Has anyone encountered any problems at our airports when bringing a minibot (or minibot parts) through the TSA security checks?
Would love to hear any stories, good or bad, as well as suggestions for how to best handle traveling with such parts, eg. put it in checked baggage vs carry-on, etc.
Thank you!
Check the mini-bot it will not get passed security in all liklihood.
I believe the batteries must be carry on though per TSA regulation. I would consult their website to verify however.
I would check the minibot in a labeled container explaining what the minibot is and what its purpose is for. Place the batteries in a separately labeled, otherwise empty box with “Batteries” on it and the ends sticking out to show they are unplugged.
You may find this letter to be of help:
http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/Community/FTC/Events/RobotLetter.pdf
It’s intended for FTC teams to show TSA employees at airports.
You must carry on LiPos, but it is acceptable to check other kinds of batteries. This past weekend I carried-on an R/C plane (included a pound of NiMH cells in a self soldered pack), and expected a world of problems. It made it through without even a second glance. In the past we’ve carried on a 5 lb NiMH pack, but that did take some serious explaining to get through. YMMV…
You could try posting this question to www.vexforum.com too, as several hundred VEX teams have just returned home from flying in and out of Florida.
Mind you, my usual advice it to throw on a few extra batteries, program a good autonomous mode, point the robots in the right direction and let them go a week or two in advance of the event. If you’ve done it right, they’ll be waiting at your hotel when you get there.
Jason
Carry it on and videotape what happens.
<G70> MINIBOTS may only be carried on AIRPLANES if accompanied by the HOSTBOT, COACH, ANALYST, and proper WAIVER FORMS.
:rolleyes:
Just kidding.
We carried ours on the plane from Sydney to Hawaii with no issues. The interesting part was while our minibot made it straight through security, a specially designed ratchet for our arm had a hard time. Our head mentor had to take it 3 levels up in management at Sydney Airport for us to be able to carry it onto the plane!
Please also note we had mentors carry everything on board and we were dealing with Australian Security. At the US security checkpoint, (to get on a plane from Australia to the USA you have to go through Australian security to get into the terminal then US security to get to the gate.) we didn’t get pulled over so the TSA never saw our minibot.
We took the batteries off the minibots, wrapped them in soft material to protect them and put them in one of the standard KOP crates. The batteries were in the same crate, but separate from the minibots.
We included a note on the inside of the crate right on top that explained what was in the box. We attached a couple of zip ties to the note and asked the TSA agents to kindly re-zip tie the crate shut if they happened to open it.
Our team didn’t encounter any issues with this system (and the TSA agents did use the zip ties).
-Brando
Carry a pamphlet about your team. Ramble on and on about robotics, STEM education, and some organization called FIRST. Encourage the folks at security to become involved. If there are enough high school students with you (even better if they’re in team t-shirts), TSA won’t question your motives. Also make sure that the batteries are marked and there’s nothing sharp/pointy on your bot.
This is how we transported much of our FTC gear to championships last year. I’d read the docs above just to be sure nothing has changed.