FTC 22811 Panther Robotics Team

FTC 22811, Panther
Robotics Team
Scope
This document is to help coordinate information between Jack Rumple and
FTC 22811, Panther Robotics Team from Alberton, MT.
This was created as an alternative to repeated, frequent, and long emails

between Jack Rumple, Nick Ehlers, and Nate Morris.
This document is updated frequently (i.e., roughly weekly). It has links to

many resources available to help the team. In addition to the Team’s
Handbook, this guide should be a first place to look for information. If it isn’t
in this document, it is probably linked to from this document.
Jargon
For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) and
FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) run on a whole dictionary of jargon. This
document has an Acronyms section to help folks learn the terms quickly.
Each game has its own set of specific terms that tie the challenge into the
theme for the game. Be sure to study the Game Manual, Part 2
(https://www.firstinspires.org/sites/default/files/uploads/resource_library/ftc
/game-manual-part-2-traditional.pdf), Game Definitions section to learn
these terms. Many people come up with their own code words for game
elements. Unfortunately when cooperating with other teams, they may not
know your code. It is best to take the time to learn the official terms for
game elements because all teams use the common definitions for these.
Document Overview
This document has been formatted to be more friendly to people with
dyslexia. Additional guidelines are available at
https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/advice/employers/creating-a-dyslexia-friend
ly-workplace/dyslexia-friendly-style-guide.
Kanban Task Cards

This section has a list of action items that need to be completed as the
season progresses. New items will be added as they are identified. These all
need to be added to the team Kanban Board (i.e., bulletin board with Post-It
notes showing the tasks the team is working on). More task management
details are in the Kanban Board section below.
Once a Kanban Task Card (i.e., Post-It note) has been added to the board, it
can be removed from this list. We will manage the work (i.e., Who’s Doing
What By When) through the Task Cards on the Kanban Board.
The next major milestone is the TBD.
● Conduct Robot Demonstration at Frenchtown School

● Schedule and Conduct a Robot Demonstration for Verizon in Missoula.
● Schedule and Conduct a Robot Demonstration at Iscs Inc. In Missoula
● Fun Raise: Spare Gamepad, $20
(https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-940-000110-Gamepad-F310/dp/B
003VAHYQY)
● Plan movie night for More Than Robots… on Disney+
(https://disneyplusoriginals.disney.com/movie/more-than-robots).
● Fun Raise: Spare Robot Battery, $50
(https://www.gobilda.com/matrix-12v-3000mah-nimh-battery/)
● Schedule a Fundraising Seminar with the FIRST Robotics Competition
(FRC) team in Missoula: FRC 3216, Missoula Robotics Team (MRT),
https://frc-events.firstinspires.org/team/3216
● Create March 2023 Financial Report for team (current balance,
expected income, planned expenses)
● Driver Practice with Mecanum Drive chassis
● Print Ground Junction (See Ground Junction Bases)
● Create a Donors Choose project (https://www.donorschoose.org/) to
purchase an official playing field
● Create a Donors Choose project (https://www.donorschoose.org/) to
purchase the goBILDA Strafer Chassis Kit V5.
Referenced Materials
This section has a list of materials that have been referenced in this
document. Where possible, hyperlinks have been included to make the
materials easier to locate and review.
● Disney+
○ More Than Robots

(https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/more-than-robots/1OkBDA
cESiGf) (Disney is planning to remove this from Disney+ on May
26, 2023. Jack will provide updates here once we figure out
where else you can watch it.)
○ Purl (https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/purl/3FTOSVXXf7tl)
● Career Tools and Manager Tools (https://www.manager-tools.com/)
○ Horstman’s Law of Project Management
■ Who’s Doing What By When?
■ Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
○ How to Write a Thank You note

(https://www.manager-tools.com/2007/03/how-write-thank-you
-note#)
○ The Hot Wash

(https://www.manager-tools.com/2006/02/feb-2006-members-p
odcast-the-hot-wash)
○ Professional Subordination (a.k.a., How to Murder the Unselected
Option)
(https://www.manager-tools.com/2010/12/professional-subordin
ation-part-1,
https://www.manager-tools.com/2010/12/professional-subordin
ation-part-2)
● FIRST Inspires (www.firstinspires.org)
○ Learn more about FIRST video playlist

(https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3B1C4E0C4756E728)
○ Youth Registration System

(https://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/youth-registration
-system)
○ Preparing for Competition Resources

(https://www.firstinspires.org/node/5261)
○ Team Management Resources

(https://www.firstinspires.org/node/5226)
○ Coach’s Playbook
(https://www.firstinspires.org/sites/default/files/uploads/resourc
e_library/ftc/coachs-playbook.pdf)
○ Mentor Manual
(https://firstinspiresst01.blob.core.windows.net/first-energize-ftc
/mentor-manual.pdf)
● FIRST Inspires-2022-2023 Powerplay
○ FTC Game and Season Info

(https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/ftc/game-and-season)
○ FTC Game Materials

(https://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/ftc/game-and-sea
son-info)
○ Powerplay Game Manual, Part 1
e_library/ftc/game-manual-part-1-traditional-events.pdf)
○ Powerplay Game Manual, Part 2

e_library/ftc/game-manual-part-2-traditional.pdf)
○ Powerplay Signal Sleeve Template

e_library/ftc/signal-sleeve-template.pdf)
○ Robot Inspection Checklist

e_library/ftc/robot-inspection-checklist.pdf)
○ Field Inspection Checklist

e_library/ftc/field-inspection-checklist.pdf)
○ Team Judging Self-Reflection Sheet

e_library/ftc/team-judging-self-reflection.pdf)
○ Powerplay Control Award Submission Form

e_library/ftc/control-award-submission-form-traditional.pdf)
● Montana Robotics Alliance (https://www.mtroboticsalliance.org)
○ MT Robotics Alliance Photo Album

(https://www.mtroboticsalliance.org/photos)
● FTC Events (https://ftc-events.firstinspires.org/)
○ MT East Helena Qualifier

(https://ftc-events.firstinspires.org/2022/USMTEHQ)
○ MT Butte Qualifier
(https://ftc-events.firstinspires.org/2022/USMTBUQ)
○ MT Regional Championship
(https://ftc-events.firstinspires.org/2022/USMTCMP)
○ FIRST Championship-Jemison Division

(https://ftc-events.firstinspires.org/2022/FTCCMP1JEMI)
○ FIRST Championship-Edison Division

(https://ftc-events.firstinspires.org/2022/FTCCMP1EDIS)
● Game Manual Zero (https://gm0.org)
○ Rookie Team Start Here page

(https://gm0.org/en/latest/docs/start-here.html)
● goBILDA (https://www.gobilda.com/)
○ Be sure to log in as the team before making an order to qualify

for the 25% FTC Team discount (https://www.gobilda.com/ftc/)
○ FTC Starter Kit for 2022-2023 Season

(https://www.gobilda.com/ftc-starter-kit-2022-2023-season/)
○ Strafer Chassis Kit V5

(https://www.gobilda.com/strafer-chassis-kit-v5/)
○ 4-Stage Viper Slide Kit (Belt Driven)

(https://www.gobilda.com/4-stage-viper-slide-kit-belt-driven/)
● REV Robotics (https://www.revrobotics.com/)
○ Control Hub (https://www.revrobotics.com/rev-31-1595/)
○ Driver Hub (https://www.revrobotics.com/rev-31-1596/)
○ Expansion Hub (https://www.revrobotics.com/rev-31-1153/)

○ Etpark Wired Controller for PS4
(https://www.revrobotics.com/rev-39-1865/)
○ Getting Started with Control Hub

(https://docs.revrobotics.com/duo-control/control-hub-gs)
○ Getting Started with Driver Hub

(https://docs.revrobotics.com/duo-control/driver-hub-gs)
○ Hello Robot-Introduction to Programming

(https://docs.revrobotics.com/duo-control/programming/hello-ro
bot-introduction-to-programming)
○ Kickoff Concepts Overview

(https://docs.revrobotics.com/kickoff-concepts/)
○ Adding an Expansion Hub

(https://docs.revrobotics.com/duo-control/adding-more-motors/
adding-an-expansion-hub)
○ REV Robotics DUO (https://www.revrobotics.com/duo-system/)
● Jack’s FTC Materials

○ FTC New Team Guide
○ Powerplay Game Analysis
○ FIRST Pillars of Success
○ FIRST Engineering Design Process
○ FIRST Scouting
○ FIRST Micro:bit Scouting Tool
Pillars of Success
The following are the Pillars of Success for a FIRST Robotics team:
● Strategy
● Robot
● Execution
Details on these are in the FIRST Pillars of Success document.
Getting Started
This section has some resources for starting a team and getting started with
the Powerplay season.
Watch About FIRST Tech Challenge video

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5NPp_5KHuk&list=PL3B1C4E0C4756E
728&index=15). It is one of several videos on the Official FIRST YouTube
channel in the Learn more about FIRST playlist
(https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3B1C4E0C4756E728).
The Coach’s Playbook

/coachs-playbook.pdf) provides a great guide for things to do each week
starting with Kickoff. This provides links to many other resources. It is
organized into a 12 week season. The time we will have in any given season
depends on when the Montana FTC Qualifiers are held. In the 2022-2023
Powerplay season, there was a Qualifier in mid-November and a second one
in early December. The Montana Regional Championship was held in early
February.
The Mentor Manual

(https://firstinspiresst01.blob.core.windows.net/first-energize-ftc/mentor-ma
nual.pdf) is the next great resource. Keep a digital copy handy. Also print a
copy out. It is really good to flip through from time to time and just browse
the content.
Game Manual Zero (https://gm0.org/en/latest/index.html) is an

independently maintained resource. It helps guide teams through the
process of designing, creating, and iterating their robot. It does a good job
comparing and contrasting different aspects of the robot engineering.
FTC Game Materials

(https://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/ftc/game-and-season-info) is
an index page with links to key information about the season. Keep the team
focused on Game Manual, Part 1 and Game Manual Part 2. The Game
Manual, Part 1 has information about Judging, Awards, and Advancement.
Most of this information is the same each season. It is still good to be
familiar with it. This is also where the team will find requirements for the
Engineering Notebook and the Engineering Portfolio. They sound the same,
but are different. Teams should be using both of them to be successful.
Preparing for Competition resources

(https://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/ftc/preparing-for-competition
) is a page with links to key items that need to be completed before and
during a competition. The week prior to each competition, review these
materials and make sure you have everything you need packed up. The
event is stressful enough without forgetting something simple, and required,
from this list.
This is a good start. FIRST has provided many, many more guides and
resource pages on their website. Look over all the items in the Referenced
Materials section of this document and then keep searching Google for more.
Learn About FIRST

Youth Registration
This section has information about registering the student team members.
FIRST wants everyone to register online. This ensures they get updates from
FIRST about changes to the game and opportunities, like scholarships.
Instructions are available at

https://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/youth-registration-system.
There are several ways to register. In about 70% of the cases this works
without a hitch. The reset of the time there is some issue with the online
system. Don’t be afraid to contact firstteammembers@firstinspires.org, and
ask for help. Trust us, it isn’t you; it’s their online system.
They don’t make it easy, but if parents would rather sign a paper consent
form, it is possible. If parents are not able to access a computer, email, or
the Internet, they contact the youth's Lead Coach/Mentor to request a paper
copy of the FIRST Consent and Release Form. The Lead Coach/Mentor will
then contact the local FIRST Program Delivery Partner, Ed Huth, who will
review the request and determine if an exception will be made.
Parents’ Meeting
At the start of school, host a meeting for the parents of all the students
interested in joining the team. This section has information that can be used
to prepare for this meeting.
● Learn More about FIRST

(https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3B1C4E0C4756E728)
○ About FIRST
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_PuWjr7qcM&list=PL3B1C
4E0C4756E728&index=1)
○ About FIRST Tech Challenge
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5NPp_5KHuk&list=PL3B1
C4E0C4756E728&index=15)
○ Gracious Professionalism
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0jEa8Bz-tY&list=PL3B1C4
E0C4756E728&index=2)
○ More Than Robots Trailer
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjIISbARc20&list=PL3B1C4
E0C4756E728&index=3)
● Youth Registration
● Time
○ Team Practice Schedule
○ Fun Raising
○ Outreach
○ After Homework Opportunities
○ End of Year Picnic
○ Fall Dinner
● Cost
○ No Student Fees
○ Team Budget: $6,000
○ Fun Raisers
○ Grants
○ Company Sponsorships
● Benefits
○ Competition
○ Problem Solving Skills
○ Teamwork
○ Communication
○ Achievement
○ Scholarships
■ Over $80 million available to FIRST alumni
■ More money per participant than athletics
○ Every student can go Pro
● Where You Can Help
○ Get kids to and from Team Practices
○ Emphasize importance of FIRST to your kids
○ Encourage the little extra
○ Ask employer to sponsor the team
○ Provide one team meal during the season
○ Join us at our competitions
○ Mentor
■ Non-technical
■ Technical
● Future
○ FIRST Robotics Competition
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd29kzjclV0&list=PL3B1C4
E0C4756E728&index=17)
● Communication
○ Parent Email List
○ Parent Meetings
○ Team Practices
○ End of Season Picnic
○ Fall Dinner
Parent Mentors
Jack has worked with several teachers who have so many things going on
with their classwork, family, and other commitments, that they really don’t
have the time or the energy to also do all of the mentoring for Team
Practices. The robotics team is not a school club, it is a community team. We
don’t expect the teachers to be the only team mentors doing all the work to
manage the team as well.
In fact, Highlands Ranch High School shut down their program because their
lead mentor and teacher moved to another school. The teacher that took
over the role felt that they were stretched too thin. Even with Jack
committing to do all the work for the team, the teacher chose instead to
cancel the program on the 15 students who had been participating up to that
point. While Jack lives too far from Alberton to make the same offer, he
never wants a teacher to feel like the success of the team rests solely with
them.
Start by having a Parents Meeting one evening with just the parents, not the
students. This is an opportunity to show the parents the workforce
development skills that the students are getting from the program. It is also
an opportunity to ask for mentoring help from the parents. Parents don’t
have to be at every meeting, but their participation throughout the season
helps share the workload and makes it less for everyone involved.
Expanding from Parent Mentors is participation from other working adults in

the community. Dean Kamen, the FIRST founder, frequently reminds us that
“We’re not using kids to build robots. We’re using robots to build kids.” The
FIRST program is developing the workforce of the future. If local businesses
want a capable workforce to hire from in the future, they can shape that
workforce through participation with the community team. This is how Jack
got started with FIRST. He has never had a child in the program. He started
volunteering with a local team. Within a few weeks he realized that if he
hoped to work with the best engineers in the future, FIRST was the way to
train them the right way on state of the industry practices before they ever
graduated from school. Recruiting more mentors from local businesses also
help spread out the workload in organizing and conducting Team Practices.
Movie Night
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
In addition to working during Team Practices, we will have some sessions

where we relax and just enjoy time together as a team.
The following are good movies and shows to watch on Movie Night:
● More Than Robots…

(https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/more-than-robots/1OkBDAcESiG
f)
● Wall-E
(https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/movies/wall-e/5G1wpZC2Lb6I)
● The Iron Giant
(https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0129167/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0)
● Battle Bots tv series (https://battlebots.com/)
● From the Earth to the Moon, Episode 5, “Spider”
(https://www.hbomax.com/series/urn:hbo:series:GXNRHzQ2l5p63mgE
AAAJ1, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1379361/?ref_=ttep_ep5)
● I, Robot (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343818/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)
● Formula 1: Drive to Survive (https://www.netflix.com/title/80204890)
Before showing it to students, watch the movie Short Circuit. It is a movie

lots of people think about when they think about robot movies. Jack feels it
is terrible to show in a student setting. There is gratuitous bad language.
The assistant engineer is a racist portrayal of people from India.
Needs List
This section has a list of items the team needs. This section can be used to
help raise funds for the team from the community. Reach beyond Alberton
and talk to businesses and service organizations (Elks, Rotary, Optimist,
Kiwanis) in nearby towns, including Missoula, Frenchtown, and St. Regis.
Needs List for 2023-2024 Season

This table contains items needed for post-season activities. We’ve used up
our budget for the FTC 2022-2023 Powerplay season. We need to raise
additional money to get these items and keep the team moving forward.
Pri Description Vendor Part Number Pkg Price Qty

Size
1 Strafer Chassis goBILDA 3209-0001-0005 1 kit $499.99 1

Kit
2 Robot Battery goBILDA 14-0014 1 ea $49.99 2
3 XT-30 to Tamiya goBILDA 3801-0203-0060 1 ea $3.99 2

Adapter
4 2023-2024 Team 1 ea $200.00 1

Registration
5 2023-2024 1 ea $125.00 2
Qualifier
Registration
6 2023-2024 MT 1 ea $125.00 1
Regional
Championship
Registration
7 Sponsor Student 1 ea $300.00 10

Travel
Size
8 Robot Parts goBILDA 1 set $200.00 1
9 Team Banner 1 ea $100.00 1
10 7mm goBILDA 4206-0070-0001 1 ea $1.99 2

Combination Nut
Driver
11 Playing Field AndyMark am-3145 1 set $1,149.00 1
12 Portable LED Harbor 63878 1 ea $1.49 2

Worklight Freight
13 Long Nose Pliers Harbor 63823 1 ea $6.99 1

Freight
14 Wired Mouse Amazon 1 ea $5.99 1
15 6-Port USB Amazon 1 ea $32.99 1

Charger
16 Portable USB Amazon 1 ea $21.99 1

Charger
17 REV Expansion REV REV-3101153 1 ea $250.00 1

Hub
18 4-stage Viper goBILDA 3210-0003-0004 1 kit $219.99 1

Slide Kit (Belt
Drive)
19 FTC 2023-2024 AndyMark 1 set $450.00 1

Game Set
20 FTC Sizing Tool AndyMark am-3870 1 set $59.00 1

Size
21 Outreach Robot REV REV-3101595 1 ea $350.00 1

Control Hub
22 Outreach Robot REV REV-31-1153 1 ea $250.00 1

Expansion Hub
Additional items of interest are listed in the FTC Material Sources-goBILDA

document.
REV is saying that their Expansion Hub

(https://www.revrobotics.com/rev-31-1153/) will be out of stock for the
remainder of the FTC Season. Switching to a Strafer Drive Chassis is out. We
can still rebuild to a narrower chassis. Greg, CEO and Founder of REV, was at
the Colorado Regional. He said the Expansion Hub would be available in July.
goBILDA Strafer Chassis Assembly instructions are available at

https://www.gobilda.com/content/user_manuals/3209-0001-0005_v5_asse
mbly-instructions.pdf.
FIRST Engineering Design Process

The FIRST Engineering Design Process includes five steps: Identify, Design,
Create, Iterate, and Communicate. All FIRST programs use this process.
A poster suitable for hanging in the workspace of this process diagram is

available from FIRST at
https://firstinspiresst01.blob.core.windows.net/first-energize/fll-challenge/fll
-challenge-superpowered-engineering-design-process.pdf.
Print posters for each student on the team. They should keep these in their
folder for the class. Print a few to hang in the STEM room and other places
where the team works on the robot.
Details on this process are in the FIRST Engineering Design Process

document.
Gracious Professionalism
Gracious Professionalism is a key part of success in FIRST. It is central to the
FIRST Vision and Mission
(https://www.firstinspires.org/about/vision-and-mission). It is a way of
doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of
others, and respects individuals and the community. The concept was
developed by one of the FIRST founders, Woodie Flowers.
We do our best work while helping others and treating folks with
respect and kindness.
-Woodie Flowers
Review the Enduring Legacy of Gracious Professionalism website

(https://www.firstinspires.org/community/inspire/enduring-legacy-of-graciou
s-professionalism) to learn more and watch some videos about it.
This short video is a great introduction with Woodie Flowers

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0jEa8Bz-tY).
Thank You Notes

This section provides a key part of our Gracious Professionalism program.
This is Thank You notes for those people who have supported and made the
program possible.
Thank You notes are a key part of professional careers. More information
about how to write a professional Thank You is available from Career Tools at
https://www.manager-tools.com/2007/03/how-write-thank-you-note#.
The following addresses can be used for sending Thank You notes.
Montana FIRST
MSU College of Engineering
P.O. Box 173780
Bozeman, MT 59717-3780
RoboScout Squad
113 Indian Trail Rd.
Kalispell, MT 59901
Bryce Hill
℅ Montana Tech Electrical Engineering
1300 West Park Street
Butte, MT 59701
Eureka Robotics Team

PO Box 2000
Eureka, MT 29917
Frenchtown Robotics
There are three FLL teams in the Frenchtown Elementary School. They have
no opportunity to continue on in robotics after they age out of FLL.
This is a huge opportunity to invite their FLL alumni to join the Panther
Robotics Team. We can get them an opportunity to continue their
development.
This will likely mean we’ll have to start having after school meetings. They
won’t be able to participate during their school hours.
We should also include them and St. Regis with our plans to grow into FRC
as well.
Post Powerplay Activities

This section has some ideas for team activities for the postseason. FIRST
changes the game each season. It is good to iterate the robot design for
informal scrimmages. Team funds should be focused on next season. Items
that are not game specific can be purchased. Otherwise funds should be
saved until kickoff so field elements and game pieces for the next season
can be purchased at the time of Kickoff.
Host an Informal Scrimmage
Hosting an informal scrimmage gives all teams more time to compete than is
available from official events. There are only three official events in the
Montana Region each season. Teams who don’t advance to the Playoffs only
play five two and a half minute matches at an event. The winning alliance
and the finalists will play at most six matches in the Playoffs. Many teams
only can afford to attend a single Qualifier and if they don’t advance only get
15 to 30 minutes of game time for an entire year’s worth of effort.
Anyone can host an unofficial scrimmage. Working with Montana FIRST, Ed

Huth, fields can be borrowed or rented. Other teams can help fill volunteer
positions like referee and game announcer.
Scrimmages tend to be smaller affairs with five to ten teams in attendance.

