Unbagging before States?

[m1506m]

Since our team won the chairman's award at West Michigan this past weekend, we are qualified for States.

Now I'm assuming that since States are not a 2 day event, that there is no 6 hour unbag Window? Am I correct here?

[Knufire]

You are correct.

For reference:

FRC Manual, Rule R18, Subsection F:

Teams attending 2-day events may access their bagged ROBOTS elements per the rules defined in the Administrative Manual, Section 5.6, ROBOT Access Period - for Teams Attending 2-Day Events.

Administrative Manual, Section 5.6:

Two-day District events for the 2014 season include Michigan District Events, Mid-Atlantic Robotics District Events, New England District Events and Pacific Northwest District Events. Teams attending these events will not have as much time to work on their robots at events as teams attending traditional Three-day Regional events. Due to this, teams are granted an additional “Robot Access Period” to unbag their robot between “Stop Build Day” and their Two-day District events.

[Christopher149]

Well, when Q475 gets answered. Edit: slightly ninja'd.

[m1506m]

Thanks, I had already referenced section 5.6 to the other mentors in my team. But since this was a huge restructuring year from the top down for our team, I just want to be sure.

Thanks again

[Jean Tenca]

I'm in the PNW and we're new to the district model this year. Yes, District Championships is a 3 day event, but since we need to have 12 qual matches we end up starting matches at 2pm on Thursday (unlike a regular 3 day regional event). This only gives teams from 8am-2pm to fix/inspect/practice with their robots. The continued use of the robot through 2 or 3 district events, the aggressive nature of this game, and no unbag time before District Championships will result in teams fielding worn down robots both at this competition and at worlds. I understand that 12 qual matches is necessary, but I believe we should be given the same number of hours as a standard regional for teams to check and fix their robots so as to improve the quality of the competition and the robots that make it to worlds.

Do you guys also run in to this problem over there in Michigan?

And congrats on the chairman's award, 1506

[nikeairmancurry]

Originally Posted by ScourgeDragon

Do you guys also run in to this problem over there in Michigan?

And congrats on the chairman's award, 1506

In the 5 prior years that Michigan has completed in the district system, more matches meant more playing time, which meant more chances to break down.

My teams have always felt end of the year wear and tear. With possible 60+ matches being played and countless hours of running before worlds, its not uncommon to see things bend and break. Just be sure you are ready and able to replace anything that should falter.

[m1506m]

And congrats on the chairman's award, 1506 [/quote]

Thanks 😎, though it would have been much sweeter in my eyes to get to States on performance alone, I'm the fab mentor. But our kids did an excellent job, with help from some alum mentors, earning the chairman's.

[Clinton Bolinger]

Originally Posted by ScourgeDragon

I'm in the PNW and we're new to the district model this year. Yes, District Championships is a 3 day event, but since we need to have 12 qual matches we end up starting matches at 2pm on Thursday (unlike a regular 3 day regional event). This only gives teams from 8am-2pm to fix/inspect/practice with their robots. The continued use of the robot through 2 or 3 district events, the aggressive nature of this game, and no unbag time before District Championships will result in teams fielding worn down robots both at this competition and at worlds. I understand that 12 qual matches is necessary, but I believe we should be given the same number of hours as a standard regional for teams to check and fix their robots so as to improve the quality of the competition and the robots that make it to worlds.

Do you guys also run in to this problem over there in Michigan?

And congrats on the chairman's award, 1506

Our team would rather have more matches at MSC than having addition unbag/practice/repair time. Personally, I feel that Michigan teams have considered this potential problem and build robots that can handle the additional playtime that comes from the district model. Or they have modular / quick change designs that can easily have replacement part ready to go.

Last year we had 67 matches (2 Hours, 30 Minutes, and 45 seconds) before attending the Championship.

-Clinton-

[Jean Tenca]

Originally Posted by Clinton Bolinger

Our team would rather have more matches at MSC than having addition unbag/practice/repair time. Personally, I feel that Michigan teams have considered this potential problem and build robots that can handle the additional playtime that comes from the district model. Or they have modular / quick change designs that can easily have replacement part ready to go.

Last year we had 67 matches (2 Hours, 30 Minutes, and 45 seconds) before attending the Championship.

-Clinton-

67 matches! Wow. We are used to under 30 matches in a season. I agree that gradually over the last few years that you ran the district model, teams have gotten better at designing for that extra wear and lack of time. My team is new to this and I'm sure over time we'll adapt and get better too. We, as well as others, designed for reliability this year, made lots of spares for systems, and thoroughly abused our practice robot in anticipation of playing more matches but it's still a bit scary.

Thanks for the insight, Clinton. And congrats to your team (and alliance) on the win at Kettering! You guys have a cool robot and it was fun to watch you play.