On Friday there was so much going on that I won’t list it all for fear of leaving something out. I had meetings most of the afternoon. The first was with Intel and CTL. These two companies help bring you the Classmate PC’s teams can use as their Driver Station. We hope to do some things next year that will make the Driver Stations easier to use. The next meeting was with NI and Cross The Road Electronics. CTRE supplied CAN Cable kits to FIRSTChoice this year, and our discussion with them was about how to make CAN as robust as possible for the future. One thing we need to know about CAN is, "Do teams want to use it?" There is a section on the Kit of Parts Survey about CAN, and your feedback will help determine its future. The last scheduled meeting we had was with AndyMark to talk about FIRSTChoice and how we can improve it for 2012. I say scheduled, because we then had an impromptu meeting with Dell about how we can get Dell more involved at every level of FRC. It’s a great position to be in when you have companies approaching you asking how they can get more involved. Finally, one more field swap, then back to the hotel to change and head to the show. I still have "Whip My Hair" stuck in my head.

Saturday morning was a whirlwind and I was excited for the Eliminations. I got to see the Galileo Elimination matches in the afternoon and watched the eventual World Champion alliance up-close. Closing ceremonies gave me the chance to catch my breath a bit. Once Closing Ceremonies were over, the GDC met to discuss the season and plan where we’ll start for 2012. Then, it was upstairs to the Invited Guest Reception to see a few old friends, then back downstairs to load the trucks. We finished with the last truck at about 11:30PM, putting a close on the 2011 FRC Season.

Looking back, it’s incredible all that went on in St. Louis. The Event and Production Staff worked like crazy to make the event as good as it was. The Event Office had a constant flow of people in and out. We cannot thank these people enough for all of their help. Finally, as I said before, the Event and the Program would not be possible without the countless volunteers. Thank you to all who helped this season.

On to 2012.Go Teams!

246 days until the 2012 Kickoff
See you then!