FIRST is really looking into the Einstein problems

[normpear2]

Originally Posted by Grim Tuesday

Einstein Field was never used at a regional. It spent the season stored in Tennessee, waiting for the catastrophic failure of another field, to replace it if need be.

That actually could explain why this happened.


Lack of being tested in competition conditions. There is a reasons most products are heavily tested before being used.

[Ziv]

Originally Posted by normpear2

That actually could explain why this happened.


Lack of being tested in competition conditions. There is a reasons most products are heavily tested before being used.

This has been brought up. It's certainly a possible factor, but mysterious communications issues occurred at several events—including some of the divisions—throughout the season. It's also unclear what would be different about this field from the others (something that I'm sure will be investigated if necessary in Manchester).

[Chris is me]

I personally don't believe the issue was contained to a single field this year. I obviously have nothing to prove that point that isn't circumstantial, but I think making the assumption that this is an isolated incident that was unique to Einstein is not a safe one to make at all.

[jblay]

Are the teams travel and hotel costs being paid for by FIRST? I sure hope so.

It seems like this email is kind of finally admitting it was a greater problem than just Einstein by asking teams to email in the issues they had outside of Einstein which I think is crucial to not only finding the cause of the issue but also restoring people's faith in the way FIRST deals with these issues.

[sgreco]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

I personally don't believe the issue was contained to a single field this year. I obviously have nothing to prove that point that isn't circumstantial, but I think making the assumption that this is an isolated incident that was unique to Einstein is not a safe one to make at all.

I'm pretty sure this is correct. There were plenty of other connection problems at a bunch of events.

That said, FIRST is doing the best they can, and they certainly are not shying away from the problem at all. The most we can hope for is that FIRST finds not just a problem on the Einstein field, but possibly the derivative of all of these connection issues so that it can be corrected for next season.

[normpear2]

It could be the lack of available empty Channels for WiFi to broadcast over. There are, even when teams are ask not to, a large number of open wi-fi networks, that, even if they aren't connecting, could be causing slight interference across the channel their network is running on.

Well, that is what I can think off. The only thing I'm leaning toward is some kind of outside interference. They really should test the field with large numbers of wifi and cell phones in the area and see if that causes any effects or not, I know from the past, that when sitting even at the top of the stands, you can see the routers for the robots on the field, and I'm talking 4/5 bar signals, not 1 or 2.

The dlinks are 5 Ghz Compatible, maybe its time to try it @ 5? There would be less interference due to the lower number of 5 Ghz compatible computers and other devices. We could run 2.4 Ghz @ home, and use 5 GHz at competitions as part of the router setup kiosk, since you are only allowed to connect via bridge or tether at competitions, it would cause no problems other than the practice fields would need Dlinks instead of the old Cisco routers.

I mean, 99% of these comm issues don't happen outside the field.

It could even be the FMS itself...

[Zebra_Fact_Man]

I'm so proud of FIRST that they have the honor to admit when something went wrong and proactively seek out an answer, a cause, and a solution. The field this year was problematic and I hope for the sake of fair competition that they get this thing fixed.

[Meredith Novak]

The Einstein field elements were new and unused, the FMS had been at several prior events.

[topgun]

So, one fully functional FIRST Field and 12 of the best robots in the world with pretty much unlimited time to "test". That would be like the ultimate playground. I volunteer!

[JB987]

"Are the teams travel and hotel costs being paid for by FIRST? I sure hope so."...Travel, hotel and meals

"unlimited time"?...nah, just two days, June 9 and 10

[Grim Tuesday]

Originally Posted by Meredith Novak

The Einstein field elements were new and unused, the FMS had been at several prior events.

That's new information, Meredith. Very interesting; do you know which events it was at?

[Ether]

Originally Posted by Zebra_Fact_Man

proactively

wrong word choice.

[AmoryG]

I wonder if there's a way to simulate the bad interference the weather outside may have produced?

[jyh947]

Originally Posted by AmoryG

I wonder if there's a way to simulate the bad interference the weather outside may have produced?

Hire Thor to mess around for a day or two.

With seriousness, I'm super happy that FIRST is taking these steps to re-enact the problems that Einstein had this year. As a spectator, I was very disappointed with all the field issues that plagued the finals matches (I really wanted to see 118's robot shoot!).

I do hope that FIRST will also compensate (partly or fully) the 12 adults for the cost of a trip to Manchester. Taking a trip from Florida or Nevada doesn't sound so cheap, not to mention the money lost from taking time off work...

[JB987]

Originally Posted by jyh947

Hire Thor to mess around for a day or two.

With seriousness, I'm super happy that FIRST is taking these steps to re-enact the problems that Einstein had this year. As a spectator, I was very disappointed with all the field issues that plagued the finals matches (I really wanted to see 118's robot shoot!).

I do hope that FIRST will also compensate (partly or fully) the 12 adults for the cost of a trip to Manchester. Taking a trip from Florida or Nevada doesn't sound so cheap, not to mention the money lost from taking time off work...

Most team reps will be flying in Friday night and returning home Sunday night so work minimally impacted. As stated earlier, FIRST is paying for air, hotel and meals.