Welcome to the FIRST Tech Challenge tournament for Washington State.

The FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) is a mid-level robotics competition targeted toward high-school aged students. It offers the traditional challenge of a FIRSTcompetition but with a more accessible and affordable robotics kit. The ultimate goal of FTC is to reach more young people with a lower-cost, more accessible opportunity to discover the excitement and rewards of science, technology, and engineering.

Championship Information

SNOW PLANS - CLICK HERE FOR SNOW INFO

Who can attend

This event is open to the general public. The event is being hosted in a junior high school gym. There should be room for everyone, and we don't want to discourage anyone from attending. However, in practicality, the gym only seats about 500 people. There will be approximately 300 team members and coaches. We have another staff of 60 running the contest. There are 40 teams registered to compete. So, we ask that each team consider informing the parents that the contest area is going to be crowded. The spectator portion of the contest doesn't begin until 12am

The contest is also a long day, so small children may not be able to handle a 6 hour day in a crowded gym.

The bottom line: Bring your team. Bring your coaches. Bring those who are heavily involved and interested. As for entire families and other casual spectators, perhaps some nice pictures and a private demonstration would be a good idea.

Team Registration

The pit area will have a registration table. Your team leader needs to check in at this table. You need to bring to the registration table:

• A signed consent form for each member of your team, including coaches. 
• 1 copy of your team introduction page. This sheet is in your team manual. Please include a picture of your team with the robot. This helps the judges keep your teams identity in tact by allowing them to remember your team visually.

When you register, you will be provided with a day schedule that has the time slots for your teams judging sessions and contest times. Your team needs to be at your pit table 15 minutes prior to any scheduled judging or contest time. A volunteer will come to collect your team approximately 15 minutes before your scheduled event.

Coaches Meeting 9:40am

There is a short informational meeting at 9:40am in the main gym. We ask that only the primary coach for each team attend. We will be making any last minute schedule changes, announcements, and words of encouragement at that time. This meeting will only last about 10 minutes. Being on time for such a short meeting is critical.

The Pit Area

Your team will be assigned a pit table. This is a conference room table that has your team number on it. This is your teams home base. Space at a FIRST event is always at a premium. Please try to conserve space by fitting into your teams pit area. The pit area is where your team will be based.

Your team needs to be at your pit table 15 minutes prior to any scheduled judging or contest time. A FIRSTWA volunteer will come to collect your team approximately 15 minutes before your scheduled event.

The pit area has a limited number of power outlets. If you have a laptop computer available for doing your onsite programming, please insure that the batteries are charged the night before. We will make every attempt to accomodate the electrical needs of all teams. However, there are going to be limits on what we can do. Bringing your own charged computer batteries, and being sensible on computer usage during the day would really help us out.

Judging

Judging sessions require a 15 minute time slot. The judging, which is done in a classroom elsewhere in the school, will involve our taking your team to a panel of judges where the team will spend about 10 minutes on the current topic. Your team will be returned to your pit table.

The Project presentation: The presentation is expected to be approximately 5 minutes in length, leaving 5 minutes for the judges to ask questions. Your team should bring whatever materials are needed for your presentation. There is no multi-media support. Our experience is that PowerPoint presentations and video presentations require too much time overhead to setup, and are prone to failure. You should rely on posters, paper, etc.

The Technical Judging: Technical judging involves your team bringing along your robot and its attachments. Your team will have an interactive session with the judges. The judges are looking for design, construction, and team knowledge about the design. The judging will be about 10 minutes long.

Your team needs to be at your pit table 15 minutes prior to any scheduled judging or contest time. A volunteer will come to collect your team approximately 15 minutes before your scheduled event. Some teams will only have 10 minutes between events, and should try to organize themselves to make the transition with a minimum amount of fuss.

Opening Ceremony

We will have an approximately 20 minute opening ceremony. We ask that all teams be in the bleachers in the gym for this time period. If your team has a scheduled event in the first time slot, you should prepare your materials ahead of time, and instruct your team to be ready to go. The ceremony should end at about 5 minutes before the first contest starts. Your team should immediately go to the pit table so we can escort you to your judging.

Cleanup

After the final robot contest, we will have a short break in which the teams are expected to clean up their pit area in preparation for the end of the day.

The Awards Ceremony

At the end of the day, we will hold an awards ceremony. Your team members will receive a participation medallion. All participants will receive this medallion. Your team may or may not receive additional awards based on scoring or judging.