I hope there is more clarification on the load-in for the Championship.
Right now: Load-in starts at 3:00 pm, and between 3:00-5:00 pm, you can have at most 5 people in the pit to uncrate, prep, and inspect the robot.
Are you limited to 1 mentor? 2 mentors and 3 students?
With 300+ teams, that is quite a traffic jam at 3:00 pm.
Do the same 5 people in the pit count against the 5 allowed to load-in?
Seems like if FRC is encouraging getting the robot ready, the 5 in the pit should be separate from the 5 for the load-in. Otherwise, this is the situation:
i) 5 go in at 3:00 pm, while Driver waits in line.
ii) when van gets close to the front of the line, Driver calls down to the pit for the people to come out and unload.
iii) If pit team is delayed coming out (but they still stay within their 15 minutes), it does delay everyone behind them, and so on…
While possible, it makes more sense to allow 5 people to wait in line, and when it is the Team’s turn they handle the load-in while the other 5 continue to work on the bot. I don’t think the extra people (a few team actively unloading) materially increases the crowding.
For the 5 slots that number is related to who is allowed in the pits so how many people you have between the sidewalk and the entrance to the pit is another story but please don’t bring your entire team. I can understand bringing a few more hands to help unload and one person to stay with the car.
As for who it is, the 5 individuals can be anyone but at least send one mentor to handle any issues that come up.
No one is allowed in the pits until 3pm. At that time you can load all of your stuff into the pit using your 5 people and unpack your crate.
Yes it is a traffic jam at 3pm so I would recommend you plan on getting to the Dome an hour before hand so you can unload your vehicle, move all equipment to the line(s), and park. Plus there is usually a lot of traffic around the Dome at this time and limited spaces to unload from your vehicle.
A lot of teams unload before 3 and send their bus/trailer away, leaving just 5 people and all their stuff on the sidewalk to wait for the doors to open. It’s always a bit of a traffic jam for the first hour or so while teams get in, but in the end it really isn’t that big of a deal - just show up expecting it to be crazy, and work your way through it until you have everything in your pit and you’re ready to get started.
They should be close to your pit. You’ll want to unpack your crate, and then one of the venue staff will take it out of your way (unless your crate is your pit.)
[strike]Reminder to all that Bag and Tag is in effect. Don’t open your bag until your form has been signed by an inspector.[/strike] Edit: Never mind. See below.
Thanks for the info! I’m the advance team with my son all others arrive Thurs AM , we won’t have any tools to undo the crate can we borrow from a team a drill with Phillips head to undo? Or are there basic tools available? All of our tools are in the crate and I don’t want to check bags. We are a Galileo team
Per a FIRST Championship Email team main and alternate contacts should have just received, there will be NO BAG AND TAG INSPECTIONS at the Championship:
New!** No Bag and Tag Inspections at Championship: **With the compressed schedule for inspection this year, and the historically few discrepancies we’ve found at Championship related to bag and tag, FRC management has decided there will be no bag and tag inspections at the FIRST Championship this year. Teams may immediately unbag their robots upon opening their crates in the Pits, no need to wait for an Inspector to come by and approve.
As an inspector this is some of the best news I have heard in a while. Thank you FIRST for realizing that the Bag and Tag check takes too much time for what it accomplishes.
Send one of the (5) with a light tool bag ahead of the others with a drill motor and bits to open the crate. The remaining (4) will deal with moving the bulk of the stuff through the crowd.
This same person will open the bag, remove the robot (with the help of a neighbor), and take the wireless bridge to the WEP Kiosk.
Thanks I’ll swing by better than stopping at Home Depot. Appreciate the offer we will be in about 4:30 hopefully hope we make the driver meeting. Flight in at 3:45.
One more question… it says to have the robot radio set up in the email. Is that part of the inspection process or are they just checking the physical measurements etc. I’m trying to figure out if we need to bring the net book and get it operational prior to inspection… otherwise the rest of the team can bring it Thursday AM.
I just want to do as much on Wednesday as possible, they will be zonked from the red eye.
Just a quick note - there are 11 Minnesota teams that will be going from Champs to the MN State Tournament, which is also a Bag and Tag event. Those teams can have any adult, even a mentor for their team (it does NOT have to be an inspector), document the unlock when they arrive at CMP, and the lockup when they leave CMP. For those 11 teams, the robot MUST be in the bag when they leave, even if they’re shipping it home!
A note to this affect will be going out directly to those 11 teams shortly. I know many of them frequent CD though, so hopefully this helps get the message to them as well.
Bring the netbook. You’ll need to do a power on test, including the driver station, to pass inspection! Radio configuration happens with the router on the Robot at a self-serve kiosk, just like it does at a normal competition.
Not part of the Inspection Process. But, at inspections, I will ask if the D-link has been configured. At a regional, a team made it to the field for their practice match without a configured D-Link. They were a rookie team at their first competition. But, in the rush of the Championship, any team might forget.