KIWIBOTS News

The goal of this workshop is to give you the knowledge to start designing and making your own things using CAD/CAM software, laser cutters, 3D printers and CNC machines. The day will take you through the process of designing your own fidget spinner. Time depending, we will explore different methods of manufacturing the components we have designed, and how to go about that from within Fusion 360.

Places are limited so please fill in your details here https://goo.gl/forms/66WDNHCZ3KBCywHn1 to let us know that you want to attend.

Date: 13th Dec 2017
Location: Massey University, SEAT Campus Albany Village, Auckland
Time: 09:00 to 17:00

We will be using Massey University computers so you do not have to install anything.however please make sure that you have setup an Autodesk account, and have installed and logged into Fusion 360 if you are bringing their own devices. If you do bring your own devices, then you will need have an internet connection, either through the Massey Guest wifi, or hotspots via their phones.

This video shows you how to access your free copy of Fusion 360. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFPpBGO-uJ4&t=1s

It would be helpful if you go through this video ahead of time, and started to play about with the software a bit:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DcS7cATcnw

Chris Hamling

The goal of this workshop is to give you the knowledge to start designing and making your own things using CAD/CAM software, laser cutters, 3D printers and CNC machines. The day will take you through the process of designing your own fidget spinner. Time depending, we will explore different methods of manufacturing the components we have designed, and how to go about that from within Fusion 360.

Places are limited so please fill in your details here https://goo.gl/forms/66WDNHCZ3KBCywHn1 to let us know that you want to attend.

Date: 13th Dec 2017
Location: Massey University, SEAT Campus Albany Village, Auckland
Time: 09:00 to 17:00

We will be using Massey University computers so you do not have to install anything.however please make sure that you have setup an Autodesk account, and have installed and logged into Fusion 360 if you are bringing their own devices. If you do bring your own devices, then you will need have an internet connection, either through the Massey Guest wifi, or hotspots via their phones.

This video shows you how to access your free copy of Fusion 360. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFPpBGO-uJ4&t=1s

It would be helpful if you go through this video ahead of time, and started to play about with the software a bit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DcS7cATcnw

Chris Hamling

Hi

We are almost there! Visit https://kiwibots.wixsite.com/apac17 for the latest event schedule and pit maps.

There is even a drawing of whose fields go where.

Tomorrow night is the very last chance you have to register for APAC. If you are not on the list and arrive at APAC you will not be able to compete. Sorry but we have to print everything sometime.

Chris Hamling

Hi All

CADPro Systems are very kindly offering a 1 day professional training session for teachers that want to find out what Fusion 360 can do for you and in the classroom. The course will be of use to total beginners and those already familiar with CAD. Places are limited so please fill in your details here https://goo.gl/forms/66WDNHCZ3KBCywHn1 to let us know that you want to attend.

Date: 13th Dec 2017
Location: Massey University, SEAT Campus Albany Village, Auckland
Time: 09:00 to 17:00

We will be using Massey University computers so you do not have to install anything.

Please respond by the 7th of Dec 17

Chris Hamling

Hi

The pit maps have been published and can be found on the documnets page https://kiwibots.wixsite.com/apac17/documents of the APAC17 website.

There is a tiny chance that they will change however that is very unlikly.

If you are going to be at the NZ VIQC Nationals or APAC17 and your team does not have a pit assigned to it then you are not registered and need to let me know NOW (by the end of Monday 27th) or you will not be competing.

Regards

Chris Hamling

Hi team

There are hardly any days left until the VEX IQ Nationals and APAC17!

The dedicated APAC17 website has been live for a while now and documents are starting to be added that will be of interest to everyone. Go to https://kiwibots.wixsite.com/apac17 for the event overview and the documents page https://kiwibots.wixsite.com/apac17/documents for pit maps, arena maps and the schedule overview. The pit documents will be updated to show team numbers once China has added their teams to Robot Events. The arena document is still under revision and may change between now and the event with more views added.

The VEX IQ NZ Nationals will be probably be run on the centre 4 VEX IQ fields! All teams that have said that they want to attend the VEX IQ Nationals will be on Robot Events by 12:00 today (21st Nov). If your team number is not on RE then it will not be competing unless we get you sorted by the end of this Friday 24th Nov. Check your team is there by going to https://www.robotevents.com/robot-competitions/vex-iq-challenge/RE-VIQC-17-2351.html and clicking on the 'Team List' tab.

Note the VEX IQ Nationals will start at 08:30AM when the doors open and finish at 18:00PM so it is a full day event!

See you all soon.