This means they can give each team more Matches during the day.
Hosting a scrimmage will bring other Montana teams to Alberton. It saves on

our travel costs. It also makes Alberton a destination for teams. This helps
raise awareness of the team within the Montana FIRST community.
Scrimmages don’t have to include Judged Awards. This means they can start
later in the day giving teams time to travel in the morning and return the
same day. This eliminates overnight travel which is one of the huge
expenses for teams when events are not close by.
Host teams can charge a registration fee, but most do not. Instead Host
teams usually run concessions and merchandise sales as fundraisers
coincident to the event. We’re not out to bleed other Montana teams dry.
We’re just looking for reasonable compensation for the effort that is involved
in hosting the event.
During official events, teams help each other so everyone has fun at the
competition. With this said, each team must also compete, so helping
sessions tend to be more triage than learning opportunities. At an unofficial
scrimmage we can take thirty minutes to an hour to conduct a workshop.
The Host team or any of the attending teams can prepare the workshop on
any topic. This could be a comparison between various build systems. It
could be training on gearboxes and how to compare them. It could be a case
study of fundraising activities that worked for the team so the other teams
have more ideas to use with their own fundraising. It could be training on
how to use TensorFlow and machine learning to improve vision systems for
better Autonomous performance. It could be a huge game of
Duck-Duck-Goose so the students can get to know each other better and
look forward to seeing friends at the next FTC event.
Mock Kickoff
The team can prepare for next season by conducting a Mock Kickoff.
Since Powerplay was the team’s first season, they did not participate in a
Kickoff event. A Mock Kickoff provides the team with information about what
to expect. They also will get to see a different game from the past to help
identify what items are the same between years and what items are
different.
The 2023-2024 Center Stage season will kickoff on Saturday, September 9,

2023.
Presentation of Learning (POL)

At the end of the semester, students in the STEM class give a Presentation of
Learning (POL).
The Expectations Structure and Rubric

(https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h6eP8Wt5ar0ZuSNUJ2MSLkD56FMO
YYLqcLiWxaXnk9A/edit?usp=share_link) has information the students used
to prepare their presentation. It includes some sample questions the
audience can ask that the students should be prepared to answer.
The Audience Guidelines and Feedback

(https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FCRl_5tb7EdTJwUoCVOaRewPEDSN
XMOl-G-_6UpfEF4/edit?usp=share_link) form provides some items to take
notes on during the presentation. These notes can be provided back to Mr.
Nick or Mr. M.
Here are some additional questions that Jack came up with which can be
asked of the presenters:
● What would you tell a younger student who isn’t sure if they want to
sign-up for the program?
● If you had an extra month in the program, what would you work on?
● We are recruiting more Adult Mentors. What skill or career field would
you like a new mentor to bring?
● Describe one of the challenges you faced and how you approached it.
Exhibition
The Alberton School puts on an exhibition for the community every year. It is
scheduled for April 19, 2023. The robotics team needs to prepare a
demonstration for this exhibition. The demonstration will be in the STEM
room.
Preparing for the Exhibition is a new problem that needs to be solved. Let’s
go back to the FIRST Engineering Design Process to work through the parts
needed to solve this problem. The steps of the FIRST Engineering Design
Process are the following:
● Identify
● Design
● Create
● Iterate
● Communicate
Identify
In the Identify step we need to determine the purpose for our
demonstration. We need to understand what the audience will learn from the
demonstration and what we want the audience to do after the demonstration
is complete.
We also need to determine answers to some of the following questions:
● How long should the demonstration take?

● Where will the demonstration be held?
● How much room do we have for the demonstration?
● What resources are available during the demonstration?
○ Will there be a table to set things on?
○ Will there be electricity available?
● How far away will the audience be?
○ What will they be able to see?
● How many people will be at the demonstration?
● Is the audience students or adults or both?
The primary purpose of this demonstration is the following:
● Find Team Sponsors

● Recruit New Team Members
There are lots of other benefits to this demonstration, like raising awareness
within the community of the achievements of this team.
Find Team Sponsors

The robot demonstration needs to highlight the various job skills that the
team develops through this program. When employers see how the program
is preparing a better workforce for them, they should be interested in getting
more involved.
The FIRST team is a community team, not a school club. The team does
better in their competitions when there is participation from the whole
community, which includes local businesses. We understand that local
businesses are asked to donate to all the great programs that students are
involved with. If we come back to this well too often, it is going to run dry.
The robotics team can benefit the most when companies donate the
following in the following order:
1. Time
2. Opportunity
3. Money
Unlike other school clubs, we’re not asking directly for money. Yes, money
will help the team, but it has the least amount of impact for the students
involved.
A company can donate time by encouraging employees to volunteer and

mentor the team. The team will get the most benefit from having working
professionals show up and help the team with their Pillars of Success. This
does require that the team host some Team Practices in the evenings (from
6:00 to 8:00), so employees can finish work and participate in these practice
sessions. This is a great way for team parents to get involved with the
program and mentor the team.
A company can donate opportunity by opening up an internship during the

summer that student team members would be eligible to fill. Students get
the opportunity to learn about the company. They can build real world skills
during the summer which make them more capable in the next season. The
companies benefit because the students are doing real work providing value
to the company and its customers. The students on the robotics team are
high achieving students who have self selected to put in extra effort towards
the team. Having these students in the company allows the company to
understand their individual capabilities and not get mixed in with the
generalizations made about the younger generation. This also encourages
the companies to find more ways to give in subsequent seasons.
A company can donate money which is always helpful. There are several
recurring costs for the team. The team can help companies identify ways to
help by developing a Needs List. This shows companies that the team has
thought about what they could use right now to be more effective. Then
companies can earmark their donations to go towards specific things on the
Needs List. This is also a way for the companies to identify in kind donations.
If a company is about to upgrade a piece of equipment that the team has
identified as a need, the company can donate the replaced item to the team.
The team is a non-profit through the school, which means all donations are
tax-deductible. For capital equipment that the company was going to dispose
of, they can get the tax-deduction for fair market value while knowing that
they are supporting their community robotics team.
Recruit New Team Members

Jack and Nate Morris talked on Jan 31, 2023. Nate has several things that he
is working on. After the FRC Kickoff with the Missoula Robotics Team, Nate
and Jack agreed that an Alberton FRC team may be two or three years off.
We’re not giving up on the idea, but we need to strengthen the team some
more before taking on the additional challenges of FRC.
FIRST allows students in Grades 7-12 to participate in FTC. Starting with the
2023-2024 season, Jack recommends opening participation in the team to
students in Grades 7-10. Jack wants to keep the students in Grades 7 and 8
participating in the FTC program. From other teams, having students spread
all the way from Grade 7 to Grade 12 is too hard to manage. There is just
too big of a disparity between the oldest and youngest students. Opening up
to more grades gives a larger pool to recruit team members from. Giving
this group experience in FIRST for a couple years will get them ready to take
on the extra challenges of FRC when they are in grades 11 and 12 and
Alberton is ready to take the next step up. The exhibition is the opportunity
to recruit students who will be entering Grade 10 who did not get to
participate in our first year. It will also make the students about to enter
Grade 7 the information so they can think about it over the summer and
come back to school excited for the opportunity to join the team.
Design
In the Design step we come up with a plan for how we want the
demonstration to go.
We start with as many ideas as possible about how we can conduct the
demonstration. We compare different ideas to find the best. Part of this
process is determining what resources we have available to create the
demonstration.
We need to make sure the plan fits within the resources that we have. We
may need to raise some additional money in order to have everything we
need for the demonstration.
Some ideas for the demonstration are:
● Demonstration Board with pictures

● Presentation where we tell the audience about the team and what it
does
● Answer questions from the audience about the team, the robot, the
competition, and how to help
● Allow audience members an opportunity to drive the robot
As we design the demonstration, we need to find answers for the following

questions:
● What materials will we need to bring to the demonstration?

● How will we get materials from our work space to the demonstration
space?
● How will the audience contact us if they have questions after the
demonstration?
● If someone wants to sponsor the team, how will they do that?
● If someone wants to join the team, how will they do that?
Each part of the plan is a task that needs to be completed. We need to have
a task card on our board for each of them. We also need a task card for
finding answers to each of the questions listed above.
We need to write down all the parts of the plan. The Engineering Notebook
on Google Docs is a great way to do this. Everyone on the team is familiar
with Google Docs because they use it in class. Everyone has a Chromebook
and can access the information in the Engineering Notebook.
A task isn’t complete until all of the information for the task is in the
Engineering Notebook.
Display Board
At the Exhibition, have a table with a display board to show the robot and
what the team does during Team Practices.
● Pictures of the robot

● Pictures of the team working during Team Practices
● List of the roles or tasks that Team Members do on the team
● What do you want the audience to know when they walk away?
● What do you want the audience to do after the demonstration?
○ Donate time
○ Donate money
○ Students to join the team
○ Adults to mentor the team
● How big should the display board be?
● What should the board be made from?
Anticipated Questions
This section contains information about questions we think audience
members may ask. We’ve prepared some answers to these questions.
● What is FTC about?

● How long did it take to build the robot?
● What motivated you to do it?
● How long are you going to work on the robot?
● What are you planning for the robot’s future?
● Why did you choose this project?
● Can you describe the game?
○ There are junctions, Ground Junctions, Low Junctions, Medium
Junctions, High Junctions
○ There are terminals.
● What is your Engineering Design Process?
● What was your strategy at the MT Regional Championship?
Robot Demonstration
● What do you want the robot to do during the demonstration?
● What capabilities do you want to show?
● Where is the robot going to be during the demonstration?
● Do we need examples of the Game Pieces?
● Do we need examples of the Field Elements?
○ Ground Junctions?
○ Low Junctions?
○ Medium Junctions?
○ High Junctions?
● How long should the demonstration be?
Drive the Robot

After the presentation, give audience members, students and adults, the
opportunity to drive the robot.
One of the funnest things about being part of the team is getting to drive it.
If we give the audience a taste of what it is like to drive the robot, they may
want to do more of that. This could get them to join the team and help out
in other areas as well.
Create
In the Create step, we build the materials, including scripts for the
presentation, that we’ll need for the demonstration.
Some of the questions we need to be aware of during this step are teh
following:
● Do we have all the materials we identified in the design?

● What are the tasks needed to build the design?
● Are the tasks on the Kanban Board?
● How will we know when a task is complete?
● Where will we store materials needed for the demonstration?
Iterate
In the Iterate step we practice the demonstration. During each practice we
record in the Engineering Notebook what went well with the practice and
what we need to take a look at.
Each issue or improvement we find gets its own mini-Engineering Design
Process (Identify, Design, Create, Iterate, Communicate).
We can practice the demonstration in parts. This way we can iterate on each
part before bringing it all together in a full dress rehearsal.
Some of the things we need to think about during the Iterate step are the
following:
● Where can we practice?

● How many iteration cycles do we think the demonstration will need
before we’re ready for the full demonstration?
● How long should we allow for each cycle?
● How long will it take to make improvements after our full dress
rehearsal?
● How will we know we’re good enough for the actual demonstration?
All information learned through the Iterate step needs to be included in the
Engineering Notebook. This includes writing down the Engineering Design
Process steps within each iteration of the demonstration. Every improvement
goes through Identify, Design, Create, Iterate, and Communicate. For small
changes, these might be a sentence or two. For more involved iterations,
this will be longer paragraphs about each step.
Communicate
In addition to collecting information at each step in the process, we need to
include in the Communicate step instructions and guides for how to prepare
for and conduct more demonstrations. The demonstration at the Alberton
Exhibition is just the start of demonstrations to Frenchtown FLL teams, local
companies, and statewide corporations.
These guides can be used by future Team Members and small groups that
need to provide information about the team on short notice.
Update Robot
After competing at the 2022-2023 MT Regional Championship, the team
decided they want to update the robot. This section has information on how
to prepare for that update.
All updates to the robot can use the FIRST Engineering Design Process. This
breaks down the task into smaller, more manageable steps. The steps of the
FIRST Engineering Design Process are:
● Identify
● Design
● Create
● Iterate
● Communicate
Identify
In the Identify step we determine the purpose or goal of the update. We try
to understand what the robot will be able to do after the update is complete.
If we don’t know what the purpose of the update is, just adding an arm may
end up doing the wrong thing and not get us closer to our goal.
● Make it bigger
○ What are the advantages of bigger?
○ Are there disadvantages to being bigger?
● Add an Arm
○ What should the arm do?
Design
In the design step we come up with many ideas on how we might be able to
achieve the goals we determined from the Identify step.
● Make it bigger
○ 3 inches bigger on all sides
○ Those exact same metal bars with the holes in the middle
○ Ask teammates
○ Go to goBILDA
○ Buy a kit
○ Raise money to buy a kit
● Add an Arm
○ What should the arm do?
○ How big is the arm?
○ How will we move the arm?
○ What parts do we need for the arm?
○ What does the arm look like?
goBILDA 4-Stage Viper Slide Kit

The goBILDA 4-Stage Viper Slide Kit (Belt Drive)
(https://www.gobilda.com/4-stage-viper-slide-kit-belt-driven/) was released
on Jan 20, 2023. Mackynzie has reviewed the product announcement video.
She wants to have one to learn how to assemble it. It can be a useful
mechanism in future seasons.
At the Montana Regional Championship, count how many teams are using a
linear slide system on their robots. This was just as valuable in the
2021-2022 Freight Frenzy season.
The belt driven system is a huge improvement over the previous cable
driven system. Talk with teams like RoboScout Squad, 18240, from Kalispell
about their experiences with both systems.
End of Season Picnic

The End of Season Picnic is a time for the team members to reflect on all the
things they accomplished over the season. It should include families so they
can celebrate the achievements of their team members. This is a fun, social
event to enjoy some time as a team, but not doing work.
Robot Demonstrations
Robot Demonstrations are a key part of outreach to the community. It is a
great opportunity to raise some money for the team. The key focus though
is informing the community of the great things that the team is achieving.
Often teams will use an old game for their Outreach Events and robot
demonstrations. This is easy because the game manual has the game pieces
and has identified robot actions for scoring.
Using a previous game really only works if the team purchased the field
elements and game pieces during that season. Trying to go back and get or
make these items can be a lot of work.
The demonstrations can be anything that the team wants. The goal of the
demonstration is different than the goal of the competition. There are some
games that are hard to explain and audiences new to FTC may spend more
time trying to figure out the game than enjoying the abilities of the robot
and the team members.
Things that are good for attracting attention are blinking lights. Also things
flying through the air are a crowd pleaser. Once we get the Straffer Chassis,
folks like to see it move like a car as well as move side to side. It is pretty
easy to implement Driver-centric Control and then we can drive around the
field as the robot is rotating. Watching that is mind boggling because no one
has experience with this type of vehicle. It does take several hours of Driver
Practice to be able to achieve this.
Once the team has a fun and engaging robot demonstration, we can use it
for all sorts of different Outreach Events. These can be more impressive to
potential sponsors and potential mentors than an in work robot trying to
plan an unpracticed competition match.
Demonstration Materials
This section has information about materials needed to conduct a
demonstration. The robot is necessary, but there are other things to make
the demonstration interesting and engaging.
The RoboScout Squad loaned the team a number of Field Elements and
Game Pieces from previous seasons to help the team with Robot
Demonstration. The team needs to acquire their own Field Elements and
Game Pieces so they can return the items that were loaned to the team.
The table below has a list of the items that RoboScout Squad loaned the
team.
Season Item Qty
Powerplay Blue Cone 2
Powerplay Red Cone 1
Freight Frenzy Blue Alliance Shipping Hub 1
Freight Frenzy Heavy Cube 1
Freight Frenzy Medium Cube 1
Feight Frenzy Light Cube 1
Freight Frenzy Ball 1
Freight Frenzy Rubber Duck 1
Ultimate Goal Ring 1
Jack has a bag of 3 inch wiffle balls that were donated by the Helena FRC
team. These would be a great game piece to build demonstrations and
outreach events around.
The team needs to decide what they want their robot to do for their
demonstrations. This will determine what materials to purchase. The table
below has a list of options for things that can be purchased if they don’t
want to use the bag of wiffle balls.
Description Vendor Item Qty Cost
Price
Freight Frenzy Shipping Hub-Black AndyMark $16.00 1 $16.00

(Shared)
Stee-Rike 3 Plastic Practice Golf Ball AndyMark $0.40 5 $2.00
Powerplay Cone-Red AndyMark $4.90 2 $9.80
Powerplay Cone-Blue AndyMark $4.90 2 $9.80
Powerplay Junction Assembly-Low AndyMark $13.75 1 $13.75
Powerplay Ground Junction AndyMark $6.75 1 $6.75
Many of the Game Pieces from previous games are no longer available. The
Freight Frenzy Shipping Hub is easy to transport to a demonstration and
provides a good destination for picking any pieces and placing them as part
of the demonstration.
3D Print Alliance Markers

