The FIRST Devil's Dictionary

Cheif Delphi Thread

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1" Drill Bit (n.): The tool that only comes into use once a year when the weight limit is breached~SeanFitz

1/8" Drill Bit (n.): 1. The label on the perpetually vacant slot in the drill bit set. 2.The bit that you use for everything. 3. You bought ten at the start of the season, but they have all mysteriously disappeared by the week before bag.~Joseph Smith

1” Open End Wrench (n) : Tool used by Drive team, (see Mechanical) to disassemble (see Magic Smoke) Classmate Driver Station during field set up. Sometimes preceded by, “Show us how you shake your thing” and immediately followed by “It must be a programming issue?”~tr6scott

2nd Year Veteran (n.): See Rookie, but with a little more experience.~EricH

3/4" Wrench (n.): see Hammer~Joseph Smith

3/16" Drill Bit (n.): see 1/8" Drill Bit~Joseph Smith

5/32" Drill Bit (n.): see 1/8" Drill Bit~Joseph Smith

10-32 Tap (n.): A ceremonial tool that every freshman must break at least once as a rite of passage.~Joseph Smith

12V solenoid (n.): An expensive paperweight because the PCM is always set for 24V. ~Caleb Sykes

24V solenoid (n.): An expensive paperweight because the PCM is always set for 12V.~Caleb Sykes

2002 (N.): see Team Hammond~carpedav000

2009(n.): the bad old days~Mitchell1714

2013-2011(n.): the good old days~Mitchell1714

2014(n.): a game based off of crashing, six sided bumpers and 254 winning~Mitchell1714

2015 Q163 (n.) : Yes, Chute door. See Chute Door.~MikLast

2015(n.): a game based off of opr~Mitchell1714

"I didn't do it!" (phrase): Statement shouted by everybody NOT involved in breaking something this time, and sometimes by whoever did it.~EricH

#2Champs (n.) : The end of days, see also Championsplit~Kevin Leonard

A

Acrylic (n.): A cheaper "replacement" for lexan. Can be identified by a lack of a blue sheen, or more commonly by it's tendency to crack/shatter when actually used on the robot, especially after last minute pit repairs using materials given by neighboring pit. See lexan.~ratdude747

Adjustable Wrench (n): Tool used by students to make hexagonal or square shapes into circles.~marshall

Aerial Assault(n.): Nothing but assaulting in this game, which led to police inquiry (refs.) about charges (fouls). ~jajabinx124

Aerial Assist (n.): The 2014 game. It's objective is to push the enemy alliance~Henrique Schmit

Alliance selection (n.): A comedy show. See also schadenfreude (n.).~ghostmachine360

Alliance Selections(n.): A session where alliance captains pick random numbers. ~jajabinx124

Always (adj.) : Happened once... if you squint your eyes and ignore the programmer kicking it a little. See also Average.~Andrew Schreiber

Andy Baker (n.): > Chuck Norris~rsisk

Anodizing Black (v.): A process which instantly gives a product superior performance.~Owen Busler

Arena (n): A structure in which every dimension that matters is constructed outside the tolerances specified in the field drawings (see Bistromathics, recipriversexclusion)~GeeTwo

Arial Assist (n.): A game where times new roman (among other infractions) results in a 50 point Technical Foul.~ratdude747

Ariel Assist (n.): Let's go save the mermaid before Ursula gets her!~Caleb Sykes

Arms race (n.): the era from 1947 to 2015 in which FRC was in a state of tension as teams began to stockpile nuclear weapons, in fear that the other alliance may declare a "can war" on them. See 1678.~Abhishek R

Arms race (n.): the era from 1947 to 2015 in which FRC was in a state of tension as teams began to stockpile nuclear weapons, in fear that the other alliance may declare a "can war" on them. See 1678.~Citrus Dad

Autonomous Mode (n): A moment of silence observed prior to every Week 1 or Week 2 match.~Dan Petrovic

Average (n.) : In FRC scouting, the greatest element within a data set. Typically only occurs once in the data set. Often only on a practice field with no other robots.~Karthik

Average Match Score (n): something that people only talked about during Recycle Rush~CaptainKirby

Awards (n): A series of achievements given at each event that showcase overall aesthetic appeal of robots and the marketing of teams with under-performing robots. ~Mrcope9

B

Bag n Tag (n): We used to shut up the robots in a dark box and ship them away from home. Now we just suffocate them.~GaryVoshol

Bass (n.): An anomaly that causes speakers to vibrate the entire room they are in. See Closing Ceremonies.~TheBoulderite

Battery (n): An energy storing device that features black and red wire handles.~Taylor

Battle Bots (n.): What everyone first thinks their joining when getting into FRC for the first time.~triumph69

Bayou Regional (n): The regional in which a random Texas team will lead penitent Louisiana or Mississippi teams to World Championship.~MysterE

BBQ Statistics (n.) : A fun (and questionable) way to see the strength of a regional event.~Beaker

Beattie (n.): (Almost) every team's excuse for why they did not win in the early '00s. See Also: BEAST~tindleroot