Chris Hamling

Hi everyone

Just confirming that this Saturday's Tauranga scrimmage will be held at Otumoetai Intermediate (in the hall) and will be VEX IQ only 

• Informal Scrimmage for VEX IQ (Yr5-9).  Focus is on fun and participation.
• Free entry - just email me by Thursday night to let me know how many teams you are bringing
• Doors open 9am, scrimmage starts at 10am  Should be finished by 1pm 
• As long as your robot is driveable then enter!  No need for everything to be fully operational.
• If your robot isn't driveable and you need technical assistance then bring it along and we can help you.  Hopefully then you can join in the fun.
• Venue: Otumoetai Intermediate

Please don't hesitate to e-mail me back with any questions.  We would love to see some new teams join in.    

Hope to see you there!

Cheers

Toni de Rijk

Hi 

We have had a huge number of people volunteer to help out at APAC17. Thank you.

Now is the time to start bringing you all up to speed.

The first step is to confirm that I have all your details correct. In order to do this I sent every volunteer an email on the 8th of November asking them to confirm some simple details. Unfortunatly less than 1/3 have replied.

Please could you check your email (Spam, junk, ignore, dont read, etc) folders including your inbox from an email from me with the subject APAC17 Volunteers - Email Blast #1 to .......... PLEASE READ AND REPLY TO THIS EMAIL URGENTLY and reply to is URGENTLY. I need to know that you exist and that my emails are getting to you. Even if you think that I know you are coming please respond.

As we get closer to the event we will be sending you emails that require your attention so please read and reply to them. We would really prefer not to have to spend all of our time chasing up information. That way we will be able to get everything done much faster and more efficiently.

I will not be blogging information to volunteers as I do not want to fill everyone's inboxes with junk.

Expect the email to start coming thick and fast and the guidebook you will have received a link to to be updated often.

Thanks

Chris Hamling

Hi everyone

Just a reminder that the next scrimmage is Saturday 18 November.  At this stage it is just scheduled to be a junior VEX IQ scrimmage due to seniors tied up with exams, however if there enough high school teams keen then we could set up the field for that also so please let me know

• Informal Scrimmage for VEX IQ (Yr5-9).  Focus is on fun and participation, not winning! 
• VEX EDR field only set up if you let me know teams will be attending.
• Free entry - just email me by Thursday night to let me know how many teams you are bringing
• Doors open 9am, scrimmage starts at 10am.  Should be finished by 1pm.
• As long as your robot is driveable then enter!  No need for everything to be fully operational.
• If your robot isn't driveable and you need technical assistance then bring it along and we can help you.  Hopefully then you can join in the fun.
• Venue: To be confirmed early next week.

Please don't hesitate to e-mail me back with any questions.  We would love to see some new teams join in.    

Hope to see you there!

Cheers

Toni de Rijk

Hi team

So far only the following teams have indicated that they will be attending the VEX IQ Nationals in Rotorua

If you are intending to attend the VEX IQ natioanls then please fill in this form URGENTLY so we can get an idea of how to fit it in with APAC17 that is a completely different competition.

If your name does not appear above then you are not registered and will not be competing unless you fill in the simple form here https://goo.gl/forms/crq7roCGN9FRavef1.

Please help us organise the event by doing this simple task.

Thanks

Chris Hamling

Hi team

APAC17 is NOT the VEX IQ Nationals. It is an event that runs straight after the natioanls at the same venue in Rotorua. The teams from China will be loaded in the next couple of weeks as they are waiting for visas etc to be approved before they fill in RE so do not worry about numbers it will be full.

Please do this in the next two days (by Thirsday) or you may miss out on space.

Every team from NZ that has indicated that they want to compete at APAC17 has now been loaded onto Robot Events. You MUST check if your team is shown on the team list for each event you are attending AND those you are not. Links below and actions after the table.

ACTIONS

• If your teams are correct then you do not need to do anything.
• If they show as attending but should not be then email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. letting me know exactly what is wrong.
• If they are not there them you MUST fill in this simple form (10 lines) to register for APAC17 https://goo.gl/forms/erZmKyaCSq7cx8Cn1 and I will do the rest for you. 

Please do this as it is hard to get things accurate if you do not.

Regards

Chris Hamling

Hi all,

This is an email from the organisers of Mudtopia.

We would like to extend an invitation to your participants, their families and supporters to attend the Mudtopia Festival at the Arawa Racepark on 1-3 December.

As a very special and exclusive offer we would like to provide you with a unique promotional code which can be entered at purchase. The code is ROBOT17 and this will reduce a Single Mud Pass from $53.00 for adults and $35.50 for under 18s to a flat rate of $20.00.

