Author: Mike Fine

We will meet at LCC at 6:30 am on Saturday, October 20 to carpool to Cathedral Catholic for this tournament.

If you plan to meet us there:

Cathedral Catholic High School
5555 Del Mar Heights Rd.
San Diego, CA, 92130

Here is the information from the organizers:

Hello Team 5514,

Welcome to the 2018 Battle at the Border happening this fall at Cathedral Catholic High School. Important details on the event are below:

Team Number: 5514

Team Name: LCC MavBots

Main Contact: Michael Fine   michael.fine@sduhsd.net

Paid: NO

Event Details

Friday, 10/19: Evening load-in 5:30 – 7:30pm
Saturday, 10/20: Competition Day
7:00a – Pits Open
8:45a – Field Open For Practice
9:45a – Drivers Meeting
10:00a – Opening Ceremonies
10:15a – Matches Start
2:45p – Matches End
3:00p – Alliance Selection / Mentor Challenge
3:30p – Elimination Matches Start
5:30p – Elimination Matches End / Awards
6:00p – Event Over / Clean Up

* In order to stay on schedule we will not be having a set lunch break. Please look at your match schedule and plan your team’s lunch accordingly.

We will be playing a slightly modified version of FIRST Power Up.Game Modifications:

G25. PLATES are moved by POWER CUBES, not ROBOTS. Except via the weight of placed POWER CUBES, ROBOTS may not directly or transitively cause or prevent the movement of PLATES to their ALLIANCE’s advantage. Movement, or prevention of movement, of PLATES because of momentary ROBOT action resulting in minimal PLATE displacement is not a violation of this rule. A ROBOT forced to affect the position of a PLATE because of contact by an opponent ROBOT either directly or transitively through a POWER CUBE or other ROBOT (e.g. a ROBOT wedged underneath the SCALE by the opposing ALLIANCE either intentionally or accidentally) is not a violation of this rule.

A04. Stay out of your opponent’s side of the FIELD. During AUTO, no part of a ROBOT’S BUMPERS may pass from the NULL TERRITORY to the opponent’s side of the FIELD. Violation: FOUL. If contact is made with an opponent ROBOT in their side of the FIELD (either direct contact or transitive contact through a POWER CUBE), TECH FOUL and YELLOW CARD. If the contact prevents the opponent ALLIANCE from achieving the AUTO QUEST, the associated Ranking Point will be granted automatically.
Alliance Selection
Battle at the Border will use three-team playoff alliances. All rules governing their selection and operation will be identical to those for Championship playoff alliances in section 10.11.1 in the official manual.

 

Concession Stand

Open 10:00am – 5:00pm selling  Burgers, Pretzels snacks and drinks

 

Battle at the Border Charity – American Cancer Society

 

Again for the 2018 Battle at the Border we are bringing back  the “Mentor Challenge”! The mentor challenge will be a tournament to see which mentors can play Power Up the best. All proceeds from the Mentor Challenge will go toward the American Cancer Society.

Rules To Participate:
Teams of 2 Post-High School Mentors
$25.00 entry fee pay morning of or send in ahead of time to guarantee your spot via PayPal- donations@team1538.com
Space for up to 32 teams of mentors. First come, first serve. Mentors do not need to come from the same team. If there is space the day of the event, walk up teams will be accepted.

Alliance Selection
At the end of the robot qualification rounds, there will be an alliance selection for the Mentor Challenge. The #1 ranked mentor team will have first pick, we will go down the team ranking
Alliances will consist of 2 mentor teams (the captain and their pick)
FRC Alliance selection rules apply for accepting/declining, etc.
At the end of alliance selections there will be 16 alliances formed.

Tournament
The elimination tournament will be a single elimination tournament with 4 rounds: Round of 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals.
Matches will be held in between robot elimination matches on the competition field. Having fun is highly encouraged, but please do not damage the field.

