[FRC Blog] Getting Ready for FIRST® Championship

FIRST General Forum
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Posted on the FRC Blog, 2/8/24 by Fiona Hanlon

Getting Ready for FIRST ® Championship

Feb 08, 2024 Written by Fiona Hanlon, FIRST Robotics Competition Team Experience Specialist

We’re just a few months away from the 2024 FIRST ® Championship presented by BAE Systems, and we could not be more excited! We previously shared a blog on a few 2024 championship updates. We wanted to take some time to share a few more updates as well as remind teams of resources available for teams who are planning to attend FIRST Championship!

Before we jump into the new items, we wanted to share a few reminders. After your team qualifies, you will receive an email with instructions reminding you to register for the event and secure payment (Please refer to the Check-out Instructions for further details). If your team is receiving a grant for registration (including those who have won Engineering Inspiration within the US*)**, wait to checkout until your grant is received, but no later than April 9 at 5:00 p.m. ET. If your grant has not been updated by this deadline and you’re unable to checkout, please contact [email protected]

General Event Information

Information specific to FIRST ® Robotics Competition, including the public schedule, can be found on the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship Information webpage. We will continue to update this webpage over the coming weeks as the information is finalized!

You Bring It or Shipping your Robot

We will again allow teams to bring their robot to the venue themselves if they prefer. If you are planning to ship your robot to the FIRST Championship, we encourage you to secure your registration as early as you can. Once you have secured your registration, you will receive an email from [email protected] with information about shipping. Please fill out the appropriate information at your earliest convenience. Once your team chooses to ship the robot to the event using the FedEx donation, FIRST will create the appropriate shipping document and provide further instructions via email.

Load-In/Out

This year, we have decided to start load-in at 9am on Wednesday. Teams who shipped their robot will be allowed in at 7:00am to allow early access in the pits for teams who may not have had access to their robot for several weeks.

Teams that qualify and secure the event registration fee (via check, credit card, grant, or purchase order) for FIRST Championship will get an email asking them if they want to hand-carry to FIRST Championship or ship it via FedEx. Teams must select one or the other, as there will be no ‘default’ option. For more information, check out the Robot Transportation webpage.

Teams that ship to Championship must visit the FIRST Ship Desk prior to Load Out, which is open Thursday through Saturday. If you come early, you can skip the long Saturday line!

Teams that hand-carry their robot are no longer required to visit the FIRST Ship Desk prior to loading out, however they must still visit the load out desk to indicate they are ready. A Load Out desk is available in both pits on Saturday, and teams should go there once the team is ready to pack things into the vehicle.

Radios

We shared about a month ago that we were considering using the new radios at Championship. Production and QA of the new radio hardware is complete, and we’re happy to report that testing on the full field setup at FIRST has so far produced positive results. There are a few remaining tests to complete. While we are not yet ready to completely commit to the use of the 6GHz radios at the 2024 FIRST Championship, we plan to have more definitive news to share in the next few weeks.

Practice Field Changes

We have decided to make a few changes to the Practice Field areas to improve some issues we have seen in the past few years. First, all practice field areas will open at 12:00pm to all teams.

We recognize that teams shipping their robot are at a disadvantage as they cannot work on their robot after it ships. To help level the playing field, teams that ship their robot using the FedEx voucher receive early access to the pits on Wednesday and:

  • a fast pass that allows the team to skip the line one time on the ‘playground’ (non-official/wooden) practice fields any day they are open. Note that they cannot be used the last hour that practice fields are open each day.
  • a fast pass that allows the team to skip the line one time on the official practice fields any day the practice fields are open. Note that they cannot be used the last hour that practice fields are open each day.

Volunteer Opportunities

We estimate needing more than 1400 volunteers at the 2024 FIRST Championship, and we have roles available like Robot Inspection, Field Reset, Judging, Team Queuing, Practice Field Attendants, Load in and load out, and more! If you have extra parents, mentors, or students coming to FIRST Championship, they can sign up to volunteer but please note the minimum age to volunteer for this event is 15. As a volunteer for FIRST Championship, you will get free meals (provided on the day(s) you volunteer), a t-shirt, gift, and the option to access a hotel block at a discounted rate. Many roles can be done in half-day or single-day shifts. Apply today!

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What changes w.r.t practice fields? Wasn’t the fast pass available last year, too? Or they changed something very specific in the details?

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I think its the fact that shipping teams get two fast passes, one for the playground and one for the official field, comparing it to this sheet:

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And the playground fastpass comes at the “cost” of those teams not having exclusive early access over others.

Honestly this will probably be easier to enforce and manage at the event which is nice.

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Sort of tempting to ship the robot to get early access. Not a lot of time to work on it after a week six qualification anyway.

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Huge fans of the fast pass, that was one of the best things FIRST did for teams at CMP last year to make things more equitable.

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Teams that hand-carry their robot are no longer required to visit the FIRST Ship Desk prior to loading out

Oh my. Praise be.

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Teams that hand-carry their robot are no longer required to visit the FIRST Ship Desk prior to loading out

FINALLY

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Do we have to ship our NOT-A-ROBOTs too?

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idk if I would even consider this.
If I didnt have to ship a robot anywhere, we would never go back to it as a possible option ever again.

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This was hell last year. (Though, editing to clarify that this is a broader pit problem, not specific to the practice field, but still a good change.)

Signed,
Wristband enforcer

P.S. please don’t lie to volunteers. We can talk to each other and know that “the lady at the loading dock” did not give you permission to just “roam the pits.”

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In 22, the dock volunteers wanted me to unload the truck so I could clear the load area. My unloading crew was sent to the front because they could not enter from the street (fair. It was stated policy) The staff in the front would not let them through the pits to loading dock. They where sent around outside to be told to go back inside. So my passenger and I (truck only had 2 seat belts) had to unload three pits. Thanks to HOF team Exploding Bacon for the help. It would have been nice if the officials on the dock spoke to the officials in front. Yes I am still a little salty about that.

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HOF teams do not have early access anymore. I am not sure if there will be HOF volunteers to help teams unload this time around.

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Did the students trying to enter in the front have their wristbands? If so, sorry for the frustrating experience! If not, perhaps that process could be made clearer.

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Since we did not ship the robot, we dot not have the correct color arm band walk through the pits. We where allowed and expected to drop of the our pits and robot on the loading docks before pits opened for us. If I was pulling a trailer with an SUV then I could have brought the crew where they needed to be. With or without armbands. A 2 seat truck not so much.

The gate people were doing what they were told to do in not letting them through. I don’t have an issue with with them following their instructions. My crew was directed back and forth. Apparently no was available with the authority to solve the problem was my issue. In 23 (last year) this problem was fixed. I am hopeful they remember the solution for this year.

Load in is always a bit of a cluster. You need to have patience and go with flow for the most part. Volunteers for the most part are genuinely helpful and friendly. Houston does a good job of lining the trucks up having them flow into the loading dock.d

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Gotcha, this is the year I mistakenly thought you were referring to. Glad last year worked, which should make this year even better.

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