09.22 Team Eblast

Event Registration Opening Soon  l  Event Status & “Share the Spare” Form  l  States Advancement  l  States Event Update  l  REV Parts Update  l  Grants  l  FiM C/R Forms  l  POWERPLAY Resources  l  Season Registration

EVENT REGISTRATION

Visit the FiM FTC EVENTS site page for the fall list of competitions. League meets are still being added to the list. All fall events will follow the traditional (physical) event rollout.

Unlike the high school FRC program, event registration for FTC/FLLC/FLLE is done at the local level with FIRST in Michigan. A synopsis is below of the FiM FTC event 1st round registration process. Details of the entire event registration process (1st round, 2nd round, advancement, etc.) can be found on the https://firstinmichigan.us/FTC/event-registration/ site page.

Teams must be registered for the 2022-23 season in order to be placed in events.

Click the “+” sign to expand the toggle boxes.

Home Event Pre-assignment - Sept 27 (adjusted date)

  • Teams will be pre-assigned to their nearest “home” event based on travel distance parameters and event capacity.
  • The list of pre-assignments will be eblasted to the Team Administrator and Lead Coach/Mentor 1 and 2 for each team and posted on the FiM FTC EVENTS site page.
  • For some events, the number of area teams could exceed the number of available event slots so event pre-assignment will be made to the next closest event and so on, as space allowed.
  • League teams (OCCRA, South-Central, new Wayne Co. league) will be pre-assigned to their affiliated League Tournament as their home event.

1st Round Event Registration - Oct. 4 (anticipated)

  • The 1st round event registration google form will be emailed via team eblast to the Team Administrator and Lead Coach/Mentor 1 and 2 for each team. ONE 1st round event registration form should be submitted per team.
  • Form responses are date and time stamped upon submission.
  • A team will have a choice to either “keep” their pre-assigned home event spot OR choose to “opt out” and provide at least 4 alternative ranked 1st round event preferences via the “change” option. A form is required from each team regardless of the choice.
  • For multiple teams out of the same school/org. that want to be placed in the same event: Opting to “keep” your team’s Home Event Pre-assignment is the only choice that guarantees that this occurs due to capacity constraints at events.
  • Opt out (Change Home Event) submissions are processed in a date/timestamp order after Home Event opt-ins (Keep Home Event) are processed.  Quick submissions are recommended!
  • If choosing to “change” your team’s 1st round event from the event the team was pre-assigned, be prepared to provide up to 5 ranked alternative preferences. Note that these are preferences and not a guarantee that your team will be placed in one of their preferred alternative events.
  • If a team is choosing to “change” their pre-assigned home event and the team’s provided ranked preference(s) are full when the form is processed, the team will get placed in their home event by default.
  • League teams will automatically be placed in their respective FTC League Tournament event for the 1st round event registration. Those teams should choose to “keep” their pre-assigned league tournament event.
  • Note that the google form list of events for “changes” might not resolve well on small screens i.e. phones, as that section is long/wide.
  • You will be able to choose to be emailed your form responses at the end of the form. You must choose this option for it to occur. Some email handlers do not handle this feature well.
  • Reminder that FTC teams do not see their confirmed event placements on their Team Dashboard. Confirmed event placements will be posted on the MI FTC Team List.

ACTION ITEM: EVENT STATUS AND “SHARE THE SPARE” FORM

Please fill out the form linked below by Saturday, Sept. 24. This is required of all teams regardless of season registration status. The registration status information will be used to assist with home event pre-assignment.

  1. Season registration status: This will assist with event planning and home event pre-assignment.
  2. “Share the Spare” program: To assist our teams that are affected by backorders of key components.

FORM LINK: EVENT STATUS & “SHARE THE SPARE Form

 ADVANCEMENT ALLOCATIONS

Visit the EVENT REGISTRATION PROCESS site page for the advancement allocations by qualifier/league tournament. There could be adjustments based on an event’s actual team population.

The advancement allocation list also includes the qualifier’s/league tournament’s State Championship advancing event.

If a team has a strong preference for attending a particular State Championship event, the team should choose to participate in qualifying events that advance to that preferred State Championship event. It will not be possible to switch an advancing team from one State Championship event to the other.