Bill of Materials (n.): A random list of parts, most of which are on the robot, assembled the night before or morning of inspection.~Matt C

Blue banner (n.): An indisputable symbol of excellence in competition or onetime possession of $300.~Billfred

Bobcats(n.): The team that has gone to Einstein 435 years in a row*, FRC 177~Mitchell1714

Brave Little Toaster Sandwich (n): Stories about hapless teams/robots where the bad news is buffered by the less bad news. Also see "Good News/Bad News."~RoboMom

Break the game (adj.): Describes a rule modification made just prior to competition beginning, because the GDC didn't see it coming. Also see He Made Me Do It.~GaryVoshol

Broken (n): 1. The state of a robot after programmers, drivers, or aerial assist have had their way with it.~BL0X3R

Bumper (n.) : A component (sometimes) required on a robot to pass inspection; covered with special fabric and team numbers to a specification that many teams have a hard time following.~TedG

Bumper (n.): An assembly of wood, fabric, and pool noodles that is more challenging to build than a 120 pound robot~NorthernTaco

Bumper(n.): a soft protective device that usually (2010-2014) has a team's number hastily scrawled on with a sharpie marker. They tend to be very unique, often in defiance of attempts to standardize such.~ratdude747

Butterfly Drive (n): A clever way of combining the scrub of treads with the sloppiness of omniwheels.~Taylor

Buttons (n): Items produced by underclassmen team members with little or developing technical skills. They are then traded with underclassmen members from other teams.~Mrcope9

C

C++ (n.): An arcane language devised by wizards hundreds of years ago.~FlamingSpork

C++ (n.): An older, less logical, more confusing relative of Java.~EmileH

CAD Software (n): 1) Your greatest enemy. 2) Your greatest ally.~CaptainKirby

Camera (n.): A mythical object that the Electrical subteam promises to put on the robot. See also Vision Processing.~FlamingSpork

Canada (n.): Better 'armed' than NASA.~techhelpbb

CCWM (n.): Consequently Calculated for a Worthier Metric.~efoote868

Chairmans Award (n.) : The award your team totally deserved to win and don't the judges know anything gosh~Kevin Leonard

Championship (n.): A systematic means of determining that you may or may not be the best in the world.~Billfred

Cheesecake (v.): To run circles around an alliance partner to run circles around the opponent.~Billfred

Chicken Dance (n.): The official dance of team 217 ThunderChickens.~Christopher149

Chiefdelphi (n): An internet bulletin board site where users can insult others' creations, or complain how things aren't how they used to be.~Taylor

Chokehold Strategy (n.): Oh man, I have no idea. Although I'll probably never need to know. Ask Karthik.~Basel A

Christmas Tree (n.): The only festive phrase that will make FTAs universally frustrated. See Field Fault.~Aaron.Graeve

Christmas Tree(n.): A bright and colorful cue from FMS for the DJ to play the chicken dance, YMCA, cupid shuffle, or the hokey pokey. Also a cue for the FTA(s), FTAA(s), and Scorekeeper(s) to suddenly appear as if they really, really, REALLY dislike said music, usually in form of a scowl.~ratdude747

Chute door (n.): Yes, Chute Door. See 2015 Q163~efoote868

CIM (n): also called CIM motor the most robust container for blue smoke allowed in FRC.~GeeTwo

Cindy and Allen (n.) : Awesome. ~Andrew Schreiber

Cleaning the shop (v): hazing~Mrcope9

Coopertition (n.): A concept that you should work with the opposing alliance to score extra points. Generally is thrown out the window when elimination rounds begin.~TheBoulderite

Coopertition (n.): The concept that a team that cannot figure out how to help its alliance by working with teams on its own alliance, will somehow figure out how to help its alliance by working with teams on the other alliance.~omalleyj

Corn dog (n.): Verification that one was paying attention in 2014.~Billfred

Corn Indiana's (n.): universal fuel that powers everything. Considered a viable alternative to batteries for the 2016 game (Indiana district teams only ).~EricH

Corn(n.): Indiana's universal fuel that powers everything. Considered a viable alternative to batteries for the 2016 game (Indiana district teams only ).~ratdude747

Cotton Eyed Joe (n): A series of unintelligible noises that gives me the irresistible urge to go to the bathroom.~Taylor

CRio (n.): an antiquated device no longer used in FRC; another name for RoboRio when members forget that there is a new control system~Jalerre

Custom Dashboard (n.): a method of determining how much free time your programmers have~Ari423

D

Dallas Regional (n): Who are The Robowranglers taking to Worlds?~Mrcope9

Dance music (n.): A method of torture so heinous that the CIA outlawed its use in interrogation.~ghostmachine360

Data analysis (n.): Carefully crafted conclusions drawn from carelessly collected data.~George1902

Data analysis (n.): Carefully crafted conclusions drawn from carelessly collected data.~jajabinx124

Dave Lavery (n.): A male individual, known for carrying red herrings, wearing shirts reminiscent of the 50th state, eating large amounts of fried plastic, and having vastly superior body-supporting limbs to Amanda Morrison.~thatprogrammer

