Championships for dummies
 

This year is going to be my first time attending nationals and hopefully not my last, and as someone on a team that has also never been i am left with many questions about how Nationals operates, how it is different from regionals and how to prepare. Many of these are questions that so far have not been answered by friends and family that have previously attended nationals, nor can be easily found on these forums. So as a solution to this problem that I'm sure many of you share, I've decided that CD needs its own addition of the famous book series, Championships for dummies (n00bs, newbies, 1st timers, whatever name for us you please)

My intention is that this Thread will be able to function as a quick way for those who have any type of question concerning nationals in Atlanta, even if they have already attended, can find or ask for the information that they are looking for. In order for this thread to complete its goal i am going to have to kindly ask all of you to try to avoid rambunctious posts, insanely long answers to simple questions(feel free to extrapolate on any point in a PM if the rest of us don't need to know it) and any type of double answering already answered questions unless you have a very important point to, add, contradict, or if done in a very close time range, and all those other things that i along with most of the FIRST community are often guilty of.

That being said id like to start this off by asking what the deal is with scouting at nationals, in general and in particular for those of us who aren't expecting to go far, but are instead attending for the experience.

thanks,
Simon

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Scouting will probably eat up alot of your time (about 84 other teams in the division). Use it wisely.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

But you never know how far you'll go, so do the scouting as if you expected to win it all.
The goal should be to figure out the strengths and weaknesses of the other (84?) teams, with an eye towards what strategy might work well against or with that team.
Nationals is huge, so spread out the scouting amongst a lot of people, so everybody gets time to just watch, cruise the pits, etc.

Good luck,
Don

Re: Championships for dummies
 

If you have a mentor team or if you mentor a team who is in your division then think about splitting up scouting between the two teams.

Also if you have friends (or want to make friends) in another division offer them scouting reports on your division In case they make it to Einstein

Re: Championships for dummies
 

This is what I've come to understand about how the championship works. Is this correct?

There are 5 divisions: Archimedes, Galileo, Newton and Curie for the award winners and preregistered teams, and Einstein for the regional winners. Each division plays like a regional. Each winning division alliance goes on to play to be the National Champion alliance. One thing I'm not clear on is how the Championship Finals play out? How do you do it with 5 alliances?

Re: Championships for dummies
 

There are only 4 divisions with all the teams mixed, not a seperate one for regional winners. Einstein is used for the division winners to play the Final 4.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

There are only 4 divisions. Archimedes, Newton, Curie, and Galileo. Einstein isn't actually a division, it's just a field that FLL is played on as well as the finals with the the division champions.

The Einstein finals are just like regular elimination matches. I don't know which divisions go up against which, though.

One of our mentors counted the steps between the pit and the field. 652 steps, not counting escalators or elevators. It's quite a journey between the two. For the drivers, there's a much shorter route.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Is there any good java places?

Re: Championships for dummies
 

There is a starbucks in the convention center, fairly close to the pits; ~5 minute walk.


We also need to figure out scouting at nationals this year.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Is there any kind of sack lunch program available?
How and where do you eat your lunches?

Re: Championships for dummies
 

The CNN Center is about a 5-10 min walk from the pits and has a mall-style food court. I found it to be the best option as far as lunch goes.

As far as scouting goes, make sure to sign up for a CD of all your divisions matches from SOAP. I believe they are going to have a pre-event sign up sometime soon.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Are you reffering to last year's Championship or the year before? Compared to two years ago, last year was a breeze getting from the pits to the Georgia Dome. I have fond memories from 2004 of going up 3 sets of escalators then down another looooooooooooong escalator just to get from the pits to the field. It took like 10 minutes! (but sliding pennies down the side of the escalator was fun :rolleyes:

Last year's pit location was much better. It was a walk in the park (literally, if you count that grass field as a park) to get from the pits to the stadium. It also made for an easy escape to play some ultimate frisbee. :D

Mike C.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Tournament structure:
Lets try to make this simple, if you want an analogy, use NCAA March Madness, 4 Divisions (Archimedes, Curie, Galileo, Newton) then the winners of each Division square off on Einstein. Vex and FLL play on the DaVinci field.

Get Orientated:
The first thing anyone should do is get to know where you are, take a look at some maps (GWCC has a nice Virtual Tour that covers the entire site), look for the quick ways to get from place to place. The Georgia Dome and World Congress Center is no small venue. The path to get your robot to the field is long, so if you have time make your cart a little easier to handle.

Foodage:
Breakfast- If you don't eat at your hotel (I'd advise you do this or make other arrangements) I believe, there is a Dunkin' Doughnuts in the CNN center food court.

