Strategy
A really good team who consistently performs at a top-tier level. They usually win the events they go to and always qualify for worlds, making the Einstein field level at worlds every couple years.
What is a Powerhouse Team?
Given to a team that exemplifies and represents FIRST values, and spreads STEM throughout their communities, whether that be local, national, or international. It is the most prestigious award at FIRST.
What is the FIRST Impact Award?
After the end of Qualification Rounds, the top eight seeded teams become alliance captains. This means they get to pick 2 other teams to join their alliance to play the elimination rounds. When a team is selected by an alliance captain, the team can either accept the invitation to join the alliance or decline.
What is Alliance Selection?
They oversee safety stuff for the team, go to safety meetings at competitions, and talk to the safety judges in order to try and win the Safety Award.
Was the last day of build season, after which all teams must put their finished (or unfinished) robot into a bag and seal it until competition. No more work can be done to the robot until competition.
What is Bag and Tag?
a strategy that involves performing bad at an event, such that you can get picked onto a higher alliance (such as the 2nd pick of 1st alliance), which ends up making that alliance stacked
What is Sandbagging?
A team gets this if they win a regular season event, or win the FIRST Impact Award at an event. They look really nice and are the highest form of recognition/award you can receive at competition.
What is a Blue Banner?
In this playoff tournament, alliances 1-8 can play up to 3 knockout rounds. The winning team advancing to the upper bracket and the losing team moving into the lower bracket. At the start, alliance 1 plays 8, 2 plays 7, and so forth, making it an optimal strategy to try and get on easier sides of the bracket in alliance selection.
What are Elimination Rounds?
In all FRC reveal videos, the game is demonstrated by having 6 robots (three red, three blue) place various game pieces. In the old reveal videos (before 2015), they used to always include a blue robot in the video who would kind of just drive around and push things
A wooden replica of the real FRC field that allows us to train drivers, and test code and robot mechanisms.
What is a Practice Field?
Happens when an average team ends up in a high seed, usually first. The high seeded team then selects lots of other, typically better teams, from the 2nd to 8th seeds, and they all decline, wanting to be with a more talented team. This scorches the alliance selection process, because none of the top teams can alliance with each other
What is Scorched Earth?
Given to a team that demonstrates outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within a team’s school and community.
What is the Engineering Inspiration Award?
During this period, teams have around 5 to 12 matches kind of like in a round robin style. In each match, teams play with 2 other random teams on their alliance against 3 random teams on the opposing alliance. Depending on each alliances performance within the match, teams are awarded Ranking Points (RP), which determine their seed at competition.
What are Qualification Matches?
They go with Drive Team onto the field, help setup the robot, code, etc, and can make quick last minute fixes in queue, but don’t actually drive the robot.
What is a Technician?
A new team that is in their second year of competition. Basically a Rookie Team + 1 year.
What is a Veteran Team?
If a team’s robot is over the weight limit, the most common strategy to get rid of weight is to drill lots of holes through the robot
What is Swiss Cheese?
The award is given to exceptional mentors who lead, inspire and empower. Students submit one nomination per year, and at provincial championships, one mentor is chosen throughout Ontario to receive the award.
What is the Woodie Flowers Award?
Useful tool for guessing which teams will make it to DCMPs (district championships) or worlds before it is officially announced.
What is FRClocks?
Connects most of the robot components together and allows them to talk to one another. It consists of two cables twisted together, usually a green one and a yellow one, but it can be any two colors.
What is a Controller Network Area (CAN)?
When a low seeded alliance (such as 8, 7, 6) defeats a higher seeded alliance (such as 1, 2) in traditional elimination rounds.
What is an Upset?
When a good team at a competition makes a less good team better by providing copies of their mechanisms, or altering the less good team in some way shape or form that makes them perform better on the competition field
What is Cheesecake?
An award given to involved, active, and dedicated FIRST students who have made a difference on their team.
Determine a team’s rank within the District system. List the 4 main categories in which they are divided:
What are District Points?
Qualification Points - where you seed at competition
Alliance Points - if/where you are selected on an alliance at competition
Playoff Points - winning elimination rounds
Award Points - winning awards at competitions
The “brain” of FRC robots; it stores all the code, and gives information to and from various components (such as motors, LEDs, Pneumatics). They are made by National Instruments, and are typically very expensive, but FRC teams get them for cheaper.
What is a roboRIO?
All about maintaining fierce competition, while treating each other with respect and kindness in the process.
What is Gracious Professionalism?