To take advantage of this amazing offer, please just click through to http://mudtopia.com/buy-tickets/, select Single Mud Pass and enter the promotional code at the point of purchase. This pass will entitle you to access all three days of the festival with the exclusion of the Saturday Night concert which is R18.

So GET MUDDY!

Chris Hamling

Hi team

I have managed to get us qualification spots for the World Championships at APAC17! This is an honour and APAC17 is being used as a trial for this sort of competition so let's make it a success.

Each APAC division will receive (1) spot

1 for VRC HS

1 for VRC MS

1 for VIQC MS

1 for VIQC ES

The spots will be awarded to the Excellence winner for each tournament.

To make things easy for you to register for APAC please fill in this simple form (10 lines) https://goo.gl/forms/erZmKyaCSq7cx8Cn1 to register for APAC17and I will do the rest for you. Please do this even if you have already registered on RobotEvents. I am doing this as RobotEvents is having issues and I cannot wait for it to be fixed.

Regards

Chris Hamling

Hi

We need a photocopier and fast printers (>40ppm 3 off) for APAC. Does anyione know anyone that we could borrow them from?

Please email me if you do.

Thanks

Chris hamling

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

There are issues with Robot Events that is not allowing teams to register for the VEX IQ nationals and APAC17 at the same time. This is because RobotEvents is designed to not allow teams to register for two events at the same time.

In order to fix this problem we are going to have to use a manual system to register teams for the 2017 NZ VEX IQ Natioanls.

Even if you have already registered for the IQ nationals you will need to do so again by filling in the simple form here https://goo.gl/forms/crq7roCGN9FRavef1.

All teams that have registered on RobotEvents for the VEX IQ Nationsl will have their registrations cancelled on RobotEvents. We are doing this to avoid confusion. If you registered your team for the VEX season through the Kiwibots then there will be no charge to attend the NZ IQ Nationals. If you did not then the Kiwibots will invoice you $70 to attend.

We appologise for this however it is out of our control.

Chris Hamling

This video says it all to me.

Because of VEX, I learned...

Hi all

I am trying to get in contact with the following teams/schools so that we can complete their registration process. If anyone can get in touch with them to ask them to read the email with the subject 'Robotics Team Season Registration (....) needs more information from you." This is important as they have not completed the registration process and are not registered with robot events for the season yet.

Thanks

The Kiwibots will be covering the cost of accommodation for the volunteers that say with the volunteer team at the Rotorua Thermal Holiday Park in Rotorua!

*The catch is that you will need to volunteer for all 4 days of the event and stay in the bunk bed cabins at the Rotorua Thermal Holiday Park. You will need to volunteer by the 12th of October to qualify. We have booked out all of the cabins so you will almost have the park to yourselves. I will be contacting those who have already volunteered to see if they want to stay at the holiday park.

Please note that we have not arranged any official supervision of the volunteers at the Park yet.

We need an army of volunteers. That includes you!

​We need teachers, students, university students, anyone to step up and put their hand up to help make the biggest robotics competition ever held in the Southern Hemisphere a resounding success. We need volunteers for every role.

​We understand that your time is valuable and know that what we are achieving for students around New Zealand is also valuable so we would love to have your support.

​We will train our volunteers so don't worry about needing to know anything.

Let us know if you are interested by visiting https://goo.gl/forms/jBCgyi8WgH0TW0F82 to let us know how you can help. If you have told someone else you can help then please fill out our form anyway. Pass on the word.

You can volunteer even if you have never volunteered before!

• If you are a teacher that will be bringing a team then please volunteer, your students will be fine without you in the pits.
• If you are a team member that will not have anything to do then volunteer! We need you.
• If you can speak Chinese then Yay! We need translators.
• You get the picture.
• ​

Please visit https://goo.gl/forms/jBCgyi8WgH0TW0F82 to let us know how you can help.

​Any questions please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

​Volunteer for three or more days and get free lunch and a free volunteer VEX t-shirt. But you will need to volunteer by the 12th of October to qualify.

If you want a free VEX t-shirt then all you have to do is volunteer at APAC17 for a minimum of three days. These volunteer t-shirts are being sponsored by SMC Pneumatics and have been designed to be worn well after the event. These are really good t-shirts that are fully custom printed on Ultra Mesh 100% polyester quick dry moisture wicking fabric.

T-shirts will only be available for the first 50 volunteers that sign up before the 12th of October as we have to go to print on the 20th Oct!

To sign up as a volunteer go to https://goo.gl/forms/jBCgyi8WgH0TW0F82

Hi team

Great coverage of VEX last night!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWO4XQOAa-M&sns=em

Chris

The 23rd is going to be a BIG day.

