FRC Blog - 2014 Championship Pros & Cons

[cgmv123]

http://www3.usfirst.org/roboticsprog...-Pros-and-Cons

I hope everyone who attended the FIRST Championship is recovered from all the activity!

As I did last year, I wanted to list initial impressions on what went well at the FIRST Championship from an FRC perspective, and what could use some work. Just like the lists last year, these aren’t intended to be exhaustive. Also, note that these pros and cons are for the Championship itself only, not about the game or any other aspect of FRC or FIRST this season.

Pros

• 10 scheduled qualification matches for every FRC team – Thanks to some very hard work by our volunteers and staff!
• Safe, smooth team entry in the mornings – No reported issues, and everyone was calm and mostly smiling*
• Closing Ceremonies – Good fun, no technical issues, no scoring problems, exciting matches, and 2 hours 10 minutes long from start to finish. Last year’s length? 3 hours 20 minutes
• Team match viewing area – Seemed well received
• More awards at the Division level – Also seemed well received!
• 4 Team Alliances for eliminations – This extended involvement in the tournament for 32 additional teams compared to last year. While no 4th robots (3rd picks) played on Einstein, within the Divisions, approximately 50% of all 4th robots got to play at least one match
• Hall of Fame – An enhanced Hall of Fame area gave these teams the additional recognition they deserve and made the Hall of Fame area more of a destination for teams aspiring one day to join them

Cons

• Drivers’ Meeting – Confusion over who should be allowed to pass security, and some seating sections were closed that should not have been
  Wednesday afternoon schedule was very hectic – At the end of practice matches, about 30 or more teams from each Division had not yet had a chance to connect to the field
• Einstein feed on NASA TV cut out before the last match – NASA TV broadcasts are automated, and there was no practical way for us to ask for a few more minutes because we were running late, but we’ll see what we can do next year
• Signage – With the complicated logistics operation we have at Championship, we need more signage to help direct people to the right place
  Tight timing between the end of Division play and the start of Closing Ceremonies – While things on Einstein ran exceptionally smoothly, we were a little late getting started with Closing Ceremonies, and we didn’t get in as much testing as we would have liked. Also, teams felt the need to leave their Divisions early to get good seats for Einstein. I understand one team even missed being named as Engineering Inspiration Award winner for their Division. As the top award at the Division level, this is a real shame
• No live feed of matches in the pits – Having a live feed would add to the excitement and maybe help keep teams on schedule
• Paper airplanes – I was on the fence about listing this one, because it could be considered minor, but decided to. We saw a significant increase in the number of paper airplanes being thrown during closing. They are beautiful in flight, but once they touch the ground, they turn to trash – an eyesore that someone needs to pick up. I recognize that throwing paper airplanes is fun, and that folks in the stands don’t have much to do while waiting for ceremonies to start, but as a community I think we are not leaving a positive impression with this.

As I say above, these lists are not intended to be exhaustive. We will be working on the cons listed above, along with others, for next year.

GameSense

I’ll be on GameSense tonight starting at 8PM ET/5PM PT , talking with the fine folks there about all things FRC. Hope you can tune in here, or watch the recording on YouTube later.

We had some fun last night just prepping for the show, I think it’s going to be a good one!

Frank

*Guess what time Team 148, the Robowranglers, showed up to be first in line for entry Thursday morning? You’re going to have to guess, because when I asked them while they were standing there, they wouldn’t tell me.

Cut it out with the paper airplanes! Frank hath spoken!


(^Not Frank Merrick^)

[techtiger1]

As usual Frank and FRC hit the nail on the head yet again with this list. Please stop with the paper airplanes, think about the poor soul who has to sit there and pick all of those up, and most of the time they end up hitting some unprepared individual.

[Cynette]

Can we think outside the box? I enjoy the thrill of seeing the successful paper airplane soar from the heights, down, down, down... (not so much when the smack me in the back of the head on the way down) If the residue is the issue, why don't we all commit to taking a plastic grocery bag in with us, or a trash bag, and spending two minutes at the end of the event to pick up in and around our seats. Seriously, we aren't going anywhere, anyway, because of the crowds. Teams with floor access can gather the few airplanes that make it to that level.