Lunch- Don't like arena prices/food? Go to the CNN center, its a short walk, it'll be nice weather, the food court is massive. CNN center will cater to just about any taste you feel like.

Dinner- No CNN center? Talk to the concierge at your hotel, theres a good amount of places to go out to. Just remember there are some bad sections of Atlanta (that doesn't mean theres bad food though)

Transportation:
If TIMS says your hotel is within walking distance, walk it. It's a really neat thing watching a ton of teams pour into the streets of Atlanta. Take the MARTA out of the airport, and thats probably the only time you may need it, a team can be well supported within walking distance of the main hotels. Sneakers are recommended, you do a ton of walking in Atlanta.

Other:
Go in with the mentality that you'll have the time of your life, and you will. Nothing is like Atlanta, its a great experince.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Allow me to go in depth about scouting -

1. Creating a system for pit-scouting
If you already have a good system, you can adapt it to a large environment. It's basically like scouting 2 regionals. If you don't...this applies to you. Decide what is most important to know about each potential alliance partner or opponent. Make a list of those qualities in a simple-to-use format and print a template for each team #. You can fill in the team # by hand or on a computer before printing, whichever you prefer. Since there is so much more ground to cover, and you may have minimal resources, you may want to truncate this list a bit, really focus on the priorities. It's very useful to have photos of the robots as well - you may or may not want to have someone solely taking photos so that when you match scout, you have a reference.

A note on pit-scouting - sometimes teams drop out last-minute from the roster and are replaced by other teams, not exactly in the order you thought they'd be. Relying on order by team # is very unreliable this year, so having a sheet printed for each team ahead of time is increasingly important.

2. Match Scouting
Ideally, you pit scout Thursday and match scout Friday and Saturday morning. Try to get decent seats for your scouts, so that they can see every match. It's very difficult to keep good track of all the amazing teams, so you may simply want to consider taking brief notes about each team, rather than getting tons of data from every match. Teams get less matches in Nationals than they do in Regional events (84 teams per division vs say, 40 teams per regional), so it's easier to simply take notes on each team as you observe. Try to get experienced people doing this, and make sure they're dedicated. But do give them lunch breaks!

3. Deciding a ranking
Scouting can be hard with only 40 or so teams competing, doubling that is crazy! I highly recommend ranking teams on Friday night at your hotel as though Finals selection is at 9 AM the next morning. Have a list of the teams you think you are most compatible with - not necessarily the highest ranked teams, but teams who will play strong defense while you score or will score well while you play strong defense, etc. On your ranking sheet, write down precisely why you chose to rank the team in that spot, so that when you are observing matches on Saturday morning, you can refer back to your list and change things as needed. Again, since there are so many more robots competing, it is very important to get an idea of who is a good match for you early on, and build on that, otherwise you will run out of resources.

Good luck!

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Conor brings up an excellent point. Sneakers are required in the pits. Wear them. You can wear flip flops when you get home.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

It's more than a mall-style food court. That food court is HUGE! Bigger than any mall's food court I've ever seen. It's enormous and it just goes UP! You go in there and look up, it sure is a sight to see.

The CNN center food court is a point of interest. It's like 5 minutes walk away from the arena, too. In fact there is a walkway from the food court to the arena.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

BTW-NEMO is starting another white paper in the hints and tips series. "Preparing for the Championship" Thanks to KathieK for another great idea. The main focus is not stuff like scouting, but how to plan ahead for this, especially with funding. We will include any best practices from this thread.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Also check out MOEmentum, which gives weekly updates during the build season for rookie teams; it includes tips from mentors and students compiled throughout the years. The unit on the Championship hasn't been updated yet, but you can still access last years - "Championship Preparation - The Mother of All FIRST Events". It will be updated in a week or two


http://moe365.org/moementum.php

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Register to attend a conference workshop. Your peers are volunteering their time in Atlanta to present these great workshops and every team should take advantage of them. It's a good learning experience, and also another way to network with other teams you might never get to meet otherwise.

Visit the Chairmans' Award Winners Hall of Fame. Be inspired by the best in FIRST!

Visit the FIRST LEGO League World Festival (80 teams from 30 countries competing on Thursday, Friday and Sat morning) and the FIRST Vex Challenge Championship competition (50 teams from around the U.S. competing on Thursday and Friday).

Visit the many colleges and universities' booths and learn about their FIRST Scholarships. It's never too early (or too late) to start thinking about higher education options.

If you get some "down time" travel across the street to Centennial Olympic Park and play some frisbee or run through the water fountains (it's OK to be a kid at heart sometimes). Or better yet, time it so you can enter the fountain circles without getting wet and grab a picture when the fountains cycle back on!

