759's sad new york city update- Edit- Happy again!
 

759 are sad to announce that after all the hard work the team has put into this years robot (see http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=36163 for a pic) that the robot has been sent back to Britain.
It turns out that whilst our robot got stuck in customs for about a week that the robot has to be sent back to the UK so that some forms can be filled in before it can be sent back to the US. There is a VERY slim chance it can be done in time, as it depends on how efficient fed Ex are. IT also means we will have to sort out payment for the turnaround etc.
First are aware and have tried as hard as they can to sort this out for us, however there is still a major chance that the robot will not get to the competition.
We are hoping that we can get a robot built on the thursday if needs be, and knowing how generous other teams are, I'm sure we will be able to get something going and running. We will still be coming to the states, and if we don't get a robot going etc, we will still be there to cheer everyone else along.
The team are very upset with what has happened but are now even more determined to compete and take part.

Stephen Denman, 759

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

Wow... that is really terrible. I hope you guys can get it there in time, and if not, make the best of the experience anyways.

Good luck!

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

It was fun meeting you guys last year and being allied with you in the finals. I hope things work out and your robot makes it, and if not, hopefully you can at least find a robot of some sort to compete with.

Good luck

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

This is a tragic turn of events. Is there any way you could compete in a later regional?

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

We'll (NYC FIRST & NYC Teams) will do the best we can to get you a KOP robot by the time your plane lands next week.
Remember... this is NYC, you can buy anything; especiallyfrom Canal St.* (you gotta see the place!) ;)

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

if we do buy bits for a robot, is that ok under
<R23> Teams may acquire and bring an unlimited amount of COTS items to the competitions to be used to
repair and/or upgrade their robot at the competition site.
but if we then have to say (for example weld some bits together) does that make it non cots and thus break
<R24> Teams may bring a maximum of 25 pounds of custom FABRICATED ITEMS (SPARE PARTS,
REPLACEMENT PARTS, and/or UPGRADE PARTS) to each competition event to be used to repair
and/or upgrade their robot at the competition site. All other FABRICATED ITEMS to be used on the
robot during the competition must arrive at the competition venue packed in the shipping crate with the
robot.
Thanks for the kind words from everybody :)
Stephen Denman

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

That just plain SUCKS no matter what accent of English you say it in.

Are you still planning on going to the NYC Regional?

A former mentor on our team who passed away about a year ago helped your team your first year in NYC when you were having trouble, and I would like to continue that tradition of helping by offering my help on at least Friday to you and your team.

If you need anything, just let us all know. I am in CT which is a state away from NY, and probably will be taking the train in on Friday and/or Saturday to help out at NYC, so if you need any help on Friday, I will come around your pit and check on your team.

If you need parts or whatever, let me know by a PM or on AIM (s/n in user Profile here on CD) by Thursday mid-day and I will see what me and my team can do for you.

Just remember. You aren't the first team this has happened to. :(
In fact.. it was a rookie team just last year who won the trip to The Championship Event by wining the rookie all star at the NYC regional who had the same problem. :ahh: The Pyrobots from Staten Island if I remember correctly.

(edit: to reply to your last post Denamn, Certain exceptions I think can be made. You already are losing out on your 6 weeks of time, so I hope FIRST and the NYC Regional crew will let you build a bot with more than 20lbs of "additional" parts. "In addition to what?" would be my argument if it came up. But I'm sure they will understand and you will be OK to build a new one on the spot (at 120lbs - not 20 :ahh: )).

Good luck, and I know like Rich said, you can make it happen if you go to NYC.

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

I think special exemptions from some of the rules should be made for you. I think FIRST should allow other teams to start building a robot for you right now.

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

As my team is from Brazil we know what a problem customs can be.
In 2003 we had to postpone our departure for 1 day to make sure that the robot would made it. Last year our robot made it on the monday before the regional (we only knew it a few minutes before our international flight).
However, we never had problems with the american customs, and the ones we had were solved in a day or two.
That is why we never choose to go to the first weeks regionals, so we have more time to work with customs.
This year we sent a customs form (number 3311) and so as last year our robot was cleared succesfully.
If you guys need any help just pm me.
Hope your robot make it on time for the regional and if not you guys are able to make one in time to compete.

Malinowski
Team 383

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

This is true.

However, if someone has an unused kitbot, it's still COTS. :D

Good luck on getting the real deal in soon--and either way, best of luck!

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

I think the team is still desperately hoping we can get the original bot to the event, if fedex can move it around fast enough...
thanks for all the encouragement too:)

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

Hey there,

I worked for FedEx for awhile and am pretty familiar with international shipping. Though I don't have too much experience with International Freight, there should be no trouble in getting your shipment to New York City for the regional.