This activity can be coordinated with Mr. Morris. It uses the 3D printers that
he has in the workshop.
Use different filament colors to print a set of plastic Alliance Markers. There
is a model available on Thingiverse
(https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3866632).
The team has struggled with Alliance Markers. The ones we took to the 2022
MT Butte Qualifier were paper, cardboard, and duct tape. They got pretty
beat up at the competition. For the 2023 MT Regional Championship we are
still using the paper and cardboard markers. We did add Velcro to the
markers and the robot in hopes that they will mount to the robot better.
This design builds the markers out of plastic. It includes mounting brackets
that can be bolted to the robot, which is more secure than the Velcro.
Using these does mean that the team needs to plan their robot design better
before they start building it. This does give them a more secure and better
looking set of Alliance Markers for competition.
This project is a good entryway into 3D printing. Several teams post designs
to Thingiverse that can be used in FTC. As the team members become more
familiar with what is possible, they will start to modify models from others
and eventually design their own parts to 3D print for their robot.
Wiffle Ball Launcher

This activity is to build a launcher for the robot to launch 3” wiffle balls.
FRC 3216 donated a bag full of 3 inch wiffle balls to the team. These can be
launched at nets or baskets for robot demonstrations. Kids like to see robots
launch things into the air. These are small and lightweight, so they won’t
hurt anyone if it hits them.
The FTC 2022-2023 Powerplay game was a pick and place game. These are
pretty popular for FTC seasons. The FTC 2020-2021 Ultimate Goal game was
launching rings into nets at various heights. It is good to practice both types
of manipulators. The wiffle ball launcher will give the team experience with
this type of manipulator.
Work with Nate Morris on developing a target for the wiffle balls. A vertical
backboard with holes in it can give the robot something to aim at for
launching the wiffle balls. The back of this target can include channels where
the wiffle balls are redirected and returned to an area for the robot to
retrieve them from.
The front of the target can be painted with some amusing mural for the
demonstration. It could be baseball players with gloves where the holes are.
Get the students to be creative with this part.
The target should be able to fit in the backseat of a car or in a trunk. It will
need to be transported with the robot and driver station to the location of
the demonstration.
The back of the target can be use as entertaining as the front. The students
can design a fun marble run with spinners and drops and gates for the wiffle
balls to travel through. Folks behind the target can enjoy watching the wiffle
balls make their way through it before ending up in a place where the robot
can gather them and launch them again.
Robot Design Challenge

After their last competition, the team needs to work out a plan to return the
robot parts which are on loan from Jack. The team doesn’t have the budget
to purchase a bunch of kits to build stock. This gets the students familiar
with the full catalog from goBILDA. They will select a series of parts to build
their robot chassis and mechanisms. This will bring in parts that the students
want to use and understand how to use in their future robots.
Many of the students are working alone and not taking advantage of the
talents of their teammates. This will be a way for them to work in a smaller
group. They may discover that they don’t know as much about designing
robots as they thought. There is a risk of demoralizing students. As long as
this can be managed as a humbling, but not crippling experience, the full
team will be stronger for the next season.
Pretty much all of the students are trying to jump into building their robot
without having a plan. A plan, however weak, is required to receive parts for
their robot. Teams who develop strong plans will finish earlier and likely have
more capable robots. This should be a way to disincentivize skipping the
Identify step and rushing the Design step of the Engineering Design Process.
Teams with a well thought out plan will get more time to work on their robot
because they don’t have to also use their labor hours planning and
conducting fundraising activities. This is the same way that teams who
develop competitive and achievable contract bids don’t have to spend
additional time with company and customer oversight teams and developing
“Return to Green” plans.
Split the group into three smaller groups. Each group designs and builds an
FTC Competition legal robot.
We’ll design some solo challenges that each robot will compete in.
We don’t have the budget for additional Control Hubs or Driver Hubs, so the
teams will need to plan on easily removing and replacing the Control Hub so
it can be moved between robots for each robot to compete.
Teams need to design their robot and then using the goBILDA website create
a Google Sheet as a Purchase Request to get all the parts they need.
We need to get the Straffer Chassis for next season. Ask the teams which
team wants to use the Straffer Chassis. If multiple teams want it, create
some knowledge challenge, like a Game Manual quiz. The team who scores
the best on this quiz will get the Straffer Chassis Kit to use as a base. This
should rely on all team members contributing. If all teams have the same
number of students, then total points earned works. If teams have different
numbers of students, the total points can be normalized by using average
scores.
Teams must present a sketch or a drawing of their design and their parts
list, or Engineering Bill of Materials (EBOM). Mentors will review and approve
each design and Purchase Request. If Purchase Requests are extravagant or
designs are overly complicated, mentors will conduct a splinter session with
the team to explore alternative design options to consider.
If Purchase Requests are missing items, the Purchase will be made and the
team will have to make due with what they did request. (There can be an
option to conduct a fundraising activity to earn the money for missing parts
and submit a follow-on Purchase Request for additional parts. This simulates
a real world problem where companies submit a contract bid for less than
the actual costs. When the contract is awarded and the contractor realizes
they don’t have enough funding to complete their contractual commitments,
they must take it from profits or find other ways to make up the difference.
FIRST allows for safe failures. Team Members learn more from these failures
than from their successes. Conducting a fundraising activity seems like a
reasonably painful way out of the error. It will sit with the students and they
will be more likely to double-check their planning and designs for things they
forgot about in the future.
Each team will need to program their own robot. Evan and Jack and
Software Team Members from FRC 3216 in Missoula will host a series of
programming seminars to teach members of all teams the basics of
programming. With only a single Control Hub, teams will need to schedule
time with the Control Hub. If they don’t use the time or don’t complete their
work in time, they will have to request additional time. Teams can schedule
time blocks up to three days in a row. Each team can have no more than
three time blocks on the calendar at a time. The first set of time blocks will
be scheduled in a round Robin draft. After that, scheduling is assigned on a
first come, first serve basis. This simulates a limited resource or shared
resource scenario. A company like Lockheed Martin has only one or two
Thermal Vacuum Chamber for testing satellites before launch. Dozens of
satellite programs need to use these facilities, so the companies have to
schedule time in them. These schedules are full six to twelve months in
advance. If a program doesn’t have their satellite built and ready to test
during their scheduled time, they may have to slip their schedule six to
twelve months when time becomes available again.
There is a secondary market for these shared resources. If a team realizes

that they are not ready to use the Control Hub for their scheduled time, they
can coordinate with the other teams to find a trade of their scheduled time.
Both teams must provide a combined presentation to the mentors explaining
the situation and requesting the swap. Mentors will determine if they want to
approve the swap and make the schedule adjustment. In the real world, it is
embarrassing to have to go to the company executives or the customer to
explain that you’re behind schedule. The sooner teams admit this, the more
time there is to find a fix and a way to recover the slip. The presentation is
to give the students a taste of this embarrassment as well as the experience
that it isn’t a big deal and as long as they are transparent about these
issues, the mentors will work with them to find a solution that works for
everyone. If they try to hide the fact that they aren’t ready to use the
Control Hub, the time is lost and the resulting delay is worse than if they had
worked out a trade of times in the schedule.
Team Keychains
Keychains can be used for keys or as decorations for backpacks.
Nate Morris has 3D printers, a laser cutter, and a CNC machine. Any of these
can be used to make keychain tags. Amazon has several options for the key
ring and chain to make them into keychains.
The team members can create a design with Mr. Morris’ help. Then they can
manufacture them and attach the key ring and chain to them. This can be
something unique to team members so they can stand out and draw interest
from the other students.
The team can also design a keychain that is generic and can be given as a
prize to other students or sold at ballgames and other school functions. It
will feel like a Fun Raiser, but in reality it isn’t generating the kind of income
the team needs. The key to this project is to allow them to come up with a
design and learn how to manufacture something on a small scale.
While all three (3D printing, laser cutting, and CNC machining) are valuable
skills to have, 3D printing is most common with FTC teams. Jack
recommends starting here. Once the students have learned how to 3D print
their own keychain design, they will be better able to print models they find
from Thingiverse or other repositories. The following are some of the FTC
related items available on Thingiverse:
● FTC Driver Controller Station

(https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2332025)
● FTC Logo (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:639426)
● FTC 12V Battery Holder (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1565005)
● FTC REV Expansion Hub Mount
● REV Robotics FTC Driver Station Case
● FTC Alliance Markers and Holders
● FTC goBILDA Strafer Chassis Corner Guard
● FTC goBILDA Battery Mount
● FTC Power Switch Cover
● FTC Power Switch Mount
● Assorted Block Grippers (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2776210)
Internal Research and Development (IRAD)

One of the best practices in FRC is never do something on a competition
robot that you haven’t done before. After the season’s official competitions
are done, there is a lot of time to work on the things we’ve never done
before. In industry, this is known as Internal Research and Development
(IRAD).
Jack likes working these as projects so the team members use all of their
skills needed for a competition season. They can work through the full
Engineering Design Process.
We’ve already identified the goBILDA 4-stage Viper Slide Kit as an iRAD
project. Mackenzie is very excited to get one of these kits and put it together
to see how it works. That was part of our Needs List.
Preparing for Robot Demonstrations is another great way to try new things.
Gather all the photos taken during Pit Scouting over the previous seasons
and use them to build a Want List for the projects or mechanisms that the
team wants to try to build and get experience with.
Sponsors Night
Several FRC teams host a Sponsors Night. This is usually a week or two
before their first competition. It is used to keep the team on schedule for
completing all their robot building tasks, while leaving a little room (no more
than two weeks) to make final tweaks or resolve sticky problems.
Jack thinks the Panther Robotics Team should do the same thing. The first
Qualifier is usually the first week in November. We should host a Sponsor’s
Night in the middle of October (e.g., Oct 15).
The event will run very similar to the Exhibition at the end of the season.
This can be used to motivate the team to complete tasks, particularly in
building and programming the robot. Mentors can say things like, “We need
to get this done before Sponsors Night because they have spent a lot of
money and need to see what we’ve done with all of it.”
Sponsors Night is also a great opportunity for the students to tweak and
iterate on small portions of their presentation for the Judges Interviews. The
Sponsors want to hear the same information that the Judges want to hear.
In talking with the Sponsors throughout the night, they can practice different
phrasings for the key points that they want to present to the Judges. This
way they aren’t saying the words out loud for the first time in front of the
Judges. Also this avoids them feeling like they need to read the presentation
to the Judges. They know they can just make the points in casual
conversation as the did at Sponsors Night.
The team can give out small promotional items, like pens with the team’s
website, to the guests. We should also have some sort of light snack as most
guests will be arriving straight from work and haven’t been home for dinner.
If we know a baker, we should see if they would be willing to make cookies
or other snacks that can be carried around the room as the Sponsors get to
know the students and get a chance to watch the robot practicing on the
field.
Typically teams don’t have visitors drive the robot during Sponsors Night.
Often this is because the competition robot isn’t quite ready in time. If the
competition robot is ready, it would be great to have visitors drive it.
Anything they break on the robot would also break during competition when
we’re pushing the robot to its limits. Having it break early is a blessing
because then we know where the robot is weak and we still have two weeks
before competition to iterate the design and make sure it is robust for
competition.
Yes, the school and all of the faculty are invited. They are our biggest
sponsor through class time, teachers, mentors, workspace, and tools.
There aren’t many FTC teams in the area. We should also invite other FIRST
teams from the area. This will be inspirational for the FLL teams in
Frenchtown. This will also be good outreach to the FRC team in Missoula. We
want to recruit the FRC students as mentors. We need to show them what
we can do to impress them and spark ideas of where they can help us.
Coding Camp
We currently have a single point of failure with programming. We have one
team member who can program. If he gets sick or has to be at a basketball
tournament, we have no one who can iterate the robot’s programming.
We should take about a week to have our Lead Programmer or our Lead
Programming Mentor host a programming camp where all interested team
members get the opportunity to program the robot.
Game Manual
The FTC Game Manual is distributed in two parts. We are using the
Traditional Events version.
The team should have at least one printed copy of each part. It is best to
have them in separate folders because frequently two different team
members will need to look something up in the different parts.
Every team member needs to download a copy of both to their Chromebook.

Sometimes the Internet connection slows down and we can’t always get to
the version that is online. Having a copy of the Game Manual on each
student’s Chromebook means anyone at any time can look something up.
Game Manual, Part 1
Powerplay Game Manual, Part 1
/game-manual-part-1-traditional-events.pdf)
Game Manual, Part 1 focuses more on the program than the game. It
explains how events are conducted and what to expect when you get there.
It also has information on how teams advance to the next higher level of
competition.
This part of the game manual includes all the information about the Judges
Interview and requirements for the Engineering Portfolio which is submitted
when you sign into the event. This is the basis for all the Awards given at
the event.
Don’t think this part of the game manual doesn’t apply to the robot
construction or game elements. There are general rules about the allowable
materials for the robot and configuration of the robot control system. This
part includes information about Team Number and Alliance Markers on the
robot. It also has the rules for the Team Scoring Element (TSE) or Beacon
and the Signal Sleeve.
Game Manual, Part 2

Powerplay Game Manual, Part 2
/game-manual-part-2-traditional.pdf)
Game Manual, Part 2 explains the Powerplay game. This is where

information about scoring is provided. It has the rules for how to play the
game, like how many scoring elements the robot can control at a given time.
It also has all the mechanical details about the Playing Field and the Scoring
Elements.
Strategy Resources
This section has some resources that are useful in developing the team’s
unique strategy. Strategy is one of the Pillars of Success.
Jack’s Powerplay Game Analysis

Jack has published his Powerplay Game Analysis on Google. This is available
to all teams. There is a QR code posted in the STEM Room so that all Team
Members can access it. They should bookmark it and return frequently to
study the updates.
It is long. This is something the team can review in small segments at the
beginning of each Team Practice.
Students are encouraged to read and study the document in full. This should
be in conjunction with studying the Game Manual. With everything that
students are asked to read, Jack understands that this and the Game Manual
are not priorities. They are necessary for being successful at competition.
Working in small segments as a group may help the students recognize the
value of the document. If they perceive it as a value, they may actually pick
it up and review it outside of Team Practices.
Powerplay the Board Game

Powerplay the Board Game is a game Jack developed. It was intended to
help teams learn how to play Powerplay. It allows two team members to try
a strategy against a human opponent within a few minutes.
Team members can play when they are waiting on resources during Team
Practices. It is a great way to learn how the competition is scored. It is one
thing to think about playing the game. Even when conducting Driver
Practice, teams tend to be myopic and see the Playing Field as only having
one robot and no one else playing. When you play against another human
player who is also trying to score more points, the strategies optimized for
solitary play tend to break down.
The design of the game allows teams with different resources to play the
board game. It is as simple as a printout and some game pieces made from
hole punches. Teams who want to get more formal versions of the board
game can purchase some travel games and modify them to represent the
Powerplay Playing Field.
The game description document includes instructions for playing the game, a
scorecard to help Team Members learn how the game is scored as well as
document their strategy for future analysis. It also includes instructions on
how to build the board game at your work space.
This allows teams to run hundreds of game simulations with human players
to help develop strategies and identify vulnerabilities in their own strategy.
As a board game, there are some simplifications made to the game play. The
perfect board game strategy may not work as effectively in actual FTC
competition.
Game Manual Zero

Game Manual 0 (https://gm0.org/en/latest/index.html) is a great resource
for all things FTC.
There is a ton of background information that will help new team members,
mentors, and parents learn the terminology of FTC and robotics. It also has
great comparisons of different design concepts. It can show the advantages
and disadvantages of design options.
Too often team members see a fancy new gadget on another team’s robot or
on a website and feel they must have that. The problem is that it usually
doesn’t mesh with the team’s strategy. Strategy dictates design. If we lose
site of this, we may have a fancy feature that works against our ability to
score points and win Matches.
REV Kickoff Concepts
Each season the engineers at REV Robotics provide an overview of different
concepts based on the FTC Kickoff. The FTC 2022-2023 Powerplay Kickoff
Concepts material is available at
https://docs.revrobotics.com/kickoff-concepts/.
This should be reviewed as one of many options. This should not be used as
a roadmap or design guide for the team. Many of the ideas work for the REV
team, but they have different resources available from those that our team
has.
Since we’re a new team and we’re constantly turning over student team
members, this is a great way for new team members to get familiar with FTC
and robot concepts before diving into our specific strategy.
goBILDA Robot in Three Days (RI3D)

Each season the engineers at goBILDA build a Robot in Three Days (RI3D).
They post this to their YouTube channel. Jack recommends subscribing to
this channel since we have selected this as our build system of choice.
The FTC 2022-2023 Powerplay RI3D Bot Breakdown is available at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIYxuSk1fDY. The full analysis, design,
and build is available at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rILZTJ9rkPk&list=PLpytbFEB5mLePeN15
rp89IldwzYssQc3R.
The team commits to having an initial robot built within 3 days of the FTC
Kickoff. Given their years of experience with FTC, this is a pretty good design
and worth looking at. LIke the REV Kickoff Concept, this is not an instruction
guide and should not be the justification for the team’s robot.
You will see several teams at FTC events who have built this robot or a robot
very similar to it.
goBILDA does post the multi-day experience, including prototyping and

missteps that they took along the way. Jack thinks they do a good job of
identifying things that they wish they did differently and would continue to
iterate on during the remaining 12 weeks of the season.
Students, mentors, and parents are encouraged to watch the RI3D videos.
They cover a lot of information and ideas that teams will encounter. It saves
teams from doing similar prototypes and finding the same results. Jack feels
that if you treat them as an information resource and not a design guide,
they can prove to be useful.
This does not allow teams to skip their own FIRST Engineering Design
Process. Jack thinks that teams who spend the time and do the work in their
own process will be able to build better, more competitive robots. These will
outperform the teams who just blindly accepted the recommendations from
this effort.
Programming Resources
FIRST has a library of programming resources available at
https://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/ftc/technology-information-an
d-resources. This is part of the Robot Pillar in the Pillars of Success.
We are using Blocks Programming for the FTC 2022-2023 Powerplay season.
FTC’s Blocks programming is powered by Google’s Blocky software.
Blocks Programming Guide (Blocks Programming Guide)
Blocks Video Tutorials (Blocks Video Tutorials)
Computational Thinking Video Playlist (Computational Thinking Video

Playlist)
FTC SIM
https://ftcsim.org/ftcsim/
FTC SIM is a free, online simulator that allows users to test their code in a
virtual environment before they deploy it to their robot.
There are step by step tutorials on how to build Op Modes using Blocks and
how to control a robot. Everyone curious about programming the robot
should work through the tutorials on this site.
Using the Control Hub and Driver Hub

From a Chromebook, use the following steps to access the robot
programming:
● Turn on the robot

● On the Chromebook, change WiFi network to 22811-RC
○ The current password is posted in the Robot Wiring Guide folder
● Once connected to the robot’s WiFi network, open Chrome web
browser
● In the address bar enter 192.168.43.1:8080
This provides access to programming and managing the Control Hub. There
are tabs for Blocks, OnBotJava, and Manage. We’re going to skip the
OnBotJava for this season. Go to the Manage screen and click through the
various options there.
● Managing Your Control System Resources
○ Managing Your Control System
○ Configuring the Driver Hub
○ Intro to the REV Driver Hub
○ Driver Hub: Getting Started
○ Connecting a Control Hub to a Driver Hub
The Control Hub (https://www.revrobotics.com/rev-31-1595/) and Driver

