Quote:
Originally posted by Joel J.
Also, I have a serious question: What do you hope to accomplish by being such a brick--yes, brick? Are you trying to emulate M.Krass? If so, you have a waaaays to go.
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Is this a good thing? I'm a little confused.
Oh - Joel, please don't use the word brick in the same sentence as my name - ever. In my world, it has a really awful connotation. . . of course, that's assuming that you weren't meaning to insult me.
Anywho . . .
I looked over the floor plans of Reliant Park a few days ago and I'm a bit shocked by its size. I did notice, also, that those floor plans don't include the new stadium that was built adjacent to the Astrodome.
There are two ways I'd do this, were I given the opportunity. Of course, I think that facilitating easy movement of robots from the pits to the fields is the most important thing to worry about, followed by arranging the pits in a single large area that allows for easier scouting.
With that in mind, I'd place the pits along the floor of the Astrodome. There ought to be more than enough square footage to hold 300 teams there. I'd place the einstein field in the new stadium adjacent to the Astrodome. I'd place the rest of the fields in Reliant Hall which is also adjacent to the Astrodome.
This arrangment has the fields flanking the pits on two sides and each are reasonably close to the pit.
The second arrangement, and what I think is more likely, is that the pits will be set up in Reliant Hall. I think that may be because the ceiling height is low (16') and because the column spacing wouldn't allow for fields and stands to be erected inside that building. From there, the main field would again be in the new stadium (or in the Astrodome itself) and the rest of the fields would take up residence in Reliant Arena. Again, this is connected to Reliant Hall.
My concern for such a huge venue lies in the overall effect we'll have. 20,000 people or not, much of these stadiums will lie empty. I know FIRST kids can generate energy, but can they generate enough to compensate for ~80,000 empty seats? That depresses me.
Arranging sound inside the stadiums may be difficult as you mentioned - particularly if there's more than one match or field goin on at a time.
Part of the allure in watching matches for me is, really, seeing the robots work. I can't really make observations about how specific mechanisms might work from stadium seating. I worry about being removed from the action. I like being right up close. In fairness, I never watched matches on Einstein because of this.
The Disney Village has also had a very finished, polished feel to me. I hope the Houston venue is the same, but I worry that it will seem - again - empty and incomplete. It's almost too large.
FIRST can't support many more fields than we currently have. They don't have the staff to man them. Volunteers would be a necessity, and they'd absolutely need more than a few hours worth of training. Perhaps they could consider flying in the staff from the regional events? We'll have experience in running the show already.
The competition will be fine. The matches will be exciting. The robots will be top notch. The people will be great. I hope 'the show' doesn't suffer at the expense of size. I'm hopeful, at least, that Dean mentioned Disney will be there. Maybe that means they'll have a hand in putting on 'the show'? That is, after all, what they do better than anyone else on Earth.
