Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Unless Orlando is the other city, I'd vote for Atlanta.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

I am sure the FIRST World Championship committee will give each city serious consideration, review all important points, and will make an outstanding decision. I look forward to hearing which city FIRST World Championship will be fortunate to have as host!!!

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

I would like to see the Championship move across all 4 time zone.
If this could be done it would give a boost to FIRST in all regions of the country. We did Eastern and Central time zones, lets move to the Rockies and then Western.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Detroit? Oh god,no no no! I live in the city. Five minutes from downtown proper. I don't think they have enough hotel space close to the event locations. You would have to take a bus to museum area, zoo or anything else you would want to do. You probably be safe enough in the downtown area but you wouldn't want to venture to far afield. Now , if they could tie it in with are neighbors across the river, windsor, canada, that would make it a true international event. Canada is so close the police departments of both cities used to have a tug-of-war across the river.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

I live in Houston and have attended the 2003 Championship in Houston as well as the 2012 Championship in St. Louis.

In 2003, they made the mistake of using the Astrodome for the pit areas and it was a disaster! Very hard to get the robots to and from the pits. On that score, St. Louis was undeniably better.

However, the situation has changed since 2003. The Astrodome has been all but abandoned and the Reliant Center has been built.

With 5 large halls and over 700,000 square feet in the center, there is no question that the Reliant Center is large enough to house the pit areas. Add in the space within the dome and the facility could hande championships even if FIRST decided to expand to 8 divisions. However, it is at least 200 yards across a the parking lot to get to the stadium, which means it would still be a problem to get the robots to and from the pit areas.

For those still pulling for Houston, there is hope. The county is considering plans to demolish the Astrodome. Once that is done, it is anybody's guess what additional development will occur.

IMO, an expansion of the Reliant Center to the point where it is attached, or nearly attached to the stadium is possible, but some years away. IF it happened, it would be an ideal location for a much larger FIRST championship. In the meantime, it doesn't make as good a venue as St. Louis.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Great. informative post. Thank you. I do not know if Houston has stepped forward with a bid for FIRST Championship, but maybe if the facilities are improved with connecting facilities it would be a good location for the future. When I was about 10, (40 years ago) I toured the Astrodome and it was touted as the 8th wonder of the world. And it was so impressive back then even more so later with an amusement park next door. (Astroworld) How times change! :) I will say, Houston is an incredible city and I love to visit whenever I can!

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Personally I say we just hold the CMP on the beach at hawaii

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Sadly, I doubt 2015's water game would be playable with salt water. Anything but distilled is an electrical hazard.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Also, sand is a mechanical hazard. Gearboxes, bearings, pneumatic cylinders...pretty much any moving part is not going to be happy with little sharp bits of rock.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Aside from the very "few" logistical issues that would definitely induce, I am in love with the idea!! ;) (But seriously, I would love that)

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Sounds like a great challenge for the 2019 Lunacy remix... Regolith

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

I would love the idea of having it in Hawaii for obvious reasons.
However, the venues available are not large enough or cost effective for all of the teams in FIRST to participate.
VEX on the other hand.:rolleyes: :rolleyes:
St. Louis, as much as I hate the cost, was very satisfactory this year and would love to see it continue there beyond 2014.
Atlanta was a better venue, but the city was boring with nothing to do and felt much more unsafe around the downtown area.

The only other city I see as cost effective, having the space to do it, and with lots to do for both students AND adults.....Las Vegas!

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Atlanta seemed to have alot more to do than St. Louis does (though St. Louis does a much better job keeping the homeless population away from the event). You can't take the kids to a casino.
The Georgia Dome is the scariest place I have ever been after 10 pm but I did not realize til I read this article that the world championship is right next too the 22nd most dangerous neighborhood in America. That would explain why so many teams found their trailer almost broken into.
Does Lost Wages have a dome stadium of we're just talking another convention center?

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Do you mean Edward Jones Dome is next to the 22nd most dangerous neighborhood? That's what it seems from the article you linked.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

yes.
I drove through there trying to get around the traffic leaving Friday. It made me nervous going down the street but I didn't realize it was that bad.
I'll think twice about taking that route next time.
I also notice Indianapolis makes the list a few time. They're so ready to host the championship now!

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

But you have to admit, beach volleyball would be way cool. I've been a fan of the upcoming Water Game, but a Sand Game could be even better. Everyone has access to sand (well in the winter in the North, it's spread all over the roads).

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Sorry, the use of sand has been banned in schools in some jurisdictions (in Ontario at least) because of the potential for silicosis. Drywall compound and sandpaper are being investigated. I kid you not! I guess trips to the beach during spring break will be out too.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

??? The listed neighborhood is 5 miles away from the dome.

https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=D...&mra=ls&z =15

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

The map shows clearly that the niegborhood is right at the edge of the volunteer parking. Right where the teams leave thier trailers nearby as well.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

That's the 12th most dangerous on the list. This is the 22nd:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=from:...EuY4A&t=h&z=16

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

I'm interested in how Detroit would be able to accommodate the vast amount of FIRST with it's lack of hotels in the downtown area. But if they are in the running, then clearly something is good enough for it to work. And remember, we did host super bowl XL, so it's possible. Anaheim would be interesting as long as it is not at disneyland. Atlanta was great from my experience, so i would love to see it return there or Detroit.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

I am interested in seeing how Detroit would accommodate the CMP, as well. They were in the running during the last bid, as well, but they dropped due to not being able to logistically handle all of FIRST.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Is Anaheim too far away for some teams in NE or Canada? I know the Vex World Championships has been there for two years now, so it seems like it would be able to work, but there must be some hardship in that travel...

