Championship 2007 - Atlanta - What Needs To Be Improved

[KTorak]

I'd vote for 1, maybe 2 practice rounds Thursday. Then, switch to qualifying rounds after the lunch break. This way, teams get more matches that count. As it stands, teams at the Championship have competed at at least one regional, so they should have a robot that functions pretty well, unless they are performing some complete design change and over haul.

[Vogel648]

Those who have only attended one regional have not had that much time to make any major edits that might have been needed to their robots. We got out on the field for all of our practice matches, and real matches, but I understand that there might be some teams that really need this time to make their planned changes to their robots.

[Daniel Brim]

Originally Posted by Vogel648

Those who have only attended one regional have not had that much time to make any major edits that might have been needed to their robots. We got out on the field for all of our practice matches, and real matches, but I understand that there might be some teams that really need this time to make their planned changes to their robots.

A valid point, and we did make some changes Thursday morning (but did not miss any practice). Perhaps increase the amount of time/people allotted for uncrating on Wednesday in order to allow for some quick fixes?

[GRaduns340]

For those complaining about the schedule, yes I'm among them, there is another thread specifically about that issue. Dave does a good job of trying to lay out the situation there. Read that please. The system is flawed, they know it, and it will be gone next year.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=56355
Page 3 contains the explanation

[sanddrag]

In the pits I didn't hear one single announcement ever. Were there every any, or we are just expected to know and figure out things?

On the field, I thought the "let's hold a flag pole across it" method of determining bonus points was pretty hokey at times.

[Kit Gerhart]

Even if there were room for the fields, adequate officials, etc., having 6 divisions would not work because it would require giving byes into the semis on Einstein. I think most of us feel that this would not be a good thing.

Originally Posted by vadyr

Thirdly, the divisions are too large. Having more divisions (i.e. six divisions) would lessen the amount of teams in each division and allow each team to participate in more matches. Scouting would be more manageable for less experienced teams. This year, there were six or seven regionals occurring simultaneously each week. Next year there will be 41 regionals in five weeks, averaging to over 8 fields a week. At least one week will require 9 fields. Thus, FIRST will have enough fields for each of the 6 divisions, two practice fields, and the Einstein field.


Sincerely,

Nate Thomas
President

Corey Koenig
President, Treasurer

Bobby Trotta
Vice President, Driver

[BiTurboS4]

First and foremost, as i've said many many times over, the use of the term NATIONALS needs to go. It is quite disrespectful to international teams that compete at the championship. Granted their are many that were around when it was still being called the nationals. But it remains that their are a staggering amount of people who weren't around during that time, thus have no reason to be using that term to describe the event.

Second. After standing for a few minutes watching a ranking screen, I was bombarded by the girls in the bright green vests screaming robot coming through. Now thats fine, and I can understand if your coming through a narrow walk way, but their is NO need to try to push your way through a group of about 20 people looking at a display. Their was plenty of room on either side of the group, and it should be used for robot traffic.

Third. The thought of having more divisions thus requiring more fields on the dome floor is probably never going to happen. Their is simply not enough room at the ends of the football field to fit one in correctly, and still allow the audio to get to the correct people. The only way I can think of to make it happen, were if FVC and FLL were to move to another venue or happen prior to the FRC event starting, thus freeing up the needed space on Einstein and DaVinci.

Fourth. The complaint about the walking distance is hard for me to understand, having been to Epcot, the walking distance was minimal. Though by far the worst was in fact Houston, the walk from the pits in Atlanta pales in comparison to the walk in Houston.

As i've said before, the best way to voice your complaints is to email frcteams@usfirst.org if you'd like your complaints to be considered by the FIRST staff.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by BiTurboS4

...the use of the term NATIONALS needs to go.

I agree completely. Apparently someone in a "position of power" does not, however. The recording being played at the entrance to the Dome continuously welcomed everyone to "the 2007 FIRST National Championship".

