Bill Blogged - Two Places at Once

Monday, February 20, 2012

Two places at once

Good Afternoon Teams,

The week zero events in Nashua, NH and Suffield, CT went well this weekend.  In Nashua, the FRC Engineering Staff were able to test both a standard competition field and the emergency radio system (Operation Bondé).  Bondé worked flawlessly, we just have some tweaking to do to make sure radio distribution goes smoothly in the unlikely event we encounter a hostile wireless environment during competition. 

Below is a picture of what we believe to be the first Coopertition Bridge balance of the year.  The teams both have red bumpers, however 2067 was on the blue alliance when this match took place.  The high score at Nashua was 42-32.  Quite a few teams were able to score in Auto and there were a number of matches that ended with two robots on alliance bridges.

While the FRC staff and local teams were enjoying week zero, FRC team 359 Hawaiian Kids and FTC team 5159 BuffnBlue gave up their Saturday to help me present at the Hawaii Council of Teachers of Mathematics spring conference.  The students were well spoken and made quite an impression on the teachers in attendance.

I also had the pleasure of meeting with Don Kunitomo Manager of Terminal Operations at Matson Navigation. I thanked him for all that Matson does for FIRST and FRC.

Don’t forget.  Tomorrow is Stop Build Day.  Operations is still getting calls from teams who are unsure what happens then.  Please spread the word.  On Stop Build Day, stop building, bag your robot and start preparing for your first competition event.  If teams have questions, encourage them to reread this.
   
1 day until Stop Build Day
See you soon!