Match Play
Each match will be 1 minute long.
Each team will place 1 mentor behind the driver station to feed cubes to the mentors on the field
The mentors on the field will race to stack cubes on the switch or  alliance scale at the opposite side of their drivers station.
Mentors on the field can only carry/control 1 game cube at a time.
Cubes must be entered through the Chute.
Game pieces cannot be dragged across the field (please respect the tape lines).
Only humans are allowed to participate. Mechanisms and/or robots to assist with stacking and transport are not allowed.
Scoring will be the same as regular robot matches

 

Looking forward to seeing everyone on October 20th! For any questions about the event, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at

Battle at the Border Planning Committee

Registration for the LCC Robotics Team for 2018-2019 is now closed.

The following information is also available as a PDF document:

LCC_Robotics_2018_Tournament_Information

This week is our regional robotics competition at the Del Mar Arena at the Fairgrounds.

The FIRST Robotics Competition San Diego Regional tournament is host to 60+ teams from around the United States and the world. We have a lot of students on the team this year, but unfortunately, we haven’t had any adults volunteer to supervise this season. This leaves Mike and Janelle Fine to supervise the entire team, so we are allowing 8 students per mentor, meaning 16 students will be allowed on this field trip.

If you have been coming to our team lunch meetings, but haven’t had time to help during the 5-week build season, we invite you to visit the tournament on Friday afternoon or Saturday, but parents, those students will not be supervised and will be there as part of the general public. Come and visit our pit area and watch some of the tournament!

Anyone going into the “pit area” must wear closed toed shoes, safety glasses and have long hair secured at all times.

Here is our planned schedule.

Wednesday

Time: After school (Most students picked up at LCC by 5:15 pm, load-in team will return around 8:30 pm)

Meet in LCC Room 905 and help load our large rental truck with all equipment, robot, and spare parts.

We are limited to 5 team members for the actual load-in at Del Mar this year. This means that most students will need to be picked up at LCC by 5:15 pm.

Those helping load in will return around 8:30 pm, all others should be picked up at LCC by 5:15 pm.

Thursday

Depart: 6:45 am in front of LCC, leaving promptly at 7 am
Return: around 6:30 pm to LCC
Food: Bring lunch (must eat in designated area) or money to buy food

This is the day we have to get the robot running, inspected and (we hope) onto the practice field.

Friday

Depart: 6:45 am in front of LCC, leaving promptly at 7 am
Return: around 6:30 pm to LCC
Food: Bring lunch (must eat in designated area) or money to buy food

Competition all day, presuming we get inspected.

Saturday

Depart: 6:45 am in front of LCC, leaving promptly at 7 am
Return: around 9:30 pm to LCC
Food: Bring lunch (must eat in designated area) or money to buy food

Saturday morning we will had the remainder of the qualifying rounds. After lunch, quarterfinals begin. We may or may not make it to the quarterfinals, depending on our performance.

If you want to visit, Friday afternoon or Saturday morning will be the best chances. As mentioned above, you must have proper attire to visit the team’s pit area.

Our mentor team from SDA, Team Paradox, has some words of wisdom which I will paraphrase for LCC Robotics:

“Here are some reminders about the competition:

• Please wear closed-toed shoes- visitors too! The robot pit area, which everyone should visit if you can, requires closed-toed shoes at all times.
• You can buy food and drinks at the venue.
• Bring a jacket as it is an open venue and may be cold.
• YOU are representing La Costa Canyon every second you are in your team spirit wear. This means NO RUNNING, no swearing, and absolutely no horseplay in the pit area or outside. Just remember that you are representing your team regardless of if you are buying a hot dog, if you are in our pit, or if you are in the stands.”

 

Women in STEM Event

This year out team is mostly comprised of young women. All of you are invited to the “Women in STEM” event on Friday from 1:30 to 2:30 PM. This event is put on by our major sponsor, Nordson, and we encourage all LCC women to attend along with Mrs. Fine.

