[FRC Blog] Houston, St Louis Bags and More Behind the Curtain

FIRST General Forum
#1

Posted on the FRC Blog, 4/24/2017: https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc/blog/2017-houston-stl-bag-checks-more-behind-curtain

Houston, St Louis Bags and More Behind the Curtain
Written by Frank Merrick.

https://www.firstinspires.org/sites/default/files/uploads/frc/Blog/fireworks-houston.gif
**
Houston**

Wow, what an event! Over 28,000 badged participants at *FIRST *Championship Houston. That’s what I call a party!

And huge congratulations to Thunder Down Under, *FIRST *Robotics Competition Team 3132, from Sydney, New South Wales. Australia, our first Chairman’s Award winner from outside North America! A recognition well deserved. Welcome to the Hall of Fame!

Also, congratulations to our winning alliance, who put on a masterful display:

Team 973, Greybots, Atascadero, California, USA

Team 1011, CRUSH, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Team 2928, Viking Robotics, Seattle, Washington, USA

Team 5499, Bay Orangutans, Berkeley, California, USA

All participating teams will be receiving a survey about the Championship. Please fill it out. We recognize there were significant challenges to some aspects of the event, several of which were focused on the experience during closing ceremonies at the ballpark. We take responsibility for the experience we deliver our customers, and we are determined to make improvements for next year. But we need to hear from you so we can make sure we’re tackling the right concerns.

**
St. Louis Bag Checks**

Just like in Houston, we will not be doing bag and Robot Lock-Up Form checks at FIRST Championship St Louis this week. This is to save time on inspection. Teams at the event do not need to wait for an inspector before opening their bags – they can start working on their robots as soon as they get to their pits and uncrate.

Peek Behind the Curtain II

In this blog,I told you about the function and membership of the Rules Review Committee.

Tune in tonight, once again, to First Updates Now (FUN) at 8PM Eastern, 5PM Pacific, to see Tyler Olds and crew interview Dante DiLella. Dante is a long-time Head Referee and was a member of the 2017 Rules Review Committee. Get some behind-the-scenes info from the perspective of a Head Referee!

We’re setting things up in St Louis as I write this, getting ready for the next big party. Can’t wait to get this one going!

Frank

#2

All participating teams will be receiving a survey about the Championship. Please fill it out. We recognize there were significant challenges to some aspects of the event, several of which were focused on the experience during closing ceremonies at the ballpark. We take responsibility for the experience we deliver our customers, and we are determined to make improvements for next year. But we need to hear from you so we can make sure we’re tackling the right concerns.

Good on HQ for acknowledging that there was a problem so quickly. I hope to see more about it in the future. (And hopefully not see it repeat in St. Louis)

Obligatory: Has anyone seen Hallry? Is he alive?

#3

I saw him a few times on the blue alliance game day chat during champs… or was that during week 7 when I was watching ONT and MSC… either way, I’ve seen him online at some point in the last 9 days.

#4

Bkeeneykid sniped his post. For a couple minutes there were two threads

#5

But do we know if that was really him??? :ahh:

Perhaps Ryan was secretly kidnapped by FIRST HQ and is now trapped in a cold warehouse being forced to stack totes on a wet regolith floor while listening to the field fault sound on a loop. Maybe he is even being forced into creating a plan for 4 champs while being fed a steady diet of Hawaiian Pizza. Nonetheless, I think it’s time we demand answers! #wheresRyan #omgHallry

#6

Last I saw he was closing the Mended Drum bar a few threads over.

#7

Sorry, I’ve stuck in the bag check line at Minute Maid Park. Did I miss Einstein?

#8

We have had him trapped in the 3314 crate and stole his name tag.

#9