What paperwork did you have to fill out that was missing? I can help with that. You can also go to a local FedEx brick and mortar store front and fill the paperwork out there. They'll have something called the "Global SRG" that lists all of the required paperwork and information for shipping internationally. It changes monthly and is guarded like Fort Knox, and since I'm not employed by FedEx any longer, I can't get a hold of it. Also, it'll be different in the UK than in the US, I think.

The faster you act, the cheaper it'll be. You should be able to send International Freight to the US in about three days from Britain, if not faster, but it'll get quite expensive to do so.

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

i will try and find out tonight, if not tomorrow morning i will be able to talk to the coach and find out. Just hope he answers his phone etc.
Stephen

Re: 759's sad new york city update, TEAMS PLEASE POST WHAT ITEMS YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE
 

I'm really sorry to hear about this. We have the complete KOP frame unused, wheels, sprockets that we will be ready to supply to you guys, I will call and see if we can get a pair of KOP transmissions. We do have all of our pneumatics too. I will also check and see if we have additional electronics. For anyone else coming to NYC, please post a list of items that you can contribute to 759 in the event that they cannot get their bot shipped out. We're going to have a bot building party on Thursday. Let's work together to see how competitive of a robot we can make together. 759, please have your team think of what they may want, and do not hesistate to ask. I propose a platform multiloader using a pneumatic dump from the human loader that will allow you to run around and dump large numbers of tetras under the goals. And I know we can do this is one day, but what would be better is if we could help 759 build an effective capper collectively. I know this is a far stretch from the robot that you guys spent so much time on, but we at NYC will do anything we can to make sure you guys still compete. Richard, please forward this post to the rest of the teams coming to NYC and inform them of the situation, and ask them to send e-mails to wayne.penn@columbia.edu so we can coordinate having a contingency plan availble to our friends from the UK. Denman, the NYC Regional would not be the same without you guys. Please keep me posted, feel free to PM me.
Best,
Wayne

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

Was it beacuse of the battery lableing on the crate? A team at GLR told me and the other student and mentor who uncrated our robot that their robot sat in a FedEx warehouse forever becuase they had to fill out Hazardous Materials paperwork becuase it had non spillable batteries inside.

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

i agree they probably will make some exceptions for u guys to bring parts

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

possibly. i know that we did put the big signs on though... as per the regional instructions. I'll find out and post tomorrow
time for sleep methinks.

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

If it helps to make your team feel better, robots can be built in one day. It's been done before.

I can't offer you any help - I'm not in NYC, and the program is probably the only thing you're going to be able to retain from the old bot - but here's hoping you guys can make this work. :)

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

I echo what Wayne said, there's at least a few people from 395 here who'll be more than willing to help with whatever you need. Whatever you need, we'll be there to help.

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

this is sad news for sure..i wish a miracle would happen and you guys get your bot. if you guys were going to a regional of ours i know my team would have gladly brought you things you need. perhaps a few teams in nyc area could bring any extra material and give it to you all. good luck and i'm sorry again.

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

iv still got a kit frame sitting in the shop you can use. i was planning on using it for the dolly but since we decided that we don't have enough time for that project i can probably get it to you(have to clear it with the captain first). i also might be able to pull of getting you some fischerprice motors. i also know a place on canal that sells lexan if you need to buy last minute.

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

why can't you just ship one day shipping i know its expensive or can u do that

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

It's very difficult to ship such large freight one day, especially internationally.

I would imagine that customs would take at least a day alone. Remember that FedEx doesn't guarantee that you'll make it through customs quickly, if at all (I think).

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

and plus it hasn't got here yet. I believe its in transit to a airport in the states. either that or its still at newark.


Edit - from systemtric forums, posted very late last night
Its also going to cost us a bit more money for the hassle, but we can raise that money for sure.

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

Of course we can raise that money. Isn't that half the point of the competition?

I'm feeling confident we'll make it. I spent to much time away from my Xbox for it not to!

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

:D
yay

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

And I was really looking forward to being a part of a (really potentially hectic) weekend project. Oh well, that's just me being selfish. And I will be attending the regional anyways probably, so that's a weekend project within itself.

Glad to hear that you are good to go with the original bot.

If you still need any help, hit me up on AIM.

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

This is a great example of how everyone involved in FIRST is a class act. You'll never see another team come to the aid of a team in distress in other sports. I hope your robot makes it to the tournament. If not then it will be robot building junk yard wars style, but it looks like you'll have no shortage of parts :D

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

surely scrapheap challange :p
i'm feeling a bit better now lol

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

Yeah, I was looking forward to a good challenge!!!!! :D
Same old regional blah bhah. ;)

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

Yes scrapheap chalenge style would be very fun...

We are very happy about the robot. It will do us pround.

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

It sure will.

Junkyard Wars, Scrapheap Challenge... Same thing, just opposite sides of the pond.