Hub (https://www.revrobotics.com/rev-31-1596/) are provided by REV
Robotics (https://www.revrobotics.com/). The product pages have links to
good documentation for configuring these and troubleshooting them.
The Getting Started with Control Hub documentation assumes you’re
starting with a Control Hub straight from the factory. The Control Hub Name
has been updated as required by the Game Manual, Part 1. The password is
posted in the Robot Wiring Guide folder.
Initial configuration is done by a wired connection between the Control Hub

and a Windows computer. It uses the REV Hardware Client software that is
only available for Windows. This can’t be installed on a Chromebook. Once
the Control Hub has been configured, all programming and management can
be done through a web browser, like Chrome.
The Blocks tab is where we’ll program the robot. Jack provided several
Teleop OpModes. More information about these OpModes are in the
FTC-JackR Robot Design document. The team programmed a Drive Forward
and Stop Autonomous OpMode.
Connecting Gamepads
Details for connecting gamepads are available on the Getting Started with
Driver Hub documentation.
● Plug the gamepad into any of the USB 3.0 ports on the Driver Hub
● Open the FTC Driver Station app
● On gamepad 1, press Option + X
○ The gamepad should vibrate
○ On the Driver Station, in the upper right above the User 1 label
there should be a gamepad icon.
● On gamepad 2, press Option + O
○ The gamepad should vibrate
○ On the Driver Station, in the upper right above the User 2 label
there should be a gamepad icon.
Factory Reset Logitech F310 Game Controller

This section provides steps to reset the Logitech F310 game controller. These
are the game controllers we received as part of the Control Set from our
registration.
At the Butte Qualifier, we kept having the game controller switch from the
left joystick to the D-pad. At the Montana’s Regional Championship, we had
a game controller start reading Y values when the stick was not being
pressed. Both appear to require a factory reset of the game controller.
https://www.logitech.com/assets/35017/gamepad-f310-gsw.pdf
Jack has looked and can’t find instructions for a factory reset of this
controller. We’ll need to do more troubleshooting to figure out why the one
controller was reading a Left Stick Y position when we weren’t touching it.
Logitech F310 Directional Pad

https://www.logitech.com/assets/35017/gamepad-f310-gsw.pdf
The Logitech F310 gamepad has a Fight Mode and a Sports Mode.
In Flight Mode, the analog sticks control the action; the D-pad controls the
Point of View (POV); and the status light is off. In Sports Mode, the analog
sticks control the POV; the D-pad controls the action; and the status light is
on.
If the gamepad controls switch while controlling the robot, first try pressing
the Mode button to switch back to Flight Mode.
If the Mode button doesn’t correct the issue, use the following steps to
correct it:
● On the back of the gamepad, switch to D mode

● On the Drivers Station, when prompted, select OK
● On the back of the gamepad, switch to X mode
● Retry control with left joystick
Several online guides for resetting the gamepad for PlayStation say that
plugging the gamepad into a computer can modify the settings in the
gamepad. This could be the reason for intermittent problems with the left
joystick. These gamepads are for the robot only. If you plug them into your
Chromebook, it can prevent the robot from operating properly.
All of the REV configuration and troubleshooting guides refer to the Etpark
Wired Controller for PS4 (https://www.revrobotics.com/rev-39-1865/).
From the research that Jack has done, reconfiguration or unexpected

behavior can happen when the gamepad is plugged into a computer and
used to play video games. The robotics team gamepads are to be used only
for the robot. We cannot risk it changing configurations in the middle of
Matches.
● Team 22811 Gamepads are only to be plugged into the Drivers Hub
● Plugging them into a computer or Chromebook will reconfigure them
and they will stop working on the robot again.
Gamepad Wire Management

This section provides recommendations to increase the life of the gamepads.
When not in use, fold the cable neatly and secure it with a strap or rubber
band. Velcro™ One-Wrap Cable-Ties are available from Amazon
(https://www.amazon.com/VELCRO-Brand-Cable-Ties-100Pk/dp/B001E1Y5O
6?th=1).
Do not wrap the wire around the controller. First this takes some time to do
and more time to undo. Next, the wrapping motion adds twists to the cable,
which adds stress to the wires inside. It is more than having tangles in the
cable. Like a tourniquet, this tightens the stranded wire inside the insulator
and makes it prone to breaking. When wrapping the cable, tension is applied
to the wire to get a tight wrap. This tension also stresses the wires inside the
insulator and causes the wires to break.
When the wire is folded, there is no stress on the internal wires. Also the
bends can be kept in the same location. A Velcro one-wrap can be used to
secure the cable quickly. When the one wrap it released the full length of the
wire is immediately available for use and there are no twists that need to be
removed before plugging it into the Driver Hub.
Spare Gamepad
At the Montana Regional Championship, we had an issue with one of the
gamepads. When no one was touching the left stick, it was reporting a Y
position. We were able to connect our second gamepad and continue the
competition.
This is a good lesson to always have a spare gamepad available.
When we get to the level of using two gamepads (Driver and Co-Driver), we
should keep a third gamepad as a spare in the pits. The Logitech F310 is
available from Amazon
(https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-940-000110-Gamepad-F310/dp/B003V
AHYQY). This is an inexpensive, reliable option. REV Robotics sells the Etpark
Wired Controller (https://www.revrobotics.com/rev-39-1865/). It is 30%
more expensive but does include a rumble feature. The REV support
documents only cover the Etpark controller.
For competition, FIRST only allows wired controllers to be used. A wireless

controller can be used for demonstrations or outreach events. This would be
an additional cost and more equipment to manage in inventory.
Backup Op Modes
This section provides the procedure needed to backup OpModes from the
Control Hub to a USB thumb drive.
1. Power on the robot

2. Download Op Modes to Chromebook
a. On a Chromebook, connect WiFi to the 22811-RC network
b. Open Chrome web browser
c. In the address bar enter 192.168.43.1:8080 and press Enter
d. On the robot controller console, select Blocks
e. Place a checkmark next to each OpMode you want to backup
f. Select the [Download Op Mode] button
3. Copy Blocks files (*.blk) from Chromebook to USB thumb drive
a. On Chromebook, open File Manager
b. Insert USB thumb drive in a USB port
c. Drag *.blk files from Chromebook to USB thumb drive
Computer Vision and Object Detection

As part of the Control Set from the FTC Kit of Parts, we received a webcam.
The students are eager to mount it on the robot and start using it. This can
be used for a vision system to detect the Signal which is randomized prior to
the start of the Match.
The following are several of the resources available to teams for computer
vision:
● TensorFlow for Blocks

● Vuforia for Blocks
● Machine Learning Toolchain
● Using an External Camera with Control Hub
● Using an External UVC Camera and Powered USB Hub
Robot Building Resources

This section has information available from FIRST to help in building the
robot. This is part of the Robot Pillar in the Pillars of Success.
The REV Starter Kit and TETRIX Starter Kit are available through the
registration site. We’re using the goBILDA (https://www.gobilda.com/) robot
build system. The demonstration robot that we started with is the goBILDA
FTC Starter Kit
(https://www.gobilda.com/ftc-starter-kit-2022-2023-season/).
FIRST Robot Building Resources

The following are additional robot building resources available from FIRST:
● Power button labels

● Robot moves labels
● Legal and Illegal Parts
● Robot Reliability Checklist
● Robot Wiring Guide
● Robot Wiring Video
goBILDA YouTube Channel

goBILDA has a YouTube channel available at
https://www.youtube.com/c/goBILDA.
This is a great way to keep up to date on the latest product offerings from
goBILDA. On January 20, 2023, they announced the release of the Belt
Driven 4-stage Viper Slide
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdziFFW2hAM). They also have very
good tutorials on how to assemble kits, like rigging the 2-stage Viper Slide
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRyI8FNifdA).
Every product from goBILDA has one or more Product Insight sheets
showing ways to use the product for your robot. Some of the products also
include videos which are hosted through this YouTube channel as well.
FIRST has lots of documentation to read through and learn from. Having
YouTube channels from vendors like goBILDA give students who struggle
with reading to stay informed and stay engaged with the robotics program.
goBILDA FTC Team Discount

On February 14 2023, Nick Ehlers registered the team with goBILDA. This
provides a 25% discount on most parts. The team uses the goBILDA build
system for its robots.
goBILDA offers several adaptors to parts from other vendors. This makes it
easy to bring preferred parts from other vendors into the design when
goBILDA doesn’t offer a reasonable equivalent of what the team is looking
for.
The list price for many goBILDA parts is higher than you’ll see for similar
parts from other vendors. This has led to a reputation amongst some teams
that goBILDA is more expensive than other vendors. Once you account for
the FTC Team discount, parts are roughly the same price. Jack has found the
goBILDA provides higher quality materials, which is why he recommends it
to all teams.
Tools
This section provides information about the tools used by FTC teams.
A list of tools are available in the FTC New Team Guide and in the FTC
Material Sources-goBILDA document.
Luckily goBILDA and REV sell the tools that work with their build systems.
Here is a list of tools with links to help select items to purchase. Often these
are nice to add onto a parts order from the specified vendor.
● goBILDA 3mm Ball End Hex-Plus L-Key

(https://www.gobilda.com/wera-tools-3mm-ball-end-hex-plus-l-key/)
● goBILDA 2.5mm Ball End Hex-Plus L-Key
(https://www.gobilda.com/wera-tools-2-5mm-ball-end-hex-plus-l-key/
)
● goBILDA 2mm Ball End Hex-Plus L-Key
(https://www.gobilda.com/wera-tools-2mm-ball-end-hex-plus-l-key/)
● goBILDA 7mm Combination Wrench
(https://www.gobilda.com/7mm-combination-wrench/)
● goBILDA 7mm Combination Nut Driver
(https://www.gobilda.com/7mm-combination-nut-driver/)
The following are tools used with the REV Building System:
● REV 5.5mm Combination Wrench

(https://www.revrobotics.com/rev-41-1374/)
● REV 5.5 Nut Driver (https://www.revrobotics.com/rev-41-1119/)
● REV 2mm Allen Wrench (https://www.revrobotics.com/rev-41-1377/)
The REV Building System tools should be kept separate from the rest of the
team tools. We only need them to mount and dismount the REV Control Hub
and REV Expansion Hub. Everything else can be done with the goBILDA
related tools.
Our team uses the goBILDA (https://www.gobilda.com/) building system for

the robot. goBILDA uses all metric parts. They standardize around the M4
Socket Head Cap Screws (SHCS). By keeping with this building system, this
reduces the number of hex wrenches, nutdrivers, and combination wrenches
that the team needs.
We are required to use the REV Control Set. REV uses M3 Hex Head Screws
and M3 nuts. These require a different wrench from the M4 screws used by
goBILDA. Some teams drill out the holes on their REV Control Set. Jack
prefers to get a $3 bag of screws and a $3 bag of nuts and keep these
around for mounting the REV components. As the team matures, they may
want to incorporate more REV components into their robot designs. At that
point we are already poised to fasten REV parts together. Also by that point
the students have learned the difference between M4 screws and M3 screws
and will know what the right tool for each job is.
These standard fasteners do mean we need several of each hand tool. First
we need some so that multiple students can be working at the same time.
Next we need extras because they will get damaged over time. The students
are just learning to use the tools, so they aren’t going to be kind to them.
Additionally we need extras because tools will get misplaced or stolen
consistently. When tools go missing, it does no good to try to hunt down or
blame others. We still need to get work done by our deadlines, so we just
need to get the needed tools and continue to press on.
Since goBILDA only uses metric fasteners, we only want metric tools in the
team’s toolbox. Never bring SAE tools to the team. It only leads to damage
of the tools and damage to the robot.
Harbor Freight (https://www.harborfreight.com/) is a good resource for

tools. We’re already getting our part storage containers from them. They
don’t sell individual tools, just sets. It is fine to have a set of Metric Hex
Wrenches because you never know when you encounter something different.
JackR doesn’t recommend getting too many of these. The students don’t
know the parts and they don’t know the wrench sizes. JackR has watched
countless students grab a set of wrenches and try each one until something
fits. This is a complete waste of the limited time the team has to do their
work. We need to teach the students what the right tool for the job is so
they always have the right wrench the first time. Beyond one or two wrench
sets, only bring in the exact sizes the team uses. Harbor Freight sets are
often less expensive than buying the individual wrenches. In this case, buy
the set, throw away (or donate to Goodwill) the wrong sizes, and only stock
the right sizes in the team’s toolbox.
Storage
This section provides information about storage needs for the team.
The large Husky tote is lockable, which is nice given that the STEM room the
team is working from is used throughout the school day for a variety of
different groups. This is also going to be good for transporting the robot and
the Control Set to events.
The Tote can be used for larger items. These are usually structural items,
like U-Channel, Low-Side U-Channel, and goRAILs. These are available from
Amazon (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T57OLCM). (Amazon
Smile is another good fundraising resource. Team members and their
parents can enter the team’s Tax ID into Smile Amazon and Amazon will
donate a portion of their profits to the team. It doesn’t change the cost of
the items everyone is already paying for items from Amazon. It is a small
percentage that we earn, but when everyone that wants to support the team
signs up for this, we can get a reasonable check each month.)
The Toolbox Organizer with 4 Drawers from Harbor Freight

(https://www.harborfreight.com/toolbox-organizer-with-4-drawers-68238.ht
ml) is good for hand tools in the top and some medium size items in the
drawers. Jack is using two of the Drawers for Servos and some of their
related items. He also has a Drawer dedicated to M3 screws. He did have a
drawer for M3 screws, but we use so few of those that these should be
moved to one of the 10 Tray Utility Boxes. There are so many little parts that
we’ll use on the robot that we probably need two of these.
The 10 Tray Utility Boxes from Harbor Freight

(https://www.harborfreight.com/multi-compartment-utility-box-40528.html)
is working great for most of our small items. Given the variety of parts that
we’ll use on the robot, we’ll need at least two of these. There are four
configurations of the trays available:
● Full Tray
● Long Wide Slots
● Short Deep Slots
● Small Compartments
Each removable tray should be organized with similar types of parts in them.
For example all of the Sonic Hubs and Hyper Hubs can be in one tray, while
another tray can have all Flat Beams in it.
goBILDA Strafer Chassis

This section has details about the goBILDA Straffer Chassis Kit V5
(https://www.gobilda.com/strafer-chassis-kit-v5/).
This drive chassis uses Mecanum Wheels. This is considered a Holonomic

Drivetrain
(https://gm0.org/en/latest/docs/common-mechanisms/drivetrains/holonomi
c.html). This is the most common drivetrain in FTC. It provides the ability to
maneuver in all directions on the Playing Field.
Since the team doesn’t have a drivetrain yet, this is the one they should
start with. With the team discount it is the same price as the Tetrix and REV
kits that were available on the registration page. Unlike the goBILDA FTC
Starter Kit, this kit comes with assembly instructions.
A Mecanum Wheel drivetrain uses four motors to power the four wheels. This
independent power is what allows the drivetrain its maneuverability. This
uses all the motor ports on the REV Control Hub. The team can still add
functionality to the robot with servos. If they need a motor for a Lift Arm,
they will need to also get the REV Expansion Hub
(https://www.revrobotics.com/rev-31-1153/). This adds four more motor
ports to the robot. There are details in REV Expansion Hub section
A note on pronunciation. There are two common pronunciations for

Mecanum wheels (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecanum_wheel).
● FIRST Updates Now (FUN):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKcY10cInUM
● Talk Like a Swede: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ5SDmRpTyU
goBILDA New Products Jan 20, 2023

Watch goBILDA January 20, 2023 new product release video
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdziFFW2hAM). The most anticipated
announcement was the belt driven Viper Slide Kit. It is a good improvement
over the cable driven system. Having watched several teams have to re-rig
their slide kits at competitions, the belt drive is the way to go.
Belt driven linear slide kits tend to be larger than their cable driven
counterparts. goBILDA spent extra time trying to design a system which is
as compact as possible. Jack believes they have achieved this. In practical
terms, this belt driven linear slide kit takes up the same room on the robot
as their cable system.
Since we have never used either, start with this system.
Chain Length Calculator

The distance for 5 holes of the U-Channel is 120mm. This should be a 40 link
chain.
The goBILDA Pattern (https://www.gobilda.com/pattern) has the holes on

24mm centers. Spanning 5 holes, which is how we are positioning the axles
for the smaller chassis is 120 mm.
Section Links
Input Sprocket 5
Output Sprocket 5
Top Span 15
Bottom Span 15
Total 40
Center distance is 120mm. The top section and the bottom section of the
loop is 240mm. At 8mm pitch, this is 30 links. The sprockets are 10 tooth
sprockets, so they have 5 links on the sprocket. This adds 10 links to the
chain.
Robot Googly Eyes

Robots always work better with googly eyes. These are available at Michaels,
Walmart, and Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08P6VL25N).
Robot Sidewalls
As part of Scouting, look at the other robots. Most of them have sidewalls.
These serve a couple purposes for the robot.
From a mechanical perspective, the sidewalls provide protection for all the
electronics and mechanisms mounted to the robot from being hit by the
other robots during Matches.
From an identity perspective, the sidewalls provide a clean space to include

the Team Number on the Robot. This is also a good place to mount the
Alliance Markers. Both of these are required by the rules in the Game
Manual, Part 1.
From a finance perspective, the sidewalls are a great way to identify the
team sponsors. Just like in auto racing, we need to include logos for the
companies who have donated to the team. This way all pictures and videos
of our robot give them credit for helping make the robot possible. We can
offer larger logos to companies who provide larger donations.
Not all sponsor donations are money. When we approach a company asking
for sponsorship we ask for the following three things in the following order or
importance:
1. Time
2. Opportunity
3. Money
These are explained better in the Find Team Sponsors section.
After the Butte Qualifier, Ashley mentioned that she has some plexiglas
available that the team can use. This would be perfect for designing and
creating sidewalls for the robot.
Drive Axle Mounting

This section provides information about mounting axles on the goBILDA
U-Channel.
goBILDA now offers the Shouldered 8mm REX Hub Shaft