Deadheading (v). The practice of catching a one:-day volunteer trying to enter the volunteer eating area using their badge on days they are not volunteering.~RoboMom

Dean Kamen (n.) : our fearless, denim-clad leader and an inspiration to us all.~hectorcastillo

Debugging (v.): when programmers bang their heads on the table because the code is correct but the robots not working properly~Jalerre

Declining (v): The reason various teams develop the reputation of being a jerk.~Mrcope9

Defense (n): Something people complain there is too much of until there is a game without it.~The other Gabe

Defense (n.): A role typically given to robots who can't do much more than drive. 2015 Revision Defense? What defense?~Insanity000

Defense(n/v): A stategy used by robots that contribute nothing to the actual game being played. Rendered useless in 2015~Mrcope9

Deodorant (n.): A hygiene item most well-adjusted human beings use to allow for breathable air in their general vicinity for other people.~ghostmachine360

Deploying (v.): what programmers are doing when they aren't coding; see Break, Free Time~Jalerre

District Points System (n.): 1. The system by which teams are picked from a hat and invited to district championship 2. The reason we should really design to win awards not matches~piersklein

DPR (Defensive Power Rating) (n.): (1) 2015 Every team had the number but shouldn't have it. (2) <= 2014 Every team had the number but it was never looked at or known how it was calculated.~BenGuy

DPR (n): The stat your team points to when neither its OPR nor its CCWM are impressive.~CaptainKirby

Drive Coach (n): The only student/mentor on the drive team who actually knows all the buttons, but cannot, by the rules, use them, therefore resorting to yelling directions towards the primary and secondary drivers between communications with other teams during the match. See Conductor, Commander, or Dictator.~BL0X3R

Drive Practice (n.): A time set aside for the drive team to watch the programmers debug code.~randantor

Drive Practice (n.): Time used for testing the autonomous functions of a robot every night the mechanical team is not modifying the robot.~Abhishek R

Driver Meeting (n.): A meeting betweeen the drive teams and the head ref. Typically this is the period of time to ask questions that were clearly stated in the rule book, and learn how to play the game.~KosmicKhaos

Drivers meeting (n): A collection of teenagers who lead others to believe that they may not even know which FRC game is being played as they know so few rules the first day of a competition.~Mrcope9

Duct tape (n.): A previously: banned substance so fatal to a robot's chances of getting picked it might as well still be.~Billfred

E

Echo Effect (n.): A type of modification to sound of any kind that creates a repeat of any sound entering the microphone. See 2015 Einstein Quarterfinals.~TheBoulderite

Einstein (n) : Straight madness~Kevin Leonard

Electrical (n.): Programming's scapegoat. Often also programming.~EricH

Endgame (n.): A component of the game that isn't worth very much until powerhouse teams start completing them in faster and faster times. See also~artK

Ether (n): or aether; quintessence: the most perfect or typical example of a quality or class, has been known to help those computing OPR, CCWM or correct misinterpretations of mecanum wheels.~efoote868

F

Field Fault (n.): One of the many FMS standard operating procedures and the one you pray for when a mach is going poorly. Usually appears once in every 15 matches for no reason.~Aaron.Graeve

Finished (adj.) : the state of a robot, system, or component that appears to be mechanically complete, before any software is tested.~BenGuy

First Day of Build Season(n.): a combination of Christmas, Thanksgiving, Birthday, Easter and Halloween~Mitchell1714

FMS (n.): An almost incomprehensible collection of computers, wires, and network switches designed to never connect your robot and Driver Station on the first attempt. See mDNS.~Aaron.Graeve

FRC (n.): 1. The greatest thing since sliced bread. 2. An addiction.~TheBoulderite

FRC (verb): an acronym standing for Forceful Robot Collisions. Note: Many consider this synonymous with the 2014 game Ariel Assist.~Munchskull

Free time (n.): "Undefined"~EricH

Freshman (n.): Team go-fer and filer of all sharp corners.~EricH

Friends(n.): people your age that will tolerate you showing them 118's reveal video from Aerial Assist for the 15th time~Mitchell1714

Full Field (n.) : A magical environment which very few teams have, but many want.~Beaker

G

Game Announcer (n): A human with a microphone that is ignored by everybody. Only intelligible on unmuted webcasts, which do not actually exist.~Taylor

Game Hint (n): A device of mass torture, esp. one which functions best with the consent of the torturees.~GeeTwo

Game Reveal Day (n): FIRST's answer to Mardi Gras / Carnival / Shrove Tuesday / Pancake Day. That is, it is the last, greatest celebration which precedes a six-week season of penitence and self-denial.~GeeTwo

Game Reveal Video (n): The earliest and most reliable information as to how each season's game will not actually be played.~GeeTwo

GDC (n): A collaboration of socially powerful people specifically created to not comment on individual designs. ~Taylor

Golden Skrew (n.): The award given to the highest seeded team who does not get picked for eliminations.~S.P.A.M.er 17

Gracious Professionalism (n.): The crutch for so many people when they hear something they don't like or agree with in the FIRST world.~ghostmachine360