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Be prepared to walk if you are on the Drive Team or one of those people going on field. I didn't measure last year but I'm taking a pedometer with me this year just for that walk. Someone said half-mile round trip from Newton Pit to Newton Field. Not sure about that but wouldn't surprise me.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Looking at your VR link, where would the pits be? Build C, Level 1?


And in relation to the VR maps, where would the CNN food court be?

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Just to clarify, FLL has a practice and judging day on Thursday, competition on Friday, and awards ceremonies on Saturday. I've been asked to be a judge.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

That's umm.. Donuts.. spelled the right way. ;)

I have a much better map than the VR one that I have saved as a link at home. I'll link that here unless I can find it in the next half hour.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

I'll echo what Genia said about scouting. To put it lightly - it's difficult. Double the teams from most regionals and increase your walking distance significantly and you'll have an idea of what Nationals is like. Last year, we tried to rotate people in and out of scouting but you need a lot of team members to do this.

I found that doing it by hand is easy and more practical. Make a spreadsheet on Excel and print them prior to competition, one for each team and a few extras just in case. Get a binder and put all the teams in order by number. Have one person before your team's match go back with the papers to the pits and strategize with the drivers. Simple and effective - no computer required. We even had people put their names down on the sheets to hold people accountable for their information.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Ok, here is some great info for first time people heading to Atlanta:

Just to give you an idea of the scale of THIS MAP, It took myself and 3-4 other people 10 minutes to walk from the outside doors of the Georgia Dome to the Front Door of the CNN Center/Foodcourt.

General info here:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...69&postcount=8

Maps and more travel while in Atlanta info in the overall thread here:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ht=atlanta+map

More of the above info repeated in another thread, but this time a map of restaurants as well:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...64&postcount=7

And then you have the official Tourist page for the 2006 FIRST Robotics Competition from the Atlanta Tourism Board where a lot of that above info came from:

http://first.atlanta.net/

Re: Championships for dummies
 

If you'll be using the public transportation system a lot (MARTA), consider purchasing the discounted pass: http://www.itsmarta.com/howto/specia...ails.asp?id=80

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Sneakers are required in the pits. Wear them. You can wear flip flops when you get home.
__________________
Closed toe shoes are required, not necessarily sneakers. Open toe shoes are prohibited in the pits.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Even if you're on the drive team, it's still a long walk. Make sure you have comfortable shoes on.
Another important thing that I learned last year is to make sure your cart has good wheels on it. The wheel bearings in our cart wore out last year at the beginning of Atlanta, and it was a long three days pushing that thing back and forth.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Even if you are only there for the experience, scouting is part of the experience. 2 years ago I think we had 4 people actively walking around, and a few people in the stands. The people watching matches never wrote anything down, but they could generally give us an idea of how well the team was doing. The people pit scouting had a notebook with basic questions, but I'm not really sure how much they were used. We certainly didn't expect to go far (and didn't) but it gave people on the team something to do, which they seemed to enjoy. Even if you aren't expecting to go far, scouting is a really good way to look at other robots and pick up some ideas for next year.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Elgin Clock said: Thanks very much for that info as I have not seen that page before and I live in the Atlanta area.

Dave :)

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Actually, if you are in a time crunch, the main pit entrance had a temporary mini-food court, with a lot of the same places as you'd see at CNN. Or you can try the stadium food at the Dome.

MARTA--Definitely very good. If you are near the airport, you'll get a lot of mileage out of a pass. If you're walking distance from the venue, it's pretty much one way on arrival, the other way on departure.

Shoes: plan for walking; if you are going from venue to pit with scouting data for your drive team, make sure you can hustle in your shoes.

Final note: Da Vinci is VEX territory and has two fields; Einstein is FLL territory until Saturday afternoon, when it becomes the Championship field.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Oh by the way.
If you are lookign for instant inspiration you should visit the FIRST Hall of Fame and see how all of those Chairman's Award winning teams runa first rate program adn see how you can also do more for the FIRST community.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Is the schedule still the same at the Championship?

Section 8.2
8.2 Practice Round

Do you still have Thursday as practice day, Friday and Saturday for quailifying rounds?

Re: Championships for dummies
 

The agenda for Championships can be found here. It was just updated this week.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Regarding the workshops at the championships,

1- If we purchase a pass to one or all days, does the pass allow us into just one workshop that day, or as many workshops as we want to attend on that day?

2- Key members of our team will not be able to attend workshops that would really help improve our team because they are needed elsewhere, such as in the pits and on the drive team. So will we be able to bring in a video camera and record the workshops so the whole team can view it later on?

