Posted by P.J. Baker.
Engineer on team #177, Bobcat Robotics, from South Windsor High School and International Fuel Cells.
Posted on 9/9/99 11:02 AM MST
Does the fact that there are two regionals the week before nationals make anyone else out there think that we may end up with a bunch of teams at EPCOT waiting for their 'bots to arrive???
Posted by colleen. [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]
Other on team #246, a FIRST-aholic, from John D. O’Byrant High School and Boston University/MassPEP.
Posted on 9/9/99 4:18 PM MST
In Reply to: Hartford and Cali shipping concerns posted by P.J. Baker on 9/9/99 11:02 AM MST:
I agree, i think that definitely seems like problem- We’re still going to get the 3 days to fix and modify in between right? Because that leaves like zero time to ship, or likely a lot of increased cost for rush shipping for teams attending those regionals.
Maybe FIRST has something in mind for that… to keep costs down and guarantee on-time arrival of robots, anyone know if there is something like that in place?
Posted by Joe Johnson. [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]
Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.
Posted on 9/9/99 7:00 PM MST
In Reply to: 3 modification days? posted by colleen on 9/9/99 4:18 PM MST:
I have a friend who heard from a friend who has it on good authority that…
FIRST was thinking about maybe considering helping to arrange for some sort shipping method for the teams that are competing at the last two regionals.
I don’t know whether to believe it or not.
Logistically, I can’t imagine how it could work.
Air freight is the only answer I can think of.
Perhaps FIRST has managed to get Airborne Express or some such company to ship the 70 or so crates for the affected teams.
While I have no idea about the particulars, I am confident that FIRST has thought about this issue and has a plan to deal with it.
Stay tuned…
Joe J.
P.S. perhaps FIRST’s plan is to remove the 3 repair days from the schedule, forcing teams to recrate their robot at the end of each regional and ship it directly to their next competition. I would hate it, but it would be one way to address a portion of the ‘unfair’ advantage multi-regional teams gain over single-regional teams.
Posted by Nate Smith. [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]
Student on team #74, Holland FIRST Robotics, from Holland High School and Haworth, Inc…
Posted on 9/14/99 7:49 AM MST
In Reply to: hear say said here posted by Joe Johnson on 9/9/99 7:00 PM MST:
: P.S. perhaps FIRST’s plan is to remove the 3 repair days from the schedule, forcing teams to recrate their robot at the end of each regional and ship it directly to their next competition. I would hate it, but it would be one way to address a portion of the ‘unfair’ advantage multi-regional teams gain over single-regional teams.
I remember that advantage being an issue discussed a LOT here last year, so it’s hard to say what they’re going to do…anyone from FIRST care to comment?
Nate
Posted by -Lori.
Other on team Team Player from FIRST.
Posted on 9/17/99 2:33 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: hear say said here posted by Nate Smith on 9/14/99 7:49 AM MST:
: I know that going from the CA and NE Regionals is going to be an issue for those teams. We have been considering several different scenarios…
shipping, air freight…less repair time at the end of each regional.
Nothing has been decided as of yet. We will let you know as soon as we’ve decided
on the best scenario.
-Lori- 
Posted by Mike Faticanti.
Coach on team #157, AZTECHS, from Assabet Valley R.T.H.S. and Simplex/EMC/Intel-Ma/Neles Controls/Jamesbury Inc.
Posted on 9/9/99 6:43 PM MST
In Reply to: Hartford and Cali shipping concerns posted by P.J. Baker on 9/9/99 11:02 AM MST:
P.J.
That is the first thing we thought of when we saw the schedule. Compete in the UTC New England, 3 days maintenance and repair, ship Tuesday, and then get on a plane for the Nationals Wednesday.
We thought it might be to our advantage if a group of the New England teams got together and rented a large trailer. We could all meet in a central location, load by 5pm Tuesday, and split the cost accordingly. This would also allow for all tools etc… to also be shipped. It is just one suggestion, I have no idea what a semi may cost. I know of others that are leaving for the Nationals on Tuesday so they will not even have the full 3 day M&R period.
Any suggestions???????