Graciously Accepting (v.): Pointing out one's graciousness by ignoring rules of grammar and proper usage.~James1902

Gregor (n.): A magical elf summoned by the forbidden word nationals. ~Caleb Sykes

H

Hammer (n.): A percussive maintenance tool used to forcefully repair all mechanical problems on the robot.~Joseph Smith

Hard reset (n): A common device used to manipulate mechanical machinery to revert to the original designed purpose, often found in the form of a large wrench or screwdriver.~lark95

Hard Stop (n.): a device used to break parts of a robot when a sensor should be used but isn't; see Mechanical Monkeys~Jalerre

Harpoons (n): A beautiful idea.~CaptainKirby

He Made Me Do It (adj.): Describes a Get Out Of Jail Free rule, usually invoked to avoid a Red Card, but sometimes just a foul. Not always present in all rule sets.~GaryVoshol

Head Mentor (n): The only form of rational judgment found on most teams.~lark95

Heat Gun(n.): Your build season replacement for a microwave.~jajabinx124

High Rollers(n.): the only team to have a turret in 2013, FRC 987~Mitchell1714

HOT(n.): Heroes Of Tomorrow, the team even 1114 and 254 are scared of, FRC 67, inventors of the utility arm~Mitchell1714

Human Player (n): The student on the drive team who typically introduces game pieces into the field. Usually decided by selecting the one student who earns the least amount of foul points for touching the wrong thing at the wrong time. Doesn't have to know any buttons.~BL0X3R

Human Player (n.): The most important/useless member of the drive team.~George1902

I

Indiana Robotics Invitational (n.): A competitive event and the bane of world champions. See OP Robotics.~TheBoulderite

Inspection (v.): 1. The first time that many rookie teams learn the robot rules. 2. A process during which teams are asked to put electrical tape over sharp edges of their robot, which will fall off shortly into the first match. 3. Something your alliance partner has not passed.~Joseph Smith

Inspection (v.): Activity that occurs at the latest time possible on Thursday. Sometimes leads to cutting the robot in half to either cut weight or size.~Michael Hill

Inspector Training (n): 1.A service provided by the first team inspected at a regional. 2. Punishment for daring to be the first team inspected at a regional. 3. Situation easily remedied by finding Al~BJT

Intake(n.): spinning wheels on the front of your robot~Mitchell1714

J

Jaguar (n): see Satan~evanperryg

Java (n.): The programming environment that seems daunting at first, and takes 3 years to learn to full potential. See Seniors~EmileH

John-Neun V (n.) : Someone that at some point everyone was.~Billfred

Judge Advisor (n.) : Cat herder. See also Cindy and Allen~Andrew Schreiber

Judge's Assistant (n.) : The person who really runs the judge's room.~Andrew Schreiber

Junior (n.): A sophomore who came back to lead the current crop of sophomores.~EricH

K

Kit of parts drivetrain (n): Antithesis to mecanum; A simple, sensible drivetrain configuration that you can actually win with. ~pabeekm

L

LabVIEW (n): That language you always thought was too geeky for you until you realized how great it looked without those braces and big ugly classes.~pabeekm

LabVIEW (n.): A programming environment designed to give rookie programmers the illusion of an easy method to program the robot. In reality is highly illogical. See Java~EmileH

Lead Quer (n.): The person you apoligize to, and promise to be on time next time to when you are late to queing.~KosmicKhaos

LEDs (n.): the thing that distinguishes the good teams from the bad teams in the eyes of scouters~Jalerre

LEDs(n): Often times the reason your team is noticed by other teams.~Mrcope9

Lexan (n.): A very strong, clear material. Despite it's high costs, it is claimed to be in many pits at competitions; if needed a neighboring pit will have a scrap of "such" for you to use. See acrylic.~ratdude747

Lone Star Regional (n): Who are The Robonauts taking to Worlds?~Mrcope9

Loop (n.): See Loop~rsisk

Lunacy (n.): 1. A benchmark used when talking about how bad the current year's game is. 2. The game that must not be named. See Lord Voldemort~Caleb Sykes

M

Magic Smoke (n.) : Powers motors and other electronic devices. Teams try their best to not release it. See Stall Current.~Beaker

Masking Tape (n): The preferred method of displaying a rookie team's number on its bumpers.~Taylor

Masochist (n): within the FIRST context, a null descriptive term for a person. ~GeeTwo

Master of Ceremonies (n): An individual whose prime objective is to determine different ways to create feedback using a wireless microphone.~Taylor

Match Schedule (n.) : The only thing that kept you from winning World Championships~Kevin Leonard

Match Strategy (n): The result of three drive coaches or other appointed strategists arguing in the queue about who is going to do what and how during the upcoming match.~BL0X3R

Match Strategy(n.): A rock paper scissors show off between 3 teams to chose which strategy to go with. ~jajabinx124

Match winner (n.): A breed that had a startling near-extinction event in the year 2015. Only the strongest survived.~Billfred