Thanks for all your help!

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Food--Last year, there was some type of cafe place in the CNN center that was popular for breakfast. Bacon, eggs, muffins, & most everything. Drawback: long lines. For lunch, there was a big BBQ setup on the grass outside the GWCC. I didn't try it, but it was obviously a hit (meaning, long lines).

Weather--In 2004, it was beautiful, sunny and warm the whole time. Last year, it was near-freezing, with the occasional soaked-to-the-skin downpour. So check the weather before you go! If there's any chance of rain, carry a poncho with you every time you're outdoors. The weather in Atlanta can do just about anything in the spring, from "fire weather" to hurricanes.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Whoa, near-freezing? Are we talking about the same event? lol ;)

I thought that the weather at the Championships in 2005 was really warm (except Saturday morning); I was wearing a tee shirt and shorts the whole time. I'm pretty sure the temperatures were in the upper sixties and lower seventies for all three days.

Then again, being from New England I consider anything over 55-60 F warm. :p

Re: Championships for dummies
 

I'm guessing she was talking about Saturday night's wrap party. I know some people on my team who likened it to being back in CT in April, which isnt that bad, but it's a shock when you realize you are down south where it is supposed to be like 70+ degrees every day. (Or, that's what the southerners I talk to would like to have us northerners think anyways :ahh: )

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Last year's wrap party WAS cold (especially when you are dumping buckets of ice on each other at the end of the event - a yearly ritual now for a certain team...). Bring a jacket with you to Saturday's competition if they are expecting cooler temps and you plan to attend the wrap party.

An individual one-day pass allows one person to attend as many session as (s)he wants, on that one day only. A three day pass would allow attendance at any session you want. A 5-person pass allows you to transfer the pass among your team members so that any 5 people can attend any session(s) on the day or days you purchase passes for.

I do not believe that is possible. However, all presenters have been asked to provide copies of their sessions which will be posted on the FIRST website at a later date.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Sunday, April 24, 2005 (the day after last year's Championship), the low was 34 F in Atlanta. It was a record low for that date since record-keeping began in 1878. I got this information from the
NOAA site. The average low for April was 50.3 F. And yes, I heard the Atlanta natives complaining about the cold. But it WAS "fire weather" a few days before that!

My point is, check the weather before you go, and come prepared.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

I don't see why we wouldn't be able to, since the point of these workshops is to spread knowledge and help teams, and aren't all the speakers volunteers anyway? It's not like they're making money by speaking at the workshops (I would think that the passes we pay for is for the rooms the seminars are held in and to make sure only a safe number of people attend.).

Re: Championships for dummies
 

how does wednesday night work? I know 3 representatives uncrate the robot. so thats 2 kids and an adult. Do you bring the tools in at the same time? Are you allowed to work on your robot at all?

Re: Championships for dummies
 

You bring the tools you need to open your crate. And that's all you do - open your crate, and get it ready for the drayage firm to take out to store. No working on the robot. No setting up pit displays.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

My team is shipping our tools to atlanta in a crate using the same drayage company FIRST uses. Should we keep out the tools we need to uncrate the robot separate from the tool crate?

Re: Championships for dummies
 

If you need something to open the box with, it has to be outside the box. And don't forget safety glasses!

Re: Championships for dummies
 

I checked and videotaping of sessions that you have registered to attend is allowed with permission of the presenter(s) of each session.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Great! Thanks for all your help!

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Not necessarily. Could be two kids and one adult, three adults, or three kids as well. Just depends on who you guys decide to send in. FIRST has made no official ruling on makeup of the Wednesday night crew. (Note: Don't leave until you are done. You won't be able to get back in if you do.)

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Although teams that show up without the correct tools may feel kind of silly, they can usually borrow crate-opening tools from another team.

What's really a problem is using a lock to secure your crate, but then forgetting the key!

Having a "What to Bring" checklist, and using it routinely, can help prevent these kinds of embarrassing moments at competitions. So far, I think we've discussed the following for crate-opening time:

--3 team members
--tool(s) and/or key for opening the crate
--safety glasses

Re: Championships for dummies
 

I haven't read this whole thread but I'm interested in doing some partnership scouting in Atlanta. We (team 537) has an amazing system that we are willing to share and all we ask is for other teams to fill out some forms while they watch a match and we can share our scouting reports.

If you are interested email me. mweinand@wi.rr.com

Thanks!

-Mike

Re: Championships for dummies
 

If we happen to end up in the same division most definitely, and if not should either of our teams make it to the finals I'm willing to share whatever important information we have. Our team's scouts are somewhat unorganized but they are still very good and can tell you whatever you need to know about your opponents. we are going to be bringing around 8 scouts with us and Ill PM or e-mail you my contact info so that we can possibly collaborate should this idea pass with my team's scouts.

