Southern Championship math question

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Tanis

What if the Championship events become bag and tag events?

I don't have data on how many teams drive vs. fly, but if teams bring their robots with them shipping becomes a non-issue.

Not a good idea--on the southern side of things.

Just for Southern Championship:
Any team on the West Coast (and possibly the Rocky Mountains) is going to be flying. That's the entire PNW contingent, plus the 42+ from CA's 7 regionals, 6+ from Hawaii, 6+ from Vegas, and 12+ from Arizona's regionals. (Colorado, Utah, and Idaho teams are "on the border" as far as drive vs fly--they might go 50-50.)

Then you factor in the international teams (Australia and Israel with 6 each, plus possibly China with 6, and can't forget about Western Canada's 6 qualifiers). I haven't even gotten to the east coast but I'd be fairly certain some of those teams would fly (say, the South Florida contingent).

If you add up those best-guess numbers, about a quarter of the event is likely to fly (oh, and I'm not even counting the waitlist or HoF teams there, so make that at least a quarter). Teams that fly cannot bring their robot with them on the plane. They'll have to trailer and drive (1-2, maybe 3, long days, depending on distance), or just plain ship the robot. This is a significant portion of the field.

Also, if you eliminate shipping, the inspectors have to check all the bag forms. Guess what, you just added time to the inspection...


Northern Championship is a bit different. Most teams there are within about a day's drive by bus, I'd say--maybe a very long day--with the primary exceptions being New England and any European teams that qualify. I could see Northern Championship being bag-and-tag with a lot less difficulty than the Southern Championship.