First off, thank you to all of the teams who we worked with across the season. Thank you to all our teammates and competitors at SFR and SVR and to everyone who gave us advice along the way.
Special thanks to:
Jake and 6314
Kelly and 5499
Matt and 5740
Cole and 2551
With all of the help, we won RAS! Next comes Houston. So, Chief Delphi: what are best practices? Best way to ship the bot? Flights? Hotels? Budgeting? Group size? Please give us any and all information that would help our process.
First off, celebrate because you did a fantastic job and you and your team deserve the title of a Rookie All Star team.
You need to start creating a crate for your robot to ship to worlds. Your shipping is covered, and your mentor should have the proper documentation, but you need to ship your bot to the Huston event within the next couple days (I’m pretty sure within a few days after your last regional). We literally made a crate that snug fit the robot with the bumpers on. There is very little room to spare for us, but in your case, you will most likely want to ship the batteries with your robot. This will require you to build/procure a special package for the batteries and get specific labels, but it may be better than trying to get them through TSA at airports. If you cannot ship, you may want to ask CD about team that are willing to share batteries with you. I’ve seen teams with upwards of 20 batteries, and I’m sure they would be willing to lend a hand. Don’t forget you need to account for accommodations of shipping the robot back from Huston. From my knowledge FIRST doesn’t cover return shipping, but that is something to look into. Read this http://https://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/frc/robot-transportation link from FIRST to get more in-depth info on shipping.
If you have the opportunity, I would take anyone who is able/ willing to attend the championship event. It is literally an experience like no other. See who is able to attend then book hotels and flights ASAP. You can contact the FIRST travel agency to see if there are blocks available or discounted rates for rooms. Generally the earlier you book these the cheaper they will be. You’ll probably want to check out online local restaurants and activities around the event, and perhaps reserve spots for team dinners and so on. Out of you team, I would most definitely take those that are most excited about FIRST, and also bring those who are beginning to become more interested in robotics. Our team opened the invite to all our members. Not all are as invented as others, but we believe the experience can interest everyone. Also, try to contact your school to see if they would be willing to help pay for some of the trip!
Hope this helps!
Just because you won RAS doesn’t mean you get away from us that easily
Contact your regional head mentor and FIRST and ask what resources they have to help you get your team to Houston. Build the crate and get your bot traveling, the heavy stuff filled with ONLY your robot, bumpers and batteries in the crate securely and most of all make it stand out uniquely so you can find it paint it a color or something) Think about food and stuff Houston is $$$$. PB and J may be a good lunch if no one has peanut allergies.
Fundraise: Many sponsors will help once you make it to Champs, those parents talk to them again about it and asking their employer to help sponsor your trip. Go fund me things like that. We made parents of kids pay for them to go with the team block of hotels or find their own way there , everyone had to pay for their airfare and a portion of the entry fee.
Once there relax and enjoy the mind blowing experience. Talk to teams and look at how they compete. Take away with you the experience and soak it all in. BTW congratulations on RAS
Bryce,
Ask Kelly for my contact info. You will need to build a robot crate ASAP and schedule a shipment with FedEx no later than this Wednesday. We might also be able to transport some of your stuff in another truck if you need more room.
Congratulations! Well deserved! You are going to do great and have the time of your life at Champs! Can’t wait to see you and the team at Champs and catch up! Just sent you some resources we have from our previous couple seasons! Hope this helps! Once again great job! Let me know if you have any more specific questions.
Thank you so much for this post, since it’s exactly what I am contending with myself. If anyone is willing to share resources with me as well (aside from the crate tip, that was good), please send them to my email - [email protected]
I am feeling a little like a drowning man who can see a rope but can’t quite reach it…
If staying close to the convention center is not in the budget or booked up, you should be able to get something near the Astrodome and take the train.
