GAME HINT and FIRST Tech Challenge 2016-2017 Season Field Pre-Order Information

AndyMark will start accepting Team pre-orders for the 2016-2017 field sets beginning on 7/1/2016! All team shipments will be sent out on 9/9/2016. There will not be Saturday deliveries. For orders to ship by 9/9/2016 they must be placed with AndyMark and processed by 8/26/2016. 

2016-2017 Beacons

FIRST Tech Challenge is excited to announce that for the 2016-2017 seasons’ game, we will be reusing the RES-Q℠ Beacon. The beacon will function differently than it had for the FIRST RES-Q℠ game, and there will be a total of four Beacons on each field instead of just two.

Teams do not have to purchase brand new beacons, they will be able to reuse Beacons purchased from last season. The Beacons used last season will need to be reprogrammed with the 2016-2017 game’s software for those Teams that would like to reuse their already purchased beacons. AndyMark will be offering a Programming Tool to reprogram each beacon*.

AndyMark has been hard at work this summer to make some significant changes and upgrades to the Beacons that will be included in next seasons Field Kit. Teams will have the option to purchase new beacons, or components of the new beacons. Below is a summary of the updates and changes that have been made to the beacon. In this document is a price chart with each of the options to allow Teams to make the most informed decision on what to purchase for the upcoming season. Also in this document are the minimum requirements and updates needed to previously purchased beacons to ensure they work with the 2016-2017 seasons game.

*Only one Programming Tool is needed to reprogram multiple beacons. If beacons are used beyond the 2016-2017 season, software downloads will be made available and additional Programming tools will NOT need to be purchased.

Full Summary of Beacon Upgrades

• Upgraded Beacon Housing – Beacons have a new housing and hardware that allows the beacon to be attached to the field perimeter wall without zip ties. The location of the robot buttons has not changed.
• C-Clamps to attach to perimeter walls.
•  Perimeter screws were added to hold the two halves together.
• Upgraded Software
• Software changes allow the circuit board to detect the difference between an Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) event and the robot/referee button press. This eliminates the false trigger events that were seen in the 2015-2016 season.
• Software updated for the 2016-2017 game challenge
• New Wiring that will better protect against ESD events.
• New battery housing – The newer style beacon will use a 9-volt battery instead of 8 AA batteries.

Minimum Beacon Upgrade Requirements for 2016-2017
For Affiliate Partners who would like to reuse their Beacons from last season, there will be minimum upgrades that must be made to the Beacon. For official FIRST Tech Challenge Events, the only requirements to upgrade the Beacons are as follows:

• New Software for the 2016-2017 game must be installed.

Reprogramming Beacons for Teams
The FIRST Tech Challenge encourages Affiliate Partners to purchase a single Programming Tool to help local Teams upgrade their previous seasons beacons with the current software. This is not a requirement of Affiliate Partners, as Teams will have the option to purchase their own Programming Tool when pre-orders open on 7/1/2016.

Using Both Beacons on a Field
Official Events will be allowed to use the two different styles of beacons on a field, as long as the following conditions are met:

• The new Software for the 2016-2017 game must be installed.
• Each side of the field, (red and blue) must have an equal number of old and new style beacons. More details about setup will be included in the Field Setup Guide.

Placing an Order with AndyMark
Pre-Orders for all field components will need to be placed on the AndyMark website:

http://www.andymark.com/1617fieldelements