Teams can only earn an advancement spot once at a given competition level. For example, once a team earns a States advancement spot at a qualifier/league tournament, they are no longer eligible to earn a States advancement spot from a subsequent qualifier/league tournament. They can still be eligible for all awards at the subsequent qualifier/league tournaments, just not another States advancement spot. The caveat to this statement is that teams can only earn the Inspire Award once at a given competition level. Advancement and awards are tracked through the FTC Scoring system.

Competition Levels:

  1. Qualifiers/League Tournaments
  2. States
  3. FIRST Championship
FiM FTC STATE CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT UPDATES

We will be having two FIM FTC State Championship events again this season but there will be some changes. Our usual Battle Creek event will be moving to Calvin University in Grand Rapids. We thank Kellogg Arena, city of Battle Creek, and FRC 4327 for hosting us so splendidly over the years! Thank you to FRC 3875 for stepping up as host team for the State Championship-NW event planning!

We will be having our two state events on different weekends this season as the Sports & Expo Center at Macomb Community College will be hosting Winter Commencement on our usual states’ weekend. So, we will be moving that event up by a week to Dec. 8-10. Moving forward, MCC has graciously and generously reserved our “usual” weekend on their calendar from here on. Thank you to FRC 302 for once again serving as host team for the State Championship-SE event planning!

  • December 8-10: FiM FTC State Championship-NW at Macomb Community College Sports & Expo Center.
  • December 15-17: FiM FTC State Championship-SE at Calvin University Van Noord Arena.
REV COMPONENT BACKORDERS

REV Control Hub: FIRST HQ is expecting a shipment of 500 REV Control Hubs at the end of Sept. Rookie team and rookie class pack orders will be prioritized by order date. HQ is expecting another shipment in October and will use the same prioritization process.

Android Phone/REV Expansion Hub: Note that the Android phone/REV Expansion Hub combo is still legal for the 2022-23 season. It is perfectly fine for teams to use the REV Driver Hub to replace the Driver Station Android phone but continue to use the Android phone/REV Expansion Hub combo on the robot.

Reminder to Veteran Teams: Each season, veteran teams are able to make a single pass purchase of kit of parts product(s) through the FTC Storefront to take advantage of the FTC Storefront’s discounted prices. If FIRST HQ gets enough stock of REV Control Hubs to fill rookie team/class pack orders, they will then fill veteran team orders in the queue on first come-first served basis. So, it’s important to get your place in the queue. An accepted payment method must be provided but won’t be charged until the part ships.

REV Expansion Hub: The REV Expansion Hub remains on indefinite backorder. REV has formulated a workaround, though, depending on the functionality you desire.

Per REV: The workaround for teams without expansion hubs is to use Spark Mini. You plug it into a servo port and it gives you the ability to have another motor. Using a TX30 power distribution block makes the wiring a bit easier (these should be back in stock in the next week or so). You can use up to 4 spark minis, so you get to the full 8 motor limit. Spark Mini does not have encoder support, so our recommendation is to use them on things like intakes or lifts that don’t use the encoders and use external sensors if they need anything. REV will be posting a how-to guide on the spark mini as an expansion hub replacement soon.

AVAILABLE GRANTS

Grants to note:

Visit the GRANTS page on the FIRST in Michigan FTC website to learn of available grant opportunities and their application details.

FiM CONSENT/RELEASE FORMS ON SMARTWAIVER

The FiM Consent/Release form is a mandatory electronic form that must be completed, once per season, by all team members/coaches/mentors who will be participating in your FTC team’s season events. The good news is that is fast, easy, and mobile-friendly!

The links to share with your team participants are below. Also, be sure to also share your team number with them for accuracy and quick access as it’s needed for the form.

FIRST in Michigan (FiM) Consent/Release form links on SmartWaiver:
If your team still has a temporary team number (starts with 2022), wait until you have been assigned a permanent team number before having team participants fill out the FiM C/R Form.