I must agree with Tazlikesrobots above, it has brought a smile to my face in what has otherwise been a concerning week to see other people offering the team help at New York in the event of a Worst Case Scenario. Thank You to Everybody.

JVG

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

yes, i must agree with jason on the point about friendlyness

However scrapheap challange usa is on at the moment here ( it is pretty naff compared to the british one) but i guess they are probably the same.

Yay for First.

Now we just have to hope they are efficient enough and can get it moved in the couple of days left.
See you in NYC! (We leave on tuesday morning)

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

Denman,
From your recent posts things seem pretty hopeful. Could you update us on the latest status of your robot, so we will know whether or not to bring robot parts for 759? As always looking forward to seeing you and the Brits.
-wayne

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

Team 234 can put together a complete pneumatics set for you if you are going to build a robot. We are not using any this year, and have a huge
selection of the old stuff as well.

Please let us know Monday if you are going to have your robot or will be building a new one, and we will FEDEX a set to wayneP if it is needed (hope that is OK wayne - can you PM me a shipping address for you, I will need an address and phone number).

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

i'm still waiting for an update myself from Mr Massey, It seems like its all in the clear. I'll post in the morning.

Stephen

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

We are looking good to go. As we leave tomorrow morning, we wont know until we get there now.
Stephen

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

Good Luck to you and we hope the shipping comes thru!

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

Denman, maybe you can compare notes with team 1542. They initially had problems with FedEx at Stanstend but it all got straightened out quickly and I was very happy to see their crate delivered to the Chesapeake. They are arriving back home tonight. Let me know if you need their contact info when you get home.

The entire Chesapeake enjoyed meeting 1542. Their singers are going to be a tough act to follow. Two sang acappella God Save the Queen on Friday and Sat. They were brilliant :)

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

1542 actually went?!
we thought they had failed because we couldn't find them on the first intereactive map. They were initially going to virginia....
Time to try and contact them!

We leave in 1hour 30 minutes, for about 15 hours travelling. Good luck everyone and see you all there!
Stephen Denman

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

1542 not only went to Chesapeake, they went home with a Judge's trophy. They got to experience the US emergency medical system. Nothing too major :rolleyes: They got to communicate a lot with everyone back home because they didn't bring their consent forms. They had tremendous support from many of the teams who rallied to fix their bot. They were featured in the opening ceremonies. They went home all excited to expand the program in London. Great kids, outstanding mentors. The Chesapeake wouldn't have been the same without them. I was talking to one of the mentors and said "If you come to the Chesapeake next year..." and he interrupted me and said "No Jenny, WHEN we come to the Chesapeake next year..."

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

I'm happy to report that there is a crate marked 759 seating in the NYC Regional PIT. :)

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

If team 759 isn't there yet, have you thought about taking their robot out and replacing it with a 2X ball from '04?

On second thought, don't do that. We don't want our British friends to have heart attacks. :]

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

This is great news. Thanks for the update, Rich, as many of us have been watching this thread.

Andy B.

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

You are good! I like that... :yikes:

How about if I just hide their crate and replace it with a crate of oranges or something like that? ;)
(They have already landed, are in their Hostel and have contacted me already. :D )

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

Yea so glad to hear that 759 will be playing with their own Bot!!!! NYC Regional is officially on now with the Brits all set. See you guys tomorrow.
-wayne

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

Ladies and Gentlemen; Welcome to the Main Event; LEEEEEEETTTSSS GET READY TO RUUUUMMMMBBBLLLLEEEEEE !


t- 8.5 Hrs till uncrating and practice begins

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

Don't forget, 145th street is a skip stop station. Only the 9 stops there during rush hour (6:30-9:30 and 3:30-8)...

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

Oranges?!?!?! OMG.. They haven't had enough trouble with customs? :ahh:

Glad to hear that the situation resolved itself.

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

Good luck! Thanks for keeping us updated.

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

The first 3 (including me) didn't realise this :ahh: , the other lot happened to pick a 9 by luck lol....
:o

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

there is? we foudn a crate labelled 759 crates of oranges from spain in our pit :p


jokiin
Thanks all of you
S

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

Let me guess.. you opened your crate, and out popped a mini cooper, and the reason they held it is because you forgot to pay your automobile import tax..

Am I right???


:p


If I'm not right, can you do that next year? If not a mini, then a Fiat at least? Nice cool cars.. and they will fit in a robot crate. :D

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

Well, our captain has a ford KA.... that might fit.
Maybe see you today?
good luck all at NYc
Denman

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

OK, so how did you do in NYC???

Re: 759's sad new york city update
 

Good, we got to the quarters, and got knocked out, We also won the imagry award.
I popped into school today and found that our bot is back yay. Time for some rewelding i think.... (twice people managed to break the welding mhm)