At the Michigan events I've volunteered at, the time consumers are, in order (from least to most time):
- Finalizing and announcing scores
- Field Reset
- Robots on and off the field
- Getting robots connected
Yesterday afternoon we stressed that moving robots was more important than moving totes. This improved the timing of getting the robots onto the field, so they could begin getting out of transport config faster.
When things run well, you can keep to a 7-minute cycle, with occasional 6's or 8's. But then you have a big delay where some robot just will not connect, and the FTA's and Orange Hats are working feverishly. Sometimes it takes 2 or 3 dance songs before you're ready to go, and this year there's no way to make up that time.
I didn't count, but in a normal 80-match qualification in FiM, there's probably 2 or 3 times that the green light goes on before the announcer is done introducing the teams. There's maybe 5 or 6 matches where we're waiting for last minute adjustments to the robot after the light is green, and that only for a few seconds. The rest of the time everything is ready to go except the electronics.