Important Venue Information

Our event will be at the Del Mar Arena on the Del Mar Fairgrounds. The general entrance will be the Main Gate located on Jimmy Durante Blvd. just off Interstate 5 and Via De La Valle.

Check out the full agenda and other event information at our website http://sandiegoregional.com

Parking:

Parking will be free for everyone on Wednesday and Thursday in the main parking lot. On Friday and Saturday there will be a $14 parking fee charged, per vehicle per entry by the venue.

Venue Food Policy:

There is no parking lot “tailgating” and no commercial food is allowed at the venue (this includes any prepared food that purchased and brought in or delivered). Teams may bag lunches but it must be consumed in a designated team eating area and nowhere else in the arena or on the fairgrounds. Areas will be denoted by signage at the site. Individuals may bring personal snacks and lunch and teams will be allowed to load water into the pits during load in. We have been asked to communicate this to all team members and parents: “If we violated this rule we could jeopardize being able to hold the San Diego Regional at the Del Mar Fairgrounds “

Venue operated concessions will be available Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

 

Each year, the LCC MavBots have helped SDA’s robotics team (Team Paradox) by volunteering at a robotics tournament for students in grades 4-8. This year’s tournament runs two days, Sat. Nov 4 and Sun. Nov 5.

We have sent a link through Remind to their Google sign up sheet. If you volunteer for a position, please be sure you can make it. We also need general help with setup on Saturday morning and teardown on Sunday afternoon/evening.

It’s a lot of fun AND a great way to get some community service hours!

Questions? Email coach@lccrobotics.org

There is a mandatory Parent Meeting on Wednesday, October 18 at 7 PM at LCC. (We are working on which specific room.)

*** At least one parent needs to attend this important informational night. ***

The “Mavbots” is LCC’s competitive robotics team. It’s run entirely by students and parent volunteers with funds from parent donations and corporate sponsors.

Our team builds 140 pound competitive robots. This is a fantastic learning opportunity that comes from a commitment to safety and hard work.

We need your help to make this our best season yet! We can’t wait to meet you.

Sincerely,

Mike Fine
Lead Mentor, La Costa Canyon HS “MavBots”
FIRST Robotics Competition Team 5514
http://lccrobotics.org/

Our season starts on Saturday, January 9, 2017.

***ALL TEAM MEMBERS MUST BE REGISTERED WITH FIRST ROBOTICS COMPETITION PRIOR TO WINTER BREAK***

Register now so you don’t miss out!

Please follow this step-by-step guide to get signed up with the LCC MavBots!

Step 1:

Go to

https://my.firstinspires.org/AccountManager/Account/Register

 

Step 2:

When you hit the submit button, FIRST will send you an e-mail that looks like this:

Please click on the link to activate your account.

Step 3:

Click on “Click here to Log in”

Step 4

Parent logs in with your new account using e-mail address and password from above

Step 5

Click on “PARENT/GUARDIAN – YOUTH” then click the “ADD A YOUTH” button.

Step 6

You’ll be taken to the Student Registration system called “STIMS”. Click on “Edit/View” to complete your Parent Profile.

Step 7

Fill out the Youth Profile and accept the terms at the bottom, and click NEXT.

Step 8

Click on “Add Youth”

Step 9

In the first box, select “School” and in the second box (“PUBLIC/PRIVATE SCHOOL”) select “La Costa Canyon High”

NOTE: you do not need to enter a Student ID number

Click “NEXT”

Step 10

Accept the Consent and Release Agreement

 

Step 11

 

In Step 1, select “FIRST Robotics Competition (Suggested ages 14-18)

In Step 2, enter “5514” as the team number

Click “APPLY”

Step 12

CONGRATULATIONS! Your application is complete. You should see the message below. Thanks for joining the LCC MavBots!

 

Our season starts on Saturday, January 9, 2017.

