pic: Bills Blog - Bleachers in pit

[klmx30302]

Originally Posted by Bill_B

BBlog of 6apr states that teams will be assigned a pit on Wednesday. Seems to mean no pit map this year.

At least the load in map is still there so you can still have a general idea of where to go before you get there.

[Bill_B]

Originally Posted by klmx30302

At least the load in map is still there so you can still have a general idea of where to go before you get there.

there is also a wider coverage map in the FLL section showing them their route to the dome and Einstein. It's a smaller scale (less details) that includes a lot of the dome floor, including the strange item at one end that reminds me of the solar reflector diagrams.

[Colin P]

Michigan teams will be happy, this looks just like a district setup.

If I were going to the event and ended up on one of these fields I think I'd spend less time complaining about the size on Chief Delphi and more time figuring out what else I can do at Nationals to pass the time.
It's more than just FRC! There's FLL, CARD, action in the pits, companies to talk to, great people on other teams to meet. If you plan on spending all of your time in the stands, you're waisting your trip.

Would you rather just stay in the hotel and watch the matches online for scouting?

[Kristian Calhoun]

Originally Posted by Colin P

Would you rather just stay in the hotel and watch the matches online for scouting?

No.

Which raises another question: Will there be a power drop for teams to use for scouting equipment (laptops, video cameras, etc.)? I imagine it would be possible to run an extension cord beneath the bleachers to the nearest outlet and allow nearby teams in the stands to split off of that. However, such a setup may cause a safety issue for some depending on how many wires there are and where they're going.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Colin P

If you plan on spending all of your time in the stands, you're waisting your trip.

Would you rather just stay in the hotel and watch the matches online for scouting?

No, you're scouting. Watching online makes scouting VERY difficult, at least partly because the camera people love to insert driver's station views and lots of film of the one or two robots that flipped 30 seconds into the match.

I planned on spending a good 75% of my time in the stands, and usually spent more, when I was scouting. The remaining 25% was typically on Thursday (practice day, for those Michiganders that haven't been to a regional event).

I'm certain the pit-field seating will work itself out; how crowded it gets will be a function of how many scouts there are and how big the playing teams are. (Hey, idea! Finally, the scouts get their own section! Just take a portion of one set of bleachers!)

I think the complaints are more over the fact that there are two fields in the pits, when there's a ton of space in the Dome that's being used for ???????? event (which everyone is figuring out is some form of concert). A concert at a robotics competition that displaces the robotics competition has the potential to turn into a robotics competition at a concert.

[Dargel1625]

Originally Posted by Colin P

Would you rather just stay in the hotel and watch the matches online for scouting?

You do that, and let us know if you get any scouting data worth keeping.

[Dancin103]

Originally Posted by Colin P

Would you rather just stay in the hotel and watch the matches online for scouting?

This is the most difficult form of scouting. You can't really get a grasp of what the teams are like by scouting via the internet. You can get a very general idea, but nothing precise.

[XaulZan11]

Originally Posted by Colin P

If you plan on spending all of your time in the stands, you're waisting your trip.

Guess we shouldn't scout and kill our chances at winning a world championship. We wouldn't want to waste our trip by actually trying to win a competition.

I know I never have 'time to pass' at the championship. If anything, I wish I could clone myself a couple of times to experience everything.

[Dancin103]

This seems really really small. There are regionals larger than this.

Just my $0.02.

[Racer26]

Not going to CMP this year, I'll have to rely on everyone's word who goes, however, I know if I WAS going, I'd be hopping mad if 2 FRC fields have been pushed out of the dome for the entire weekend in order to make room for a stage for a show that will be for a few hours on friday night.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Dancin103

This seems really really small. There are regionals larger than this.

Just my $0.02.

This just may be the angle that we are looking at. We can't see the entire area so it may look smaller than it actually is.

Jane

[Tazlikesrobots]

reminds me of when the championship was held at EPCOT.....

[IKE]

Whole lot of negativity. If you tell yourself you are going to be crowded, you likely will "feel" that way. If you believe something will "suck", there is a highly likelihood that this will be true.

If you have some constructive criticism or ideas, now is a good time to try those exchanges. For example:
Having dealt with bleachers like these before, there is an unfortunate side effect of the lowers rows... STANDING. As a team that has been "In trouble" for standing, it will virtually be necessary for many matches if you want to see your team compete. In order to reduce the rudeness, our team gathers into a column like format. Taking a slice at the district competitions we have been to. This vertical slice ensure that for the most part, you only get in the way of "your" people. I would also suggest taking more of a corner so as not to block the side to side viewers.

Ideally the bleachers need to be on some risers. Especially the side behind the FTA tables (assuming there is a side behind FTA tables).

Overall, I am pretty certain they will not be cancelling Fridays festivities, and so we are going to have to play the cards we are dealt. My suggestion is to make the best of it. Pay attention for opportunities, and then craft a well worded letter if it really is as bad as you expect it to be.

Any other ideas on how we could handle scouting and make sure they get the priority they deserve? My team utilizes around 7-10 scouts. At certain venues we have had to "remote" the scouting crew in order for them to get good observational positions. Would teams be in favor of splitting up their teams in order to give scouting a priority (middle upper sections with no standers in front of them)? This is likely a foolish idea as it would take 80 some teams to agree on the strategy, and only 2-3 to render it a useless strategy. Thoughts?

[jspatz1]

So the FRC Championship matches are relegated to some makeshift bleachers in the pits to make room for a pop music concert. The core message of FIRST is to teach young people to celebrate the right things, to change pop culture to focus on what is really important, to help society set the right priorities. I hate to say it out load, but the irony of this is so powerful that I cannot help but feel that FIRST has temporarily lost sight of its own message. I welcome and am grateful for the support of the Black Eyed Peas. It is fine to try to incorporate and leverage their support into the Championship event. But to literally displace the fields and matches and scramble the competition that is the very purpose of the event, that seems like a perfect example of being enamored by pop glitter and allowing it to come before what is really important...exactly what we are asking young people to resist doing.

[GaryVoshol]

So what is that, 10 rows of seats, maybe 12? At Kettering, they had 8 or 10 rows on one side of the field, 4 or 5 on the other, plus a section of bleachers on one end zone. Say 40% more rows at St Louis - that's being generous.

From the pit maps, the total length of the bleachers at St Louis may be somewhat longer than those at Kettering. (I seem to recall 115', which would make the bleachers a little more than twice the length of the field.) Say 40% longer, again generous; it ignores the extra bleachers that Kettering had on the end.

1.4x1.4=1.96 - 96% higher capacity at St Louis than at Kettering.

But Kettering was crowded for 38 teams. With 86 teams per division, the crowd should be about 125% larger. But the bleachers aren't 125% larger. I suggest that these bleachers will be at least 15% more crowded than the ones at Kettering were.