1/ Vote. I do not care who you vote for. Just VOTE, you have not idea how lucky you are to be able to do so.

2/ Go to a scrimmage. Auckland Uni one will have a saussage sizzle so have some spare cash for food.

3/ Have fun.

4/ Vote! Not twice just once is enough.

See you soon.

Chris

It is getting real! Click on the poster for more information.

Hi all

The Asia pacific robotics competition is coming to Rotorua and registrations for the event are now open.

This will be the BIGGEST robotics event to EVER be held in the Southern Hemisphere. Teams from 10 countries are coming so don't miss out. It will be like going to the World Championships but much closer to home.

We are expecting 300+ teams from 10 countries to attend and spaces are limited so we need you to register urgently.

To register for events

• You can find all events in New Zealand by going to https://kiwibots.co.nz/events/calendar
• Scroll down the event list until you find the event you are interested in
• Click on the link for the event to go to the robot events page for the event
• Log in if needed by clicking on “Login to Register a Team” link NOT the “Login” link 
• You can then select team numbers that you want to register for the event.

If you have not registered for the season yet then you will need to do so before you can register for events.

Don’t worry about paying just yet as I am looking for sponsors to cover your registrations etc.

Regards

Chris Hamling

Hi all

By now everyone should be registered with the USA and Robot Events. There are several teams that have not completed the registration process* so we need you to do that NOW. Very soon we will be insisting that any one that attends scrimmages etc are registered on Robot Events. This will allow us to start formalising results on Robot Events. It would be very sad if you came to an event and could not compete!

Please help us get this done as our VEX worlds qualification spots depend on the number of teams we have registered for the season.

Regards

Chris Hamling

*The registration process for the season is

1/ Order a registration from the Kiwibots

2/ Complete the form linked to in the email that you will have received from the Kiwibots.

3/ if you are fully registered you will have received an email with the subject “Team Registration Completed” from us. If you have not received this email then you are not registered and need to take action urgently.

4/ Once fully registered you can register for Events through Robot Events.

Asia Pacific VEX Robotics Competition 2017 is coming to Rotorua in Dec 2017.

We are starting to get into the real details with planning the 2017 VEX Asia Pacific robotics competition and we need to start recruiting an army of volunteers. That includes you!

The event will take place in conjunction with the VEX IQ nationals between the 4th and 7th of December in Rotorua. Setup day will be the 3rd and pack down on the 8th.

We need teachers, students, university students, anyone to step up and put their hand up to help make the biggest robotics competition ever held in the Southern Hemisphere a resounding success. We need volunteers for every role.

Details of the event will be coming thick and fast over the next week but we need to start finding volunteers now. Let us know if you are interested by visiting https://goo.gl/forms/jBCgyi8WgH0TW0F82 to let us know how you can help. If you have told someone else you can help then please fill out our form anyway. Pass on the word.

You can volunteer even if you have never volunteered before!

• If you are a teacher that will be bringing a team then please volunteer, your students will be fine without you in the pits.
• If you are a team member that will not have anything to do then volunteer! We need you.
• If you can speak Chinese then Yay! We need translators.
• You get the picture.

Please visit https://goo.gl/forms/jBCgyi8WgH0TW0F82 to let us know how you can help.

Any questions please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Thanks

Hi,

If you get the chance to watch TV3 news at 6pm tonight there is a good chance that you’ll see some Lynfield College students being interviewed.

This happened yesterday afternoon/evening when we met Dr Ben Goertzel, the Chief AI Scientist from Hanson Robotics and Sophia who has been described as the most humanlike robot in the world. Sophia was a star in the robot debate at the recent RISE conference in Hong Kong, https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/12/the-future-is-scary/

We met with Dr Ben before the conference session and learnt quite a lot about making a life like robot and AI. Two of our students were then given the privilege of introducing Dr Ben Goertzel and Sophia to the MORGO conference at Waitangi yesterday. After the conference presentation we had the opportunity to talk more with Ben and interact with Sophia. During this time some of our team were interview by Simon Shepherd from Mediaworksfor a TV3 News article.

We had a great time with Dr Goertzel and Sophia.

Cheers

raig

Asia Pacific VEX Robotics Competition 2017 is coming to Rotorua in Dec 2017.

We are starting to get into the real details with planning the 2017 VEX Asia Pacific robotics competition and we need to start recruiting an army of volunteers. That includes you!

The event will take place in conjunction with the VEX IQ nationals between the 4^th and 7^th of December in Rotorua. Setup day will be the 3^rd and pack down on the 8^th.

