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.