Mating (v.): A term used to describe a relationship I will add between the frontal flat planar surface of my palm with your curved facial face when you make this joke for the hundredth time while I'm stuck in the vortex with you. See Vortex.~Newo

mDNS (n.) : The reason it takes you minutes to connect to your 2015 bot but only seconds to connect to your 2014 bot.~Christopher149

Mecanum wheel (n.): A wheel for going in every direction if your programmers had just one more week with the drivetrain.~Billfred

Mecanum Wheel (n.): Meh' can um A type of wheel rejected by most. Revised 2015 1. Must have wheel for Recycle Rush 2. Key component of Andy Baker's retirement plan~rsisk

Mechanical (n.): A wrench-swinging monkey who will never be as cool as a programmer. ~cjl2625

Mechanical (N.): People who blame programming for things they broke~nate12345678

Mechanical Monkeys (n.): a group of people on an FRC team with low intelligence that are usually wielding a wrench; a phrase commonly used by programmers~Jalerre

Mechanum (n.): An imaginary word used by individuals to prove their lack of knowledge of omni-directional drive systems.~Caleb Sykes

Media Team (n): 1) The reason the slogan "More than Robots" was invented; 2) Those who blind with flashes; 3) Land of punishment for bad builders (IE. If you don't stop stripping those screws, I'm going to put you on the Media Team.)~MysterE

Mentor (n): An adult who likes to play with children's toys, with children.~Taylor

Mentor (n.) : What builds robots that are better than yours~Kevin Leonard

Mentor-built (adj.): A term describing a robot that is better than your own, and / or a robot with paint on it.~Chris is me

Michigan (n.): 1. Land of a thousand districts. 2. Home of a thousand rookie teams.~Joseph Smith

Michigan State Championship (n.): 1.From 2009-2014, the highest concentration of competitive robots outside of IRI. 2. In 2015, a brief detour on the way to the World Championship.~Joseph Smith

Minibot (n.): A way to spend thousands of dollars on Tetrix motors for the least impressive demo feature ever.~Billfred

Money (n): 1.The paper substance that is vital to any teams success 2. usually following the word get (get money) 3. The reason there are sponsors (see sponsors) 4. something we all need more of~Ginger Bread

Mountain Dew (n.) : Fuel that powers the programmers. See Pizza.~Beaker

N

NASA (n.) : The group that probably built the world champions~Kevin Leonard

Nationals (n.) : a term that us old timers use when we've forgotten what year it is, See World Championship (n.), Worlds (n.) ~The_ShamWOW88

Nebraska (n.): A mysterious and uncharted land.~TheBoulderite

Next year (n.) : the theoretical point at which your team will achieve a goal which you have thus far fallen short of. ~hectorcastillo

Next Year's Game (n.): Always a water game until the first hint comes out (for the smart ones) or the game announcement (for the true believers) where a logical game is announced, and the water game is postponed until next year's game. see~BenGuy

Noodle Agreement (n.): The backroom deal made over a bowl of ramen to strategically remove any possible strategic thinking from an FRC game through rule updates and FAQ responses.~marshall

O

Offense (n): Something people always want more of, until a game is played with only it.~The other Gabe

Offseason (n) : See build season.~DohertyBilly

Offseason (n): A fairy tale told to help keep rookies going for a few more hours.~GeeTwo

OP (adj.): 1. Overpowered. 2. A captain who only idiots decline at alliance selection.~Billfred

OP Robotics (n.): 1. A team from Canada that has never lost a regional and capable of holding its own against Simbotics. 2. The bane of world champions at IRI.~TheBoulderite

OP(n.): 1. An FRC team rumored to have never lost a Regional. 2. A dominant robot creating force that makes you smack your forehead at the end of each build season and ask yourself why you didn't just do what they did.~Ginger Power

OP(n.): FRC 2056, a regional win that ways 120 lbs~Mitchell1714

Opening Ceremonies (n.): Something that allegedly takes place while you're in the pits getting your drive code working.~Joseph Smith

OPR (n.): Objectively Preferred Rating.~efoote868

P

Pedestal (n.): A container to permanently hold game objects. See Aerial Assist~Henrique Schmit

Pick Me Maybe (n.): The only song by Carly Rae Jepsen team 399.~Christopher149

Picklist (n.) :Hastily written scribblings from 4 AM that are incomprehensible when it matters most, ~Kevin Leonard

Picklist(n.): Horribly organized sheet of paper that is barely readable, and is only understandable by one person. No proper sense of rankings based on robot performance or role, just an assortment of random numbers on paper.~jajabinx124

PID (n.): something that programmers waste hours of time on ~Jalerre

Pit (n) : A volume of space that will expand or contract depending on on who is looking at it. Normally fluctuates around 10'x10'x10'.~dodar

Pit Admin (n.): That voice in your head telling you to report to queuing, you are in the next match.~EricH

Pit Scouting (v.): The act of being deceived by a team's member about their robot's capabilities.~Aidan Cox

Pizza (n.): the energy source that fuels engineers~NorthernTaco

Plowie (n): A mythical, cartoonish creation resembling a Reveal Video favorite, Dozer, whose mere mention raises an enraged Dave Lavery from his slumber for a brief episode of spittle-flying and general humbuggery.~Taylor

