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Competition Details - What to Expect

Updated January 22, 2009 11:05AM

Summary:

• We have 2 connected areas above the main competition floor (on a mezzanine floor) for the pits - however, judging is not in the same building. There is a small/slow elevator to go between the pits and outside, but be prepared to carry robots and your judging materials up/down stairs
• New  1/19/09: We divided teams into both pits so that there are both AM and PM teams in each pit area. The LEFT pit area is the one on the left as you enter the Event Center (South side) and the RIGHT pit area is the only on the right as you enter the Event Center (North side).
• No team check-in; teams go directly to their PIT table
• New  1/19/09: An annotated Campus Map is now posted.
• 1/5/09: Your team needs to go to the cafeteria to receive a special Championship FLL Medallion and taking a team picture - you have a predetermined time slot on your individual team schedule.

Pre-Tournament Nominations for FLL Outreach Award, Volunteer Award and Outstanding Mentor Award

The Playing At Learning FLL Outreach Award. This is an optional award and it is up to the championship tournament directors if it will be awarded for this year. The goal is to honor a person or group (or similar) that has done the most for supporting, encouraging and/or promoting FLL this year within the Northern California area. Email jillw@playingatlearning.org, with who you are nominating and why. Your nominee may be a youth or adult and you may nominate yourself.

We are asking teams to nominate their mentor or coach to receive the Outstanding Coach/Mentor Awards. Email jillw@playingatlearning.org, with who you are nominating and why. Your nominee may be a youth or adult.

We are asking for nominations for Outstanding FLL Volunteer Awards. Email jillw@playingatlearning.org, with who you are nominating and why. Your nominee may be a youth or adult.

IMPORTANT: These awards are open to everyone participating in FLL in Northern California this year and you do not have to be part of any of the qualifying teams that will be competing at the championship tournament to be considered.

When and Where to Arrive:

The tournament is Sunday, January 25, 2009 at Newark Memorial High School. The team can go directly to their PIT area - we will have a check-in form at your pit table that the coach will turn in.

There is ample parking in front of the Event Center off of Cedar Avenue. We have also identified 2 overflow lots on the map if needed.

There is a mandatory All Coaches meeting (for all teams) with the Referees in the morning in the Cougar Commons/Cafeteria. All last minute details will be covered during this one meeting - plan on having the coach or a co-coach attend.

Please feel free to send Mark/Jill questions ahead of time - we want to focus on the unique aspects of this tournament and try not to get into long discussions over housekeeping items, etc.

The latest Q&A is the official word and the head referee will make final determinations based on version posted Friday 1/23 at noon.

New  1/19/09: When you arrive, you will need to know which pit area to go to. There are 2 PIT areas - LEFT and RIGHT - please know which one you are in. Pit #: 1-18,37-48, 61-62 are in the LEFT pit area; Pit # 19-36,49-60, 63-64 are in the RIGHT pit area..    Important Note: Some team names are very similar, please also know your team number to exactly identify your team.

VERY IMPORTANT: The pit areas will be open to the public. This means that your team probably should have someone that can hang out at your pit table while the team is away. Be aware that the public will have access to all areas. Each team is responsible for their "stuff" and hopefully we can watch out for each other, but please don't count on it. Also like last year, you will have access to your pit table until ~4pm or so and not just during your performance times.   If you are in the PM group, please make a point of returning to your pit table immediately after your 3rd round and start cleaning up - we are expecting you to help to get your table and chairs downstairs.

If you bring a team banner/poster, please hang it on the wall with gaffer's tape only. Please do not use any other kind of tape or adhesive. A small amount of gaffer's tape will be available. Locally, Orchard Supply Hardware carries gaffer's tape.

ALL team coaches (or their designated representative) must attend the mandatory coaches meeting, regardless of when your team's actual robot performance session is scheduled.

Participation medals will be handed out to each team member and coach immediately during the day in the Cougar Commons (aka cafeteria).

Robotic Performance Competition & Scoring:

