1 of 21

Competitions

The Bionic Tigers - FTC 10464

2 of 21

Types of Competitions

Copyright 2020 FTCTutorials.com (Last edit 4/1/2020)

2

State Qualifier

State Championship

World Championship

Out of Season Competition

3 of 21

State Qualifier

State Championship

World Championship

Or

State Championship

World Championship

4 of 21

State Qualifiers

  • 24-28 teams
  • Teams typically attend two - sometimes three
  • Advance four or five teams - depends on host team and amount of teams
  • Limit of three qualifiers
  • Qualifiers allow out-of-state play
  • Register as soon as they open!

Copyright 2020 FTCTutorials.com (Last edit 4/1/2020)

4

5 of 21

Advancement to State Qualifiers

  • Host team - if applicable
  • Inspire 1st place
  • Winning Alliance Captain
  • Inspire 2nd place
  • Winning Alliance 1st Team Selected
  • Inspire 3rd place

  • Full Advancement List is in the FTC Game Manual
  • Overlap at qualifiers is very common!
  • May be beneficial to attend an earlier and a later qualifier, but competitions get harder through the season

Copyright 2020 FTCTutorials.com (Last edit 4/1/2020)

5

6 of 21

State Championships

  • 28-50 teams
  • Two types of state championships
  • Direct states have less spots than states with qualifiers
  • States you qualify in for have more spots
  • Advance two or more teams to world championship (Ohio has 6-7)

Copyright 2020 FTCTutorials.com (Last edit 4/1/2020)

6

7 of 21

Advancement at State Championships

  1. Inspire Award 1st place
  2. Winning Alliance Captain
  3. Inspire Award 2nd place
  4. Winning Alliance 1st Team Selected
  5. Inspire Award 3rd place
  6. Winning Alliance 2nd Team Selected
  7. Think Award 1st place

  • Full Advancement List is in the FTC Game Manual
  • Overlap at state championships is less common, but occurs

Copyright 2020 FTCTutorials.com (Last edit 4/1/2020)

7

8 of 21

World Championships

  • 160 teams at each championship (North and South)
  • Two divisions at the championship
  • International teams attend
  • All programs of FIRST are at the competition
  • Four days
  • Late April

Copyright 2020 FTCTutorials.com (Last edit 4/1/2020)

8

9 of 21

Off-Season Competitions & Scrimmages

  • Independently held outside of FIRST
  • Mostly held by teams themselves
  • Change up the aspects of the game
  • May require applications
  • May or may not have judging
  • Scrimmages held before and during competition season

Copyright 2020 FTCTutorials.com (Last edit 4/1/2020)

9

10 of 21

Layout of Competitions - Night Before

Check-in

Robot inspection

Software inspection

Pre- scouting

Pit setup

11 of 21

Pit Setup

  • Size allowance varies - double check!
  • Have displays that represent your team’s work
  • There should always be a team member in the pit
  • Safety glasses are required
  • Items in a pit:
    • Team handouts (Buttons)
    • Pre scouting sheets
    • Judging Displays
    • Tools
    • Building/robot materials
    • Trophies

Copyright 2020 FTCTutorials.com (Last edit 4/1/2020)

11

12 of 21

Pre-Scouting

  • Enables teams to strategize
  • Show team abilities/strengths
  • Teams begin to network
  • Helps alliance selection

Copyright 2020 FTCTutorials.com (Last edit 4/1/2020)

12

13 of 21

Layout of Competitions – Day of

Copyright 2020 FTCTutorials.com (Last edit 4/1/2020)

13

Judging rooms

Pre-scouting

Opening ceremony

Qualifying matches

Driver’s meeting

Lunch break

Qualifying matches

Alliance selection

Eliminations/finals

Awards

14 of 21

Judging Rooms

  • Rooms with teams are posted the night before
  • 15 minutes total - five minutes presenting guaranteed with no interruptions
  • Encompass most important aspects
  • Focus on highlights of programming, robot design, and outreach
  • Switch speakers
  • Skew questions in your favor
  • Polite to judges
  • Practice, practice, and practice!

Copyright 2020 FTCTutorials.com (Last edit 4/1/2020)

14

15 of 21

Opening Ceremony

  • Introduces teams
  • What the game is
  • Schedule of the day
  • What to expect

Copyright 2020 FTCTutorials.com (Last edit 4/1/2020)

15

16 of 21

Driver’s Meeting

  • Only drive team attends
  • Overview of rules from refs
  • Required
  • Allows for questions and clarification of rules

Copyright 2020 FTCTutorials.com (Last edit 4/1/2020)

16

17 of 21

Qualifying Matches

  • Match schedule is released the morning of
  • Opposing team could be your next partner
  • Scouting is important
  • Know your schedule
  • Talk to your alliance partner before match

Copyright 2020 FTCTutorials.com (Last edit 4/1/2020)

17

18 of 21

Alliance Selection

  • Ceremony
  • Top four ranked teams get to pick two teams
  • Captains are allowed to pick other captains - spots move up
  • Match schedule is released the morning of
  • Opposing team could be your next partner
  • Scouting is important
  • Know your schedule
  • Talk to your alliance partner before match
  • If you reject an offer, you cannot be picked again
  • Scouting is once again important
  • Gracious Professionalism

Copyright 2020 FTCTutorials.com (Last edit 4/1/2020)

18

19 of 21

Eliminations/Finals

  • Follows bracket system
  • 1st seed alliance vs 4th seed alliance
  • 2nd seed alliance vs 3rd seed alliance
  • Winner out of three matches
  • Sportsmanship emphasized

Copyright 2020 FTCTutorials.com (Last edit 4/1/2020)

19

20 of 21

Award Ceremony

Copyright 2020 FTCTutorials.com (Last edit 4/1/2020)

20

Thank the competitions supporters

Give more information about FIRST

Compass Award

Control Award

Promote Award

Motivate Award

Design Award

Innovate Award

Connect Award

Finalist Alliance

Winning Alliance

Inspire Award

Closing words

Teams Advancing

Think Award

21 of 21

Credits

  • This lesson was written by The Bionic Tigers 10464 for FTCTutorials.com
  • You can contact the author at

  • More lessons for FIRST Tech Challenge are available at www.FTCtutorials.com

Copyright 2020 FTCTutorials.com (Last edit 4/1/2020)

21

  • Website:
  • Twitter:
    • @BionicTigersFTC
  • Email:
    • BionicTigers10464@gmail.com