We need teachers, students, university students, anyone to step up and put their hand up to help make the biggest robotics competition ever held in the Southern Hemisphere a resounding success. We need volunteers for every role.

Details of the event will be coming thick and fast over the next week but we need to start finding volunteers now. Let us know if you are interested by visiting https://goo.gl/forms/jBCgyi8WgH0TW0F82 to let us know how you can help. If you have told someone else you can help then please fill out our form anyway. Pass on the word.

You can volunteer even if you have never volunteered before!

• If you are a teacher that will be bringing a team then please volunteer, your students will be fine without you in the pits.
• If you are a team member that will not have anything to do then volunteer! We need you.
• If you can speak Chinese then Yay! We need translators.
• You get the picture.

Please visit https://goo.gl/forms/jBCgyi8WgH0TW0F82 to let us know how you can help.

Any questions please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Thanks

This Saturday 26/8 we will be holding a special VEX IQ workshop at Glenfield College for anyone that has a VEX IQ kit and would like some help with it. We will be looking at the competition, modifying the protobot and simple programming. This is the first of a series of workshops.

Please let us know you are coming by filling in your details here https://goo.gl/forms/4rXLNIegfWtfinlh2

Starts at 10:30

Ends at: 14:30

We will also be holding workshops on the 9/9 and 23/9 with the aim of getting ready for the VEX IQ nationals in December. If you are a rookie or an experienced roboteer then this series of workshops are for you.

See you there

Chris Hamling

Jack Barker from AURA features on page 2 of this year's game rules short form. See it here https://content.vexrobotics.com/docs/pdf/VRC-One-Pager-NP-lores-20170727.pdf

Jack is New Zealand's most successful VEX competitor!

Nice to see him on the page.

Chris Hamling 

Just a friendly reminder that there are scrimmages in Auckalnd and Palmerston North this weekend.

For details visit 

Auckalnd VRC Scrimmage https://www.robotevents.com/robot-competitions/vex-robotics-competition/RE-VRC-17-2342.html

Auckland VRC Skills https://www.robotevents.com/robot-competitions/vex-robotics-competition/RE-VRC-17-2363.html

Auckland IQ Scrimmage https://www.robotevents.com/robot-competitions/vex-iq-challenge/RE-VIQC-17-2354.html

Palmerston North IQ Scrimmage https://www.robotevents.com/robot-competitions/vex-iq-challenge/RE-VIQC-17-2446.html

So now you know :-)

I am not going to the robot scrimmage this weekend because….

My robot is not ready – Every VEX competition can be played with a protobot, they are designed that way. By staying away until you think you have a killer design you are denying yourself the chance to see what other people have done and learn from them. The whole idea of scrimmages is to have fun, learn and improve.

There will not be other teams there – well if everyone stays away because there might not be other teams there then this is true. Things have to start somewhere. Be a leader and foundation competitor. Everyone is important.

I have only just started – That is great! We love to see new people at our events. You will soon find that you become one of the regular crew and an old hand.

I don’t know anyone – Join the club, this is how most people, geeks like you and me, feel. If you come you will be joining a great group of people just like you who are keen about technology. You could make someone’s day by just saying hello.

I am finding it hard to… - Yep that is why we have scrimmages so people can ask for help and get it. The only silly question is the one not asked.

Everyone will be better than me – Who cares if this is true, which it probably is not. As with any sport you get better by trying and training. The difference is that with robotics people want to help you as it makes them feel good.

I am a girl – WELCOME we need girls and they often do better than guys. We have lots of girls at our events.

I only have a VEX IQ robot – Great the VEX IQ challenge is the fastest growing robotics challenge in New Zealand. We will have the VEX IQ field at all events.

I am shy – Join the club! Every geek has their week spots and there are plenty of us at scrimmages. It is just that we soon forget we are shy.

I don’t have a robot – Come along there is probably someone who does not have a team!

I don’t have a team – Come along there is probably someone who does not have a robot!

I don’t have time – We all can find time to play! This is great fun and worth the effort.

So, what is your excuse for not coming to a scrimmage?

See you soon

Chris Hamling

Hi All

I am pleased to let you know that the Kiwibots web store is finally fully restocked! There are new products (screws and EDR kits etc) in the store so have a look around.

VEX IQ is growing all the time and there are new spare parts in the store as well.

Regards

Chris Hamling

If you have a V EX IQ robot then now is the time to start comming to our events! Do not wait until your robot is perfect as you will miss out on all the fun and practice taht our scrimmages offer. Just come along with your protobot and join all the other protobots at the event.