[Cory]

Originally Posted by vadyr

Thirdly, the divisions are too large. Having more divisions (i.e. six divisions) would lessen the amount of teams in each division and allow each team to participate in more matches. Scouting would be more manageable for less experienced teams. This year, there were six or seven regionals occurring simultaneously each week. Next year there will be 41 regionals in five weeks, averaging to over 8 fields a week. At least one week will require 9 fields. Thus, FIRST will have enough fields for each of the 6 divisions, two practice fields, and the Einstein field.

As I understand it, from talking to the IFI folks the issue with having more fields isn't not having enough fields available--it's not having enough radio channels to prevent interference.

[BiTurboS4]

Originally Posted by Cory

As I understand it, from talking to the IFI folks the issue with having more fields isn't not having enough fields available--it's not having enough radio channels to prevent interference.

If we made the jump to 2.4ghz or 5Ghz, that problem would be solved.

[cmirags]

Originally Posted by dangerousdave

At the 2007 Championship event, tell us what needs improvement before next years Championship's in Atlanta, April 16-19, 2008.
Dave

So Championships are going to be at Atlanta next year??? i heard something about St. Louis but we werent sure. but thats awesome if its going to be there next year...I love atlanta!!

i agree weather def. needs to be better, lol. the team social needs to be planned after finals are over. o and the music on galileo this year wasnt loud haha that def. needs to be turned up a bit. haha
but nothing major needs to be changed i think they do a great job in setting it all up and how they do the awards and such.

[Jeremiah Johnson]

Originally Posted by cmirags

So Championships are going to be at Atlanta next year??? i heard something about St. Louis but we werent sure. but thats awesome if its going to be there next year...I love atlanta!!

i agree weather def. needs to be better, lol. the team social needs to be planned after finals are over. o and the music on galileo this year wasnt loud haha that def. needs to be turned up a bit. haha
but nothing major needs to be changed i think they do a great job in setting it all up and how they do the awards and such.

The Championship Event will be held in Atlanta, at the Georgia Dome, for the next two years, at least.


As to feeling safe in Atlanta, I did. The rest of my team, however, did not. I know there was a shooting in the CNN Center area on Thursday, but in no way did I feel threatened.

I think I've already complained once in this tread, but I want to make another point. That point, though, I have forgotten, sorry.

[gblake]

Originally Posted by dangerousdave

At the 2007 Championship event, tell us what needs improvement before next years Championship's in Atlanta, April 16-19, 2008.
Dave

The directing and camera work on the video sent out to the NASA channel and the webcasts. I simply don't think that the folks doing it are familiar enough with the subject matter to produce an excellent product for their audiences.

I have little doubt that they are fine craftsmen, but as a viewer, I felt that they far too often concentrated on the wrong things or on the right things at the wrong times.

Blake
PS: The webcast feed froze very often on my home computer. Ensure that all parts the video server end of the feed(s) (number crunching and I/O bandwidth) have the capacity they need, plus a comfortable margin of safety. I realize that there can be bottlenecks on my end of the feed and that FIRST/NASA can't solve those.

[cmirags]

Thats awesome Championships is in atlanta! that makes me so happY!!

[Dave Flowerday]

Originally Posted by 1885.Blake

The directing and camera work on the video sent out to the NASA channel and the webcasts. I simply don't think that the folks doing it are familiar enough with the subject matter to produce an excellent product for their audiences.

I have little doubt that they are fine craftsmen, but as a viewer, I felt that they far too often concentrated on the wrong things or on the right things at the wrong times.

You have to remember why they are producing the video. Their primary goal is to produce video for the big screen at the event. They nicely allow us to webcast and archive their feed, but that's not the reason they are there. The production company used by FIRST has been involved for a long time - they know what they're doing and I'm pretty certain they understand the subject matter.

The problem is, things that would be good for the webcasts (like a wide view of the full field) don't work well for the big screen at the event. People at the event can already see the whole field so they're more interested in close-ups.