The 2009 Game: Lunacy
Every Team 48 traveling team member will be familiar with the game and the rules prior to attending their first event. Many of you will be asked to scout and collect data on other teams and their robots as soon as you arrive that first day. You MUST be prepared to do this in an informed and effective manner.
KNOWING THE GAME INCREASES YOUR ABILITY TO ENJOY WHAT HAPPENS ON THE FIELD as you are viewing it from the stands! Avoid ignorance and boredom - understand the 2009 "Lunacy" game rules!!!!
Additionally, the drive team must take even more care to know the game rules inside and out. You are required to understand all penalties and know exactly what to do to avoid them. You are required to plan and test match strategies with the drive team coach before you ever step behind the sticks on the real field. You are required to fully understand each competition's tournament structure from practice day through the end of the elimination rounds. The drive team is securely within the spotlight throughout the entire event; as such, you must prepare yourselves to deal with everything this position entails in an informed, prepared, responsible, respectful, and PROFESSIONAL manner!
Relevant Game/Competition/Scouting Sections of the Manual:
- Section 3 - At the Events
- Section 6 - The Arena - Describes the competition playing field in detail.
- Section 7 - The Game - You will not set foot on the field as a drive team member or scout your first robot unless you know the game rules inside and out.
- Section 9 - The Tournament - Explains the competition structure, from practice day through qualifying on to the elimination rounds.
FRC Team Updates - Released every week to clarify and modify existing competition rules. STAY ON TOP OF THESE.
FRC Q&A Site - Have a question related to the rules? Questions are both asked and answered here. REVIEW FREQUENTLY.
Bill's Blog - FRC Director Bill Miller's online blog, which often contains useful information related to the competition.
Competition Information:
For more information on the competitions, visit the following links:
www.frclinks.com - An EXCELLENT shortcut page to quickly find out anything on any event or team in FIRST.
Scouting and Strategy:
Review the Team 48 Pit Interview Sheet and the
2009 Team 48 Match Scouting Sheet thoroughly. Download these. Study them. Understand the information we are asking you to gather. TAKE YOUR SCOUTING JOB SERIOUSLY. Your information directly impacts our on-field strategy and helps determine our "pick list" of potential alliance partner teams. Your scouting work could be the difference between going all the way and falling short of achieving our on-field goals.
Please learn how to record the quantitative, or numeric, data for each team during a match. This takes precedence over qualitative information based upon a scouter's opinion. Please talk with the scouting coordinator ahead of time such that all scouters' opinions are based off of the same criteria for what constitutes poor, average, and excellent robot and payload specialist performance. Your definition of awesome MUST match that of the drive team and coach; otherwise, the information is not useful to them!
Use the event links above to pre-scout the teams who will be competing with you at the competition. Use sites such as
www.thebluealliance.net and
www.chiefdelphi.com to review pictures and video of the robots we will be facing. Visit team websites (http://www.frclinks.com/t/[Team#] -
http://www.frclinks.com/t/48, for example) to gain even more information. Knowing their capabilities ahead of time saves you time at the event that could be put to better use and improves your chances of producing useful scouting information.
Awards Preparation:
Relevant Awards Sections of the Manual (see above for web link):
Awards Summary (See manual for complete details):
While you should know about all the awards FRC teams are eligible to earn at competitions, Team 48 is typically competitive for the following awards. Please review the award criteria for all, especially if you are asked to serve in the pits, where judges will often visit us and ask STUDENTS questions. Team 48 mentors defer to students to communicate with the "blue shirts", so you better be prepared and know your stuff!
- Chairman's Award - At one regional only - in 2009, this will be in Cleveland at the Buckeye Regional
- Engineering Inspiration Award
- KPCB Entrepreneurship Award
- Johnson and Johnson Gracious Professionalism Award (partially determined by feedback forms submitted by teams at the event)
- GM Industrial Design Award
- Motorola Quality Award
- Xerox Creativity Award
- Imagery Award
- Delphi "Driving Tomorrow's Technology" Award
- Rockwell Automation Leadership in Control Award
- Underwriter's Laboratories Industrial Safety Award - Special Safety Judges are appointed for this award. They typically wear forest green shirts.
In addition, all team members should be familiar with the following awards that are judged separately and do not involve pit visits from judges:
