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Unread 25-04-2007, 15:42
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VEX Robotics Engineer
AKA: Arthur Dutra IV; NERD #18
FRC #0148 (Robowranglers)
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Re: [FVC]: Longer competitions

Even though many have stated that they would be against a two-day FVC competition, I still stand behind the idea*. To understand truly how the competition would work, you need to understand the FRC BattleCry@WPI off-season competition.

On Friday, matches start after normal school hours. The pits officially open at 4pm, and there are usually 2-3 hours of first practice rounds, and then qualification rounds. This way, teams do not have to miss school on Friday if they want to attend the competition. (Our FRC team goes to school on Friday as normal, and immediately the school day is over our team meets, packs up the robot and tools, and we drive off for the competition.) Teams are not required to attend Friday, and their rankings will not suffer negatively in any way from not attending on Friday. Basically, Friday (competition-wise) is just a bonus day.

Usually on Friday at BattleCry@WPI, they usually have a whole assortment of activities ranging from a BBQ, to ice cream socials, to movies, to bowling, to CRUD, to games based off of FIRST trivia. For teams who do attend on Friday, the atmosphere on that day is more of a "let's have fun!" attitude. And the amount of fun activities they plan is unrivaled at many other competitions, including some FRC Regionals!

For Friday night, there are hotels right near the WPI campus, as well as dorm rooms offered for cheap rates to teams attending the competition. (The competition is held in mid/late June, so their school year is over.) But if your team is less than 2 hours away and doesn't want to pay for hotels/rooms, then driving home for Friday night from the competition isn't out of the question.

On Saturday, the competition is played out as a normal competition would.


*But realistically, this idea of a multiple-day competition for FVC would not work everywhere in the country. The areas where is would be most successful are in areas with a high "density" of FVC teams, where teams could still reasonably commute for Friday's activities after school, as well as Saturday's, without needing a hotel room. Thus, costs would stay cheap and the program would still stay accessible, but now with the added "bonus day" of Friday.

New England is one such area where I can see a competition like this working, as we have a large number of FIRST (FRC, FVC, and FLL) teams all in a very small area, so for teams looking to save money by commuting this idea would be feasible. (FRC-team wise, there are over a dozen within 20-30 minutes of my house, including three in towns adjacent to mine.)

But in other areas of the country where the mileage between FVC teams can number quite high, then a multiple-day competition might not be as feasible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1885.Blake View Post
I'm puzzled - Aren't school (K-12, community colleges, university campuses and their satellite campuses) gymnasiums inexpensive and plenty big enough?

Maybe I think they are cheap because local schools have been willing to donate custodial services...?

Blake
ConnVex was held on a university campus, but there are a lot more issues (including capital to fund the event) that go into planning a FVC competition than just picking a gymnasium. With many of the things we needed to address, a university campus was identified as being better suited to host a competition than a high school.
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Art Dutra IV
Robotics Engineer, VEX Robotics, Inc., a subsidiary of Innovation First International (IFI)
Robowranglers Team 148 | GUS Robotics Team 228 (Alumni) | Rho Beta Epsilon (Alumni) | @arthurdutra

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