Hello and welcome Teams to the Central Illinois Regional.
A few tips about the Dome:
- Be sure to bring some warm clothes in case the weather outside gets cold to frigid. The temp in the Dome can get to 55 degrees or so when the temp outside is less than 10 or 15 degrees.
The average temps in Pekin at the end of February are: highs of lower 40's and lows of mid to upper 20's.
- The Dome's air pressure is hardly noticeable except as you go in and out of the rotating doors and airlocks. Consider it good practice for the 2095 Regionals on the Space Platform.
- See the Dome from the air... inside! My son Andrew Barth from Metamora's Team 4143 Mars Wars made this vid with his tricopter (with a real closeup of the turf at the beginning to answer a lot of questions on that subject) lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPUAbzKSVkQ . You can see that lights and sound will have to be self supporting as there are no trusses in the entire Dome, except for one about 5 feet tall and about 25 feet long in the middle.........
- There are plenty of restaurants within a few blocks of the Dome... just google map Avantis Dome in Pekin IL and go to street view for a walk around...just head south from the Dome.
- Also within a few blocks of the Dome is a huge Menards Home Improvement for many of your nuts and bolts needs.
- Check out the posters that were submitted for our contest... about 45 of them, on
http://RobotPosterContest.org/posterpage and see who won at
http://RobotPosterContest.org/winner
- Streaming of the event should be on ILFIRST.org we hear. Tune in and enjoy!
- We'll bring you the results of the Lamp Contest on Friday of the competition.
- I hear the Dome food kitchen on location there is concocting a new soft drink they are calling "Battery Acid" or something like that. Be sure to try it out. They also have unlimited pizza, "gondolas" and Italian cuisine at the kitchen and inside the dome proper, and also available from their restaurant down the block... of course it's called Avanti's.
- There's also a rumor that Regional tshirts might be available while supply lasts and when those run out, on an order basis. It will list all teams on the back and have the Aerial Assist logo on the front.
- All of us from the area within 20 - 30 miles of the Dome wholeheatedly welcome all the teams to this really exciting Regional! It will be quite the time here we are sure!
- I've also heard the mayor is going to present the "Joystick Controller To The City" at the Opening Ceremonies on Friday. The City of Pekin Council is very enthusiastic, and I can just about guarantee within a year or so Pekin High School will miraculously have a new Robotics team there!
Doede Barth
CIR Planning Committee