Getting Tools to Atlanta

Competition Regional Competitions
#9

Lots of ways and most of them are already listed here:

  1. If you have family / friends that have some free space to spare ship the items to them and pick it up when you get there. And Visa Versa when you leave bring the stuff back to them and arrange for the same carrier who delivered the items to come and pick it up.

  2. See if anyone on the team has intentions of driving to the Hotel & Event find out if they have some space in their vehicle to take some items with them.

  3. Bring some stuff on the plane as Luggage. (Don’t exactly know what the Carrier will allow onboard their plane so make sure there’s no chemicals or sharp pointy objects to start with.)

4)Call the Hotel you are staying at and see if they’ll be able to accept & hold a shipped package and ship the items to them.

  1. Build another crate and ship the stuff to the drayage company and tell them to hold that as well for the Championship. Shipping & Handling Fees need to be delt with by the Team. FIRST can only ensure delivery of the robot and anything inside the crate with the robot. Everything else if I’m not mistaken is the Teams responsibility.
#10

Yep, we fly to/from ATL. We arrive two hours before departure. We stay together as a group as TSA x-rays, opens, waves magic wands, etc. We then reseal the packages (no duct tape, but packing tape, zip-ties, etc.). We actually ship hand carts so we can manage the equipment at both airports. I think the baggade handlers enjoy seeing how high the carts bounce when dropped 10 ft. (We’ve had the bearings broken in wheels, frame bent, etc., all considered normal wear and tear).

Did I ever mention that the Championship should move out west for a couple of years? Jet lag, ticketing lines and cunfosion, waiting for luggage, explaining RC controllers to TSA, should be experienced by the whole FIRST community.

Oh, yeah. Next year there’s a Hawaii regional. If your going, have a nice flight!!

#11

Call your airline and find out their policies. You should be able to check all of your tools but they will not allow any chemicals. If you arrange it before hand and get to baggage check early you shouldn’t have a problem.

Just remember to not make anyone box too heavy. Baggage that is too heavy has a tendency to get lost.

#12

Ususally 1/2 the team wants to drive and the other 1/2 wants to fly. This works out nicely because if we have 6 car loads of people going down there anyway, it usually isn’t that hard to bring a box of buttons or whatnot along. Of course the drive is only about 11 hours for my team, this option may not work for others.

#13

I would suggest that you talk to local teams that are attending the Championship. We had this problem last year and we had some local teams willing to help us bring our tools to the event.

#14

No hassle at all - they simply will not be allowed past security. No wrenches, screwdrivers, hammers…

Checked luggage is a different story. Anything solid (metal, wood) shouldn’t be an issue. Any liquids, powders, etc - forget it.

IMHO, options (in order of preference)

  1. Drive (or have someone drive)
  2. Ship to hotel/friend/local team/some parent’s business office in ATL…
    (2a - ship by bus! Cheap, reliable, and they’ll hold it a day or two for you)
  3. Checked luggage
  4. Buy all new tools there :yikes:

Don

#15

Hi Guys,

We are near Atlanta, and have extra room in our team trailer.

If you run out of options, give us a call. You can ship it to us and we’ll haul it down to ATL for you.

You can find our contact info at www.ForsythAlliance.com.

  • Rick Folea
    Team Mentor
#16

If you are from the west coast, carrying your tools is definitly your cheapest option. Back in the day, we packed a craftmens roll around tool box that locks with about 40 lbs worth of tools in it (10 lbs for the actual box), the rest we carried in individuals’ suitcases and bags. We even checked dewalt drill cases and such without a problem. The trick is to make sure all of your tools is accounted for at the end, we had a couple of pieces that got lost in the process.

You can pretty much check anything. When the nationals were still at Disney world, I remember stopping by the racetrack and I picking up a used nascar tire for $5 bux (it just looked cool), I checked the tire in at the airport without a problem.