(https://www.gobilda.com/shouldered-8mm-rex-hub-shaft-70mm-length/).
This is included with the goBILDA Straffer Chassis. This is the easiest way to
get wheel axles mounted to the drive chassis.
If you already have a bunch of REX Shafts in inventory, you can use these
for the drive train. You need to keep them retained in the U-Channel and
keep the bearings in place.
Use the e-clip on the end of the shaft to push against the inboard bearing
and make sure the inboard bearing has the flange against the e-clip. On the
opposite side of the U-channel use a gear, sprocket, pulley, Sonic Hub, or
shaft collar to hold the shaft pressing against the e-clip and other bearing.
The two bearings have their flanges on the inside of the U-channel. The
e-clip and other shaft mounted items press to hold the bearings in place.
This allows the wheels to be replaced without worrying about losing the
bearings on the axles. It also allows the axles to stay in place when there
are no wheels attached to the robot.
The Panther Robotics Team is still learning all the different parts that are
available to be used to build a robot. Here is a list of the different parts used
for axles in the Drive Train:
● REX Shaft
(https://www.gobilda.com/2106-series-stainless-steel-rex-shaft-8mm-
diameter-56mm-length/)
● U-Channel (https://www.gobilda.com/1120-series-u-channel/)
● 8mm Bearing
(https://www.gobilda.com/1611-series-flanged-ball-bearing-8mm-id-x
-14mm-od-5mm-thickness-2-pack/,
https://www.gobilda.com/1611-series-flanged-ball-bearing-8mm-rex-i
d-x-14mm-od-5mm-thickness-2-pack/)
● Gear
(https://www.gobilda.com/2303-series-steel-mod-0-8-pinion-gear-8m
m-rex-bore-30-tooth/)
● Sprocket
(https://www.gobilda.com/3307-series-8mm-pitch-steel-set-screw-spr
ocket-8mm-rex-bore-10-tooth/)
● Pulley
(https://www.gobilda.com/3417-series-5mm-htd-pitch-set-screw-pinio
n-timing-belt-pulley-8mm-rex-bore-24-tooth/)
● Sonic Hub
(https://www.gobilda.com/1309-series-sonic-hub-8mm-rex-bore/)
● Shaft Collar
(https://www.gobilda.com/2910-series-aluminum-clamping-collar-8m
m-rex-id-x-20mm-od-9mm-length/)
REV Expansion Hub
With the goBILDA Strafer Chassis, the Mecanum Wheels require four motors.
The Control Hub can control up to four motors. In order to include motors in
the Manipulator, like for a Lift Arm, we’ll need the REV Expansion Hub.
REV Robotics is currently out of stock of the Expansion Hub. Their website
says they won’t get more in for the rest of the 2022-2023 FTC Season.
We still want to get one as soon as they are back in stock. Next season we
will transition to the Strafer Chassis. The more time we have to practice with
it, the better prepared we’ll be for next season’s game. Additionally, we don’t
want to get caught like many teams did this season with REV being out of
stock when our design calls out the need for this part.
Unfortunately REV Robotics doesn’t have the ability to backorder items. We

can submit an email address and REV will notify us once they are back in
stock.
If we can raise the funds for the Official Playing Field and a second
Expansion Hub, we should order two. The Official Playing Field is the first
priority. The second Expansion Hub will help us build a higher fidelity Practice
Robot.
Motor Encoders
Motor encoders measure the rotation of the motor output shaft. All FTC
motors have encoders installed in them. This is a great way to control the
motors. They enable the motors to be controlled by position or velocity.
Always connect encoder cables when connecting motors. It is better to have

the encoder data and not use it than to want to use it and have to
disassemble and reassemble the robot to get the cables in place.
goBILDA sells encoder cables in three sizes:

● Short (150mm):
https://www.gobilda.com/4-pos-jst-ph-mh-fc-to-4-pos-jst-xh-mh-fc-a
daptor-150mm-length/
● Medium (300mm):
● Long (600mm):
These allow the cables to be routed from anywhere the motor is mounted
and back to either the Control Hub or Expansion Hub.
Linear Motion and Slide Kits

Many FTC games are aided by the use of linear motion mechanisms. A lot of
teams rely on slide kits, even though this is not the only way to create linear
motion.
goBILDA does offer a 2-Stage Viper Slide Kit

(https://www.gobilda.com/2-stage-viper-slide-kit/) and a 4-Stage Viper
Slide Kit (https://www.gobilda.com/4-stage-viper-slide-kit/). They are a
great way to get an introduction to linear slides and they are designed to
integrate well with other goBILDA systems.
On January 20, 2023, goBILDA announced their new belt driven 4-Stage
Viper Slide Kit
(https://www.gobilda.com/4-stage-viper-slide-kit-belt-driven/). This is a
vast improvement over the original cable driven slide kit. The belt system is
a little bigger than the cable driven kit, but in practical FTC applications,
there is plenty of room for this system. Every team should be able to fit this
into an existing design. goBILDA spent extra time in the development of this
kit to keep it as compact as possible. This also makes it more attractive
compared with the other linear slide kits available from other vendors.
Many FTC teams are using Misumi linear slides

(https://us.misumi-ec.com/vona2/detail/110300067840/). These are just
the slides. You’ll have to design and build the mountings, pulleys, guides,
stops, and do the rigging yourself.
Game Manual Zero also has some information about using drawer slides for
linear motion
(https://gm0.org/en/latest/docs/common-mechanisms/linear-motion-guide/
drawer-slides.html).
For small motion, consider linear servos from goBILDA

(https://www.gobilda.com/linear-servos/). They are compact and
lightweight. They can be mounted like a linkage. They are programmed the
same as standard servos. The technical data sheets do recommend staying
away from the extreme 15% of their motion range to avoid accidental
damage. They are essentially rack and pinion motion systems so they can be
slower than a longer lever arm on a standard servo.
There are also lead screws to generate linear motion. goBILDA offers a kit
(https://www.gobilda.com/linear-actuator-kit-1120-series-201mm-stroke-8
mm-lead/) with a lead screw in it. Since it takes a full rotation to move the
thread distance of the lead screw, these can be slow to move through the
full range of motion. They don’t suffer from back drive issues that slides and
pulleys can suffer from. This kit doesn’t have any hardware stops in it. You
must control the stops through software using encoders on the motors. The
other advantage of a lead screw system is that because it only goes the
screw thread pitch in a full rotation, the positioning of the lead screw can be
controlled very precisely.
FTC Robot Sizing Tool

AndyMark sells an FTC Robot Sizing Tool
(https://www.andymark.com/products/first-tech-challenge-sizing-tool) for
$60. There are other ways to check the robot size to make sure it complies
with robot construction rules. This sizing tool is worth the cost. Other options
are roughly the same cost and they take up tons of room in the team’s
workspace.
Documentation
In addition to all the resources available to help the team with building the
robot, the team is expected to generate their own set of documentation. This
section has additional details about these items that the team needs to
produce along with their robot. As one program manager said, “When the
paperwork weighs the same as the rocket, we can launch it.”
Dyslexia Friendly Documentation

Dyslexia Friendly Style Guide
(https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/advice/employers/creating-a-dyslexia-frien
dly-workplace/dyslexia-friendly-style-guide)
OpenDyslexic font (https://antijingoist.gumroad.com/l/OpenDyslexic)
The Dyslexie Font (https://www.dyslexiefont.com/) is a typeface that was

specifically designed to help people with dyslexia read better.
Are any of the Alberton students with dyslexia aware of this? I wonder if
there is a way to configure a Chromebook so this is the default font.
I also want to look into converting the Game Manuals into this typeface to
make FIRST accessible to more students.
Engineering Notebook
The Engineering Notebook is a key way to keep track of progress through
the FIRST Engineering Design Process. Getting ready for competition takes
many days and many people to complete. The Engineering Notebook is a
tool to help keep track of the work done and the work still remaining. It also
allows everyone on the team to stay informed about the work their
teammates are doing.
There are very few examples or guidelines for developing an Engineering

Notebook. This is probably why so many teams struggle to start or maintain
one. Part of this is because the Engineering Notebook is a notebook. It is a
collection of raw data and spurious thoughts that occur along the way. It is
not a polished report that is handed in for a grade. This is the scratch paper
that shows your work along the way.
As strategy is developed and design decisions are made, they are jotted
down in the Engineering Notebook. The person writing in the notebook
doesn’t need to know who needs this information for their future work, they
just put it in the central Engineering Notebook.
When their teammate needs the information, they know they can look it up
in the Engineering Notebook. The person seeking the information doesn’t
need to know who has the information, they just go to the central
Engineering Notebook and can find the information and proceed with their
task.
Since the Engineering Notebook is a record of the work done during the
FIRST Engineering Design Process, the best place to start for an organization
of the Engineering Notebook is the process steps. Create sections for
Identify, Design, Create, Iterate, and Communicate. Team members can add
their notes in the section they think it belongs in and continue.
It is fine if something gets added in the wrong spot. Again, this is not being
submitted for a grade. It is a tool to help everyone stay informed about what
their teammates are doing. It is supposed to be raw and dirty. It is supposed
to have wrong answers. It is supposed to include work that turned out to be
in the wrong direction and had to be reversed. It is a log of the work done,
not the final solution.
Google Documents is a great platform for keeping the Engineering Notebook.

Everyone has access to it through their Chromebooks for class. It is available
to everyone during Team Practices and outside of practices. This means if a
team member has a great idea when they are home or in the backseat while
traveling or waiting for a dentist appointment, they can add it to the
Engineering Notebook. If you can text it, you can document it through the
Google Doc smartphone app.
Sometimes it is easier to sketch an idea on a whiteboard or a blank sheet of
paper. This is no problem. Team members can snap a picture of it with their
smartphone and insert it into the Google Doc. They can also use the camera
on their Chromebook to capture a photo of an idea they jotted down quickly.
Whether it is a back of the envelope calculation or a cocktail napkin idea,
everything can be quickly and easily included in the Google Doc.
Engineering Portfolio
The Engineering Portfolio is a short summary of the team’s activities to get
to the event. The Engineering Portfolio and Engineering Notebook are two
different items. The Engineering Notebook is an exhaustive set of notes
taken throughout the season. The Engineering Portfolio is a short summary
highlighting for the Judges key aspects on how the team prepared for the
event.
The Engineering Portfolio can be updated throughout the season. Rules for
formatting and content are in the Game Manual, Part 1. Teachers, Parent
Mentors, and Professional Mentors can help the team organize the Portfolio
and proofread it for the students.
This is a polished, succinct, summary of the work done by the team. This is
a crafted story to present to the Judges for their review. This is the piece of
work to agonize over and make sure it represents the story we want to tell
the Judges. This does get graded in the form of supporting us for an award
at the event.
The good news is that all the materials needed to build an effective
Engineering Portfolio were captured by all team members in the Engineering
Notebook. The Engineering Notebook forms the basis for all the ideas and
episodes that form our story. It has diagrams, sketches, and photos that can
be incorporated into the Engineering Portfolio.
By requiring that we submit an Engineering Portfolio when we arrive at an

event, FIRST is doing us a favor. The Engineering Portfolio is the perfect
thing to provide to local companies when we approach them for sponsorship.
It has information about the team, what we do, and how we completed our
work. It is a polished product that tells the story of the team. It is also short
so companies don’t have to spend a lot of time getting to know who we are.
The Engineering Portfolio is required for every award.
Include photos from every Team Meeting. These should be photos of the
robot, photos of the design, and photos of team members doing the work to
get to the Qualifier.
Use Headers and Footers to include page numbers, Team Number, Team
Name, Location (i.e., Alberton, MT).
Use paragraph styles, like Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, to build the

outline and create section breaks. Spend time on the content, not the
formatting. The default Heading and Normal styles are great for this
portfolio.
Here is a sample outline to start building the Engineering Portfolio:
● Team Overview
○ Introduction
○ Roster (First names only. Provide Title or Role on the team)
○ Organization Chart, if available
● Robot Overview
○ Identify
■ Game Strategy
■ Key Challenges from Game Manual
○ Design
■ goBILDA Starter Kit
■ Unique Modifications
○ Create
■ Tools used
■ Build Sequence
■ Challenges discovered and how we resolved them
■ Software Structure
○ Iterate
■ Drivers Practice
■ Weaknesses Discovered and how we overcame them
■ Future Plans
● Strafer Chassis Kit
● Lift Arm
● Driver Centric Control
○ Communicate
■ Operator Guide
■ Robot Data Sheet
● Team Plan
○ Community Involvement
■ Previous community and school activities to raise

awareness of the team
● Mentoring from FRC 3216, Missoula Robotics Team
■ Plans for future community involvement activities
● Exhibitions
● Pick Up Matches with neighboring FTC Teams
● Demonstrations
● Continued mentoring with FRC 3216, Missoula

Robotics Team
○ Funding
■ Current Budget
■ Fundraiser Plans
○ Training Activities (Completed and Planned for next Season)
○ Recruiting Activities (Completed and Planned for next Season)
○ Mentoring Plan (Completed and Planned for next Season)
■ Current Mentor Structure
■ Skills Desired
■ Mentor Recruiting
Judges’ Interview
The Judge’s Interview is probably the most stressful part of sharing our
story. It is understandable because the team members don’t have a lot of
experience with public speaking. It is intimidating to talk to a bunch of
strangers who are looking at you to be the expert.
The good news is that the team members are experts about the team and
their robot. They have been spending days, weeks, and months working on
it. The Judges haven’t. What the Judges want to know is what went on
during all those meetings. The people who know this the best are the Team
Members.
While a lot of teams are preparing formal, memorized presentations, we’re

approaching this differently. We’re running it like a talk show interview. We
get to pick the questions, so we know the answers and can practice them.
We’ll write down the questions for the emcee or host. They just need to ask
the questions of the different team members. Then the team members just
answer.
By having the host as one of the team members, the rest of the team
doesn’t have to feel like they are talking to intimidating strangers. Instead
they are just talking to their friends. This is more of a conversation than a
presentation.
The Judges will have their own questions for the team. There are some
common questions that we can prepare for ahead of time. In most cases the
questions will be asking for more details about the things we already talked
about in the first part of the interview. This means the team members just
have to explain more of the details that they didn’t get to earlier.
If you don’t know the answer to a question, just say, “I don’t know.” This
allows the Judges to move to a different question. You get more time to talk
about what you do know than trying to hem and haw your way through a
question you don’t know. Say, “I don’t know,” and let the interview move to
something you do know and are excited to talk about.
Judges’ Interview Presentation

The Panther Team Members have very little experience in giving
presentations. We developed an approach to help them share their
experiences with the Judges without relying on memorization or other
techniques.
For the Judges’ Interview, the team uses a prepared interview technique.
The team members are good at answering direct questions about what they
did as part of the team. The model for the presentation is a television talk
show. One of the students acts as the host. They have a list of prepared
questions. They ask the other team members their designated questions.
Then the other team members provide relaxed answers as if their friends at
school were asking the same questions.
This allows the student host to manage the pacing of the presentation. The
students don’t have to memorize a sequence of presenters or a series of
transitions. The student host directs the questions to the next team member.
They can use their list of questions to ensure that the prepared sequence is
adhered to. This also helps ensure that none of the key topics the students
want to highlight are forgotten and missed.
Questions are prepared prior to the event. This ensures that every student
on the team participates in the presentation. Each team member is asked
about the portion of the robot or team activities that they were responsible
for during the season. In preparing the questions, the mentors can help
direct questions to aspects of the team performance that the team wants to
promote. They also help in providing questions to team members based on
their expertise and experience.
The Judges Manual

/judge-manual.pdf) has information about how the Judges prepare for the
event and what they are looking at during the interview. This can be a great
guide to help select questions that highlight the strengths of the team and
align with Judge expectations and award criteria.
It is good to talk about problems encountered during the season, provided

the team has taken steps to address and resolve them. The problems don’t
have to be completely solved, though that is helpful. As long as the team
has recognized them and is working to address them, that is what the
Judges want to hear about.
The Judges know that things don’t go as planned and problems occur. Trying
to hide problems and only talk about the successes is masking the issues.
The Judges won’t believe it and will feel like the team is trying to snow them
or tell them what the team thinks they want to hear. It is a negative in their
judging.
One of the things the Judges want to hear about is how the team responds
when real world problems come up. They want to believe FIRST is preparing
the students for real world experiences, including how to handle the
situation when there are problems.
The Judges also want to hear about how the program has inspired the
students to continue working in Science and Technology. Make sure you talk
about the future. Talk about the things you want to do next. Talk about the
challenges you are excited to tackle next.
When the Judges see teams excited about working hard on the next bigger
challenge, they understand that FIRST is working and the students are
inspired. This is part of the ladder the students need to climb to prepare
them for their careers and working to make a difference in their community
and society at large.
Tell stories. Storytelling is one of the best ways to communicate information

and excite and engage the audience. The Judges have heard hundreds of
times about the theory of robotics and planned strategies. What they really
want to know is what actually has happened during the season. Be sure to
paint a picture with words that shows the Judges what it is like to be a
member of the team.
There will be questions. Review the Judge Manual . This will give you an idea
of the sorts of questions the Judges may ask. It is always good to look at the
presentation from the other person’s point of view. The Judge Manual is the
training provided to the Judges. This is what they have studied to get ready
for the event.
Prepare a 5 minute presentation. Then be prepared for 5 minutes of

questions from the Judges in the Judging Room. Then expect the Judges to
stop by your pits between matches, get a closer look at your robot, and ask
more questions about the team, about the robot, about your process, and
about your plans for the future.
Playbook
The Playbook is a collection of strategies that the team has worked on before
going to their event. It is a small set of index cards that the team takes with
them to Matches and Team Queuing.
This helps in discussing the things the team is capable of doing and how
they selected these strategies.
Since the game changes every year, we’ll need to create new playbooks for
each game. This playbook should be branded to match the Powerplay game.
Execution Resources
This section provides information about various resources to help the team
develop their Execution. This is one of the Pillars of Success.
Driver Practice
The best robot in the world won’t win Matches if the Driver and Co-Driver
have never practiced with it. A Driver and Co-Driver who have practiced,
even with a basic driver chassis can make an average robot design win
Matches.
Ideally, the Driver is identified before Kickoff and they spend time during
every Team Practice with a robot practicing their driving skills. As the robot
design changes and matures, the Drive Practice robot should also change.
This provides more realistic Driver Practice and will make the transition to
the competition robot easier.
At this time, this is probably not realistic for Team 22811. Still there needs
to be Driver Practice during a Team Practice at least once a week.
Practice Robot
Most teams struggle with Driver Practice because they try to share time with
the one competition robot. Having a Practice Robot allows the Driver to
practice driving without taking time away from creating and iterating on the
competition robot.
The Practice Robot only needs to have a similar drivetrain as the Competition
robot. Jack recommends always using the goBILDA Strafer Kit as the
starting point for a competition robot. The Mecanum Wheel Drive Base has
become the most popular drivetrain in FTC. It is rare that this drivetrain
won’t be effective in an FTC game.
A basic Practice Robot only needs the following items:
● goBILDA Strafer Kit

● REV Control Hub
● REV Power Switch
This robot is powered by one of the competition batteries maintained by the

team.
The Control Hub should be programmed with a different name or ID than the
competition robot. The team’s one Driver Hub can be switched between the
practice network and the competition network. This allows the Driver and
Co-Driver to use the same Drivers Station that they will use in competition.
The programming team should be able to download their OP Modes from one
robot and upload them to the other robot. Deliberate effort needs to be
made to keep both robots running from the same Op Mode. It will be
common for the programming team to learn something from practice and
incorporate updates to the Op Modes. These updates will need to be
transferred to the competition robot. This makes the things learned in
practice applicable in competition. Likewise, there will be updates and
iterations made during competition. These need to be brought back and
incorporated into the practice robot so practice can continue while updates
are being made to the robot for the next event.
Practice is always best if it is as close to the competition as possible. As the

robot manipulator is designed, created, and iterated, a similar manipulator
should be added to the Practice Robot. This will require many of the same
parts (structure, motion, hardware, etc.) used on the competition robot. It
will also require a REV Expansion Hub.
The REV Expansion Hub is expensive. It is not necessary for Driver Practice.
It allows the Co-Driver to also practice while the Competition Robot is being
created and iterated. Without an additional REV Expansion Hub, the
Co-Driver practice is limited to times when the Competition Robot is
available for practice.
The Manipulator and the Co-Driver are the key to scoring points. This
additional Expansion Hub should be included as part of next year’s budget.
We need to start raising money now to make this available.
Official Playing Field

