What to Expect on the day of the Competition
When you arrive at the competition venue, your faculty member will need to first stop at the check-in table to check in your team. Any students on your team that were not previously registered for the competition will need to turn in their signed waiver form before they’ll be allowed to participate.
At check in, your mentor or faculty representative will receive a folder containing a welcome letter, rulebook, event program, and surveys for your team to complete at the end of the competition. Please be sure to read the welcome letter, as it contains a lot of important information.
After you’ve checked in, look for the team table with your team’s name on it. This will be your “home base” for the day. Be sure to bring an extension cord and power strip with you so that you can provide power to your table.
Look at the schedule of events and familiarize yourself with your assigned times for the presentation, calibration station, and competition city. The schedule is tight, and time extensions will not be made for teams that arrive late to any portion of competition. Each team’s schedule is unique: your team may give their presentation prior to competing on the mat, or you may compete on the mat first. All teams will proceed directly from their calibration time to their mat competition time.
The opening ceremony contains important rules for the day and information about the competition. Please be sure to listen closely.
When your team is not involved in a competition event we encourage you to use your time productively. Calibration stations are provided for team use prior to competition time. Teams should use these mats to ensure, at a minimum, they can accurately read each color in the competition lighting and that their robot has no problems moving on the mat surface. Your team can also use their team area to practice their presentation prior to their scheduled time.
Be sure to arrive at the calibration station a few minutes ahead of your assigned time to get set up. You should bring with you your team computer with programming, team robot, power cables for both, and any other materials you need to construct your competition program. One of the competition staff will meet you at the calibration station and give you a sheet containing the six assigned parking spaces that your robot will need to park in during your hour on the competition mat to gain the maximum number of points available. Use your hour at the calibration station to make sure that your robot is reading the mat colors correctly in the unique lighting conditions of the competition venue, and to begin programming the path that your robot will travel to park in each of your assigned parking spots. You can travel to the assigned parking spots in any order you wish; they do not have to be followed in the order that they are printed on the assignment sheet.
Please note that teachers, faculty members, mentors, and parents may not operate the computer containing the team’s programming during the team’s time on the calibration station or competition mat. Teachers, faculty members, mentors, and parents should not write any of the code used by the teams at any time.
Once your hour at the calibration station is up, you will immediately move to the competition course mat. You will have exactly one hour on the competition course to complete your three scored runs. While on the mat, you can take as many practice runs as you would like, and can continue to calibrate and program as needed. When you’re ready for a scored run, simply let your judges know. Scored runs begin when you take your hand off the robot in the start block, and end when either the robot runs off the competition mat, a team member touches the robot, or a team member says “Stop,”.
When it is time for your presentation, please proceed to the room marked “Presentation Room.” You may either use the computer provided, or you can plug your own computer into the LCD projector in the room. Teachers may not participate in the presentation, but are welcome to join the team in the presentation room as spectators. Likewise, mentors, parents, and guests of the team members are welcome to watch the presentations. Team members from other teams may not be in the presentation room while any team is presenting.
The awards ceremony will begin 30 minutes after the last team has finished competing. Awards are given out for First Place, Second Place, Third Place, and Best in Show. First and Second place winners will receive a travel grant to compete in the National Competition. Be sure to bring your camera to capture your team photo.
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