• Each team will attempt the robotics challenge in three separate rounds during the tournament day
• Robot performance awards will be based on the single highest score, with ties being determined by 2nd and 3rd highest scores. Updated  1/22/09:Please review the scoring sheet that will be used. If this does not break the tie, then there will be a single tie breaker round at the end of the day.
• Review the latest Q&A posted on the FLL site for clarifications and official rulings.
• Each team may have only team members on the competition floor during their performance rounds. There will be a very small designated area to stand on the competition floor near the team's table and the team is not allowed to roam out of the designated area.
• Similar to last year, no coaches will be allowed on the competition floor but instead we will have a marked off area for 1 coach to stand nearby. All other coaches/parents/mentors/non-team members need to be sitting in the stands!
• Each team will have their robot inspected prior to every round. The robot inspection table will be on the competition floor at the team entrance.
• Reminder that only 2 team members may be at the competition table at a time except during catastrophic events such as the robot falling apart and at the referee's discretion. Rotating of team members is absolutely fine and encouraged - just remember that when a member rotates in, the other has to rotate out.
• The team will queue in their PIT area according to the pit queueing manager and then will be sent to the competition area. Note that your competition round may be earlier or later than scheduled. It is important to stay alert to changes and have someone at your pit table at all times that knows where the team is. [The only exception is the first 6 morning teams as they will queue on the competition floor immediately after the opening ceremony]
• It is a good idea to designate a single team member as the score reviewer. We will ask the referees to go over the scoresheet with the team member and then have the team member sign off on how it is marked.
• If the team has a question about a robot score sheet, a team member (not the coach) must bring it to the attention of the head referee immediately, before leaving the competition table. The head referee's decisions are final. There is no escalation for the competition scoring beyond the head referee.
• If there is a problem with the robot score as entered (and displayed), please assign a team member to nicely ask to review the score as entered. Note that the spreadsheet that computes the score is the official version from FIRST and does compute scores correctly. It has happened though that there is a translation error in entering the score itself to be displayed, so just calmly ask for it to be reviewed if you suspect an error.
• IMPORTANT: The robot will not be allowed to continue to run after the 2.5 minutes is completed. When the time is up, no further action of the robot will be counted.
• Note that teams can not bring extra robots, motors, laptops etc to the competition area. A team may only bring to the competition floor the maximum electrical pieces as defined in the "Materials" section of the Rules. You may have your entire LEGO kit and multiple robots at your pit table. The restriction is on what items you bring to the competition floor.
• If your team's strategy includes picking up your robot, just let the referee know ahead of time.
• Remember that the team may not touch the field elements during the competition round. This is particularly important if you team is used to resetting field elements during practices. Intentionally resetting a field element is explicitly not allowed.
• Your team will have a team flag sign (pole made from PVC that we are borrowing from SJ Gunderson tournament - thank you!) that is to be taken with you when you go to compete or go to judging.
• In particular for the first group of six morning teams that will queue in the Event Center following the opening ceremony, please bring your flag sign with you to the opening ceremony.
• You may not bring a laptop up to a PIT practice table or the competition tables - only robots allowed.
• NO BLUETOOTH AT ANY TIME!

MORNING (AM Group) Robot Performance     Updated 1/19/09: All pit numbers 37-64 are in the AM group. If you need to calibrate a light sensor, you will be given at most 2 minutes on a challenge table to do so prior to the start of the morning rounds between 7:45 and 8:15am. This is a tightly controlled calibration-only check. You will not be able to do practice runs on the competition tables. You will have access to the PIT practice tables between 7:30 and 11:30 am only.

AFTERNOON (PM Group) Robot Performance      Updated  1/19/09: All pit numbers 1-36 are in the PM group. If you need to calibrate a light sensor, you will be given at most 2 minutes on a challenge table to do so prior to the start of the afternoon rounds between 12:15 and 12:45pm. This is a tightly controlled calibration-only check. You will not be able to do practice runs on the competition tables.   IMPORTANT: You will have access to the PIT practice tables between 11:30am and 4:30 pm only. Your team may not use the PIT practice tables at all in the morning. If your team is seen using the PIT practice tables before 11:45am even if there are no AM teams waiting, your team will be viewed as not practicing the FLL Core Value of Gracious Professionalism and this information will be passed along to the judges.

Judging:

You will be queued for judging 10 minutes prior to your judging sessions.

• Judging will be done in 3, 10-minute sessions scheduled every 15 minutes. Teams should be at each judging room no less than 5 minutes before their scheduled time.
• The 3 slots are for judging the Project Presentation, Robot Design and Teamwork.
• The team will have 10 minutes with each judging panel and then the judges will have 5 minutes to deliberate / evaluate the team according to FIRST rubrics (published in the coaches' manual). This means that the team will be outside of the building for 5 minutes in between judging sessions - please take note of the weather conditions and have a plan for protecting the team's presentation and robot from the weather.
• You must attend all judging sessions.
• The 10 minute session is the entire time that your team has with the judges for that topic. This means that all setup/tear down, presentation and Q&A must occur within the time frame.
• We recommend a project presentation of no more than 4-5 minutes to allow time for the judges to ask questions.
• There will be a challenge table in each robot design judging room, but it will not be lighted. If you need a well lighted table to demonstrate a feature of your robot, please bring a hand held spotlight or similar with you. [or volunteer to bring a lighted table to be used.]
• Updated  1/19/09: We are not allowing any adults or mentors to attend the judging sessions. The rooms are 10' pipe and drape "classrooms" and are not sufficient size to allow an "audience".
• Each judged area (robot design, teamwork and research project) has 6 parallel groups of judges that share 4 banks of rooms. Your team has been assigned to one of the groups. An annotated Campus Map is posted.
• Bring all materials (all programs, robot(s) and all attachments, all of your project presentation materials and any material to hand to the teamwork job) needed for all judging when you go. You will not have time in between judging sessions to get items.
• IMPORTANT : Although rare, it is possible that the judges will need to have callbacks. This is at their discretion. If callbacks are needed, they will take into consideration your team's schedule.
• Space is extremely limited in the judging areas, so take this into consideration when planning out your project presentation!

What to Expect

• After either the afternoon 3rd performance round or after the afternoon judging sessions (sometime around 4/4:30pm), we will have some volunteers focused on clearing the PIT areas - please help by getting your table clear and helping bring the table and chairs downstairs. We will not start the closing ceremony until all PIT areas are completely clean.
• We are going to have an Alliance Round similar to what was done the past couple of years. This would be after the performance rounds. Details about this are posted.
• Emergency Contact Number for the day of the tournament is : (510) 517-8826.
• Cancellations CANNOT be accepted. However if you know that you can not attend, the earlier that you can tell us the better, as it may give someone else a chance to come. We can not give refunds even if a replacement team is found.
• Individual team schedules can not be changed. It is a convenience to the teams and their families to post them early (typically posted at least 1 week prior to the tournament) - please don't make us sorry by requesting changes. Teams were randomly assigned with deference given only to the distance being travelled.
• Teams will be given only a few minutes (before their AM or PM session starts) to check the lighting conditions on the competition tables to allow for light sensor calibration only . All other practice should be on the pit practice tables and only during your allowed time.
• The pit area is OPEN to the public. Here's the layout (link coming soon) of the pit areas that includes the pit table numbers.
• Officials (judges, referee, and field crew), the media and some VIPs will be wearing identification for access to the competition floor. NO OTHER PERSONS WILL BE ALLOWED INSIDE THE COMPETITION AREA EXCEPT DURING THEIR TEAM'S ROUNDS. There are no exceptions to this rule.
• Plenty of bleacher seating will be available in the Event Center (Competition Area).
• PIT space is tight this year - we are trying to keep the PITs "open" but please help us keep the chaos at a minimum by not hanging out there.
• There is plenty of space in the Cougar Commons (aka cafeteria) - all eating and hanging out should be done there.
• If you need to hang out at the PITs for your team, we do recommend that you bring a folding chair with you for the PIT area as seating will be limited - only 4 chairs will be provided to each team at their pit table.
• Referees and Judges have the final say on all calls.
• Coaches or other adults that argue/discuss/deliberate/revisit/question with any referee, judge or other volunteer will be asked to leave! Many times parents and/or coaches don't realize the intensity of their questioning. We do not want any of our volunteer judges or referees to engage in discussions with anyone other than team members. We are serious about this - there is campus security available if needed.
• Please behave yourself or stay home. IT IS ABOUT THE KIDS !
• The schedule is designed to be "relaxed". We encourage teams to use their downtime to: watch other teams compete, tour the pits and see the other robots, eat lunch (in the student commons / cafeteria area), talk to the other teams about their projects, talk to their alliance partners about strategy, practice the team's own presentation, or make final tuning modifications to their own robot or programs.
• Food and drinks (water, soda) will be sold on site at a reasonable price. More information about lunch items will be available shortly.
• Since we don't want to pay for new gym floors, there is a strict policy of no eating or drinking in any area with a gym floor (even if it is covered) - this means the PITS, all judging areas and the Event Center.
• The event is open and free to the public. Please invite your team's classmates, teachers, school board members, media and your colleagues.
• If you have someone that you think might be interested in learning more about FLL, please let us know as there is a VIP reception at 2pm in the library - let us know who is coming so that we can be prepared. Ask them to check-in at the Cougar Commons (aka cafeteria) no later than 1:45pm. The reception will be in the library and is expected to last no longer than 30 minutes.
• Tournament souvenirs (including a custom Championship shirt/sweatshirt) are expected to be sold at the tournament
• Again, coaches and parents are asked to refrain from engaging in confrontations with any tournament officials or any volunteer. Such confrontations can lead to a team becoming disqualified and/or the coach or parent being barred from the tournament area.
• FLL is a kid-directed activity and all aspects are required to be done by the team members themselves and not the mentors, coaches or others. We will have "roaming" judges wandering the pits and other areas to watch for both positive things such as gracious professionalism as well as the negatives such as over-involved parents or coaches. Please do not undermine your team's chances to be recognized with an award for their efforts.
• Remember, everyone at the tournament is a volunteer and doing the best they can. Please respect each other and let our volunteers know how much you appreciate their efforts. Remember that we can not put on a tournament without volunteers - please treat them well.

• We will be following FLL guidelines in how the awards are given.
• A team may win up to 2 awards only if one of them is for Robot Performance.
• The Champion's Award is based on equal weighting of Robot Performance, Teamwork, Robot Design and Research Project Presentation.
• The Research Presentation Award winner is the team that excels in the areas of Research Quality, Innovative Solution and Creative Presentation. The Robot Design Award winner is the team that excels in not just Robust and Innovative Design but also in Robust and Innovative Programming.
• We do have special recognition awards including the website and alliance awards that are not part of the official FLL awards and are competely independent of these guidelines.

Please make sure to check the http://www.ncafll.org web site for additional information and/or updates:

Tournament Schedule   [last updated 1/19/09]

Thanks for reading all of this and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
 

Mark Edelman and Jill Wilker
Directors, Championship FLL Tournament

Educational Enrichment Through Play
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Last Updated: 05/05/2009 9:29 PM