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Gimme a respirator, plenty of sealing devices, and I think you can have a robot competing on lunar floor.

Actually, come to think of it... http://www.nasa.gov/offices/educatio...unabotics.html

I did that as my senior project in college last year. Sealing the robot wasn't too bad, but the protective gear in the arena was brutal. Didn't have a problem until we either tripped a safety on a speed controller or fried the controller due to getting stuck, depending on round.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

For what it's worth I entered about 100 team cities into http://www.geomidpoint.com/
and came up with the midpoint being just west of Lafayette, IN.

I don't know that my sample was actually representative of all teams, but the "Center of Gravity" probably is in Indiana/Illinois area.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

You heard it first here folks, the 2015 Championship will be held on the campus of Purdue University with fields and pits being setup in the Armory, Lambert Fieldhouse, Mackey Arena & (weather permitting) Ross Ade Stadium. Thanks to blackwood for single-handedly making this important decision, Boiler Up!

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Finally! A location for champs where I can sleep in my own bed at night and ride my bike to the competition! ;) I'd never have to miss the competition again. :D

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Was that weighted by number of teams, number of team members, some other metric, or not weighted at all?

And what did you do with outliers (e.g. non-U.S. teams)?

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Using the latitude and longitude listed for each team in the current version of All_FRC_Teams_Ever.xls on team358.org, the COG for teams participating this year is 38.74859079,-89.08299209 (south central Illinois). Note that this spreadsheet was last updated 8/30/12 so it cuts off at team 4410.

Just for fun, I did the same for the all FRC teams ever and came up with 38.04050548, -87.17841782 which is just east of Evansville, IN.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

This year's teams are actually in that spreadsheet way down at the bottom.
It was a running list though the season and I haven't posted the latest update that sorts them all properly. A couple of teams also dropped out and that isn't reflected properly yet. (updated online now)

I make the 2013 balancing point to be 88 miles due east of St. Louis in southern Illinois.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

What about in New Orleans? Robotics in the Superdome WOULD be pretty awesome:D

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

The plans for the Astrodome have been released and you can read about them here: http://www.wfaa.com/news/texas-news/...212228131.html

So what do you think? Would this put Houston in the running for a future FIRST championship?

Note: It is expected to take 2-3 years for this work to be completed, so this wouldn't happen until 2016 at the earliest.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

After being down there last year, I do not think that having it at the Superdome would be a very practical idea. The only place that I saw that could hold the pits was a big glass building nearby, and it was an outdoor commute to get to the dome. In New Orleans, an outdoor commute would not be a good idea, especially when the cargo you are moving is these robots.

On the other hand, in the 2015 water game, the robots will be waterproofed anyway, so it would not matter if it stormed! :rolleyes:

Edit: After doing some research, that building is the New Orleans arena. I am doing further research to see if there is an indoor commute that I missed (possibly underground).

Edit 2: I could not find anything about an indoor commute, but this pdf is a good read for anybody interested in maybe having the Superdome as a spot for Championships: http://www.neworleansarena.com/uploa...uide072412.pdf

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

My friend had a great idea, why not at NASA in cape kennedy? we can use the shuttle structure buildings, its not like they're using them anymore anyways. lol.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Logistical NIGHTMARE.

Sure, you'd probably have more than enough space for all the fields and pits. However...

--You still have to rig the lighting, screens, sound... and you have to do it from scratch--those buildings would not be equipped for that.
--You have to figure out a way for the general public to join you, preferably without paying KSC admission fees.
--You have close to a thousand teams (FRC, FLL, FTC, JFLL), each with probably about 20 people, many with more, all descending on KSC at the same time. Security and parking and transport are gonna be issues.
--Hotel rooms within a decent range are not the most plentiful thing around, though there are quite a few places to stay if you get creative.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

I can only imagine the chaos that would ensue if we switched the floor back to the one used in Maize Craze...

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Just found this online http://www.bizjournals.com/louisvill...-robotics.html

Looks like cities currently in the running are, according to this article:
Atlanta
Louiville
Detroit
Indianapolis
St. Louis

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

How is the weather in the place listed above during april?

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

What venues are there in Louisville? And I didn't know Detroit was in the running either.

Also, judging by the most recent tweet from the Indianapolis FRC bid twitter, it seems like the bids are finalized and the final decision process is in progress

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Based on the article linked above it says that a decision is expected late september

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

its way to small, dont forget they need 5 fields set up. plus the stands for 400 teams and then other spectators....then the pit!!

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

You do realize that 1) this thread is well over a year old, and 2) you miscounted and it's 7-9 fields and 600 teams, right?

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

I do not think that FIRST HQ has confirmed 600 teams for the remainder of the 2014/2015/2016 seasons... Maybe I am crazy but I thought that this was just speculation and nothing was confirmed as of "today"

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...er-Recruitment --reference to "many more teams".

http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...idays-06062014 --Question about some of the details.

http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...t-championship would have the details when they came up--note the multiple-venue system, indicating that some larger number of teams across all levels is more likely in order.

They've confirmed it, but they haven't confirmed HOW it's going to work. Yet.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

You forgot covered college arenas. The ones that can hold enough people are:
Alamodome (San Antonio, TX)
Fargodome (North Dakota)
Carrier Dome (Syracuse, NY)
UNI-Dome (Cedar Falls, IA)
Walkup Skydome (Flagstaff, AZ)

Of those, only the UNI-Dome has an attached facility for the pits (the McLeod Center), but getting people to Cedar Falls would probably be an insurmountable obstacle.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Closing thread.

If you want to discuss post-St. Louis championship locations, start a new thread.