Location: Kristin School (Science and Technology Building)
Date: 29th July 2017
Schedule: 9am Doors Open
10am - Matches Start
12pm Lunch
12:45 - Matches Resume
3pm - Alliance Selection/Elimination Rounds
4pm Event Finishes

Be there and don't miss out.

Chris Hamling

The second Auckland VRC/VIQC event will be held this weekend at Kristin School and this will be a chance for everyone to play matches and test their current designs. We will have both VRC and VIQC fields both competitions will run.

Location: Kristin School (Science and Technology Building)
Date: 29th July 2017
Schedule: 9am Doors Open
10am - Matches Start
12pm Lunch
12:45 - Matches Resume
3pm - Alliance Selection/Elimination Rounds
4pm Event Finishes

There will not be registration for this event; however the events in the future will require registration so please make sure to be ready for this in future as we will need all teams to register in advance for each of the events to compete in them

Hi all

Last week I was given a copy of the speech given by Lynfield College at the VEX Worlds Champions Dinner. I was blown away when I heard it at the dinner and I am even more impressed now I listen to it again. This is a 'must watch' video as it underlines what the VEX robotics program is all about and what it means to participants.

You can view the video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv-kIFc3KvI

Well done Lynfield!

Chris Hamling

The first Auckland VRC/VIQC event will be held this weekend at Glenfield College and this will be a chance for everyone to test out their designs and potentially play some matches as we get right into the new seasons. We will have both VRC and VIQC fields both competitions cna design and work on their robots

Location: Glenfield College Hall
Date: 1st July 2017
Schedule: 9am Doors Open
12pm Lunch
4pm Event Finishes

There will not be registration for this event; however all of the events in the future will require registration so please make sure to be ready for this in future as we will need all teams to register in advance for each of the events to compete in them

Greetings,

This season we are going to encourage community efforts between teams and at events and we will be giving away a free Mobile Base every month to the most deserving New Zealand VRC Team. Teams should nominate, using the link below, other teams who have made their event or time more enjoyable or provided them with help or support during the event. We encourage everyone around the country to nominate those teams who have been making that extra effort to make their events more enjoyable for all those around them. This is open to all New Zealand regions so please take the time to nominate! This won't take much of your time but will be a great benefit

At the end of each month the management team will select one team from the country who will then receive the In the Zone mobile goal free of charge. These will be judged every month for the rest of 2017 so make sure to keep those entries going; each team is encouraged to nominate one team who made their efforts better at each event so that we will have lots of entries to go through. This is for all regions so we want to make sure everyone contributes and the winning team will be announced each month along with the reasons they deserved it and how they made their event(s) more enjoyable. You are welcome to nominate teams from any event held in New Zealand

The nomination link for this season can be found at: https://kiwibots.co.nz/nominate

If there are any questions please feel free to ask at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will be happy to answer

We're looking forward to hearing everyone's entries and will be giving away the first mobile goal after the events held on the 1st July in Auckland and Palmerston North.

Regards

This offer is only valid for New Zealand teams. Teams cannot nominate their own organisation, winners will be announced each month via blog entry

Hi everyone

I am going to hold a regional meeting for all teachers and interested parties taking VEX Robotics teams at their schools.  We will have both VEX IQ (Primary/Intermediate) and VEX EDR (High school) at the same meeting.  The object of the meeting is to discuss what we can do as a region to encourage newer teams to get more involved, and also to set some dates for local scrimmages (friendly competitions).

The full game sets are not yet available in New Zealand, but we do have a few of the main game pieces for you to suss out if you haven't already seen them.

Time:  6pm

Date:  Friday 23 June

Venue:  House of Science - Upstairs,  100 Grey St, Tauranga.  

Parking:  Free and plenty of space in the parking building in Elizabeth St.

If you can't make it, I will take notes and send them out to you all after.

I would appreciate it if you could let me know if you are attending.

Thanks

Toni de Rijk

House of Science Robotics

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Hi,

We will have a full set of VEXIQ Ringmaster elements at tomorrows Auckland Launch Bootcamp so make sure to bring your IQ teams along! This will let them see and interact with the new game elements before the first scrimmage. We will have individual elements for VRC but not the entire game set sadly for this event

The Auckland KiwiChallenge regionals and bootcamp/workshop for the new VRC In The Zone and VIQC Ringmaster will be held this weekend at Lynfield College. This will be the chance for the Auckland KiwiChallenge teams to show what they have been working on and compete together. Following this there will be a workshop/discussion sessions throughout the day to look at the new games and and how to start designing robots and using design notebooks throughout the season. These workshops/discussion sessions will allow the new teams to understand the game and lets some of the experienced teams and mentors provide them with advice for the competition so they can be all ready for this season.

