Robotics Competitions Mapped Around the World

[lynca]

FRC , FTC , FLL , BEST and VEX competition events have been mapped out around the world on MentorSearch "Find an Event". Use the check-boxes to configure your display.

Questions :

1. Which competition has grown the most in terms of timespan of the competition ?

2. Which competition do you think will grow faster and why ?

3. What methods can we use to improve the spread of robotics competitions ?

[lynca]

I am also looking for feedback on the MentorSearch "Find an Event" interface,

Was it easy to use ?

Any suggestions for events to add ?

[Mikell Taylor]

For what it's worth, I'm using Firefox on a Mac, and when I go to "Find an event" and put in "Boston, MA" nothing happens. The page reloads but it doesn't focus in on Boston-area stuff. I don't know if that's my browser or the page's problem. Same thing happens if I try to "find a mentor" in my area. It's also not clear if you need to put in a city/state or a zip code (I assume both would work, but it would be helpful to have a light grey 'Ex: Beverly Hills, CA or 90210' next to the search field.

Also, do you have any plans to add competitions like Botball or the NURC ROV competition to the list?

[Roger]

While wandering around the Earth looking for FRC events, I noticed that the pinpoints don't match up with the actual competition location. Boston, for example, points to downtown (where "Boston" is printed), not several miles west at Boston University where the event is located. New Zealand's is held in a national park? (Okay, so this may be true -- why not in a national park?) And the Championship is being held a mile or so southeast -- in a cemetery?!? I don't know how detailed you were trying to make the maps, but I can imagine some college student trying to hitch his way to an event using this map.

But it's still a fun map to see all the locations.

[lynca]

Originally Posted by Mikell Taylor

For what it's worth, I'm using Firefox on a Mac, and when I go to "Find an event" and put in "Boston, MA" nothing happens. The page reloads but it doesn't focus in on Boston-area stuff. I don't know if that's my browser or the page's problem. Same thing happens if I try to "find a mentor" in my area. It's also not clear if you need to put in a city/state or a zip code (I assume both would work, but it would be helpful to have a light grey 'Ex: Beverly Hills, CA or 90210' next to the search field.

Thanks for the feedback! The map does not instantly search for locations when you are not logged in. To browse as a guest you need to zoom in, but that will be fixed soon.

If you are a user you can log in and the searching works great. Sorry about the confusion, but your feedback helps lead the way to make the interface easy for all users.

Originally Posted by Mikell Taylor

Also, do you have any plans to add competitions like Botball or the NURC ROV competition to the list?

Botball , NURC ROV, MATE and Offseason Events are definitely the next competitions on the list for robotics.

[lynca]

Originally Posted by Roger

While wandering around the Earth looking for FRC events, I noticed that the pinpoints don't match up with the actual competition location. Boston, for example, points to downtown (where "Boston" is printed), not several miles west at Boston University where the event is located. New Zealand's is held in a national park? (Okay, so this may be true -- why not in a national park?) And the Championship is being held a mile or so southeast -- in a cemetery?!? I don't know how detailed you were trying to make the maps, but I can imagine some college student trying to hitch his way to an event using this map.

But it's still a fun map to see all the locations.

Good points, some of the regionals have not announced locations (i.e. New Zealand, Dallas and such), so a default search point is used temporarily. However, most of the information bubbles on the events will guide you to an official website just in case we don't update fast enough.

For the "cemetery" issue, that has to do with multiple events (i.e. FTC, FLL , FRC World Championships) been scheduled on the same GPS point, so we have to find a way to not overwrite the point. Right now there is an automated script to shift the points slightly so they don't completely overlap. However, we need to make sure the points are still accurate. So hopefully no college students end up in a cemetery with a robot !

[Roger]

I'm sure it was a lot of work punching in all the locations, though it seems if Google should adjust the pins based on zoom. But I'm just being a monday-morning quarterback, or something. I don't know how GoogleMaps works in terms of programming, but I've seen some great maps made with it. Do you have to give it a street address list, or do you get a map to pin the locations to?

Botball , NURC ROV, MATE and Offseason Events are definitely the next competitions on the list for robotics.

And Kickoff sites! Maybe sort by date, so you can plan your vacation schedule?

I do like the Google disclaimer at the bottom: "Maps are informational only". Well, duh!

[BigJ]

I's kinda funny... because of the "generic Milwaukee" point, the point is close but about 5 blocks west... half a block away from my college campus.

[gblake]

Originally Posted by lynca

FRC , FTC , FLL , BEST and VEX competition events have been mapped out around the world on MentorSearch "Find an Event".

How do you want to get feedback about events that aren't listed/shown?