More about the FiM C/R Form

  • The FIRST in Michigan Consent/Release (FiM C/R) form is a separate and additional form from the FIRST HQ Consent/Release form. This is because FIRST HQ and FIRST in Michigan are two separate organizations so they cannot be combined on one Consent/Release form for legal reasons.
  • The FiM C/R Form is available to be signed electronically via SmartWaiver. Fast and mobile friendly!
  • The FiM C/R Form, signed through SmartWaiver, only needs to be submitted once per season and covers all of the FiM FTC official events that the participant attends.
  • All team participants (Lead Coach/Mentor 1 and 2 and team members) must have an electronically signed FiM C/R Form on file before their event date.
  • The FIRST HQ Consent/Release Form (not FiM C/R form) is electronically signed by the parents/guardians of team members younger than 18 years of age as part of FIRST HQ’s Youth Team Member Registration Process. Adults sign it through their FIRST Account.
  • More details about EVENT READINESS can be found on the linked site page.

KICKOFF THANK YOU AND POWERPLAY GAME ELEMENTS & RESOURCES

Thank you to our 14 FTC Kickoff Event Hosts for helping us launch the POWERPLAY season! Your support is MUCH appreciated by all!!

Teams can pre-order a partial or full set of POWER PLAY game elements directly from AndyMark, an official FIRST vendor. Great use for any remaining 2021-22 season funding!

Powerplay game information and resources can be found on the FIRST FTC HQ site: https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/ftc/game-and-season.

Game Manual 1 and 2 are must-reads for all teams!

2022-23 TEAM REGISTRATION IS OPEN!

Team registration for the 2022-23 season is open! The $295 season registration fee can be paid via the FTC Storefront accessible from the Team Dashboard through firstinspires.org.

Teams must be fully registered for the current season in order to register for FiM FTC competitions.

New Teams

New Teams (rookies) – FIRST HQ once again has their FTC Rookie Team Grant available! This grant works with the FIRST in Michigan FTC Rookie Team Grant to 100% cover a newly forming FTC team’s first season registration fee and reusable kit of parts purchase.

Visit the CREATE A TEAM site page for the steps to get your new team rolling and to maximize available grants!

  • Reminder: DO NOT PAY for anything through the FTC Storefront until the grant award decisions have been received.
  • All veterans out of the same school who were past grant recipients must be registered for the current season before a newly forming team can be eligible for the FIRST HQ and/or FiM FTC Rookie Team Grant.

Returning Teams

Returning Teams (veterans) – Returning teams register with their existing team number. Check the MI Archive FTC Team List (tab 1 & 2) for a list of historical team numbers.

  • Take care of “Outstanding Tasks” on your Dashboard
    • Update the Team Profile, update team contacts as needed, Lead Coach/Mentor 1 and 2 must electronically sign the season’s FIRST Consent/Release form and check that their FIRST Youth Protection Screening is up to date.
    • Instruct any departing team contacts (Team Admin, Lead Coach/Mentor 1 and 2) to invite their replacements.
  • Veteran Team Registration Guide – contains screenshots of the process.

Dormant Teams

If you were the Team Administrator and/or Lead Coach/Mentor 1 of a team that has been dormant but wants to register for the season and you don’t see your team on your FIRST Account Dashboard anymore, email firsttechchallenge@firstinspires.org and ask them to reactivate your team. Copy me at tammy@firstinmichigan.org. Include your team number in the subject line of the email.

If a dormant team’s past Team Administrator and Lead Coach/Mentor 1 are no longer with the organization and you would like the team to be reactivated, email me at tammy@firstinmichigan.org and I can assist. Please include your team number in the subject line of the email.

Reminder that teams that have been the recipient of the FiM FTC Rookie Team Grant are expected to keep the team number and reusable robot kit of parts in play. Grant sponsors view these funds as seed money for a new team. Team members and coaches may move through the program but the FTC team number and robot kit of parts stay with the affiliated school/501c3 organization for reuse year to year. Otherwise, grant funds and/or the robot kit of parts in their entirety must be returned to FIRST in Michigan.

PROGRAM INFORMATION

To learn more about the FIRST in Michigan Progression of Programs, visit our FIRST in Michigan PK-12 Team/Class Pack Overview Guide.

Links to program information on the FIRST in Michigan (FiM) and FIRST HQ websites: