Worlds Scheduling

Competition Championship Event
1

Hey, my team is making mock schedules for events and now are faced with the beast of worlds.

This is what we have so far:
Please let me know what immediately is wrong and anything that would be useful information.

Monday
6:00am - Arrive at robotics room: organize bus + final necessities
8:00am - Leave for Houston TX (20hrs travel + 3hrs eating/bathroom)

Tuesday
8am - Arrive Houston TX
8:20am - Get team breakfast
9:30am - Explore Houston TX + Relax
12:00pm - Check in Hotel
12:50pm - Lunch
2:00pm - Pool + relax at hotel
5:00pm - Leave for Robonaut’s HQ tour (2903 Falcon Pass, Houston, TX 77062)
6:00pm - Arrive at Robonaut’s HQ
9:00pm - Head back to hotel
10pm - Arrive back at hotel, wind down time

Wednesday
6:00am - Hotel breakfast, be dressed by now
6:50am - Check trailer, plan
8:00am - Queue trailer for load-in
9:00am - Load-in Begins (Only 6 people, including Mr. Cole)
10:00am - Robot Inspections
~12:00am - Lunch
2:00pm - Pits open + Camera Calibration
4:00pm - Driver’s Meeting
4:30pm - Hall of Fame Ceremony
5:00pm - Practice Matches begin
7:30pm - Pits close
~8:00pm - Team dinner (Discuss tomorrow)
9:45pm - Back at hotel, wind down, rinse off, etc.

Thursday
6:00am - Hotel breakfast, be dressed by now
6:30am - Leave for Convention Center
7:00am - Pits open
7:30am - Camera calibration/connection testing
8:00am - Opening Ceremony
8:10am - Qualification matches
~11:30am - 1.5hr lunch break
6:30pm - Pits close
~7:00pm - Dinner
8:50pm - Back at hotel, swim, rest, repeat

Friday
6:00am - Hotel breakfast, be dressed by now
6:30am - Leave for Convention Center
7:00am - Pits open
7:50am - Opening Ceremonies
8:00am - Qualification Matches
~11:30am - 1.5hr lunch break
6:30pm - Pits close
~7:00pm - Dinner
8:50pm - Back at hotel, swim, rest, shower
9:30pm - Clean hotel room and pack, sleep

Saturday
6:00am - Hotel breakfast, be dressed and packed
6:30am - Leave for Convention Center
6:45am - Pits open
7:00am - Opening Ceremony
8:30am - Team loadout
8:30am - Division playoff matches
12:00pm - Lunch
2:00pm - Pits close, Einstein ceremony
6:00pm - Worlds concluded, head to hotel and checkout
6:45pm - Head home and get dinner (~23hrs back),

Sunday
6:00pm - Arrive at robotics room, start unloading
8:00pm - Head home

Additional Questions I have:
1.) Can we park robotics truck/trailer (with pit + robot) + a bus in hotel parking lot? (probably depends on hotel, but I am generally curious if anyone has done this before)
2.) How early should we arrive before team load in starts? Do teams show up 3 hours before or something crazy?
3.) Where do you load into? Your pit? don’t they not open until 12?
4.) Do teams ever share their scouting data with one another due to the quantity of teams per division?
5.) Does anyone have a copy and paste list of things team members should bring (quantity of clothes) (not sure how hot it is at the convention center), (Things to pass time, Ex. frisbee, PS4, books, etc.), (hygiene products)

I based it off this schedule:
htt’ps://www.firstinspires.org/sites/default/files/uploads/resource_library/frc/events/championship/2024/frc-champs-public-schedule.pdf

2

Here is our schedule from last year: Public 2024 Houston World Doc - Google Sheets

  1. Trailer parking: there are public lots near the arena you can get a nice weekly trailer rate for. Quite a few teams trailers will be there. This one was nice: https://maps.app.goo.gl/gdXCFofBGy4h4266A
  2. There was a line before load in started. Not sure how early.
  3. Pits open early for just a few team members (5 i think) to unload the trailer and setup your pit. At 12 it become public and anyone can be in the pits
  4. Lots of teams do this. On CD once divisions are out, you will see threads about this
  5. Here is our entire team contract, including a packing list at the end. We are an all girls school… so take that packing list in that light. 2024 FIRST World Championship Permission Slip Code of Conduct Contract - Google Docs

Good luck!

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3

This looks pretty good.
Here is our 2024 schedule. I go back in and add notes.
Logistics Houston 24 to share.docx

A couple of things came to mind reading you plan.
Dinner is hard to find near the convention center. They sometimes keep the food trucks around the green in the evening but the downtown core becomes sit down restaurants that are outside of many team budgets. All the food courts that we found close after lunch. We’ve found it works better to go straight back to the hotel and serve a delivered dinner in the lobby. Staying on site sounds fun but we’re always too tired.

We’ve also been challenged to feed our vegetarian members. It can be done, just be prepared for the struggle and hide granola bars in your pits before load in. Multiple times I’ve had deliveries show up and they’ve upgraded our meal with a protein.