This leaves the custodial staff with a lot less work in the seats and more time to clean up the confetti!

And another thing! I disagree with the belief that the Hall of Fame display was adequate to showcase those amazing role model teams! Has anyone started a discussion of recommendations to make that area more respectful for the teams earning that honor and more valuable to the rest of us?

[Matt_Boehm_329]

Originally Posted by Cynette

If the residue is the issue, why don't we all commit to taking a plastic grocery bag in with us, or a trash bag, and spending two minutes at the end of the event to pick up in and around our seats.

This, I agree with this as a much better alternative than stopping this tradition all together

[JCharlton]

Paper airplanes have become as much of a tradition as YMCA, for better or worse.

Here's a thought, two minor competitions:

At a certain point during closing (and only at that point!) have a competition to be closest to a certain marker on the field. Each team given one special sheet in their package and they engineer their best design. Once that's done it's OVER (and a reminder to everyone that it's not GP to continue!) Get NASA or Boeing to sponsor it

Second competition is for the team who collects the most number of spent airplanes. That'll get them out of there.

[Jared Russell]

Considering that FIRST releases a cloud of confetti over all of Einstein as soon as the winner is announced, I am not overly concerned about the littering aspect. (I'm a little more concerned about wasting paper, but I think most of those scouting sheets are getting tossed anyhow.)

I like the idea of a designated paper air plane throwing time. Put a trash can on the field and see who can hit it. Afterwards, I'd like to think that teams can police their areas of the stands.

[MooreteP]

Originally Posted by JCharlton

Paper airplanes have become as much of a tradition as YMCA, for better or worse.

Here's a thought, two minor competitions:

At a certain point during closing (and only at that point!) have a competition to be closest to a certain marker on the field. Each team given one special sheet in their package and they engineer their best design. Once that's done it's OVER (and a reminder to everyone that it's not GP to continue!) Get NASA or Boeing to sponsor it

Second competition is for the team who collects the most number of spent airplanes. That'll get them out of there.

This^.
However.....
I work the floor and abhor the mess that is made. I try to do my part to assist the dome staff in cleaning up after irresponsible and unaccountable children.

Nonetheless....
I enjoy the spontaneous exuberance and tension as a plane coasts to crash.

Originally Posted by Tom Line

The paper airplanes are a neat idea but poor execution. It's really neat to see the ones that get out in the air currents and go super far. So here is my suggestion. Make it a competition. Each team gets 1. Set up some time for a single team member to release that team's plane - lunch, or whenever. Announce the team number, then let 'er rip, and keep track of which plane went the farthest.

Any other paper airplanes that get thrown result in the individual being asked to leave.

This is one solution.

Originally Posted by Jake177

I think there are two major factors that have contributed to the paper airplane "tradition".

1. In order to avoid getting stuck in the nosebleed seats, teams begin filling the Einstein stands well before the closing ceremonies start.
2. Given no other source of stimulation, most people find making and throwing paper airplanes to be an enjoyable way to pass the time waiting for closing ceremonies to start.

I think the easiest way for FIRST to discourage this practice is to address one or both of these factors.

1. I don't think it is wise or practical to try to keep people out of the Einstein stands until closing ceremonies are ready to start.
2. Give people something else they can pay attention to during this time. - What about a feed of the division elimination matches on the Einstein screen? Once those are over, why not have an Einstein Pregame Show with a recap of the division elimination rounds, and a run-down of the teams in the Champion alliances?

Great Analysis. Good suggestions. It's the lack of engagement that leads to undesirable behavior. (I'm a teacher, trust me, I know.)

FIRST made a great step this year in refining the Einstein experience. Adding the Division Finals and awards on the screens could render the airplanes moot. In fact, if they spread the divisions on four screens, teams might choose to aggregate in distinct areas.

I'm voting for this. +1

[Justin Montois]

What has me the most confused right now is why didn't FIRST just use the event security and the speaker system to stop the paper airplanes if they were so concerned?

A simple announcement of "Teams, the final matches are about to begin. Please refrain from throwing paper airplanes for the remainder of the event. Anyone seen throwing a paper airplane risks expulsion from the event. Thank you."