We encourage all teams to attend this as we will have game elements to look through and teams who have purchased their season registration through KIWIBOTS will be able to pick up elements at the event for each team registered and take these home to start working with so make sure to complete the season registration beforehand (reminder that the discount closes tomorrow at 11:59pm!)

Venue: Lynfield College (Main School Hall)
Date: 10th June 2017
Schedule: 9:30am - 4:00pm

There will be a BBQ/fundraiser by Lynfield College so please make sure to bring some cash along to support them! They will have a variety of food and it is definitely worth bringing money for this

You will not need to register for this event, it is open to past, current and new teams so we encourage everyone to come along for this event. 

If you have any questions or queries please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This is a reminder that the discount offered by the KIWIBOTS for the 2017-2018 season registration will end on the 8th of June (this Thursday) and we enourage all teams to take advantage of this discount before the price is increased by $77 NZD to match the full RobotEvents cost.

The process for registering is outlined below and teams that register before this date will be able to pick up their game objects at the starting events for each region

VEX EDR teams

Order 1 only of SKU Reg2017_1 for your first VEX VRC team then order 0 or more SKU Reg2017_2 for the rest of the teams that your school runs. For example, if you have 4 teams at your school then you will need to order 1 off REG2017_1 and 3 off Reg2017_2.

Ordering these parts will trigger the following

• An email from us with a registration form to complete and return to us so that we can obtain all the necessary details to register you with the USA.

• pay for your registration with the USA,
• cover your team’s contribution to the 2018 VEX VRC nationals
• and give you one VEX EDR game element to practice with per team.

VEX IQ teams

Order 1 only of SKU IQReg2017_1 for your first VEX IQ team then order 0 or more SKU Reg2017_2 for the rest of the teams that your school runs. For example if you have 4 teams at your school then you will need to order 1 off IQReg2017_1 and 3 off IQReg2017_2.

Ordering these parts will trigger the following

• An email from us with a registration form to complete and return to us so that we can obtain all the necessary details to register you with the USA.

• pay for your registration with the USA,
• cover your team’s contribution to the 2017 VEX IQ nationals
• and give you one VEX IQ game element to practice with per team.

The teams ordering contact will be notified via email of the registration information and sent a personalized link to complete the registration form which will be used for creating the VRC/VIQC teams. If you have registered and did not receive this email please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will notify you again. Please make sure to fill out this registration form as we will be unable to create your teams without having this completed.

If there are any queries or questions please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Season registration is required for all teams that wish to complete throughout the season and attend the 2017/2018 New Zealand National events or the Asia Pacific so we encourage you do to it early on

Please note that this discount of $77 NZD is only available to New Zealand teams, Australian teams are not included in this discount

Hi

We will be doing a full stock take tomorrow 31st May so we will be taking the web store off line now and shipping all outstanding orders today. This will mean we can do a 100% accurate stock take and place a large restock order on the 2nd June.

If there is anything that you particularity want us to bring in from the USA please email me and I will make sure that I add it to the order.

We have been trying since Dec 2016 to get the new season’s game elements into NZ and we can finally say that they will leave Hong Kong this week. The reasons for the delay are very complicated and out of our control. Measures are being taken to make sure this delay is reduced next season. I will have prices for the game elements soon.

Regards

Chris Hamling

This is a reminder that the discount offered by the KIWIBOTS for the 2017-2018 season registration will end on the 8th of June and we enourage all teams to take advantage of this discount before the price is increased by $77 NZD to match the full RobotEvents cost.

The process for registering is outlined below and teams that register before this date will be able to pick up their game objects at the starting events for each region

VEX EDR teams

Order 1 only of SKU Reg2017_1 for your first VEX VRC team then order 0 or more SKU Reg2017_2 for the rest of the teams that your school runs. For example, if you have 4 teams at your school then you will need to order 1 off REG2017_1 and 3 off Reg2017_2.

Ordering these parts will trigger the following

• An email from us with a registration form to complete and return to us so that we can obtain all the necessary details to register you with the USA.

• pay for your registration with the USA,
• cover your team’s contribution to the 2018 VEX VRC nationals
• and give you one VEX EDR game element to practice with per team.

VEX IQ teams

Order 1 only of SKU IQReg2017_1 for your first VEX IQ team then order 0 or more SKU Reg2017_2 for the rest of the teams that your school runs. For example if you have 4 teams at your school then you will need to order 1 off IQReg2017_1 and 3 off IQReg2017_2.

Ordering these parts will trigger the following

• An email from us with a registration form to complete and return to us so that we can obtain all the necessary details to register you with the USA.