We often look for teams that are interested in joining us for scouting. They loan us 3 kids to join us on our scouting tablets and we give them the raw data. I’m not sure we’ve shared beyond our scouting partners but if you look for the opportunity, it’s probably there.

Here is our packing list. Note that we are the IRS, so wear shirts and ties. Your people likely don’t need to pack a tie. One of our mentors tracked daughters spending and agreed that $140, if student is responsible for buying lunches, is a reasonable budget. Our team normally provides dinner and we use hotels that serve breakfast. The sweatshirts that kids like to buy, add close to $100 to that total.
Worlds student packing list to share.docx

Hope to see you there! (we’re always hopeful)

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4

That’s really insightful, thank you!

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5
  1. When we brought our own trailer we were able to park it at our hotel, but that definitely something that you should talk to the hotel about as soon as you have a hotel. For us, the parking was more limited than in detroit or st louis.
  2. yes, crazy early. There is no good time to arrive. In '23 we arrived at 7am or something like that, and the police managing the line told us to come back in 30 min, at which point, other people had gotten in and they told us to come back in 30min, at some point they found a way to extend the line across several vacant lots and down various side streets so they could at least get people in the line. It took until lunch to get the trailer to the loading area. Note that the line is 3 lanes wide and several blocks long, there are hundreds of teams who want to get in all at once. If at all possible join a group semi truck, or trailer.
  3. its no different than any other travel event in this respect, so depending on your team: games, laptops, whatever. We’ve never had a list, just tell students how many days they are staying, that they will have some time in the hotel, and it would be really nice if they didn’t stink too much by the end of the week.

Meals are the big thing you should have a plan for. If you want to eat at the restaurants around the venue, and I highly recommend you do, split into small groups (5-8 people). Its way faster to get tables, go through security, make sure you haven’t left someone behind, etc if you only have 8 people, not the entire team. Catering meals to the hotel is great if your hotel is reasonable, but last year Westin Houston Downtown were absolutely terrible to us, with one manager telling us we were welcome to set up a dinner buffet on a lobby table, then another telling us to get out as kids were getting food to go to their rooms. (easily the worst hotel experience we’ve ever had in my 10 years as a mentor, they made check in a nightmare too)

Definitely pack food and drinks in you pit as security will occasionally try to stop you bringing stuff in the front door, but no one cares how much food comes in the loading dock.

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6
  1. We have been able to store our trailer at the hotel in both 2023 and 2024. As others have said, call the hotel as soon as you get your assignment to check.
  2. We aimed to be in line around 9 am last year. There was a line, but nothing crazy. 8 am or earlier is what I am going to push for next year to get more pit/calibration time. Gas up your truck the night before.
  3. 9 am - 2 pm you can have up to 6 people in your pit to do whatever you need. after 2 pm the pits are open to the public and you can have everyone. You load directly into your pit. However, they want trailers stationary for as little time as possible so you are encouraged to dump your items on the loading dock and only once the trailer has left move it to your pit. Also note your trailer may be unloaded at the opposite side of the venue to your pit so be ready to walk.
  5. The convention center is a decent temperature. a t-shirt with a light jacket should be all you need both inside and out

A few other notes we have learned over the two years we’ve been to Houston.

Trailer:

  • Make sure to do any repairs or maintenance before leaving (check brakes, tires, spare tire, lights)
  • Plan for failures. We have had a tire delaminate and a fender fall off. Have tools accessible for repairs. We turn our toolbox around so the drawers can be accessed while it is strapped in.

Hotel:

  • If your budget allows (It’s not that much more) get a hotel close to the venue.
  • If your hotel isn’t a walkable distance, public transit is a great option. They offer a discount for robotics teams that you will need to get ahead of time.
  • If your hotel is close we had great success doing lunch there. Being in the ac is nice.

Food:

  • Food trucks are a good option for Wednesday for the few people that are there.
  • We catered lunches to our hotel and walked to dinner spots. I think we will do the same this year.
  • Depending on the business, catered food may arrive early or late. We had one lunch arrive an hour early. For this reason I think cold lunches are best.

Venue:

  • When entering the venue there are 2 lines, bags and no bags. All bags are checked which slows entry down. It is best to have as few bags as possible. If you need to get to the pits as soon as they open you can give all your bags to one person. If you get to the venue and there are long lines I recommend going into the Hilton hotel and going through the skywalk. There is usually a very short line there.
  • Have a plan for getting seats in stands. Arrive as soon as pits open and know where your team is going.
  • There are highly informative conferences in a number of topics. Try to go to any that you find interesting.
  • Most importantly, there is a lot more than FRC going on. Make sure everyone has time to explore.

Safety:

  • Have predetermined evacuation assembly points and clear lines of communication
  • Have phone numbers for everyone. Multiple forms of communication are good in case people don’t check your primary method. We distribute mentor phone numbers to everyone and all student phone numbers to mentors only.
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7

This is probably my favorite point.

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