The best way to practice is with the official Playing Field. With all the parts
and the carrying cases, this costs approximately $1,200. Every year the
team needs to budget an additional $600 to purchase the season specific
game elements. Donors Choose (https://www.donorschoose.org/) is a great
way to raise money for these parts.
There are low cost alternatives to these (See Low-Cost Playing Field). They
really don’t provide a realistic enough environment for the team to practice
with. It comes down to what the team goals are. Any goals for having a
competitive robot will requires the official Playing Field.
While Team 22811 is raising money to purchase their own official Playing
Field, they can visit teams who have fields and practice with them. Team
18240, RoboScout Squad, has a full official field with the official game
elements. They have offered to host our team any time we want to go. Since
we have a 4-day school schedule, we could easily drive up on Friday
morning, spend the day with their team, and still make it home for supper.
We could also do this on a Saturday as well. We just have to coordinate a
time with their Lead Mentor, Krista.
Official events, like Qualifiers and the MT Regional Championship, are great
opportunities to meet other teams and gather their contact information.
Most teams in the state have a full playing field. Everyone would be happy to
host our team for an informal practice day.
The Premium Accessory Kit seems like overkill at first, but it is worth the
money. This is the official field that the team will compete on. It is important
that they are able to test their robot design and software using the actual
competition field. It will also help ensure that driver practice won’t introduce
techniques or habits that are compensating from an alternative field from
the actual competition field.
The Premium Accessory Kit can be used when the team does expedition
matches or demonstrations at outreach events. This kit comes with the
carrying cases to make it easy to transport the field and set up for an event.
Then it can be disassembled, packed, and removed as soon as the event is
over.
The field is modular. This means it can be set up in the full field configuration
with 6x6 tiles. If there is limited space at an event, it can also be configured
with 4x4 tiles or 2x2 tiles. The wall segments are two tiles long, so you can
also do rectangular configurations like 2x4 tiles, 2x6 tiles, or 4x6 tiles.
You want to have the walls because it is easy to drive off the tiles. One of
the great things with the FTC robot controller is that it is easy to learn. This
makes it easy to allow young children and other spectators the opportunity
to drive the robot. Without training or practice, the walls help keep the robot
on the field. This prevents damage to the venue and damage to the robot.
You can buy the parts over time, but you will end up spending more in the
long run. That is possible if you’re metering cash flow. If you’re buying the
field in parts, the following is a good priority or sequence to purchase the
individual items in.
1. Four FTC Soft Tiles, $31 (am2499-4)
2. Thirty six FTC Soft Titles, $259 (am2499-36)
3. FTC Perimeter, $659 (am-0481b)

4. Two Soft Tile Carry Cases, $62 (am-2500b)
5. Two Perimeter Carry Cases, $170 (am-2313b)
Gaffer tape is available from other retailers. The team will be purchasing this
over time for a variety of reasons. It is also included as part of the season
specific field elements kit.
Low-Cost Playing Field

FIRST provides information about building a Low-Cost Field Perimeter in the
Do It Yourself (DIY) Resources section of the FTC Game and Season
Materials page. There is also a guide for DIY Field Elements. These are
approximations for the playing field and game. These do not include the soft
tiles for the playing surface.
If used prior to an event, the team needs to spend time on the event
practice field and game field to tune their software for the official field. Jack
feels that the realism of the official field makes it better in the long run to
work with team sponsors to purchase the official field in the beginning.
Teams need about $3,000 each year for travel expenses. The one time cost
of $1,300 is easy to come by. Donors Choose
(https://www.donorschoose.org/) is a great way to raise funding for this
project.
This would be a good project for the team to take on to get familiar with the
machine shop and building parts for the team.
● Low Cost Perimeter ($175)

● Powerplay Low Cost Field Elements ($45)
Ground Junction Bases

Ground Junction Bases are available for purchase from AndyMark
(https://www.andymark.com/products/ftc-22-23-am-4815).
The digital model for these bases is also available through Thingiverse
(https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5510949).
Thingiverse is a great resource for user generated models that are ready to
print with a 3D printer. Early in each FTC season, several teams build models
and make them available through Thingiverse so other teams can print their
own versions with low cost and locally.
There are 9 Ground Junctions on the Powerplay Playing Field. This is more
junctions than of any other type. If we’re able to score on all of these, it will
be a great help to our Alliance Partner. It may not seem like as many points,
but this does make us a valuable support robot which makes us an attractive
choice for Alliance Selection.
Alternative Junctions
With all events this season completed, the return on investment for the
official field elements is negative. These would be nice to have for
demonstrations and Outreach Events, but they are not necessary.
This is a good opportunity to get other teachers and community volunteers

involved with the success of the team. We should definitely work with Mr.
Morris so team members can build alternative Junctions and then be able to
practice with the scoring features of the robot before the MT Regional
Championship.
Dimensions are in Game Manual, Part 2, Appendix C.
The Field Setup Guide

(https://firstinspiresst01.blob.core.windows.net/first-energize-ftc/field-setup
-and-assembly-guide.pdf) has ideas for parts needed.
Advancement
This section has information on how to advance from Qualifiers to the MT
Regional Championship
(https://www.mtroboticsalliance.org/events/bozeman-ftc-championship).
Rules for advancement are in the Game Manual, Part 1. Advancement is split
equally between the following:
● Awards
● Robot Performance (Playoffs and Ranking)
Awards Resources
This section has links to help with preparing for the Awards.
● Award-based Advancement Criteria

○ Inspire Award
○ Think Award
○ Connect Award
○ Innovate Award
○ Control Award
○ Motivate Award
○ Design Award
● Game Manual, Part 1
(https://www.firstinspires.org/sites/default/files/uploads/resource_libr
ary/ftc/game-manual-part-1-traditional-events.pdf)
● Judge Manual
ary/ftc/judge-manual.pdf)
● Team Judging Self Reflection Sheet
ary/ftc/team-judging-self-reflection.pdf)
● Judging Feedback Request Form
ary/ftc/judging-feedback-request-form.pdf)
● Award Definitions for Judging
ary/ftc/award-definitions-for-judging.pdf)
Judges determine the award winners. This is based on the Engineering

Portfolio and the Judges’ Interview at the beginning of the event. Judges
also watch Matches and visit with teams in the Pit Area. The Judge Manual
has more details about award considerations and narrowing the field down to
a winner and runner up.
It will be some time before our robot skills will be at a level to compete with
other Montana FTC teams. The Judged Awards will be the shortest route to
advancement for the team.
Winning a Judged Award is going to require work on things that the team
members would rather not do. This includes writing up an Engineering
Portfolio, giving a presentation, and answering questions from the Judges.
Mock Judges’ Interview

This one's for next season, and it was Ashley’s great idea. A week or two
before our next official competition, organize some of the teachers into a
Mock Judges Interview for the team. This gives them some time to
incorporate the feedback before going in front of the actual judges.
Since the students already have one relationship with the teachers, there
may be some unintended consequences. There will be some unspoken things
that the students will feel going into it. I don’t have a problem with bringing
the teachers in and letting them see the great achievements of the students.
I just don’t want to stress the students with existing relationships. We could
always get the team members from the Missoula team to be the Mock
Judges for the team. It might be the right balance to do one Mock Interview
with teachers and another one with team members from FRC 3216, Missoula
Robotics Team (MRT) (https://www.mrt3216.org/).
We have a copy of the Judges Manual. We can use this to prepare the Mock
Judges on what to expect and some of the things that the FTC Judges will
ask. We saw at the Butte Qualifier that many times the volunteers who
Judge an event aren’t familiar with the program and may not understand all
the jargon and game rules. Then there are other times that they have this
experience and can scratch a little deeper into the team’s knowledge of the
program.
A Mock Judges’ Interview is an opportunity to prepare for the real Judges’

Interview. It is conducted at least a week before the event so updates can
be made based on feedback from the Mock Judges.
A panel of three or four Mock Judges will conduct the interview based on the
Judge Manual
/judge-manual.pdf). Mock Judges can be teachers, parents, or other
community members. Members of the nearby Toastmasters club are great
for this because they can provide detailed feedback on the public speaking
aspect of the interview. The Drama Coach would also be helpful. Previous
teams have struggled with projection during the interview and the Drama
Coach is experienced in helping students build strong projection.
The more practice the students have with the Judges’ Interview process, the
more relaxed they will be and the better they will perform. The initial
impressions for Judged Awards come from this interview.
The Engineering Portfolio is required for every Award. It is submitted at the
start of each Judges’ Interview. Details on this are in the Engineering
Portfolio section above.
Robot Performance
The first teams to advance based on robot performance are the winners and
finalists from the event Playoffs. After these teams have advanced, teams
advance based on their ranking for the event.
FTC Events
This section has information about the FTC competition events. Details for
Montana events are provided on the MT Robotics Alliance website
(https://www.mtroboticsalliance.org). The FTC Events website
(https://ftc-events.firstinspires.org) and The Orange Alliance
(https://theorangealliance.org/) have results from previous events. They
also include the list of participating teams.
Typical FTC Event Itinerary
This section provides a typical itinerary of an FTC Event. The Montana
Robotics Alliance (https://www.mtroboticsalliance.org) has more details on
their website.
Friday is a travel day. Most teams arrive in the host city and get lodging for
the night. The event starts early in the morning and we want to reduce the
risk of something unplanned happening during the travel to the host city.
The event is on Saturday. It typically follows this timetable:
● 7:00 am Doors Open

○ Team Check-in
○ Robot Load In and Pits Setup
● 7:30 am Inspections Open
○ Bring Robots to tables and get in line for inspection
○ Robot Inspection
○ Field Inspection
○ Practice field is open
● 7:45 am Judge Interviews
○ Teams are assigned an Interview Time and Location
○ Arrive five minutes before Interview Start
○ Bring Robot, Engineering Portfolio, Judges Feedback Form,
Control Award Submission Form, and presentation materials
○ Teams have five minutes to present at the beginning of the
interview
○ Judges have five minutes of additional questions for the team
○ Mentors can be in the back of the room, not interacting with the
team, and not answering questions. Most mentors wait outside
○ Complete a Team Judging Self-Reflection sheet
Preparing for Competition

FIRST has provided a great list of the items needed before heading to a
competition. Always go through this page
(https://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/ftc/preparing-for-competition
) like a checklist to make sure you don’t forget anything.
FTC Individual Packing List

This section has a list of materials for each team member to bring to the
event.
Travel (for each individual traveling)

Water Bottle
Phone Charger
Clothes
Toiletries
Sleepwear
Swimwear (Optional)
Something to do in the car
Review FTC Presentation
Review FTC 22811, Panther Robotics Team document
Review Powerplay Game Analysis
Play Powerplay The Board Game
Listen to RoboZone Podcast, Episode 176
Listen to The Robot Report
Watch More Than Robots…
(https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/more-than-robots/1
OkBDAcESiGf)
Watch WALL-E
(https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/wall-e/5G1wpZC2Lb
6I)
Watch From the Earth to the Moon, Episode 5, Spider
(https://www.hbomax.com/series/urn:hbo:series:GXNRHz
Q2l5p63mgEAAAJ1)
Sleep
FTC Team Packing List

This section provides a packing list for the team to use when preparing to
travel to an FTC Event.
Check In
Team Roster
Printed from FIRSTinspires Dashboard
(www.firstinspires.org)
Youth Registration System
(https://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/youth-regis
tration-system)
Showing parent or guardian approved Consent Form
If parents are having trouble with website, there is a paper
form available
Inspection
Robot Inspection Form completed before departure
Field Inspection Form completed before departure
Robot
Drivers Hub
Gamepad1
Gamepad2 (if used in programming)
Alliance Markers
Team Scoring Element (TSE)-Beacons (if created)
Signal Sleeve (if created)
Judges Interview
Robot
TSE-Beacons (if created)
Signal Sleeves (if created)
Judges Feedback Form
e_library/ftc/judging-feedback-request-form.pdf)
Self Reflection Checklist
Competition Matches
Robot
Drivers Hub
Gamepad1
Gamepad2 (if used in programming)
TSE-Beacon for assigned Alliance (if created)
Signal Sleeve (if created)
Laminated Playing Field Layout
Pits
Charging Station
Power Strip
Chromebook Charger
Robot Battery Charger
Driver Hub Charger
Portable USB Charger
USB Charging Hub
Tools
Chromebook
Wired Mouse
Jack has a technique for shortening the cable
2.5mm Hex Wrenches
3mm Hex Wrenches
7mm Combination Nut Driver
5.5mm Combination Wrench
Magnetic Dishes
Duct Tape
Clear Packing Tape
LED Flashlights
Scissors
Sharpie marker-Fine tip
Sharpie-Extra Fine tip
Marks-a-Lot marker-chisel tip
Diagonal Cutter
Long Nose Pliers
Spare Assemblies (if created)
Spare Parts
Zip ties
(At this point bring everything because we don’t have
much. When our stock inventory grows, we’ll want to be
more judicious about what we bring.)
Lunch and Snacks
Box Lunch from school
Snacks
Fruit
Trail mix
MT Championship Photos
● MSU Makerspace
○ Big Sky Robotics
○ FRC Robot in 3 Days
○ Justin, from Idaho. Was the primary driver in 2022, Rapid React
● Cybersecurity (Derek)
○ PLC
○ Major attackers: Russia, China, North Korea, Iran
○ Hacking
■ Software to attack, disrupt
■ Work for government
■ Black Hat, Gray Hat, White Hat
■ Want to understand. Tinker with things (Mod video games)
● Robot Arm (Apostle)
● Robotics Lab (Hunter Lloyd)
○ Red Nek Won
○ Four World Championships from this region
● Empower Center (Susan Kelly)
Fun Raising
There are several things that the team can start Fun Raising for now to help
in the 2023-2024 season. These are listed in the Needs List section.
Individual Donations
Some of the money will come from individual donations. This can be cash
donations from the community, like the donation Connie made from their
concessions tip jar. This can also be small sales operations, like cookie sales
or bakery goods. This can also be from craft sales, where the team makes
craft items using their robotics skills to make something and then sell these
items as craft sales. This can also be restaurant nights. Chipotle has been a
good company.
Grant Applications
Some of the money will come from grants. There are several grants available
to FIRST teams. These include the NASA grant and the Gianforte Family
Foundation grant. The team and the parent mentors can work on these grant
applications throughout the year. Then submit them when the application
period opens up.
Since many of these have the same application process each year, the
information can be organized in the team’s Google Drive. Then in
subsequent years, the applications just need to be updated and
re-submitted.
Corporate Sponsorship
For most teams, the biggest percentage of their Fun Raising comes from
corporate sponsorship. In most cases these are small and medium size
companies in the local community.
There are large corporate sponsors of FIRST, including John Deere,

Caterpillar, Ford, and Boeing. These organizations usually have foundations
that help them vet the various non-profit organizations they contribute to.
Teams definitely should approach these companies because they can usually
provide sizable donations.
Small and medium-size companies don’t have foundations who can go

through the thousands of non-profit organizations to determine which have
an impact on their community. Most of these companies rely on employees
to recommend an organization to donate to. Teams can prepare some talking
points and information data sheets for the parents of team members. These
parents can schedule time with their boss and ask if the company can
contribute to the team. In most cases, if an employee is willing to have this
tough conversation with their boss, they have done the vetting and are
probably a supporter of the organization. Companies like this initiative and
usually contribute to these organizations.
Corporate sponsorships can be deducted from the company’s taxes at the

end of the year. Early in the year, companies are protective of their cash
because they don’t know what the year will bring and if they will need it for
an emergency. As August and September approach, the company is looking
at the upcoming year end. This is when they know they need to make the
charitable donations to ensure they get the tax deduction. The Back to
School time is the best time to approach companies, small and large, to ask
for a sponsorship.
Service Organization Donations

Local service organizations are a good source of donations both from the
organization and from individual members. The best way to get these
donations is to not ask for them. Instead schedule a Robot Demonstration
for one of their upcoming meetings. The team members bring in their robot
and do a quick demonstration of its capabilities and talk about how they
designed and built it. They also should talk about what they learned and got
from the program.
Service organizations, like Lions, Knights of Columbus, and others, are

service-oriented. They can’t pass up an opportunity to help out when they
learn about a group that helps kids or future workforce members. Wait for
them to ask what they can do to help the organization. Then be prepared to
answer this.
Teams benefit from help in the following ways in the following priority:
1. Time
2. Opportunity
3. Money
The best way an organization can help the team is to volunteer as mentors
to the team. They can come to Team Practices and help the students work
on their robot, Engineering Portfolio, Finances, Task Management, and more.
FIRST encourages adults from the community to get involved with the team
and help to design and build the robot. They recognize that the students
benefit the most from working shoulder to shoulder with professionals in the
community using state of the industry practices.
The next best thing to Time is Opportunity. Ask the organization or the
members if they can open up internship opportunities for the students
during the summer. Over the summer internship, the team members get to
demonstrate the Gracious Professionalism and the work ethic that they
learned in designing and building their robot for the season. Team members
have more than technical skills as well. They are responsible for finances,
task management, and leadership within the team. They can provide value
in several different ways as part of a summer internship.
The final way an organization or individuals can help is through donations.

The team should prepare a Needs List. This is a list of the items that the
team has budget for and is trying to raise money to purchase. When an
organization sees that the team has thought ahead of time about how they
will use the money, they are more inclined to make the donation. Often
times, organizations or individuals may have the items the team needs and
can provide an in kind donation to the team. They can still get the tax
deduction for the market value of the item, but the team can avoid collecting
the money, getting the purchase approved, and paying retail for the item.
Donations can also be earmarked for specific items on the Needs List. This
way the donors know exactly where their money is going. It is much easier
for a donor to provide a donation if they know how the money is being used.
Then they don’t have to worry that the money is getting used for
inappropriate items.
Scouting
Scouting is talking with and observing other teams to learn what they are
capable of. It is very similar to other sport scouting where representatives
from one team go to watch games and find talent to recruit to their team.
Additional details on scouting are in the FIRST Scouting document.
Background
This section has information that supports the information above.
Learn About FIRST

Which Qualifier to Go To
All Montana teams should try to go to as many events as they can. The best
part of FTC is the events where we compete with our robot and meet all the
other folks from around the state who also compete.
For most teams this is a big ask. An official event starts at 7:00 am and
most are too far to drive there and back in a single day. This means there is
at least one night of lodging for the team. Lodging and transportation costs
are the largest share of a team’s budget. On top of that there are
responsibility and liability issues for overnight stays with a team.
If you can only go to one Montana Qualifier in a season, always make it the
second one. There are usually enough slots at the MT Regional
Championships for all of the Montana teams. However based on the rules for
advancement only some of them are available at each Qualifier.
When you go to the first Qualifier of the season, you’re vying for one of
those slots with the ery best teams in the state. These are teams with years
of experience and enough resources to go to both Qualifier events. At the
second Qualifier, you’ll get to meet these teams and get to compete with
these teams, but since they already have their slot to the championships,
you’re not competing with them for a slot at the championships.
In the FTC 2022-2023 Powerplay season there were 18 slots available at the
MT Butte Qualifier, which was the second and last of the season. There were
19 teams who participated. 10 of the teams had earned a slot in the
championships at the first Qualifier. That meant that everyone who showed
up without a slot to championships got one.
Kanban Board
A Kanban Board (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanban_board) is a tool for
Task Management. It is part of Agile Project Management, which works very
well for FIRST Teams. One of the advantages to the Agile Project
Management process is that you don’t need to know all the work that needs
to be completed at the start of the project. The Waterfall method or
traditional engineering project management assumes we know all the tasks
at the start of the project.
FIRST teams are always discovering tasks that need to be completed during
the season. The Agile Project Management system is designed for this and
allows more flexible scheduling and prioritization of tasks as they are
discovered.
Kanban Boards are used in many professional engineering projects. They are
particularly popular in Software Development. Jack has seen them used on
military missile programs and space exploration programs. If it is good
enough for NASA, then it is good enough for FIRST teams. Using a Kanban
Board also exposes team members to professional process tools which gives
them an advantage over their peers when being considered for a job.
There are several software tools designed to implement a Kanban Board.