PNW District (n.): The district that has the best video quality in FRC.~MikLast

Pool Noodle (n): how to make your low-seed alliance competitive~evanperryg

Pool Noodle(n): 1. That thing Human Players throw (see Recycle Rush) to gain extra points 2. That thing I used to carry my team when the robot was not present on the field during competition~Ginger Bread

Powdercoated (adj.): An 100% accurate way identify the robots that the mentors clearly built all by themselves.~artK

Power Couple (n): Two established and powerful teams from the same geographic area that often team up and win events together. Sometimes includes traveling as one. Ex~Mrcope9

Powerhouse (adj.): An adjective assigned with any team that is better than yours.~TheBoulderite

Practice Field (n): A facility at an FIRST competition which is only available when your team is scheduled to be in the queue or a match.~GeeTwo

Practice Matches (n): A magical time at a regional, before the real competition starts, that many have heard of, but few have actually experienced.~lark95

Primary Driver (n): Student driver that typically controls the movement of the robot. May or may not actually know what the buttons do.~BL0X3R

Programming (N.): The universal scapegoat~nate12345678

Programming Issue (n.): A term used by the mechanical team to explain any problem they don't yet understand.~UnaffiliatedOpinion

Q

Qualification pairings(n): A system of "random" selections that determine what rollerskates a team plays qualification matches with. Also The reason quality teams have a lower ranking at a regional.~Mrcope9

Question Box (n.): Obscure square of tape on the floor, often but not always near the scoring table. Used to yell atdiscuss a call with the Head Referee.~EricH

Queue (n): Somewhere teams should be on time but are always late to.~BL0X3R

Queuing Team (n., plural): Cat herders, traffic directors, and "that's the exit gate" group.~EricH

R

RAM (n.): The reason no Java teams ever do vision tracking~JacisNonsense

Rap music (n.): A mythical genre of music, generally frowned upon by FIRST at competitions when played.~ghostmachine360

Raul Rule (n.): A rule modification made after competition begins, because the GDC didn't see it coming. See Stacking Robots.~GaryVoshol

Real Friends(n.):people your age that will tolerate you showing them 118's reveal video from Aerial Assist, then argue 1986's was better~Mitchell1714

Red 2 (n): The drive station that never connects properly at IRI.~Taylor

Red Card(n.): The mother of all punishments on the field. The nightmare of drive teams, and in 2015, a form of execution in playoffs. See Stack Attack~ratdude747

Red Dots (n): A method of ensuring a rookie will never again post on www.chiefdelphi.com~Taylor

Referee (n.): A volunteer who is expected to start at perfection, and steadily improve thereafter.~GaryVoshol

Referee (n.): Person responsible for making the right call regarding interaction on the field, which invariably offends someone else who, not having read the rules, thinks it should have gone the other way.~EricH

Referee Panel (n.): A device used to score an alliance or robot. In 2014 also used to enrage human players waiting for the pedestal to light up signaling the OK to start a new cycle after a goal was scored. See Aerial Assist~emileh3467

Reveal Video (n.) :A series of thoroughly edited clips showing video of features your robot never actually had, and set to one of 5 different popular pop songs of the year, or alternatively, a screamo cover of a Justin Bieber song~Kevin Leonard

Reveal Video(n.): a video in which your robot always looks really good~Mitchell1714

RI3D (n): Robot In 3 Days. An annual reminder that we are all just slackers. See cheat sheet.~pabeekm

RoboRIO (n.): A device used to store metal shavings from elsewhere on the robot.~randantor

RoboRIO brownout (v, n): The GDC's alternative to limiting the number of motors allowed on a robot.~GeeTwo

Robot (n.): a mythical object that programmers are always hearing about but never get to see or touch~Jalerre

Robot (n.): Something that FRC teams may or may not build. See RC car.~Christopher149

Robot Inspector (n.): A nice man who takes care of Curious George.~Caleb Sykes

Robot Manual (n.): 1. A book we all say we've read, but few actually have. 2. A glass house which some people claim is too opaque, and so throw stones in an attempt to bend.~pmangels17

Robot Troubleshooting(n.): A time when everyone blames the programmers for the robot not working but in reality it's electrical's/build's fault.~orangelight

ROBOT! (n.): Exclamation designed to annoy others into safe practices. Highly ineffective.~James1902

Rollerskate (n): A competition robot that consists of a drivetrain and at most 1 mechanism that works 15% of the time. Mostly done by rookie teams. Also see Defense~Mrcope9

Rookie (n.): A person or team who doesn't know what they're getting into in FRC because it's their first time.~EricH

S

Safety (n): 1. Conditions and/or procedures which reduce the likelihood of injuring personnel or damaging equipment. 2. An award at FRC events which some teams think will go to teams who put up posters with lots of yellow and orange, have mascots wearing hard hats and orange vests, and yell Robot! a lot. Sometimes the judges think so, too. 3. A means of scoring defensive points in the mythical upcoming American football-based game. 4. A robot assigned a defensive role in the aforementioned game.~GeeTwo

