Update #19

[EricH]

http://usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/Team%20Update%2019.pdf

If you're going to the Championship, you need to read this, especially if you're doing early uncrating.

[Justin Montois]

Thanks for posting this.

[artdutra04]

Nothing really new here, they just wrote out the rules (only three team members including at least one adult, everyone must have safety glasses, they can bring materials or tools but only in one trip, you can begin charging batteries, etc) that have always been in place.

[bigbeezy]

Well it did sort of clear up an altercation we had last year with our crate being part of out pit. But other than that nothing new.

[Bob Steele]

This is a change from last year's "rules" regarding what you could bring in on Wednesday night. LAST year you could only bring in ONE 4-wheeled cart with everything on it. This was an issue for us because it is difficult to bring a large 4-wheeled cart all the way from Seattle to Atlanta. We had brought 3 dollies with our equipment stacked on them...one for each member allowed.

We were told that we could not bring in three wheeled appliances... but we could take the materials off the dollies and carry it in...with the dolly on top ...

Luckily I found an old Indiana friend from Team 292 (Congrats on the Boilermaker win by the way!!!) and they let us use their cart. So we got our materials down to our pit. We would have had to haul it all the way back to our hotel and the prospects for that seemed to not be good.

So this year the rules are simple, Whatever you can bring in with 3 people...
one trip... that's it...

I believe that this is the way it was prior. Last year I believe an attempt was made to allow more materials to come in on Wednesday because the pit area had been cut way down (if you will remember..) and the entrance to the pit area was confined...

We don't know what the situation will be this year...
I know I liked it alot better when FLL,FTC and FRC were all together...
It was nice to mingle...I loved walking through the FLL pits and seeing all of their tables and exhibits.

Somehow it didn't seem like quite the BIG family last year with us disbursed throughout the complex areas.

I can only assume that this was, in part, due to the tornado damage.
Does anyone know what the layout will be this year?

Good luck to all teams!!
See you in Atlanta!!

[waialua359]

Bob,
I would guess the same from '07 and prior for recent years.
Thanks for the summary. I almost forgot about the whole Tornado incident and adjusted pit setup last year.

-Glenn

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by waialua359

Bob,
I would guess the same from '07 and prior for recent years.
Thanks for the summary. I almost forgot about the whole Tornado incident and adjusted pit setup last year.

-Glenn

Yeah, up until 2007 these were always the rules in place.

Although there is one "rule" that FIRST never seems to mention anywhere until teams get to the event, and that's to always keep all carts, dollies, totes, etc. on the plastic they lay on the floor in the GWCC lobby.

This isn't a FIRST rule, but a venue rule from the GWCC, which they claim is to "protect their carpet". Yet if you pay attention, you'll see the venue staff drive Cushmans on the carpet all day long...

Regardless of the hypocrisy, just follow the rule. If you don't, and if volunteers don't catch it, the venue staff like to yell at the volunteers.

[Anne Shade]

This is different than the Essential Information directions posted on the Championship page since that mentions the same one cart procedure from last year. We were already starting to figure out how we were going to put our rolling tool box on a cart... Glad we don't have to worry about it but I hope that everyone at FIRST is on the same page since the two documents don't match up.

[GaryVoshol]

The rules in the manual always take priority, unless someone in authority hasn't read those rules. I would suggest that a team mentor ask a specific Q&A on the bullet point "There is no set limit to the amount of material teams may load-in, but it must be done in a safe and manageable way (Safety Advisors and other volunteers will be on site checking for, and helping mitigate, unsafe conditions)." Does "no set limit" include the mechanism for moving in the material, or only the material itself?

I would note that the "Essentials" document is not entirely up to date with all the rules. For example it references the Robo-Coach, which we only had last year. There are also inconsistencies: In the uncrating section one place it mentions 3 team members and a few lines later it mentions 1 mentor and 4 team members.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by GaryVoshol

Does "no set limit" include the mechanism for moving in the material, or only the material itself?

The question makes no sense. An explicit lack of limit doesn't "include" anything.

I say focus on the "safe and manageable" phrase and you should be fine.

[Anne Shade]

Originally Posted by GaryVoshol

The rules in the manual always take priority, unless someone in authority hasn't read those rules.

Gary,

That is exactly my concern. Just because the update came out, it doesn't mean that all factions of FIRST headquarters is on the same page of the Essential Information document would communicate the same information. Just the same as some teams may only read the Essential Information document, so could FIRST staff and volunteers. It would be much easier if all documentation said the same thing.

[GaryVoshol]

There's a new Essentials document posted, see email blast http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...729#post841729

The load-in procedures now agree with the revised manual per Update 19.