Re: Snow compensation?
 

Trying to establish that when you start a team is much easier than trying to change it much later on though, so I would create the groundwork for the team you want to see in 5 years.

Inertia is one cruel mother.

Also, to get back on topic, I proposed that West Coast teams bag their robots yesterday out of respect for the Northeast.

Re: Snow compensation?
 

Haha I know right! Compared to some parts of the country/North America we haven't gotten as much snow but some parts of New England have gotten a lot and the city where our District Championship is being held (Worcester) has gotten roughly 90" of snow making it the snowiest city in the US this year from a report I saw.

One of the big differences is while we get a lot of snow every year most towns/cities aren't used to removing this much snow especially with multiple storms in just over a week meaning schools are staying closed for longer periods of time instead of just the day it snows. The roads and parking lots up here just keep getting smaller and smaller...

Re: Snow compensation?
 

we have lost about 6 days and it really has hurt us quite a bit. We still will finish but we will only have 1 maybe 2 days to finish wiring code and test.

Re: Snow compensation?
 

Did I miss it or did no one mention that you should use the withholding allowance strategically. Prioritize and focus on the 90+ lbs you need to bag. If you have designed modular concepts into your machine, this will be most effective.

Re: Snow compensation?
 

Schools staying closed is a huge fear. For example Pentucket Regional is closed until the 23rd.

Re: Snow compensation?
 

Looking at their website, I think you mean the 13th.

Re: Snow compensation?
 

I wish I meant the 13th. There was coverage on the news about it and a few headlines int the news paper. Their superintendent did not want to take any risks and they do not have school until the 23rd. Many students there were disappointed , as they are now in school until July first. Many students, although they are not in the same school as me, are in contact with me through things such as facebook and twitter. Personally, I was shocked.
This is also including vacation which is next week (the 16th)

Re: Snow compensation?
 

Has anyone heard anything about FIRST increasing the withholding allowance? The allowance was increased last year due to a similar 'snow-pocalypse' for a lot of teams, so I'm curious if it'll increase again this year.

I really hope so

Re: Snow compensation?
 

Seeing as robots were bagged last night, I really doubt a change is coming...

Re: Snow compensation?
 

If anything was coming it would have probably been in the Tuesday update. If nothing related to withholding allowance shows up on the Friday scheduled update, there is no hope.

I know New York/New England area got #rekt but FIRST only raised the withholding allowance during seasons where over half of the teams missed over a week of time, which wasn't the case this year.

Re: Snow compensation?
 

My only suggestion would be to remember your withholding allowance! I'm a day late but its totally legal to pop off a part of your robot (say, elevator, manipulator, whatever) and keep it out of your bag and continue to work on it, as long as when you bring it to the event it is at or under the withholding allowance. We had a season a few years ago where we only bagged a drivetrain. You can even lawyer it a bit and remove COTs parts from your assembly and then reassemble it at the event (motors or other heavy COTs parts) to cut weight.

In the past we've made rigs/woodbots/mockups and mounted whatever we're still working on to that so we can continue. Helps if you have a practice bot but totally not needed.

Also don't forget about the 6 hours of unbag time if your competing in a district event rather than a regional.

Re: Snow compensation?
 

What good would it do teams now? It's not like you can magically transport and extra 15 lbs or whatever outside the bag at this point... increasing the withholding allowance after bag day doesn't really help the vast majority of the teams...

Re: Snow compensation?
 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