***ALL TEAM MEMBERS MUST BE REGISTERED WITH FIRST ROBOTICS COMPETITION PRIOR TO KICKOFF***

Register now so you don’t miss out!

Registration with FIRST Robotics Competition is rather convoluted. Please follow this step-by-step guide to get signed up with the LCC MavBots!

Step 1:

Go to

https://my.firstinspires.org/stims/ParentDashboard.aspx

and click Register

Step 2:

Parent creates an account first

Step 3:

The next screen that shows up after you click “Register” will say “Email Confirmed” but it is NOT ACTUALLY CONFIRMED. Go figure.

So check your e-mail for a message like this and click the link to “accept your account”:

Step 4

Parent logs in with your new account using e-mail address and password from above

Step 5

Click on “Complete Youth Member Registration”

 

Step 6

You’ll be taken to the Student Registration system called “STIMS”. Click on “Edit/View” to complete your Parent Profile.

Step 7

You’ll need to fill out more information, specifically your home address and a telephone number. Click “Save” when done.

***The FIRST site has had some problems so you may get an error like the one below — just click SAVE again ***

Step 8

Click on “Add Youth”

Step 9

Enter your student’s birthdate

Step 10

Fill out student information and click “Save Account Information”

Step 11

Complete “School section” by clicking “Edit/View”

Step 12

Choose “Public/Private School”, then postal code 92009, then click “Search” Choose “La Costa Canyon High”. ***First incorrectly lists LCC as Encinitas, CA***

Fill out remaining required questions and click “Save”

Step 13

Click “Apply to FRC Team” under the FRC logo:

Step 14

Enter our team number “5514” and click “Apply to Team”

Step 15

You will receive a confirmation message. Click “Ok” — we’re almost there!

Step 16

Click “View/Edit” under “Consent Form Status”

Step 17

Read the consent form, then click “Sign Form”

A pop-up will appear to confirm your decision to sign the consent and release form. Click “Ok”

Step 18

Congratulations — you’re done!

We’re excited to start another year of robotics competition at LCC! We are the La Costa Canyon MavBots Robotics Team. THIS IS NOT THE LCC ROBOTICS CLASS. We are an extracurricular competitive robotics team and we love that there’s a class in school now.

Are you an athlete? Robotics can fit around your schedule.

Sign up now to get our meeting information and learn more about competitive robotics at La Costa Canyon!

If you are human, leave this field blank.

Sign up today!

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Schedule:

Thursday: Meet at Del Mar Arena (Del Mar Fairgrounds) at 8:30 am. Fix arm, complete inspection of robot, practice and coding. Day ends around 8 pm

Friday: Meet at Fine’s to carpool at 7:00 am or at Del Mar Fairgrounds at 8:00 am. All day tournament rounds. Day ends around 8 pm.

Saturday: Meet at Fine’s to carpool at 7:00 am or at Del Mar Fairgrounds at 8:00 am. Morning competition. If we make it to Quarterfinals, these happen after lunch. Ends around 5 :30pm

 

From FIRST:

 

10^th Annual San Diego Regional FIRST Robotics Competition

March 2^nd – 5^th, 2016

Letter of Welcome for Teams

 

On behalf of the San Diego Regional Planning Committee it is my great pleasure to welcome all teams and volunteers to the Week One FIRST Robotics Competition: Stronghold, our 10^th Annual San Diego Regional! The committee has been hard at work to ensure you have a safe, fun, highly competitive and successful event.

 

Our event will be at the Del Mar Arena on the Del Mar Fairgrounds. The general entrance for load-in and the public will be the Main Gate located on Jimmy Durante Blvd. just off Interstate 5 and Via De La Valle.

To get a map of the area, search for Del Mar Fairgrounds. The site address is

2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd, Del Mar, CA 92014

Check out the full agenda and other event information at our website sandiegoregional.com

Let’s review some of the major highlights of our event and venue.

