Quote:
Originally Posted by Kims Robot
Be careful, this is all STILL speculation. Even though FIRST has now announced the Will.i.am concert, we still have NO confirmation as to why the decision was made to move the fields. Looking at the photos in Bills blog, for some reason, that Dome seems to look a lot smaller than the Georgia Dome. I know others have done the math, and probably have more details, but there are still plenty of reasons why they may have made this decision. Until we get there, or until they say otherwise, assuming they "pushed us aside for a rock concert" is STILL speculation. Obviously many others don't, but I still have faith that in general, FIRST knows what it is doing, and often has good reason for doing what they do.
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Kim,
Normally I'd agree. However, in the layout maps, over 1/2 of the Dome floor space seems taken for what certainly appears to be a concert space.
OVER 1/2! The picture in Bill's Blog looks like it's taken from the floor in an area I know fairly well, at about the 1/3 mark from A and D entrances (might be between 1/3 and 1/2). That's why it looks so small. It's taken from the D side, looking towards the A entrance. That grid in the air on the right side is for one of the fields. You're really only looking at a corner of the venue, not an end. The rest of the pictures are in the convention center's halls, or the passthrough between Hall 5 and the arena floor. Those won't tell you anything about the arena area.
There is MORE than enough room for 4 FRC fields, FTC, and FLL/Einstein, and most likely the Aerial Robotics group of teams as well, on the floor of the Dome.
This is really starting to look like L.A. 2008, except intentional. (For those that weren't there: The arena double-booked, so the American Gladiators water tank was in half the arena floor. Pits were cramped and so was the field. Normally, space wasn't an issue--that year, it was.) Hopefully the result will be about the same--L.A. 2009 had 10'x15' pits and plenty of open space (practice field and competition field and machine shop, too).
Edit: I wonder if the theater in the same complex is being used for anything that night...
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Past teams:
2003-2007: FRC0330 BeachBots
2008: FRC1135 Shmoebotics
2012: FRC4046 Schroedinger's Dragons
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