• pay for your registration with the USA,
• cover your team’s contribution to the 2017 VEX IQ nationals
• and give you one VEX IQ game element to practice with per team.

The teams ordering contact will be notified via email of the registration information and sent a personalized link to complete the registration form which will be used for creating the VRC/VIQC teams. If you have registered and did not receive this email please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will notify you again. Please make sure to fill out this registration form as we will be unable to create your teams without having this completed.

If there are any queries or questions please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Season registration is required for all teams that wish to complete throughout the season and attend the 2017/2018 New Zealand National events or the Asia Pacific so we encourage you do to it early on

Please note that this discount of $77 NZD is only available to New Zealand teams, Australian teams are not included in this discount

Hi All

We are busy planning to hold the 2017 Asia Pacific Robotics Competition in Rotorua this December. This is not a press release so we are not mentioning any of the sponsors that we have yet. We want to do that formally soon.

The details that we can reveal at the moment are very limited  but we would like you to put it in your diary at the very least.

We are deeply involved in pulling a very large number of threads together so please do not flood us with emails about the event. If you feel that you really want to comment please email me This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with APAC2017 at the start of the subject line. We have a great event planning team and we will be shoulder tapping some more of you in the very near future to help us. If you want to be involved in the planning please email me This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Trust us we are thinking of everything and are trying to make this event a showcase event.

We are only putting this email out as we know that some of you have long processes to work through in order to attend. Every one in the Asic Pacific region is welcome to attend. Please note that in order to participate in VEX/Kiwibots events all participants will need to sign a consent for that will be very similar to the Kiwibots Consent Form for the season. People will not be able to participate at this event if they have not signed the form.

What we can say is

Location:Energy Events Centre in Rotorua

Dates and times (very tentative)

4th Dec:

     Check in & inspection on the 4th from 12:00 to 18:00

5th Dec:

     Check in& inspection from 08:00 to 10:00

     Powhiri followed by opening ceremony and show 11:00

     Practice fields open 13:00 until 18:00

6th Dec

     Doors open 08:00

     Competitions start 09:00

     Day end TBA

7th Dec

     Doors open 08:00

     Competitions start 09:00

     Day end TBA

Cost:

At the moment the registration fee will be $nz250 per team however we will do our best to reduce this as we get sponsors confirmed. Anyone that registers early will only be invoiced when we know the final minimum cost. Registration fees will go up as we get closer to the event so register early once we open registrations.

There will be 6 events running at the competition

    VEX EDR Hiogh School

    VEX EDR Middle School

    VEX IQ Middle School

    VEX IQ Junior school

    DBS Robotics

    Humanoid robotics

We are thinking of holding the VEX IQ NZ National Championships at the same time as it would make sense to use the fantastic venue when it is already set up. This is still under consideration and discussion.

In all we are anticipating in excess of 500 teams and 2000 people and we will work out divisions etc as we find out numbers.

This event will not qualify teams for the VEX World Championships however we believe that attending the biggest robotics competition to ever be held in the Southern hemisphere should be more than enough!

Regards

Chris Hamling

As we start a new season we are very keen to support and up skill teams. We have a growing number of new teams and we are keen for our seasoned teams to give back to the community. The path to excellence is based on community support and what you can do for others.

In order to do this we need to find out what people would like to get training on and how they could help train. This can be any aspect of the VEX program from robot construction to on line challenges. Even if it a short tutorial on how to build a great gripper! These presentations could even be turned into on line challenge entries in their own right.

We want to hear your ideas and suggestions for things to cover, present and do training on at boot camps. This first stage is to get your ideas that we will subsequently put into a poll to see what we should cover first. We are very keen to get people to do training so please put your name down if you have something you think should be shared.

Please visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeLktwXW_Y3SZ8M7-27UYuJdlwyUI1sAYaYBL-DClbaEDDs3w/viewform?usp=sf_link to enter your ideas/requests

A VEX IQ kit is far more than a build and forget toy.

The VEX IQ challenge  is designed to encourage students to develop their robots in order to maximise the points that they score while working with another robot. The excitement of the challenge means that students don’t let the dust gather on your investment. They get to meet others that are enthusiastic about robotics and share ideas on how to solve the problems that the challenge presents them with.

If you have bought a kit then the great world of competition robotics is waiting for you. Come to our VEX EDR & VEX IQ scrimmages in Auckland and Palmerston North on the 10^th of June to find out how to get involved. The locations for the events will be posted on the Kiwibots calendar when they are confirmed. Events are free unless otherwise noted and there is often a sausage sizzle as well.

Don’t miss out.

See you there

Chris Hamling