That way they kinda stop the problem this year and could have set a precedent for next year at the same time.

[M. Lillis]

Originally Posted by Justin Montois

What has me the most confused right now is why didn't FIRST just use the event security and the speaker system to stop the paper airplanes if they were so concerned?

They attempted to do something along those lines.

We were walking in the upper level and a plane landed at my feet, I picked it up and chucked it over the edge. Just as I did this, someone on the event staff yelled at me to stop throwing planes. I specifically remember joking with some other teammates about how ineffective that would be, as there were about 2,000 other people throwing planes.

And on a seperate note: the truss system in place for the FTC fields got in the way of seeing the LED screen for Einstein. Our whole section had to go through every match wondering who was in the lead or how close the scores were, it really was not fun.

[DevBal5012]

Originally Posted by JCharlton

Paper airplanes have become as much of a tradition as YMCA, for better or worse.

Here's a thought, two minor competitions:

At a certain point during closing (and only at that point!) have a competition to be closest to a certain marker on the field. Each team given one special sheet in their package and they engineer their best design. Once that's done it's OVER (and a reminder to everyone that it's not GP to continue!) Get NASA or Boeing to sponsor it

Second competition is for the team who collects the most number of spent airplanes. That'll get them out of there.

This sounds like an awesome idea and I think FIRST should implement it right away!

[Drakxii]

For webcasts I have 2 ideas.

1. Why not have the groups running the divisions do it? Instead of paying a company to do it badly, FIRST could pay PWN/FiM/MAR/NE to broadcast a field each. This could both improve the cmp webcast and the division webcasts, with the practice they would get over the season. Then for Einstein they could either work together or just rotate each year.

2. For Einstein why not make a show of it before the finals? Do something like NFL does with redzone where they would show HoF/Good/Important matches of the different fields, along with short interviews of students and sponsors and maybe some the chairman presentations.

[Steven Donow]

Originally Posted by Drakxii

For webcasts I have 2 ideas.

1. Why not have the groups running the divisions do it? Instead of paying a company to do it badly, FIRST could pay PWN/FiM/MAR/NE to broadcast a field each. This could both improve the cmp webcast and the division webcasts, with the practice they would get over the season. Then for Einstein they could either work together or just rotate each year.

NE webcasts are not run by teams. MAR webcasts leave much to be desired, and the highlight of FiM webcasting is MSC which (I believe) is done by an outside group.


FIRST needs to just buckle down and pay a company to provide strong webcasting services. Frank said on Gamesense last night that Don Bossi called a meeting next week called "2015 Webcasting", so hopefully we'll have something sometime over the summer about this.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Drakxii

For webcasts I have 2 ideas.

1. Why not have the groups running the divisions do it? Instead of paying a company to do it badly, FIRST could pay PWN/FiM/MAR/NE to broadcast a field each. This could both improve the cmp webcast and the division webcasts, with the practice they would get over the season. Then for Einstein they could either work together or just rotate each year.

2. For Einstein why not make a show of it before the finals? Do something like NFL does with redzone where they would show HoF/Good/Important matches of the different fields, along with short interviews of students and sponsors and maybe some the chairman presentations.

It's probably a contractual/union labor issue.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Cynette

And another thing! I disagree with the belief that the Hall of Fame display was adequate to showcase those amazing role model teams! Has anyone started a discussion of recommendations to make that area more respectful for the teams earning that honor and more valuable to the rest of us?

Team 254 intends to suggest that all HOF teams receive double wide (20'x10') pits to both house the robot and any display of the team's choice. We think this would allow teams to much more effectively showcase their accomplishments. This seemed to be well received amongst other HOF teams, but who knows if it is logistically possible.

[cgmv123]

Originally Posted by Cory

Team 254 intends to suggest that all HOF teams receive double wide (20'x10') pits to both house the robot and any display of the team's choice. We think this would allow teams to much more effectively showcase their accomplishments.

I'm not sure going around through all of the divisions hunting for all the Hall of Fame teams is something the average Championship attendee is going to do.

This seemed to be well received amongst other HOF teams, but who knows if it is logistically possible.

Pit space is doubling next year. There will be more teams, but there should be room to give HOF teams bigger pits if that's what FIRST wants.