Safety (verb): 1. To shout ROBOT! ROBOT! ROBOT! when transporting a carted robot through the pits regardless of the noise or number of pedestrians around. 2. To create litter by plastering homemade signs on every surface that fits an 8.5x11 sheet of paper. 3. To remind people to wear Personal Protective Equipment correctly.~efoote868

Safety Adviser (n.): Person in a green polo shirt whose job often appears to be to force teams to use the LEAST safe way of doing any given work in the pits.~EricH

Safety Captain (n.) : The role given to a non-drive team member in the pit. Usually given to someone thrown under the bus, but gets to wear a badge of honor. Generally has no authority or knowledge of safety. See Safety.~Michael Hill

Safety Glasses (n): The catch-all piece of safety equipment.~CaptainKirby

Sandstorm (n): A song played by the DJ to torture the crowd. Closely associated with the Chicken Dance. ~TheBoulderite

Scapegoat (n.): Team member or group that is blamed for whatever failed this time, regardless of 1) presence anywhere near failure, 2) actual culpability. Sometimes referred to as escapegoat if everybody else is too busy getting out of there.~EricH

Scorch and burn(v.): Official strategy of 1678, very effective~Mitchell1714

Scorched earth (adj.): Ensuring you will win your division by ensuring you will never win Einstein.~Billfred

Scouting (v.): 1. Distraction for underclassmen and slackers on the teams that don't give a flip about winning. 2. Figuring out who's full of it.~ghostmachine360

Scouting Data Entry (n.): The process by which accurate scouting data is inputted into a database, never to be seen again~Kevin Leonard

Scouting Meeting (n.): gathering of team mates with the purpose to trash talk other teams with no regard to actual data. If a team is considered a "powerhouse", these discussions take place out of the venue behind closed doors or over Google hangouts.~Marcow

Secondary Driver (n): Student driver that typically controls the movement of a manipulator or non-drive subsystem. Claims to know the buttons better than the primary driver, but most likely doesn't.~BL0X3R

Semifinals (n.): the time at which the team packs up the pit~Jalerre

Senior (n.): A student team member (and possibly leader) who will not be a student team member for very long. Usually found by grabbing last year's juniors.~EricH

Serpentine Draft (n.): A systematic procedure used to encourage teams to be the 24th best team at the event. ~Caleb Sykes

Seventh Alliance Captain (n): The individual who announces the numbers of teams who (1)have already been selected, (2)are not at the current event, or (3)do not actually exist. Not necessarily in that order.~Taylor

Ship day (n.) : The day a completed robot was hastily packed into a large wooden box with a random assortment of graphics and numbers painted on the side, then shipped off to a faraway place, See Nationals (n.)~The_ShamWOW88

Sick day (n.): A day during build season when one takes off due to illness. On this day, any major project that they had been working on for at least a week will be tested by somebody, often a mentor, who has no idea how you intended it to be used. May result in cracked welds, ruined precision machined surfaces/bores, and/or lost magic smoke. ~ratdude747

Silicon Valley Regional (n): Who are The Cheesy Poofs taking to Worlds?~Mrcope9

Simbot SS (n) : The standard of yearly robot success~dodar

Simbotics(n.): the best team in the world, FRC 1114, trades this spot every other year to The Cheesy Poofs~Mitchell1714

Six Wheel Drive(n.): the best drive train in FRC~Mitchell1714

Sleep(n.): an illusion from the first Sunday of January to mid February~Mitchell1714

SmartDashbord (n.): A convenient place to put a lot of information that the drivers will never look at.~Caleb Sykes

Snow Day (n.): The reason the New England District can't have nice things. The Texas teams have no such record of problems with losing a day of work, for the Michigan and New England Districts, it is great because of no school, however detrimental to the robot building effort... Especially when snow falls too much on bag and tag day... ~BenGuy

Snow Day (n.): The reason the New England District can't have nice things.~Aidan Cox

Software Problem (n.): when the robot doesn't work properly~Jalerre

Sophomore (n.): A freshman who came back and is now in charge of making said sharp corners.~EricH

Spirit award (n): When FIRST congratulates the team who most enthusiastically blocks everyone’s view in the stands. See participation ribbon.~pabeekm

Stack Attack(n.): 1. The 2003 FRC game that is among the top three worst games according to most. 2. In 2015, a large scale game of dominoes. A common cause of death in playoffs. See also Darwin Awards.~ratdude747

Stall Current (n): quantitative measure of a motor's potential to release magic smoke, either from itself or from other electrically connected things~Richard Wallace

Stall Torque (n): quantitative measure of a motor's capability to twist things until they break~Richard Wallace

Stand Scouting (v): The action of taking copious notes about the bottom half of an event's teams before covering the papers with a spilled beverage, pizza sauce, and/or chocolate.~Taylor

Stop Build Day (n): A day that is 45 days after teams start building their robots and 63 days before all teams have stopped.~Nemo

Stop Build Day (n): also known as Bag and Tag Another fairy tale told to help keep rookies going for a few more hours when "Offseason" seems too far away.~GeeTwo

Swerve Drive (n.): a set of mechanisms to ensure the robot will sit dead on the field for half of that robot's first event~Kevin Leonard

