[FRC Blog] 2015 FIRST Championship Updates

[EricH]

Originally Posted by jlmcmchl

Even during qualifications at the Kettering Competition it was pretty bad. A team had managed to create a 1/4-inch depression in the scoring platform's plastic by wearing it down with their wheels. We ended up vacuuming at the end of each day and still couldn't get the carpets as clean as we wanted to.

Speaking of which, these scoring platforms go through a lot of punishment. I wouldn't be surprised if the platforms at Championships aren't the same ones we started with at the beginning of the year.

Or at least the HDPE on them gets replaced. The IE photo above doesn't even show the tape covering a couple of spots where teams who got stuck went through the carpet trying to get out, or the dings on the HDPE, maybe about 10' to the left of the photo.

But due to the way the platforms are built, it's not exactly a long job to remove and replace the HDPE covers if need be. Just need to have the extras on hand.

[MrTechCenter]

Originally Posted by EricH

Or at least the HDPE on them gets replaced. The IE photo above doesn't even show the tape covering a couple of spots where teams who got stuck went through the carpet trying to get out, or the dings on the HDPE, maybe about 10' to the left of the photo.

But due to the way the platforms are built, it's not exactly a long job to remove and replace the HDPE covers if need be. Just need to have the extras on hand.

Putting down the HDPE was probably the quickest part of building the field. Taping it down takes a few minutes, but it's still not that bad. I would agree that they should replace the HDPE and game pieces for Einstein.

[BSV]

Originally Posted by Hallry

Something else of interest is that according to the America's Center Pit Document, FLL is still stationed at the very end of the convention center next to the FRC Practice Fields, which was cut out of the image posted on the blog.

The thing that made the biggest impression on the two teams (FLL and Jr. FLL) I took to the World Festival last year was getting to be part of the FLL opening ceremony and then compete in the dome -- FLL on Einstein, Jr. FLL on the FTC field. It's kinda sad that they've crammed it into the end of the FRC pit, though I am glad it's at least still in the same building. At closing ceremonies lat year they played a video that suggested FLL would be moved to a hotel.

[jds2001]

Well, Jr. FLL actually is moved to a hotel in Union Station, along with FTC.

[Dominick Ferone]

Originally Posted by Alex2614

So, awards are at the DIVISION level, but playoffs are at the SUBdivision level? I'm wondering how that will read on awards, trophies, banners, etc. Hopper-Newton Division ____ Award?

The only Banner you would presumably win is Division winner which would probably say either Subdivision winner or Tesla winner for example.

[iRobot_]

I still do not understand the reason for having 2 Einstein Fields

[saikiranra]

Originally Posted by iRobot_

I still do not understand the reason for having 2 Einstein Fields

It is to accommodate the new structure with 8 subdivisions. There will be 8 alliances on Einstein, instead of the previous four.

[Alex2614]

Originally Posted by Dominick Ferone

The only Banner you would presumably win is Division winner which would probably say either Subdivision winner or Tesla winner for example.

True. But all the other awards are at the division level. I don't know why, but the idea of having "Hopper-Newton Division" just seems awkward to me. Don't get me wrong, I don't necessarily mind change. I'll try anything once.

[MooreteP]

So, for the portmanteaus of each subdivision pair, how about:
Archsla
Galson
Curver
Newper
?

Portmanteau: a word or morpheme whose form and meaning are derived from a blending of two or more distinct forms (as smog from smoke and fog).

We do this a lot with alliance teams.

[SoccerTaco]

Originally Posted by MooreteP

So, for the portmanteaus of each subdivision pair, how about:
...
Newper

NewHop ?

[Libby K]

Originally Posted by Hallry

That's a relatively small HoF exhibit. Took me a while to find it on the layout.

The HoF exhibit is (sorry, not sorry) embarrassingly small.

I get that they're trying to crunch as many teams in the pit as possible, but it doesn't seem fair that the Hall of Fame teams spend hundreds upon thousands of hours on their efforts to improve the FIRST community, and we reward them with a cocktail table.

Remember the Atlanta Hall of Fame? Where the teams got their own HoF display the size of a real pit, and you could see them all as you went in to the convention center? We need that back. I see no reason why we couldn't do that in the upstairs atrium of the Americas Center, where there's currently quite a bit of open space.

After years of comments about the HoF exhibit being to small, it really seems like FIRST likes it this way, and that's pretty sad. These are the teams we need to be celebrating & holding up as role models for the FIRST community, and we throw them in a corner once they've won?

They have so much to offer us all. I think it's well past time FIRST offered them something back.