KOP recieved 11 days late

[Pat Major]

Rookie Team 3368 recieved thier KOP yesterday, eleven days after Kickoff, they are located in Bosnia, customs was the hold up. Should FIRST extend thier build deadline 11 days?

[midway78224]

I think they should. They horrible to get your kop 11 days after kickoff. At least give them a 11 day grace period for the 11 days they lost.

[Jared Russell]

I do not think they should. Even if their kit was late, the beginning of build season is more about design and strategy than it is cutting metal.

As it is, the fabrication rules this year do allow quite a bit of work to continue even after the ship date - this should help ease the 11 days without a kit.

Still sucks that it got there so late.

[JaneYoung]

It's my understanding from talking with mentors from different international teams, that this can happen. They receive their KOP later than the teams here in the US that don't have to have the KOPs shipped.

Teams learn to work with that and it is never easy. Teams in other countries may also have difficulty receiving the game piece in a timely fashion.

Keep in mind though, that teams here have faced difficulties during build season. I remember teams in regions who didn't have access to their shop because of weather conditions that cancelled school for several days, forcing the teams to have to wait.

[sloteera]

I think so, because here in Brazil, some seasons our KoP came to us in the third week!!!!

Since last year, one person of #1860 travels to Manchester to get the KoP!!
It's complicated....

Good Luck guys!

[Vikesrock]

If they got the game on time then I definitely don't think their deadline should be extended by the full 11 days.

Many teams use the first week or more to design their robots.

I'd say call the first week design time and give them 4 extra days.

[Greg Needel]

I don't think there is a need to extend the deadline. While the build season is a daunting task, there is not much you need the kit for in the first week or so. As a rookie I would bet the hardest part is getting their control system going but since you don't have to ship that it shouldn't be an issue.

Getting extra days effectively allows for an extra 2 weeks of brainstorming the problem. I think there is something to learn from dealing with issues that are beyond your control. Additionally 11 days would allow them to see the first week of regionals before they ship allowing them to directly implement design changes based on things they see.

[sloteera]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

Teams in other countries may also have difficulty receiving the game piece in a timely fashion.

Exactly Jane!
Some games like Lunacy we hadn't balls and the floor material to try our robot!!
A normal importation from USA takes 2 weeks at minimum to come here!

I have no doubt that this is most hard!!!

[JaneYoung]

This is an example of what I mentioned in my initial post.

Hi Rafael! I posted this before reading your response.

This is a thread that Tonya Scott started when things were so bad weatherwise in Oklahoma in 2007.

These are only 2 examples - there are more, and all discuss the constraints and difficulties they have to face. It is one of the reasons that I stick with FIRST. I have tremendous respect for teams like these, and what they go through and do, to make it possible for their teams to compete at the events.

[vance]

Just yesterday our team captain, a mentor, and I were talking about how awful it would be if something like the ice storm had hit during build season. Our mentor responded that storms like that have happened, and FIRST has pushed the ship date back because of it. I don't know anything more specific than that, but customs are something FIRST can foresee, as opposed to a storm.

[Racer26]

FIRST has, in the past redefined ship date in light of extreme weather conditions, however, i doubt they will do it for a single team.

[BEEKMAN]

Honestly, we haven't even youched our KoP yet....i could see if you liker, wern't able to see the kickoff video untill then, but a lot of work can still be done before you get teh KoP

[GaryVoshol]

As I recall, when the ship date was changed it was because the storm was on ship day. Either UPS wasn't coming to pick up robots, or the school was closed and locked up tight so the team didn't have access to be able to ship.

I concur with the others, this is a hazard for international teams and they adjust to it.

By the way, they're competing in Isreal. If they delay shipping for 11 days, they only have 8 days before the start of competition. They probably need all 19 days to get the bot from Bosnia to Isreal.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by GaryVoshol

As I recall, when the ship date was changed it was because the storm was on ship day. Either UPS wasn't coming to pick up robots, or the school was closed and locked up tight so the team didn't have access to be able to ship.

It's actually been changed twice. 2003 was weather as noted above. Pretty much the entire Northeast couldn't get to their robots, and if they could, FedEx couldn't. (CA teams enjoyed the bonus time...)

In 2004, the deadline was extended for all teams due to massive KOP issues. A lot of teams that year had missing parts, or something like that, even though they all got the KOP.

It's never been changed because one team, or one country, or anything like that got a KOP over a week after Kickoff.

To give some hope, one of the 2005 World Champs didn't cut metal for their custom frame until the end of Week 4/beginning of Week 5. Other teams were getting their custom frames back from powdercoating at that time. You should be using any time without a KOP to brainstorm, design, and plan for manufacturing. That way, when you get the KOP, everything falls into place and you can build in a week or two.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Does everyone remember the extension due to snow a few years back? It may not be necessary to give them all 11 days back but there should be some time given for not being able to design without parts in their hands.