Why Do we *ship* to bots?

[Leav]

ahhh....

you see here in israel there are only 12 teams, so everyone competes in one day

i didnt even think about the possiblity of having the regionals *not* at the same time globaly....

so now i have a different question:
how does FIRST know that the robot confirms to the rules?

-Leav

[Max Lobovsky]

Before the official competition matches start, your robot must be inspected by volunteer inspectors. They have a check list to check for compliance with electrical, pneumatic, etc rules. They request an inventory of all the parts used on the robot and their cost. Finally, your robot is taken to a scale and a large measuring box to check if it fits size and weight requirements.

At some regionals (I have not seen this myself), inspectors perform random spot checks throughout the competition because it would be possible to modify your robot illegaly after the first inspection.

[Dave Flowerday]

Originally Posted by Leav

so now i have a different question:
how does FIRST know that the robot confirms to the rules?

Once you arrive at the competition and unpack your robot from its crate then there will be an inspection which you have to pass before you're allowed to compete. The inspection checklist is posted before the ship date so it's not hard to ensure that you're in compliance.

[Anne Shade]

Leav,

I recently posted a white paper which goes over the basic competition structure in FIRST. Some things will be condensed for the Israel one day competition but it should help give you an idea of what competitions have been like here in the past. You can get that tip sheet here. I hope this will help. Let me know if you have any questions.

[Conor Ryan]

say a team got sponsered by UPS and you got different shipping would that cause any problems?

[Ian W.]

Originally Posted by cdr1122334455

say a team got sponsered by UPS and you got different shipping would that cause any problems?

I don't believe so, but generally most teams ship with FedEx I think, because there's so much volume in such a short period of time, so FedEx gives out some "freebie" ships to teams (usually it's been to one event and back will be free for one crate).

However, I know my old team would drive our robot to the dryage company, because our local regional was 15 minutes away and the dryage company 10 minutes away. Saved us a lot of money.

[Steve W]

It doesn't matter how you ship. What does matter is a signed form showing that the robot was out of your hands by the deadline. Last year was 5:00 pm. It can be picked up from you at 4:59 and that is good but not 5:01 that's bad. You can also drop off as long as the drayage company has before 5:00. Rules may change this year but not very likely.

[Leav]

Originally Posted by Anne Bergeron

Leav,

I recently posted a white paper which goes over the basic competition structure in FIRST. Some things will be condensed for the Israel one day competition but it should help give you an idea of what competitions have been like here in the past. You can get that tip sheet here. I hope this will help. Let me know if you have any questions.

Anne, this is most helpful! i'm sure you had this in mind when you decided to write the whitepaper, but i'll say it anyway:
rookieteams really have no way of knowing whats going to go on!
i mean we know theres a competition, and theres a team, and objectives, but beyond that we are really stumped (for example just the other day i was informed that damaging the carpet on which the robots drive will automaticly disqualify you... this meant discarding an entire design, on which other designs were based, because it might damage the carpet!)

Thanks again,
-Leav

[Billfred]

Trust me, everyone's gone through this. The task becomes how well you handle being dropped into an arena full of robots and buttons and helpful people.

I'd advise you to read up on last year's rules. There is no guarantee that these rules will remain the same next year, but FIRST seems to keep most of the safety and don't-break-the-field rules the same. Just remember to read the 2005 manual!

[Conor Ryan]

thanks that clears up a couple of issues.

[RoboMom]

Originally Posted by Leav

:
rookieteams really have no way of knowing whats going to go on!
i mean we know theres a competition, and theres a team, and objectives, but beyond that we are really stumped (for example just the other day i was informed that damaging the carpet on which the robots drive will automaticly disqualify you... this meant discarding an entire design, on which other designs were based, because it might damage the carpet!)

Thanks again,
-Leav

Leav, this is a great place to ask any of those questions. You also have an assigned team in the States that is your "mentoring" team and you should be in contact with them soon if you haven't already. Be sure to ask for help, as you will receive lots if you ask.

[Yov]

Leav send me a message in msn/icq/here, I want to talk to you.