Software Downloads and Administrative Manual Release

We want to tell you about some software downloads that are available to you right now that can help you be ready for Kickoff.

First, in an effort to help you get up and running after Kickoff as quickly as possible, here are instructions to on how to download and install the programming environments for 2015 in LabVIEW [updated 12/17/2014] and C++/Java.

As a reminder, these downloads are only for the general programming environments. The 2015 FRC specific plug-ins will be made available, encrypted, prior to Kickoff. Watch the blog for more!

Second, this year we’ve moved in a different direction with the way we distribute the Manual to teams. Along with the FIRST Lego League, we’ve partnered with Adobe to use their Digital Publishing Suite to create and distribute the Manual. For now, there are two ways you can get the 2015 Administrative Manual, by downloading the PDF or by downloading the “FIRST Official” app available on both iOS and Android. We'll roll out the iPad app first to confirm functionality, then the Android and iPhone versions. We’re also working with Adobe to implement a content viewer to replace the online viewing option of the frc-manual.usfirst.org page used for the last few years.

Some Key Changes in the Administrative Manual

I’ll admit that normally the Admin Manual isn’t exactly a page turner, but we’ve got some new stuff this year, some changes more serious, some more intended to get rid of nuisances for teams.

On the serious side –

Please see Section 6.4. Chairman’s Award presentations may now be up to seven minutes long, but total time with the judges will still max out at 10 minutes, so please keep in mind a longer presentation likely means less time for direct judge interaction. Also, we are eliminating the Chairman’s feedback form. We’ve heard from teams that many do not find them helpful – some teams even complaining that they addressed all the issues the judges raised on their last feedback form, but still were not selected. This suggests a ‘checkbox’ approach to the award, which is not what we are looking for at all. You will find a subtle change in the manual that is an attempt to start addressing this – instead of saying teams ‘win’ the award, we now say teams ‘earn’ the award, which is closer in spirit to our beliefs about this most prestigious of all FRC awards.

We recognize, though, that it is still valuable for teams to understand how they did in comparison to others. So, for the first time, we are asking teams that earn the Chairman’s Award at events to later share their Chairman’s video, along with a video of a practice  presentation, with FIRST, so we may post it publicly. In addition to these videos, we will be posting the written submissions these teams made. We know we have not asked teams to record their presentations before, but we hope teams earning this award would be eager to share their presentations with others, so all can benefit. The practice presentation videos do not need to be edited to add titles or any other embellishments – a straight single camera shot capturing the practice presentation is fine. Teams should plan to capture their practice presentation before or after the presentation they make to the judges, not during. Taken together, these three elements – Chairman’s video, presentation video, and written submission - should give aspiring teams a good idea of ‘what it takes’.

Also please take a look at Section 6.6. We are taking a related approach to Dean’s List interviews this year as we are with Chairman’s. Interview time is being extended to be up to seven minutes long, up from five minutes maximum last year. Also, Judges will not be providing written feedback. In place of written feedback from judges, a mentor of the student will be allowed to be present to silently witness the interview. The mentor can then provide feedback on the interview skills of the student at a later time. As mentors know the student better than the judges do, we feel this feedback is potentially more valuable.

On the less serious side –

Team banners. Check out Section 4.12.4. We’re removing the restriction - which honestly had been sometimes loosely enforced, depending on event - preventing you from hanging them in the arena. Have fun, show your pride, but be safe and respectful.

And my personal favorite on the less serious side- check out Section 4.2.2 about robot carts, specifically this bullet point:

Do not add music or other sound-generating devices to the cart, with the exception of devices of reasonable volume intended to be activated occasionally to make others in the direct vicinity aware that a robot is on the move for safety purposes

Reading between the lines – you can stop yelling ‘Robot’ to let others know you have a robot on the move. Please. And you can go nuts with adding sounds to your carts for safety purposes. As long as you go nuts in a controlled, responsible way.*

Frank

*Please think less air raid siren, more cowbell. We don’t want this change to lead to new nuisances. Any sounds you add should be just loud enough to get the job done, without being annoying.