New Central Illinois Regional Looking Good!

[Taylor]

Originally Posted by MechEng83

-Nevermind- Just found a resource that says typical inflation pressure of domes is 1 inch of water, or about 0.037 psi. That still would be over 200 lbs across a 6' x 7' door, though!

(emphasis mine)

You all know what this means ...

[Ryan Dognaux]

We're hoping to be able to get in when the second event registration opens up. This regional will have 1) a bunch of great veteran teams that our team can learn a lot from during that first week and 2) is less than 3 hours away from St. Charles. A straight shot up 55 and we're there. Plus this gives us some nice preparation for the St. Louis regional occurring a few weeks later.

Found this video on the facility: http://youtu.be/2HPtrp1_qa0 They'll figure something out, kind of reminds me of the old huge tents that Epcot had.

[Hallry]

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

Also, the lack of a hard floor scares me.

Agreed. I saw some photos on their site of a wedding there, and even then the field wasn't covered, though I guess it will have to be for the regional. But the fact that it will be a temporary hard surface on top of soft AstroTurf will be interesting...

[Tartan47]

Originally Posted by Hallry

Agreed. I saw some photos on their site of a wedding there, and even then the field wasn't covered, though I guess it will have to be for the regional. But the fact that it will be a temporary hard surface on top of soft AstroTurf will be interesting...

I've never seen a hardtop on the Dome's surface but I assume that option has to be available somehow. Unless the game is going to be a version of football/soccer/lacrosse played on a grass surface and they are going to add astroturf to all the other regionals

[Michael Hill]

All signs are pointing toward a football game

It all. Makes. Sense.

;-)

[KelliV]

I wouldn't worry about food/things to do in Pekin. It's a fairly large town. I'm super excited for another regional in Illinois!!!

[gurellia53]

We had a great mentor meeting tonight and had a lot of questions asked and answered. Here's a few points that came up about the regional:

-The Avanti's Dome is very big inside
-There's a big airlock in addition to the revolving door that will hold many robots
-There's concessions for food
-Will need a hard floor for the field and probably pits
-Volunteers needed!

Nothing mindblowing. There were a few comparisons drawn with the nearby Boilermaker Regional. Also, there's talk of an Illinois + Indiana district in 2015.

[Carol A]

I signed up to volunteer tonight and will encourage others from Rockford Robotics to sign up also.

[Ernst]

Originally Posted by gurellia53

Also, there's talk of an Illinois + Indiana district in 2015.

As a member of a Milwaukee team: darn.
But hey, good for you.

[Alpha Beta]

You'll have to pardon us stepping out of Central Illinois for the time being. Our home regional (Greater Kansas City) was running out of open slots and we are aware of several unaccounted for veterans and rookies which could push the event to wait list status long before October 24th rolls around. We have every intention of finding our way back into the Central Illinois event when 2nd event registrations open up (should spots remain available).

[Alpha Beta]

Originally Posted by Alpha Beta

We have every intention of finding our way back into the Central Illinois event when 2nd event registrations open up (should spots remain available).

And we're back in.

Originally Posted by Nemo

Central Illinois Regional was full to initial capacity at 12:02 EST. It started with 12 open spots. We're lucky I was in at 12:01. Honestly, this process should be looked at so that it's not quite so dependent on who has the luckier internet connection.

Had a feeling this would prove to be a popular location. It'll be great to meet up with some old friends and make some new ones. Many teams shy away from a week 1 regional, but with the addition of the Week 0 events last year we found the experience to be pretty smooth. This will be our second year in a row attending a brand new regional in week 1.

Originally Posted by waialua359

What we realized is that once you do a "switch," the switch of the dropped event still shows in TIMS, and DOES NOT allow you to add it back later, even if you drop all of your other events.

My guess is that we would have to contact FIRST in order to remove it from our TIMS account.

Fortunatly we saw the above quote a year ago and had the opportunity to work with FIRST HQ directly on the registration procedure. I see we were not the only ones in that situation. The regional has already moved 3 teams off the waitlist, presumably due to this complication.

[Nemo]

This should be a pretty sweet regional. With a smaller number of total teams including a bunch of really good teams, we should get to see some great qualification matches. Definitely looking forward to this event.

[Ryan Dognaux]

We're on the wait list. Hopefully they open a few more spots and we can squeeze in, this regional would really be ideal for us to attend being that we're only 2.5 hours away and we would have a weekend to rest before the St. Louis regional.

[Michael Hill]

I was a bit worried the Avanti's Dome was destroyed by the tornado that went through Peoria/Pekin, but it looks like the dome's fine and they're now using it as a shelter for displaced families. Not sure how much, if at all, this will impact a week 1 regional.

[Alpha Beta]

Originally Posted by Ryan Dognaux

We're on the wait list. Hopefully they open a few more spots and we can squeeze in, this regional would really be ideal for us to attend being that we're only 2.5 hours away and we would have a weekend to rest before the St. Louis regional.

They let a team in from China today. Not sure what the plan is for clearing the wait list. Registration closes December 5th (although I've seen teams register later for an additional tournament when there is room.) You'd think wait lists would be cleared atleast by then.

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

I was a bit worried the Avanti's Dome was destroyed by the tornado that went through Peoria/Pekin, but it looks like the dome's fine and they're now using it as a shelter for displaced families. Not sure how much, if at all, this will impact a week 1 regional.

It looks like an F2 on the edge of Pekin, but a couple F4's not too far away.
http://www.weather.com/news/tornado-...e-map-20131118
Our prayers are with everyone in the area.