Swerve Drive (n.): Another thing every new CAD student will design, making the "lightest, strongest modules ever" and subsequently forgetting to include the weight of the motors powering it as well as pocketing way too aggressively.~artK

T

Team Overdrive (n.): The role model and hero of every rookie team.~TheBoulderite

Team Q&A (n): The GDC's means of injecting requirements drift into even the most disciplined development processes.~GeeTwo

Technical Foul(n.): A soul-crushing 50 point penalty. Second only to a Red Card. In 2014, these were assigned by a lottery, of unknown explainable algorithm. ~ratdude747

Teh Chezy Pofs(n.): An FRC team known to set the blue (banner) standard year in and year out. See also Simbotics~Ginger Power

Test Ban Treaty (n.): A negotiated end to the can war after the consumption of large quantities of cheesecake, that saved the lives of many freshmen. See IRI Rules~Citrus Dad

Tether (n.): An Ethernet cable noted for its ability to tangle itself when left unsupervised.~randantor

The Best Team in FRC(n.): the team you are on~Mitchell1714

The Blue Alliance (n): A website containing much of the resources necessary for scouting, watching, and record keeping. Most often visited more than traditional social media from January-April.~Mrcope9

The Cheesy Poofs(n.): also the best team in the world, FRC 254, trades this spot every other year to Simbotics~Mitchell1714

The District System (n.): A universally better system for qualifying teams for the championship event that will never reach the states that need it most~Kevin Leonard

The Macy's Day Parade(n): aka, the Horror Show, aka, Load in. The 45 minute parade on Day 1 of an event where teams with no sightlines rush to try to wheel/carry all manner of dangerous, precariously balanced & protruding objects into the pits. See Safety.~RoboMom

Theory (n.) : A mythical place where all robot designs work.~MechEng83

U

UNH District Event (n.): 1. Home to elimination ronds that never goes off smoothly. 2. In 2015 a human players button falls off getting lodged inside a stack in Finals 2, plus the lights go out halfway through Finals 1. 3. In 2014 was home to the most replays due to one failure (exit gate lexan entering the field).~EmileH

Unprocessed litter (n.): All portions of pool noodles thrown on the field in the last match that haven't been put in the trash can yet.~Billfred

Utah Regional (n.): A regional that some random out-of-state team decides to attend and wins.~TheBoulderite

V

Veteran (n.): A person or team who has been around a little while, knows what they're getting into, and still comes back. Also see lunatic.~EricH

VEXpro (n.): Innovation First's method to make building FRC robots simple after losing the contract on their method to make controlling FRC robots simple.~Billfred

Victor (n): An electronic device used sacrificially to prevent damage to a Fuse. Often also used to collect metal swarf. See also Jaguar.~DonRotolo

Vision Processing (n.): the thing programmers say they're going to do every year but never have time for ~Jalerre

Volunteer Coordinator (n): The person at an event who is expected to solve most problems which don't involve objects that light up or plug in. The time commitment for this volunteer position starts 6 months before the event and involves too many hours of "training" calls, meetings, begging and making wild guesses for inventory.~RoboMom

Vortex (n.): A large circle of desks assembled on day one of build season to house the CAD and code teams. Synonymous with "black hole", both in inward attractive force and in relativistic time dilation; "Thou who enter the vortex shall not emerge from its depths until the temporal substance which fuels it has evaporated after 6-9 weeks."~Newo

W

Wall (N.): An inanimate object commonly used to stop robots with faulty autonomous code~carpedav000

Watched pot (n.): the period between placing all the robots on an FRC field and the robots actually obtaining sufficient field connectivity to run a match.~techhelpbb

Water Game (n): The universal solvent solution for game hints according to a variety of CD posters.~GeeTwo

Water Game (n.): next year's FRC game~Jalerre

Waterloo Regional (n): A contest to determine which lucky team gets to hitch a ride with OP and Simbotics.~TheBoulderite

Week 1 (n.): The opening weekend of regional and district tournament play...if not for those rebels in South Carolina.~Billfred

Week 5 (n.): A magical land where programmers get to code the robot and drivers get their practice. Only certain teams know of its whereabouts.~lucas.alvarez96

Weight Limit (n.): A mythical number that, invariably, your team will end up slightly above.~SeanFitz

West Coast Drive (n.): Something every new CAD student will try to design without understanding the advantages of one, simply because powerhouse teams use them. ~artK

Wildcards (n.): A conspiracy to get more Canadian and Californian teams to qualify for Championships each year~Kevin Leonard

Working Sensor Software (n): A product delivered by the program team which ensures that the sensor will be mechanically damaged beyond repair, and possibly replacement, in the immediate future.~GeeTwo

X

Y

YMCA (n.): A song frequently played at FIRST events, especially in the common occurrence of a FMS crash.~Insanity000

Z

Zamboni(ed)(v): An especially entertaining entry to the field by an emcee or VIP. Also see Blair, Woodie, Boston Regional.~RoboMom

Zip tie (n.): The standard fastener used on FRC robots.~randantor