**FIRST EMAIL**/Updated Championship Information

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Tom,
As always, you can get your robot inspected as it is. If you make changes after that, you must get the change inspected before you use the robot on the field. That goes for any change any time before finals matches start on Saturday. We will start packing the inspection stations after we have gone through finals inspections for the divisions.
Division LRIs will be at the fields performing inspections as needed.

[Chris Fultz]

It is not clear from Bill's Blog if we can work on the robots on Wednesday night, or just do the inspection and radio process and set up pits.

[waialua359]

Originally Posted by Chris Fultz

It is not clear from Bill's Blog if we can work on the robots on Wednesday night, or just do the inspection and radio process and set up pits.

We were wondering the same thing in addition to being able to use the practice field. We are making slight changes and wanted to test them out while doing the inspection and setting up our pits.

[Ricky Q.]

Originally Posted by Chris Fultz

It is not clear from Bill's Blog if we can work on the robots on Wednesday night, or just do the inspection and radio process and set up pits.

Page 5 of the 2010 Championship Essential Information notes that working on the robot IS permitted during this time.

Ricky

[Chris Fultz]

From the Information -

We want you to maximize the opportunity to move things in safely on Wednesday night and get your robot inspected in preparation of the qualification rounds starting Thursday at 1:00 pm this year! The rules for Wednesday night pit entry at the Championship are as follows:
 Up to five (5) of your team members (at least one must be an adult mentor) are permitted to load-in materials on Wednesday night.
 Team members may only make one trip with load-in materials. 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).
 IMPORTANT: Uncrate your robot and move crate to the aisle so it is accessible to Shepard for removal.
 If you are arriving from a Bag and Tag event, you may take your bagged robot out of your crate, but DO NOT unbag robot until Inspected. Inspectors will be available to review your lock-up form Wednesday night. Once an inspector has signed off on your form, you may unbag your robot.
 Team members are permitted to stow load-in materials safely in their pit and out of the way of aisle traffic.
 Team members should begin charging batteries.
 Teams should encrypt radios
 Pit set up is permitted
 Working on the robot is permitted
 Safety glasses are required while in the pit
 An adult team member (one of the five permitted in the pit) may use this time to check-in/register at Pit Administration early to avoid the rush on Thursday morning.
 Make parking plans in advance of your offloading so you have a destination to go to. Teams will not be allowed to idle or park in front of the building doors.

[AnibaS]

The Team Lists cites only 312 teams; is this incorrect or subject to change?

[Mark McLeod]

Subject to change.
Teams that qualified two days ago are given time to accept their ticket to Championships, then FIRST will pull the final teams from the waitlist to round out the full team list.

[AnibaS]

Originally Posted by Mark McLeod

Subject to change.
Teams that qualified two days ago are given time to accept their ticket to Championships, then FIRST will pull the final teams from the waitlist to round out the full team list.

Thank you for clearing that up!

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Please plan on getting inspected ASAP even if you plan to make design changes or move mechanisms. You can reinspect the changes later. Get inspected first. Bag and Tag will take precedent on Wednesday night so all teams can start working on the robot if they so choose.

[ayeckley]

Did any other mentors *not* receive an invitation email to the recognition breakfast?

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by ayeckley

Did any other mentors *not* receive an invitation email to the recognition breakfast?

I didn't get one directly from FIRST. It was sent to our team's main contact on March 31. He forwarded it to all the mentors planning to attend the Championship.

I looked at the date and time, wondered what FIRST was thinking, and decided my time would be better spent with the team.

[ayeckley]

<Sigh> You'd think that anyone registered as a mentor in TIMS would have been automatically copied on the email.

There is a dedicated thread on this exact topic, so I for one will move over there...

[Bharat Nain]

It seems like FIRST has great ideas but their execution just does not work.

[waialua359]

I'm not one to bash FIRST, but what I dont get is why it always happens during FRC matches?
I would assume that most active mentors with their respective teams would be with their teams either in the pit or in the stands.
Why not utilize the Wed even better for workshops and other non-competition events?
For such a big event with thousands of people and $$$$ spent, lets all go the extra mile.