FRC Qual Rounds on Thursday @ Championship
 

I may have just missed it on here because I can't believe i'm just finding out about this now. I did a quick search but found nothing.

http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles...CMP_Agenda.pdf

I think this is an awesome change. More matches at Championship is something we all have wanted for a long time.

I know our advance team is only a mentor and 2 students, the rest of the team will be there by 1pm. I hope this doesn't present a problem for others.

Re: FRC Qual Rounds on Thursday @ Championship
 

With 80+ teams per division, past rankings were based off of ~7 matches. By only practicing Thursday morning and beginning qualification matches after lunch, teams should get at least one additional match. Each division has their own practice field so a loss of practice time should not be an issue.

I like the change. It not only allows teams more matches, but should make the division rankings more accurate.

Re: FRC Qual Rounds on Thursday @ Championship
 

Part of me is liking having more qualification matches!:)


Maybe you could charge for people to drive your robot until they show up! $10 a match with a $20 fee for penalties. Just kidding.;)

Re: FRC Qual Rounds on Thursday @ Championship
 

More matches = Good. Would much rather have another match than a another practice.

Re: FRC Qual Rounds on Thursday @ Championship
 

I like how the schedule still says the Closing Ceremonies will only take 2 hours.

Re: FRC Qual Rounds on Thursday @ Championship
 

Does anyone know if this effects judging times? Will judges start looking at robots and teams on Thursday? Will CA judging take place on Thursday?

Re: FRC Qual Rounds on Thursday @ Championship
 

Great, great change. Definitely adds value to the Championship's admission fee.

Re: FRC Qual Rounds on Thursday @ Championship
 

This is going to make for an interesting inspection process.....

But it will be Great to get more match time at Championship!

I wonder if in future years we'll see inspection started during the Wednesday night uncrate period?

Re: FRC Qual Rounds on Thursday @ Championship
 

This is awesome! Having more matches at the Championship will be great! With that time frame how many matches would that add per team? 2-ish? So that should bring the total to around 9 per team?

I guess the only downside to this is that it really cuts down on the amount of modification and De-Bug time available Thursday for teams.

Re: FRC Qual Rounds on Thursday @ Championship
 

Absolutely not!

In the same manner as you are able to work on your robots on Friday and Saturday, you can work on your robots on Thursday afternoon. Just ask for a re-inspection of the modified/added mechanisms before you head to the field.

Regards,

Mike

Re: FRC Qual Rounds on Thursday @ Championship
 

I can see good and bad things about Thursday qualification matches...

The good: More qualification matches. The 3 1/2 hours should yield 1-2 more matches per team.

The bad: Less time to make changes to your robot prior to inspection and less time to inspect.

I like the idea of more qualification matches. Having only 7 qualification matches will not produce an accurate ranking of ~80 teams.

However, my fear is that teams that are not prepared will not pass inspection. As a result the Thursday qualification matches will have no shows and will bring down the quality of the event.

I'm also afraid that FIRST is underestimating the amount of time it will take to inspect 380-something teams. Last year it took us over an hour to go through inspection. Granted, changes can be made to the inspection process to speed things up... Let just hope FIRST makes those changes.

Re: FRC Qual Rounds on Thursday @ Championship
 

Mike,

While this can be done, and I'm sure will be done during the course of the Championship, it really limits teams to what they can do. My team for instance is planning on re-routing our drive chains at the next event, in addition to doing some modifications to our kicker. We're planning on using most of Thursday for this. We probably wouldn't do this at the Championship, for fear of missing the first few qualification matches, and maybe even missing getting inspected on time and not being rewarded seeding points even if we send a team representative.

-Dustin

Re: FRC Qual Rounds on Thursday @ Championship
 

Unless your changes are going to affect weight, envelope, number of motors or other items on the inspection checklist, your robot can be inspected before these changes are made. If your changes do affect those items, you can ask for re-inspection.

We don't want teams to miss any matches. Only if the robot is not complying with the rules, would it not pass inspection. In some cases, the non-conforming items can be disabled, allowing the robot to pass inspection and get on the field. For example, if there's a problem with pneumatics, the breaker for the compressor can be pulled for the match.

In order to get ~340 robots through inspection on Thurs morning, FIRST will need plenty of inspectors. Hopefully, enough people will step up to make this happen. This is a great opportunity to interact with students on teams you only get to see once a year! Whether or not Team 980 goes to Atlanta, I plan to be there as an inspector. :)

Re: FRC Qual Rounds on Thursday @ Championship
 

All,

Don't shoot the messenger...

From Bill's Blog 9/29/2009:

Why do you think it took so long to publish agendas for most of the regionals?

Deal with it...

Mike

Re: FRC Qual Rounds on Thursday @ Championship
 

Perhaps FIRST should allow teams the option to get weighted/sized and WPA Key on Wed night. That wouldn't take more than 3 team representatives and a few inspectors per division. It could really accelerate the inspection Thursday morning for those teams that are ready and lessen the rush on the inspectors.