-Simon

Re: Championships for dummies
 

If there are any smaller/newer teams who are having trouble scouting either because they don't have the man power or they don't know quite what to do, who would like to come to us for help or even work with us, we would be open to that. We sometimes also have a bit of a man power problem. Obviously we have a well established scouting system, but we are willing to help any one else along with that, and again possibly work with a team who needs help. PM me if you are interested in anything. And anyone who needs help can come see the people with the giant yellow smiles :) (Team 175) in the stands. :)

Re: Championships for dummies
 

I noticed today that FIRST has made a new addition to the Championship menu: now teams can preorder lunches! :)

Go to the bottom of this page.

Wednesday night setup specifics
 

Our team did not go to the championship last year. We are excited about the wednesday night uncrating. It would be nice to move in all our stuff then. Help out the Thursday morning jam.

Did they let anyone at least move their stuff into the pits?

Re: Championships for dummies
 

From the Manual: "7.4.2 Championship Agenda
Limited Pit opening on Wednesday night from 6 to 9 p.m. (3 persons per team to uncrate team robot and charge batteries only. This is not a work session)"

I don't believe you can do anything but that. Uncrate and charge batteries. No setting up pits, no working on robots. The intent is to help them get some of the crates out of the way on Wed night.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

So, I take it that if you want to keep your crate their as a work area, it's not worth uncrating early wednesday night then?

Re: Wednesday night setup specifics
 

On Wednesday, the three people who uncrate the robot could bring in as much tools / materials / stuff as they could carry in on one trip. For ease of carrying, they do allow you to put your stuff on dolly carts as you bring it in on Wednesday. But once you enter the pits and then leave, they will not let you back in. Anything that is not brought in on Wednesday evening can be brought in on Thursday morning.

Re: Wednesday night setup specifics
 

When and where are the scholarship winners announced ? Also do they post the recepients on the website once announced ?

Re: Championships for dummies
 

from the FIRST website: "Scholarship recipients that have been chosen by mid-April will be recognized at the FIRST Championship. All scholarship recipient names and team numbers will be posted on the FIRST website by mid June. "

Re: Championships for dummies
 

so...if someone wins a scholarship, do they notify them so that they can be at the championships? or more importantly, so that it can affect their college decision?

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Uh.. ok.. so.. where do you send it, and what's the contract number?

Oh yeah, and is there a minimum order?

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Yeah, i want to know the scholarship rewards before i make my final choice, and by mid june i will miss most of my enrollment deadlines

Re: Championships for dummies
 

You can call the phone number at the bottom of the order page if you have questions.

I believe that our team travel coordinator called the restaurant with some questions. People on our team who want the lunches are to send their orders and checks to her, then she's going to mail all the orders together. She says, "When [our team leader] registers our team, he will also receive lunch tickets for all those who pre-ordered lunches." She also thinks that there will be a choice of soft drink or water for beverages.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

I think it's done on an individual college/university/organization basis. I believe some people may already know they have received their scholarships, and others are surprised to see their names announced at Championships. If you have a question, best to call the college who is offering the scholarship and ask.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

What day of the competition are the scholarship winners announced, is it like a part of the awards ceremony ?

Re: Championships for dummies
 

No, it is not announced like that. I am trying to remember - I recall it being put on the big screens when Champs were in Houston. I can't remember in Atlanta. Can anyone help me out?

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Most scholarship winners are notified before Championship. If you have won, you'll receive communication from the college or university. The last few years, the scholarship winners have also been recognized during the event via a streaming list presentation similar to the event sponsors.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Will the list of scholarship winners be posted on usfirst.org during or after the Championships? In the latter case, can some generous person please post scholarships-winners as they are announced? I'm interested in knowing who got what for a few certain scholarships...

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Is there Wifi in the arena, pits or surrounding area?

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Has any one ever handed out a petition for a jello based playing field in years past? Because if not I'm definitely doing it this year.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

The Omni hotel at the other end of the block has wireless internet access, and I've occasionally gotten a marginal signal in the nearby food court. But any WiFi you find in the pits or the stadium is likely to be a local scouting network without an internet connection.

Bottom line: don't count on it.

Re: Championships for dummies
 

Its that time of year again,

First i would like to say congratulations to all of the other teams who have qualified this year and those who have not.

My question this year is concerning the chairmens presentations at nationals, how they work etc. I remember that judges do not travel through the pits at nats as they do at regionals and i want to know how similar the presentation is and what to expect.

thanks
Simon