Welcome to the FIRST Robotics Competition Blog
Your source of season information for the FIRST Robotics Competition.
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The Backfire Effect
Oct 06, 2017 Written by Frank MerrickI learned something interesting this week.
Wikipedia has an entry on ‘common misconceptions’ which I found interesting. Before I provide the link, I should give you a warning that one of the misconceptions, out of the many listed, is about the etymology of commonly heard, but vulgar, word. If you think seeing this word will bother you, please don’t click. If you are OK with seeing this word, here’s the link.
Stop Build Day 2018
Oct 05, 2017 Written by Frank MerrickAbout one year ago, in this blog, we revealed the results of an extensive survey we did of the community regarding their thoughts on Stop Build Day. No survey is perfect, but if this one showed anything, it showed that there is no strong consensus one way or the other on this topic so fundamental to our culture and how we operate.
Behind the Lines Premiere and 2018 Medals!
Oct 04, 2017 Written by Frank MerrickSeason 4 of Behind the Lines will premiere tonight!
Tonight's Season 4 premiere episode features FIRST Robotics Competition Team 2614, MARS, 2017 Chairman's Award winners at FIRST Championship St. Louis.
Registration Issues Update #2
Oct 03, 2017 Written by Frank MerrickThis blog is an update to the registration issues we talked about here.
On Friday, we sent emails to the 148 teams affected by our error offering them slots to the preferred event to which we should have assigned them originally.
Youth Registration and Drive Base Kit Option
Oct 02, 2017 Written by Frank Merrick
Youth Registration
Registration Issues Update
Sep 29, 2017 Written by Frank MerrickYesterday, I noted we had an issue with first-round event assignments, in which approximately 5% of teams were not assigned the correct event. I apologize again for this.
Kit of Parts – 2018 Drive Base Kit Option and International Game Pieces
Sep 29, 2017 Written by Jonathan Bryant, Kit of Parts EngineerEdit 9/29/17: Added start date/time of Drive Base Opt Out period, highlighted in yellow below.
Drive Base Kit Option
Your 2018 Kickoff Kit will again include a drive base kit! Maybe; it’s up to you.
Event Assignment Issues
Sep 28, 2017 Written by Frank MerrickWe found a bug in the software that was used today to assign teams to events. I apologize for this. Approximately 5% of teams were not assigned the correct event.
We kept the lottery numbers teams had been assigned during the first run of this process and re-ran the process with the bug corrected. We then compared the first-run results with what the results would have been if the bug had not been present.
It’s a Big Day! And Some Numbers
Sep 28, 2017 Written by Frank MerrickThe Big Day
The event preference system closes at noon Eastern Time today! Please, please, get your preferences in if you have not already done so.
Here’s the rough sequence of events for today:
Event Preference Submission Deadline Thursday!
Sep 27, 2017 Written by Frank MerrickJust in case you missed the 23 tweets, 12 emails, 7 blog posts and 2 carrier pigeons we sent directly to the home of every FIRST Robotics Competition mentor on this planet, the deadline to submit your event preferences is tomorrow, Thursday, September 28th, Noon, Eastern Time!