#17

well the nice part about my team being on the east coast is we can easily take a bus down to atlanta with our tools and stuff

#18

We too like the Forsyth Alliance are close to Atlanta. We are about 20 minutes from the gorgia Dome. I myslf am about 40 minutes. So if you need to ship tools to someone, let me know. I have to clear it with my mentor, but I highly doubt it will be a problem

#19

Thanks ForsythAlliance and CircuitRunners. We are weighing out our options, and will contact you if we will would like to send our stuff your way.:slight_smile:

#20

The only problem to that is there are not any cities ideally suited to host the Championship Event out west that are still warm enough in April to permit teams to spend time outside in tee shirts. The trick of finding a Convention Center right next to a football/basketball/hockey stadium is not that easy, and Atlanta right now has the best location/facilities for hosting the Championships of any city in the U.S. :wink:

#21

2 years ago Delta airlines let our team onto the plane with 3 4’ sections of angle iron and a 1" Diameter wooden stick onto the plane. But confiscated my mothers sewing needles O_o. I don’t advise just showing up with stuff, in case they don’t let you on the plane.

#22

Most of California is warm enoguh, is I would assume Nevada, Arizona, and other states in this area are. And I think that there has to be at least one compatible arena on the West Coast, even if you limit yourself to these three states.

#23

We’ve always checked in 4-5 crates worth of tools and materials without any hassle from the airlines. We even check in our robot transporter and tape the two handles to the base of the cart. For metal extrusion and long stuff like that we usually ship it off with the robot to each event. I wouldn’t recommend attepting to bring anything robot-related onto carry on, although I believe last year on the flight to Pacific Northwest 254 brought their lexan hopper on board. That was entertaining :stuck_out_tongue:

#24

thats funny … well thats america

#25

166 ships an extra crate.

You may have seen it at GSR. Us an 151 had the same type of thing. We have the second one that unfolds so it is 10 feet wide. It contains a tool box, a shelf, a vice, a drill press, several shelves and whiteboards. Lot’s of nifty stuff.

That’s how we transport our tools.

#26

Dan,
That is very cool. I did notice a few at GSR that unfolded into mini-workshops. At American School for the Deaf, we have a full woodshop and students to work on building stuff like that. Maybe we can pull it together in time to ship to Atlanta. We really want one anyway.

How tall is yours? The full 70"? I am wondering how much extra $$$ that would be to ship. As a totally rookie team (and with 50 students + mentors) you can imagine we are really scrounging to try and get to Atlanta.

I also want to really thank you and Chop Shop for your compassion in the stands at GSR. The silent applause was just awesome, you cannot imagine how it touched our deaf students and mentors. They normally live in a world of isolation, and for them being a part of a team at that regional was a life-changing experience. They were finally being recognized by the “real” world as belonging. It is hard to explain. But after working on a team with both deaf and hearing students and mentors for build, and having to learn to communicate, and having frustration on both ends, I was so proud to be a part of a team that was recognized for the awesome accomplishments we made. Many lives have been touched and changed through this experience.

I also want to congratulate you on your understanding of our needs in the stands. I heard that there was actually someone who gave our team members a lot of grief on Saturday, because the organizers decided to give us reserved seating (the same we had had the day before) to accomodate for our ASL interpreters, as well as have a clear vision of the screens… so our deaf members could understand what was going on. That was very sad for me, to think that someone could be so selfish as to not understand that people with special needs really do need special accomodations, sometimes. Unfortunately, the deaf have told me that they are often treated this way.

Anyway, a great big, huge THANKS to everyone at GSR for that amazing applause. Even though we got creamed by Buzz and 501 in the quarter-finals, we all came home feeling like huge winners. Our team is really pumped!

#27

That was touching and people can be stupid. And dont feel bad about getting crammed bt buzz everybody did. they had a great bot. Btw congrats on your numerous awards. You guys really deserve it.

Anyway, to get back on topic, team 811 is goig to ship 2 or 3 of the old KOP boxes(the cool interlocking lid ones) straight to the hotel and we are going to pick them up there.

Dan,
did you say that you and 151 built those awsome fold out crates. if so could you possably sent me the specs (if you have them) to GBIT4248@aol.com. much thanks.

to recap, touching moments at GSR, Shiping KOP, and Folding out crates (and i thought build season was over!:ahh:

#28

You may want to check with the airline first to see if they’ll make any accommodations for because of your situation. Last year when flying to ATL, we checked the SOAP burner and another box of SOAP stuff, and then had about 4-5 members carry an additional backpack with the rest of our equipment. Although AirTran had a 1 carry-on per person rule, we had our personal carry-on plus the SOAP stuff, so it’s possible. Be prepared for dirty looks when going through security though…it is rather suspicious having 5 bags full of electronics and tons of wires everywhere. Also, if you do decide to check you tools/equipment, make sure that everything is capable of being opened by TSA, or you may find some things out of place or oddly taped back together.