Many of these are being used by other FIRST teams. These digital boards
should only be used by teams who are already familiar with the Kanban
process and have developed a team culture around using them. This can be
very difficult given the constant turnover of team members as they advance
through grade levels and graduate.
The best thing for most FIRST teams is to use a physical Kanban Board. The
simplest way to start is with a bulletin board or a whiteboard. Every task is
written on a Post-It note. These are known as Task Cards.
Columns are created using other Post-It notes as column headings. These
represent the team’s workflow. Using Post-It notes for column headings
makes it easy to adapt the workflow as the team determines improvements
to their process. A good set of columns to start with are the following:
1. To Do
2. In Work
3. Blocked
4. Complete
When a new task is identified, a title for the task is written on a Post-It note
and it is added to the To Do column. When a team member is looking for a
new thing to do, they walk up to the Kanban Board and review the identified
tasks in the To Do column. When they find one they want to work on, they
write their name on the Task Card and move it into the In Work column.
Regularly the team leader and mentors need to review the In Work column
and the Blocked column. We need to make sure all the tasks are still being
worked and will be completed on time for their assigned deadline or
milestone.
The Manager Tools podcast has a great 4-part episode called Horstman’s Law
of Project Management (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4). Jack recommends
listening to all four parts because there are better explanations about the
law and recommendations for putting it into practice. The core part of the
law is that task management all boils down to three items:
● Who
● Doing What
● By When
Horstman’s Law of Project Management works great with the Kanban Board.
The initial Task Card has the “Doing What” part listed as the title. Once a
task is assigned to a team member, add their name to the Task Card and we
have the “Who.” When that team member picks up the Task, they must
come up with an estimate on when they think they will be complete with the
task. They write the Estimated Completion Date (ECD) on the Task Card.
Now the team leader and the mentors have all the information they need to
manage the completion of all Task Cards on the Kanban Board.
Most people are hesitant to list their ECD as soon as they pick up a task.
They are afraid that they will be wrong. You should rest easy. We know
you’re wrong. While working on a task you will learn more and more about
the task. As you learn more, you’ll be able to come up with better ECDs for
the task.
Yes, you will be held accountable for the ECD that you guessed when you
first picked up the task. With that being said, you can work with the team
lead at any point and discuss changes to your ECD. The team leader and
mentors will adjust the priorities of the other tasks on the board to make
sure everything gets done as needed. Going into the initial estimate knowing
that you can always make updates to this guess later on takes the pressure
off getting the first guess right. The most important thing is telling the team
lead as soon as you realize your ECD is no longer good. The sooner they
know, the more time they have to reprioritize all the work that the team is
doing. They can reassign other members of the team to help you so you can
stay on track. This can only happen when you communicate with the team
lead and the mentors about updates to your estimated completion date.
Doing What
Each Task Card is created with a title that describes the work that needs to
be done.
Some tasks are easy to understand. “Print Game Manual, Part 1” may not
need additional detail. The Task Card can stand on its own.
If a task is complicated and there isn’t enough room on the Post-It note to
list all the parts of the task, create a section in the Engineering Notebook.
Add the additional detail in this section of the Engineering Notebook. Maybe
it takes coordination with the District Secretary to get a large file printed.
The additional details about all the steps needed to be taken and who needs
to be involved in the task should go into the Engineering Notebook.
Adding the additional detail to the Engineering Notebook allows anyone to

pick up any task, even if they have never done it before. This also helps us
remember how to do things if they are not done regularly, like hosting a
Sponsor’s Night.
Who
At the beginning of the season, each Team Member selects a crayon from
the 32 crayon set.
Countdown Calendar
FIRST runs on a tight schedule. The most limited resource that teams have
is labor hours. Time in Team Practice sessions needs to be used productively.
Date Description Work Days

Remaining
Tue, Feb 28 Brainstormed list of companies to ask for 28

money
Wed, Mar 1 27
Thur, Mar 2 26
Mon, Mar 6 25
Tues, Mar 7 Zoom with Jack 24
Wed, Mar 8 23
Thur, Mar 9 22
Mon, Mar 13 21
Remaining
Wed, Mar 15 19
Thur, Mar 16 18
Mon, Mar 20 17
Wed, Mar 22 15
Thur, Mar 23 14
Mon, Mar 27 13
Wed, Mar 29 11
Thurs, Mar 30 10
Mon, Apr 3 9
Tues, Apr 4 Zoom with Jack 8
Wed, Apr 5 7
Thur, Apr 6 PNW District Championship 6
Fri, Apr 7 PNW District Championship 6
Sat, Apr 8 PNW District Championship 6
Mon, Apr 10 6
Wed, Apr 12 4
Thur, Apr 13 3
Mon, Apr 17 2

Remaining
Wed, Apr 19 Alberton Exhibition 0
Sometimes the next event seems far away. When you haven’t celebrated
Christmas yet, the Montana Regional Championship in February seems like
forever. A Countdown Calendar is a great way to represent the number of
Team Practices that remain between now and the next milestone.
Many organizations use a paper chain as a countdown calendar. This is a

simple thing to make and can be displayed in the workspace easily. (Soldiers
and sailors use these when they deploy. It is a great way for the family to
keep track of when their loved one is coming home.)
At the start of each meeting, remove a link from the chain so the team can
see their available work time slipping away.
Be sure to write the date on each link. This way if we forget to remove a link
one day or an extra link is removed by accident, we can quickly put the
countdown calendar back in sync with the real calendar.
Write interim goals on the links as well. Things like having the Drive Base
assembled, TELEOP programed, Initial Autonomous programmed, grant
applications submitted, Sponsor’s Night, Engineering Portfolio sent to printer,
and more can be included as interim goals. This way the team doesn’t think
they can work every task to the last minute. It helps them put things in
sequence and prioritize tasks. It also creates a way to judge whether the
team is on schedule, behind schedule, or ahead of schedule.
Project Lead The Way (PLTW)

The Alberton school also participates in Project Lead The Way (PTLW,
https://www.pltw.org/). This program also teaches STEM subjects. They use
the VEX system and curriculum for their robotics program.
Nick is looking for a way to integrate the two programs for the Panther
Robotics Team.
The PLTW Design Process is the following:
● Ask
● Explore
● Model
● Evaluate
● Explain
This looks like a good way to get to a Design. It stops at Design though. The
FIRST process continues past Design into Create and Iterate.
The Engineering Design Process used at STEM School Highlands Ranch

looked very similar to this. It too stopped with Design and never took
students into the Create and Iterate steps of the FIRST process.
Previous FTC Games

This section has links to information from previous FTC Games.
● FTC Game Animations Playlist

(https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEuGrYl8iBm7pUMY51Hk3EI
NgJTy7bzns)
● FTC 2023-2024 TBD
● FTC 2022-2023 Powerplay
○ Game Animation
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsitvZ0JaDc&list=PLEuGrYl
8iBm7pUMY51Hk3EINgJTy7bzns&index=1)
● FTC 2021-2022 Freight Frenzy
○ Game Animation
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6lX12idAf8)
● FTC 2020-2021 Ultimate Goal
○ Game Animation
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3V3A7CgwPU)
● FTC 2019-2020 Skystone
○ Game Animation
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiGB_8Ppnbs)
● FTC 2018-2019 Rover Ruckus
○ Game Animation
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR4gR4l2XA8)
● FTC 2017-2018 Relic Recovery
○ Game Animation
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRsu7bRFhx4)
● FTC 2016-2017 Velocity Vortex
○ Game Animation
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqASwcqdM6o)
● FTC 2015-2016 FIRST RES-Q
○ Game Animation
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b49Q3kqrSv0)
● FTC 2014-2015 Cascade Effect
○ Game Animation
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABmBxCwHV94)
● FTC 2013-2014 Block Party
○ Game Animation
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPAATO-NpcM)
● FTC 2012-2013 Ring It Up!
○ Game Animation
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXcldN6G-H8)
● FTC 2011-2012 Bowled Over
○ Game Animation
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUrKrKj6l-s)
● FTC 2010-2011 Get Over It
○ Game Animation
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uAeMZd1ATc&list=PLEuGr
Yl8iBm7pUMY51Hk3EINgJTy7bzns&index=19)
● FTC 2009-2010 Hot Shot!
○ Game Animation
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oqin5Aho9yQ&list=PLEuGr
Yl8iBm7pUMY51Hk3EINgJTy7bzns&index=20)
● FTC 2008-2009 Face Off!
○ Game Animation
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE2n59fe61o&list=PLEuGrY
l8iBm7pUMY51Hk3EINgJTy7bzns&index=21)
FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC)

Background
This section has an introduction to FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). This is
the most advanced competition available from FIRST. It is open to students
in grades 9 through 12.
The FRC 2023, Charged Up, game animation (3 minutes) is available at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zpflsYc4PA&feature=youtu.be. FRC
events start on Feb 26, 2023 and continue every Thursday, Friday, and
Saturday through FIRST Championship in Houston on April 22. Each week
there are several events happening. Details are available at
https://frc-events.firstinspires.org/. Live streams of every event are also
available from this site.
Unlike FTC, an FRC event is three days long. A typical event schedule is the
following:
● Wednesday (6:00 pm to 8:00 pm): Robot Load In

● Thursday (7:00 am to 6:00 pm): Inspection and Practice
● Friday (7:00 am to 6:00 pm): Qualifications
● Saturday
○ 7:00 am - 12:00 pm: Qualifications
○ 12:00 pm -12:30 pm: Alliance Selection
○ 1:00 pm -6:00 pm: Playoffs
FRC is the most challenging program offered by FIRST. It is a great place for
students who have developed robotics skills in FTC to transition to and keep
growing their skills.
FRC advances skills in strategy, design, and programming that were gained
as part of the FTC program. It adds to this skills and practice in the trades
because instead of assembling parts from vendors, the students must
machine and fabricate parts used on their robot. They are also presented
with more challenging wiring designs and there are more motors and
sensors available that the students must select from using Engineering Trade
Studies.
There is no limit to team size. Most FRC teams are between 12 and 20
students. A team of less than 7 students will be very challenging to run.
They need to scale back their robot based on available resources (like labor
hours). Maintaining a narrow focus on the game challenge is difficult for
most students who are still learning their own limitations. It isn’t impossible
to run with a small team and there have been several teams with fewer than
7 students who perform very well at events. They are the exception, not the
rule.
There is no limit to team budget. Many teams are non-profit organizations

and if they have budgets over $50,000, the taxes get more complicated. In
Montana, an FRC team will have to travel for their competitions, which will
be the majority of their budget. Jack recommends an initial budget of
$30,000 and then make adjustments after your first year. The following
items are general guidelines for the budget:
● Rookie Registration: $6,000

● Additional Robot Materials: $4,000
● Travel (transportation, lodging, food) for Regional: $20,000
FRC Regional events are three and a half days. A typical event starts on
Wednesday evening with Robot Load-In from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Thursday
is Inspection and Practice Matches. Friday is Qualification Matches. Saturday
morning is the last of the Qualification Matches. Right before lunch is
Alliance Selection. After lunch are the Playoffs and Awards presentations.
Teams in western Montana, like Alberton, should register to be in the Pacific

Northwest District (PNW). Jack is working with them during the 2022-2023
Energize season to see about getting the Missoula team moved into the
District. The closest Regional competition is Boise, ID. The closest PNW
District event is Spokane. For the same registration costs, District teams get
to compete in two events, where Regional teams only compete in one event.
Montana teams east of the Continental Divide, like Manhattan, should be
Regional teams because this gives them the opportunity to compete in
Idaho, Utah, and South Dakota.
FRC 3216, Missoula Robotics Team (MRT)

https://www.mrt3216.org/
The Missoula Robotics Team is an FRC team from Missoula, MT. They have
been competing for several years.
All Panther Robotics team members, parents, and mentors are invited and
encouraged to visit their Team Practices. They meet at Sentinel High School
at 4:30 every Monday and Friday. They also meet Saturdays from 10:00 to
3:00.
FRC 6400, The Manhattan Project

https://manhattanfirstrobotics.com/
The Manhattan Project is an FRC team from Manhattan, MT. They started in
2017 and then had a few years off for COVID. They are returning for the
2023 season.
Big Sky Robotics

Robot in three days
https://m.youtube.com/@bigskyrobotics
Pacific Northwest Championship

The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Pacific Northwest (PNW) District
Championship will be in Cheney, WA from April 6 through April 8, 2023.
Additional details are at https://frc-events.firstinspires.org/2023/PNCMP.
FRC is the high school FIRST program. It is available to students in Grades 9

through 12. Additional details about the program are available in the FIRST
Robotics Competition (FRC) Background section. The FRC 2023, Charged Up,
game animation (3 minutes) is available at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zpflsYc4PA&feature=youtu.be.
Unlike FTC, an FRC event is three days long. A typical event schedule is the
following:
● Wednesday (6:00 pm to 8:00 pm): Robot Load In

● Thursday (7:00 am to 6:00 pm): Inspection and Practice
● Friday (7:00 am to 6:00 pm): Qualifications
● Saturday
○ 7:00 am - 12:00 pm: Qualifications
○ 12:00 pm -12:30 pm: Alliance Selection
○ 1:00 pm -6:00 pm: Playoffs
Students, Parents, Mentors, Teachers, and Community Members are

encouraged to attend the Playoffs of the PNW Championship in Cheney, WA.
The best plan is to leave Alberton Saturday morning and expect to arrive
around 12:00. Hopefully you’ll be able to watch the Alliance Selection. Then
take time to get lunch. Around 1:00 the playoff matches begin. Stay as long
as you want. Playoffs usually wrap up around 6:00 pm. Then grab a bite to
eat and return to Alberton. You should be home around 9:00 pm Saturday
night.
A live stream of the event is available at the event link above. FRC
competitions start on Feb 26, 2023 and continue every Thursday, Friday, and
Saturday through FIRST Championship in Houston on April 22. Each week
there are several events happening. Details are available at
https://frc-events.firstinspires.org/.
Meeting Notes
This section has notes taken during meetings between Jack and the Panther
Robotics Team.
Basic Itinerary
● 11:00 Meeting Start and Introductions
● 11:05 Review Accomplishments for the Previous Week
● 11:15 Each Team Member identify the Task they are working today
● 11:20 Work on Tasks
● 11:35 Clean Up
● 11:40 Meeting End
May 30, 2023

Attendees: Jack
School is out of session. This is the day after Memorial Day, so it is

reasonable that the other mentors and team members are recovering from
the holiday. There was no modification to the meeting notice.
Jack is hoping that the mentors can use this time each week before the start
of school to develop a plan and some milestones for the team to achieve
their goals for the coming season, FTC Centerstage.
May 23, 2023

Presentations of Learning (POLs)
Michael, Evan
The meeting ended early to give the class time to close out items for the
school year.
May 18, 2023

Presentations of Learning (POLs)
Caiden, Mackynzie, Michayla

May 16, 2023
Attendees: Jack
Team did not attend the meeting.
May 4, 2023
Attendees: Jack, Michael, Michayla
The last item discussed last week was not updated in the form. Caiden had
notes from last week and was able to get them added to the form.
Today we finished the evaluation of the Exhibition. In reviewing the

materials, there were a couple minor errors (Presentation Slide 5) that are
easy for the team to fix. The final questions were answered confidently. A
sheet or set of talking points for the team members would have made those
answers stronger.
We discussed how using a tool like Canva isn’t really free. It requires all
team members to divulge personal information, like their email address to a
separate company. In this case, Canva is based in Australia, so all of the
team’s information is hosted in a foreign country. Sometimes it is better to
use the tools that you already have, even if they are less than optimal, to do
things like posters.
Jack had some critiques of the poster which are more about graphic design
than about the purpose of this exhibition or evaluation. Canva is a tool for
advanced graphic design, or things you can’t already do in Google Docs or
Google Slides. If you’re going to add this tool to the existing set of tools that
the team uses, Jack would like to see you take advantage of what it does
that the existing tools can’t do. This would include applying the advanced
graphic design skills which were not evident in the poster. Jack recommends
sticking with Google Docs and Google Slides until the team has these
advanced graphic design skills.
We’ve now identified a skill where the team needs additional mentoring. As
we continue to conduct exhibitions and other outreach events, we should
seek adult mentors in graphic design who can bring those skills to the team.
Jack has taken some courses and read some books, but is in no way an
expert in graphic design. He can help some, but it would be best to get a
local professional graphic designer to help mentor the team after school.
Jack had been pretty critical with the evaluation. He gave them a pass on
the last question because they met the letter of the question. He felt the
answer could be more detailed and more in depth. This merely identifies that
speaking with judges and with potential students, parents of potential
students, potential mentors, and potential sponsors is an area the team
needs help with. Like above, this is a skill area that the team can ask for as
they do more events looking to get more adult mentors for the team. There
might be a Toastmasters group in Alberton. If not Alberton, there is
definitely one in Missoula. This would be a great place for the team to seek
out some adult mentors.
What is the term for this? It is public speaking, but it isn’t giving a lecture or
presentation, like a TED Talk. There is something else. It is probably
something that the Toastmasters group can help codify or differentiate. A
sales pitch is helping. Promotion is another word in this area.
All teams need help being able to talk with individuals who stop by their pits
or visit their booth at an Outreach Event. They want to be able to introduce
themselves. They need to have a handful of ice breaker questions to open a
conversation. Then they need to be able to pivot based on the answers they
get. They also need a handful of talking points that they want to convey.
These talking points are based on the purpose or objectives of the event or
activity.
The more Jack thinks about this, the more he comes back to Sales and a
Sales Pitch. Using the skills and techniques of a good Sales Pitch will enable
team members to reach their goals in conducting an Outreach Event.
May 3, 2023
Attendees: Jack
Mix up with text messages. Rescheduled for Thursday, May 4, 2023.
May 2, 2023
Jack was unavailable.
Apr 25, 2023

Attendees: Jack, Mr. Nick, Evan, Michael, Makala
Portfolio presentation all about Exhibition.
Received new stuff. Conducted Exhibition with RoboScout Squad.
Visuals include our poster. Had a slideshow projected. Had the field set up
deep in the room. There were sign-up sheets available for the audience in
case they wanted to join the team.
When asked to describe what happened at the Exhibition, there were a

bunch of vague generalities about what happened. It took a lot of prodding
to get the team members to describe enough detail for Jack to be able to
visualize what happened. The students wanted to move the camera and
share items like the poster and the slideshow. This is cumbersome and takes
a lot of extra time. It is more effective for the students to practice
summarizing and describing in detail the visuals or the activities that
happened.
Did the students ensure participation from the audience? 30% Yes; 70% No.
They did ask the audience if they wanted to drive. They got several people
to agree and form a line to get their turn with driving. The team was passive
or reactive in regards to all the other participation by the audience. Now this
behavior is what Jack has seen nearly all teams do. Being their first
Exhibition as a team, they should feel good about how the Exhibition went.
They can do better in the future. Jack has found that only about 30% of
audience members at an Outreach Event are bold enough to agree to drive
the robot. There are things the team can do to engage the other 70% of
people standing around observing.
If you have 7 people in line they will spend 12 minutes standing in line
observing and 2 minutes actually driving the robot. Some of the students
need to walk along the line and chat with them. They can ask questions
about their experience in using robots. They can explain things that are
happening as the people in front of them are driving. They can share
information about challenges the team had in making the robot easy to
drive. For example in the Butte Qualifier, the robot was set up with Tank
Drive Control. That is where the left joystick controlled the left wheels and
the right joystick controlled the right wheels. We found that it was nearly
impossible to drive in a straight line with this configuration because the
joysticks had to be moved exactly the same amount. We kept running into
things like the walls and the Junctions. To prepare for the State
Championship we switched to an Arcade Drive Control. That is where the left
joystick controls the front and back movement and the right joystick controls
turning. We did much better at the State Championship because we could
take our finger off the right joystick and drive straight and miss the
Junctions.
As you walk the line, you’ll discover some people are shy and really don’t
want to talk. You can leave them to the next person. There will be others in
line who really want to talk and ask questions. As you talk with them, speak
loud enough so the shy people can hear and get information even though
they don’t enjoy this type of small talk. While speaking with the people who
like talking, observe some of the other people in line. You’ll pick up on
non-verbal cues that indicate others want to join the conversation. Find a
good point and bring them into it by asking if they agree or if they have seen
it differently.
Another thing the team can do to prepare for the Exhibition is create a sheet
of talking points. These can be given to all the students. Usually a couple
index cards work better than a sheet of paper. It is worth trying both in
different situations to see what works best. It may be that some students
prefer the cards and other students prefer the sheet.
The sheet should include some example questions students can use to
introduce themselves or break the ice with an audience member. Some
examples are the following:
● Are you having a good time?