 

Parking:

Parking will be free for everyone on Wednesday and Thursday in the main parking lot. (Zone 3 on the Evacuation Map.) On Friday and Saturday there will be a $10 parking fee charged, per vehicle per entry by the venue.

 

We were able to negotiate a limited number of discounted parking passes for teams.  These team parking passes will be $10 each and limited to 2 per team. They will be good for both Friday and Saturday and will allow in and out access.  These parking passes must be purchased in advance on Thursday from Pit Admin.  To use these special passes teams will need to enter through the Solana gate (off Via De La Valle ½ mile west of Jimmy Durante Blvd.,) on the North end of the fair grounds. For dropping off and picking up team members there will be a designated area at the Main Entrance.

 

There will be an area to park equipment trailers (no RV’s or camping trailers) on the fair grounds.  Details on this will be available at the event on Wednesday and Thursday.

 

Venue Food Policy:

No team food will be allowed in the facility and no parking lot “tailgating” is allowed by the venue. Individuals may bring personal snacks and lunch and teams will be allowed to load water into the pits during load in. Food may not be delivered into to the venue from outside. Venue operated concessions will be available Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

 

To make feeding your teams easier there will be pre-order box lunches available for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  If you are interested in purchase pre-order lunches for your team please complete the attached order form and submit it no later than Monday, 2/29.  Information on vouchers and box lunch pick up will be available at pit admin.

 

Load In:

Pit load in will be available Wednesday from 6PM to 8PM and Thursday from 7:45AM to 8:30AM. This year pit setup will be allowed during load in. As always, teams are limited to five (5) team members in proper safety attire (Safety glasses, closed toed shoes, hair secured, etc.) Teams may enter through the Main Gate off Jimmy Durante Blvd. and will be directed where to go.

 

From Our Lead Robot Inspector, Mr. Sisk:

Welcome to the San Diego Regional. We have a great team of inspectors at the regional whose number one goal is to get your team on the field with a safe and legal robot.

 

All robots will need to pass a safety inspection before their first practice match (3.4.1 Safety Rules) and be fully inspected before qualification matches (G7-A). Bumpers are back this year, every team must have red and blue bumpers in order to compete. Carefully review 4.7 Bumper Rules in the game manual, pay special attention to R19 and how it describes each corner of the robot must be protected by an 8-inch bumper segment. Be sure to bring documentation for any unusual parts so the inspectors can determine their legality. Documentation also includes a Bill of Materials and your Robot Lockup form.

 

Singers!

Any singers that would like to represent your team? Would they like to lead us in singing the National Anthem at our opening ceremonies on Friday and Saturday? Tryouts will be held on Thursday at 11:00AM in the Chairman’s/Deans list rooms. Acapella only please, soloists and small groups welcome.

 

Women In Engineering event: We are partnering with the Society for Women Engineers to host a Women in Engineering event on Friday at 1:30. Please see the attached flyer and encourage your female team members to attend.

 

Student Ambassador:

We would invite 2 members of your team to take a shift in our Student Ambassador program. They will escort a variety of folks that sign up for tours of our event. Sign up at Pit Admin.

 

Safety First:

FIRST Teams are always prepared! Please review with your teams the attached evacuation map. Our competition will be in Zone 2 while most of the public parking will be in Zone 3. Of course we don’t anticipate any event but please be familiar with the map and know the venue procedures.

 

The entire San Diego Planning Committee welcomes you and if there is anything we can do to make your event more enjoyable, please let us know.

 

Dan Glenn

Chairman, San Diego Regional Planning Committee

SDUHSD

Permission Slip for 2016 San Diego Regional Competition (PDF, 10MB)

IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO PARTICIPATE IN THE TOURNAMENT, you must be officially registered F.I.R.S.T. with a completed consent form

REGISTER WITH FIRST ROBOTICS COMPETITION HERE

*** Anyone who is not officially registered with FIRST will not be allowed to work on the pits, drive the robot, speak with judges, or in any way participate as a team member ***