Does anyone know about how long it takes for FIRST to set up the arena and load in robots at a typical regional? The Long Island regional starts this Thursday at Hofstra University. If the Hofstra basketball team wins their NIT game tonight, then there will be a game at Hofstra on Wednesday night. I think this is the first time this has happened. Do you think there will be a problem with setting up?
FIRST generally sets up during the day Wednesday, I believe. Perhaps the regional coordinators have already made a back-up plan in case this occurs?
Root against the team I guess 
How incredibly interesting. Well, be sure to let us know the outcome. I am volunteering to help set up Los Angeles, and they want me there 11 am until 6pm on Wednesday.
I’m guessing they’ll either set up the field after the basketball game or really early in the morning and run later on thursday if they have too.
Usually, it takes about five to six hours to set up the playing field with about a dozen people. (That was what it took to set up the field at UTC.) And that is just the playing field; there is a lot more to set up than just a playing field. You better stock up on caffienated beverages and some midnight oil if the basketball team is playing Wednesday night, becuase you may need an all nighter to pull it off in time.
Yeah, depending on the competition and the number of volunteers (thank you Americorps for everyone you donate :)), set up can take between 6-10 hours. I remember being there late one year as our team brought the practice field and helped set up the pit. It’s actually really fun if you start talking to the workers and everyone else who is setting up. While certainly it wasn’t as fun as the actual competition, it was interesting to see everything that goes into producing a FIRST competition, plus it gives us some time to hang out with the regional directors.
Hofstra just won… should be interesting…
Hmm…Could Hofstra just play on the Aim High field? i mean…it’s got hoops at both ends, and we play with foam basketballs…
Just got home from SBPLI. I heard that set up did not start until 11 last night. I arrived at 8 this morning and the field was not ready yet and the bleachers were still closed. The first match did not start until noon. However, I have to give mad props to FIRST and all the volunteers for getting everything ready in such a short amount of time.
congrats guys! is FIRST giving special awards to the volunteers who set up the field? if not, a team should.
For the NYC FIRST! Regional Field Assy. started at 11am as soon as the truck pulled in, We had finished assembling the field and testing everything I’d say around 10pm and thats w/ 20+ registered volunteers and only 10 - 15 volunteers doing the work. Did anyone else who set up the field realize that some of the SCC units shipped w/ the fields have hardware upgrades in them that prevent the banked radios leds from lighting up but would work anyway reguardless of the leds blinking or not. I went crazy wednesday night changing out the units thinking we had a bad unit or a wiring problem and when reporting for thursdays duties I was told that it was due to the hardware upgrades that causes the banked radios to do that.
BTW SCC Unit is the Arena Control Setup
The SBPLI Long Island regional folks are a stout bunch indeed. They WERE there all night Wednesday to get the field ready for Thursday. Field setup did not begin until 11:15pm on Wed evening.
Maojor kudos should go to them from all teams in attendance for their efforts as the FIRST/IFI and volunteers all were able to adapt and overcome under some real adverse conditions.
Now, if we could only get a better emcee… :mad:
Just another amazing feat by FIRST staff and volunteers. This story reminded me of the blizzard induced problems in 2001. (see this thread
Five years later, I still feel the same: I may get annoyed at some things FIRST doesn’t do well at times, but the people who put this program together are the greatest. I try to let them know every time I get a chance: “Thank You for all that you do and for letting us play with you.”
I was part of the field setup crew for SoCal. The lighting trusses got in the air at about 12:30 PM; then we began on field. We had maybe 7 or 8 people working on it. The electronics were being tested at 6PM. Not too bad.