● What do you think?
● Have you used a robot before?
● What have you seen at the Exhibition so far?
● Would you like to drive the robot?
● Would you like to build a robot?
● How did you hear about the Exhibition?
The sheet should also include information about different aspects of the
program that you want to be sure audience members should walk away with.
● This was our first year as a robotics team. We’ve started very small
and are wanting to grow the program. We didn’t win any awards this
season, but by starting now and working the whole season we hope we
can win an award next season.
● This season we played the PowerPlay game. The animation on that
screen explains who the game is played and how to earn points. FIRST
changes the game every season. We’ll get the new game around
September and then work the rest of the semester to compete in
Qualifiers in November and December. If we get an award or our robot
performs well enough, we’ll get invited to the State Championship.
Each year two teams from the Championship are invited to the FIRST
Championship in Houston. This year the team from Sun River and the
team from Helena advanced and are competing there this week.
● We started late this season. We got about a month to prepare for our
first Qualifier. We luckily advanced to the Regional Championship
where we met teams from across the state as well as Wyoming and
Idaho. We saw some great designs and met some great people and
are hoping to use this to build a more competitive robot next year.
● Due to paperwork issues and just the time it took to discover this
program we got a late start and weren’t very competitive this season.
It was our first season and we’ve learned a lot from it. We were able to
compete with borrowed parts and equipment. We’re constantly
working on fundraising. The first thing we need are enough robot parts
that we can build a robot and return the materials we borrowed. The
next thing we would like is our own playing field. This will allow us to
practice playing the game so we’re better prepared. Imagine going
into your first basketball game having never been on an official court
and having practiced with a borrowed ball and a piece of wood with a
painted dot on it as a goal. This is a pretty good idea of how our first
season went.
● Right now we just have Mr. Nick and Mr. Morris as mentors.
Occasionally a mentor from Kalispell, Jack, comes down to help us.
This got us through this season but with so much to do, we need
additional mentors. We don’t need as many technical mentors as you
would think. Most of the technical information is available online. We
need help with budgeting, task management, presentation skills,
marketing, branding, event organizing, grant writing, and fundraising.
This first season we worked during school as part of our STEM class.
Last month we got approval to run an after school program. This will
make it easier for us to work with adult mentors from the community.
● We’ve been focused on raising money since the State Championship.
There are some additional parts and equipment that we need to buy.
Our biggest need is mentors. We have some good technical mentors
with Mr. Morris and Jack. We really need more non-technical mentors.
We run as a small company. We’re responsible for our fundraising,
budget, purchasing as well as our task management. Our fundraising
depends on events like this Exhibition and we need help with our
branding and marketing as well. A key part of the competition is an
interview with Judges who determine the winners of various awards.
We need mentoring in public speaking and presentations as well. Last
month we got approval to run as an after school program. This should
make it easier for the community to join the team and help us with all
these non-technical areas that are necessary to be successful.
● There are three primary ways that community businesses can support
the team. They are 1) Time, 2) Opportunity, and 3) Money. The thing
that has the biggest impact on the team is Time. Companies can
encourage employees to spend time mentoring the team after school.
We had a mentor from Kalispell come down and work with us on
occasion and we couldn’t have been ready to compete without his
time. Now we need local folks to get involved as well. Companies can
also open up internships. While we are middle school students there
are lots of ways we can help around a company. Opening up summer
internships would allow us to help local companies while also getting
experience in the workforce so we can do even more once we graduate
high school. Time and Opportunity are going to do the most to prepare
the students to enter the workforce upon graduation of high school.
The other way to help is through money. We recently got a grant which
has allowed us to purchase most of the items on our Needs List. We’re
also raising money to afford to register and travel to competitions next
season. Montana hosts two Qualifiers and the Region Championship.
The tournaments are a single day, but they start at 7:00 am. That
means we need to travel the night before and spend a night in a hotel
in order to compete. Registration and travel for tournaments is the
largest portion of our annual budget.
Apr 11, 2023

Attendees: Jack, Mr. Nick, Michael
Task Completed: TBD
The group forgot today was our day to meet. It is everyone’s first day back
to school. Jack is assuming that is back from Spring Break.
What is the difference between the Basic FTC Playing Field and the Premium
FTC Playing Field? The Premium Playing Field comes with the Storage and
Carrying Cases. We will want these because we will need to do
demonstrations and outreach in Frenchtown, Missoula, St. Regis, and other
locations in the region. The Carrying Cases will make it much easier to
transport the field to these locations for these events. Outreach and
Demonstrations can be used to get new sponsors and new team members. It
can also increase recognition of science and technology in communities who
don’t have a FIRST program available.
There was confusion about what was included in the different products. Here
are the items available from AndyMark:
● FIRST Tech Challenge Premium Accessory Set (am-3145, $1,149)

● FIRST Tech Challenge Basic Accessory Set (am-4596, $949)
● FIRST Tech Challenge POWERPLAY (am-4800_Full, $450)
There is only a $200 difference between the Premium Accessory Set and the
Basic Accessory Set. This covers the cost of the two Carrying Bags for Soft
Tiles ($31 each) and the two Carrying Bags for Field Perimeter ($85 each).
These bags were designed for these playing field elements, so everything fits
without modification. They store everything the team needs to set up the
field for an Outreach Event or a demonstration. Jack has looked into
alternatives for these carrying bags and hasn’t found anything else that
works as well for the price. It is worth the added 20% cost to get these so
the Playing Field stays together and is ready to set up after next season’s
Kickoff.
Jack does not recommend purchasing the POWERPLAY set. All of our
competitions for this game have been completed. Jack recommends
budgeting $500 to purchase next season’s Field Elements and Game Pieces.
The game is different every season. There will be a new set of Field
Elements and Game Pieces to purchase after Kickoff next season. We can
compare the one-page description of PowerPlay with the one-page
description of Freight Frenzy to see some of the differences between the
games. The official field elements are used to prepare and practice for the
upcoming competition. Once the competition is complete, there is little value
in these items.
The 2022-2023 Season was POWERPLAY. Details about the field elements
and game pieces are in the Game Manual Part 2. The 2021-2022 Season was
Freight Frenzy. Archived game documentation is available from FIRST. From
the Freight Frenzy Game Manual, Part 2, we can see that the field elements
and game pieces were significantly different. Previous games is a good way
to keep the team active and challenged during the off season. There are off
season events or scrimmages where teams will play the previous season’s
game to practice driving, get ideas of different designs, and get to know
other FTC participants. Older games can be used as design challenges for
team members who haven’t competed in those events to try new
mechanisms or practice their Engineering Design Process.
The official game field elements and game pieces are good for testing and
iterating a robot design to prepare for competitions. FIRST always provides a
Do It Yourself (DIY) guide for building the Field Elements. The Ground
Junction Bases are available to 3D print. There are more details in the
Alternative Junctions section of this document.
Instead of limiting ourselves to games that FIRST has designed, Jack

recommends developing a unique demonstration challenge and a unique
demonstration robot. More details are in the Robot Demonstrations section
of this document. The problem of a demonstration is different from the
problem of the competition. We can use our Engineering Design Process to
solve this different problem. We can always bring our competition robot to
demonstrations and talk about the unique season we had or are preparing
for. We can make both available to drive on the same Playing Field.
Apr 4, 2023
Attendees: Jack, Evan, Caiden, Michael, Makala
Tasks Completed
● I don’t know.
Exhibition is done. It needs to be updated.
Need to work on poster and slideshow.
Today, Caiden is working on the poster. Evan isn’t sure what he’s working on.
The autonomous isn’t going to be ready for the exhibition.
Makala is working on the slideshow.

● Robot Name
● Where we went
● If we won or not
● Pictures
● FTC Video
● Message: What robotics is
● What do you want them to do? Sign up for robotics
○ Sign-up Sheet (Makala and Mackenzye)
Caiden is making a poster
RoboScout Squad is coming down. They will be there for the exhibition.
Michael is working on backwards planning.
Mr. Crews is waiting on a response for the after school program. Only
Michael is only one going to After School program.
Unsure of what task are not started.
Robot Demonstration has not been planned. A couple of the team members
want to run a mock competition. There has been no practice of the robot
demonstration. A couple weeks ago, Jack recommended using the class time
to do some Driver Practice. We discovered that the Robot battery and the
Driver Hub battery were not charged. The team put both on the charger.
Jack suspects that the Driver Hub battery has drained again.
The Driver Hub is an Android device. If it is put into Sleep Mode, it will
continue to ping the WiFi network and do other tasks using the battery
power. The only way to protect the battery from draining when not in use is
to Power Off or Shut Down the Driver Hub. Several teams have been unable
to recharge and use their Driver Hub when it gets drained completely. One
idea for the Panther Robotics Team is to set aside one day every week for
Driver Practice. Each Team Member should get an opportunity to drive the
robot and practice different scoring tasks during this Team Practice.
When does the robot chassis need to be returned? Jack doesn’t need it until
after the exhibition.Jack was hoping that the team would have the Straffer
Chassis delivered and assembled before he needed to get the robot chassis.
When it is returned, Jack will be able to do demonstrations at other schools
to get them interested in starting a FIRST team.
Jack will not be able to attend the Exhibition. He will be in Houston for the
FIRST Championships (https://ftc-events.firstinspires.org/2022/FTCCMP1).
This coming weekend is the Pacific Northwest Championship. There will be

competitions on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in Cheney, WA at Eastern
Washington University. Everyone is encouraged to drive over and watch
some matches. This is the type of competition that Mr. Nick and Mr. Morris
want to build to in Alberton.
At the end of the meeting:
● The poster is almost done

● The slideshow is pretty much done (but not quite)
● Evan is still going through the FTC presentation to see if there are any
more improvements that can be made.
Nothing was posted in the Completed column. All tasks return to the In Work
column. At the start of the next meeting, Jack asked the team members to
review the tasks on the board and make sure they are working on the
highest priority tasks.
Mar 21, 2023

Attendees: Jack, Nick, Michayla, Evan, Caiden, Michael
No progress has been made on the tasks since the last meeting.
There was some confusion as to how the RoboScout Squad had responded to
the request for a field for the exhibition. It was decided to follow-up with
them to see if they had come to a decision about letting the team use the
field.
With Ashley moving to another position, there are no details about team
funds remaining after the MT Region Championship. Nick thinks there is
between $800 and $1,000 available. The team needs to follow-up with Mrs.
Rausch, Mr. Crews, and Mr. Morris to get the current financial report for the
team. They are making no new purchases, including a $50 battery, until the
amount remaining is resolved.
The team has decided to host the robotics portion of the exhibition in the
STEM room. They are trying to set up a field. They asked if they could
borrow the RoboScout Squad field for the event. There are details for getting
a field of our own in the Official Playing Field section of this document. The
team was unaware of links to a Low-Cost Field Perimeter in the DIY
Resources section of the FTC Game and Season Materials page. This page
also has links to the official playing field items and instruction in the Playing
Field Materials and Manuals section.
The team has not prepared any of the presentation materials for the
exhibition on April 19, 2023. Jack recommended using one of the videos
from the Learn More About FIRST playlist on YouTube
Mar 14, 2023

Attendees: Jack
The robotics team is unable to meet today. Ashley is no longer working at

the school.
Mar 7, 2023
Attendees: Jack, Caiden, Michael, Makala
No progress has been made on the tasks since the last meeting. Haven’t
reached out to any of the businesses identified last week.
Michael is drafting an email to send to potential sponsors.
Makala took notes during the meeting. Several new tasks were identified.
We talked about creating a task card for each business that needs to be
contacted for sponsorship. We added a task card for setting up a
demonstration with the Frenchtown FLL teams. We added a task card for
setting up a fundraising seminar with the Missoula FRC Team (Missoula
Robotics Team [MRT], https://frc-events.firstinspires.org/team/3216). We
added specific tasks for information that needs to be prepared for the
Exhibition on April, 19, 2023. These include the following:
● How do kids join the team

● What the team does
● How do adults become mentors
● How the robot code works
● How the robot motors work
● How the robot parts were fastened together with screws
The team tried to start the robot to practice what they want to do for the
Exhibition. We discovered that the Robot Battery was not charged, so we got
that on the charger. We also discovered that the Driver Hub was drained as
well, so that got put on the charger as well.
How much does a robot battery cost? $50

(https://www.gobilda.com/matrix-12v-3000mah-nimh-battery/). The team
will need a battery for their own robot. They will actually need a backup
battery for events in the 2023-2024 Season. Instead of waiting until they
have raised their full budget before moving forward, the team needs to buy
needed materials as they have the funds to afford them.
The Driver Hub has a software issue. Never let it drain completely. When
you’re done for the day be sure to Shutdown the Driver Hub. This will
prevent it from draining completely before the team gets back to it.
At the end fo the meeting, Jack asked the team to tune into the Great
Northern Regional so they can cheer on the Missoula FRC Team, Team 3216.
Details including the live stream link are available at
https://frc-events.firstinspires.org/2023/NDGF.
Feb 28, 2023

Attendees: Jack, Michael, Makala, Mackenzye
Makala is working on a separate presentation for STEM class. Mackenzy is
developing a plan for what the robot demonstration will have. This includes
the autonomous and the driver-controlled part of the demonstration.
Michael added a number of companies to their budget Google Sheet. These

are companies the team wants to reach out to and ask for fundraising. They
are mostly restaurants. This makes sense since the students have only really
interacted with restaurants. There was a clothing store in Frenchtown that
was mentioned. The team is going to include all of the companies that their
parents work for.
The school uses GoGaurdian (https://www.goguardian.com/) to manage the

school’s digital environment. Through GoGaurdian, the school has blocked
access to Yelp. Jack was thinking that Yelp would be a good way for the
students to find local businesses that they can reach out to for donations.
The Makala did a Google search of “metal works missoula, mt.” All of the
companies that came up in that search have been added to the list.
Harbor Freight (a.k.a., Harber Frat) was added to the list. Harbor Freight
(https://harborfreightgivingback.com/community-engagement/) has a
simple form to fill out. They will give the team a gift card of approximately
$100 once the form is filled out and submitted.
Jack found Fusion Metalworks

(https://www.facebook.com/FusionMetalWorks/) from Frenchtown. This
would be a great company to collaborate with. I expect they would be willing
to donate to the team and may be able to provide mentorship as well. After
building a partnership with the company, they would be a good group to ask
for custom parts as well.
Michael wanted to include Montana Kick Ass BBQ

(https://montanakickassbbq.com/), but isn’t allowed to say curse words.
We’ll have to read between the lines on that entry in the budget.
Acronyms
This section has a list of Acronyms used in this document.
Acronym Definition Notes
FIRST For Inspiration and Recognition of

Science and Technology
FRC FIRST Robotics Competition
FTC FIRST Tech Challenge
OBE Overcome by events
TBD To Be Determined
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FTC 22811, Panther

This was created as an alternative to repeated, frequent, and long emails

This document is updated frequently (i.e., roughly weekly). It has links to

Kanban Task Cards

The next major milestone is the TBD.

● Conduct Robot Demonstration at Frenchtown School

○ More Than Robots

● Career Tools and Manager Tools (https://www.manager-tools.com/)

○ Horstman’s Law of Project Management

■ Who’s Doing What By When?

■ Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

○ How to Write a Thank You note

○ The Hot Wash

● FIRST Inspires (www.firstinspires.org)

○ Learn more about FIRST video playlist

○ Youth Registration System

○ Preparing for Competition Resources

○ Team Management Resources

● FIRST Inspires-2022-2023 Powerplay

○ FTC Game and Season Info

○ FTC Game Materials

○ Powerplay Game Manual, Part 2

○ Powerplay Signal Sleeve Template

○ Robot Inspection Checklist

○ Field Inspection Checklist

○ Team Judging Self-Reflection Sheet

○ Powerplay Control Award Submission Form

● Montana Robotics Alliance (https://www.mtroboticsalliance.org)

○ MT Robotics Alliance Photo Album

● FTC Events (https://ftc-events.firstinspires.org/)

○ MT East Helena Qualifier

○ FIRST Championship-Jemison Division

○ FIRST Championship-Edison Division

● Game Manual Zero (https://gm0.org)

○ Rookie Team Start Here page

○ Be sure to log in as the team before making an order to qualify

○ FTC Starter Kit for 2022-2023 Season

○ Strafer Chassis Kit V5

○ 4-Stage Viper Slide Kit (Belt Driven)

● REV Robotics (https://www.revrobotics.com/)

○ Control Hub (https://www.revrobotics.com/rev-31-1595/)

○ Driver Hub (https://www.revrobotics.com/rev-31-1596/)

○ Expansion Hub (https://www.revrobotics.com/rev-31-1153/)

○ Getting Started with Control Hub

○ Getting Started with Driver Hub

○ Hello Robot-Introduction to Programming

○ Kickoff Concepts Overview

○ Adding an Expansion Hub

○ REV Robotics DUO (https://www.revrobotics.com/duo-system/)

● Jack’s FTC Materials

Watch About FIRST Tech Challenge video

The Coach’s Playbook

The Mentor Manual

Game Manual Zero (https://gm0.org/en/latest/index.html) is an

FTC Game Materials

Preparing for Competition resources

Learn About FIRST

Instructions are available at

● Learn More about FIRST

Expanding from Parent Mentors is participation from other working adults in

In addition to working during Team Practices, we will have some sessions

● More Than Robots…

Before showing it to students, watch the movie Short Circuit. It is a movie