Overall Day – check-in no later than 8am, done ~6:15pm
- There are multiple activities through the event day
- Required:
- 1, 30 minute Judging interview
- 3, 2.5 minute Robot Game matches
- Optional (but recommended):
- Fun activities every hour
- Team Sharing time
- Opening Ceremony
- Closing Award Ceremony
- Required:
Championships:
Freight Feb20 Schedule – 24 teams, Per Pit Detailed Schedule
Container Feb26 Schedule – 28 teams, coming soon – Per Pit Detailed Schedule
Qualifiers:
Barrel, Package, Pallet: Overall Schedule view.
Box event has 12 teams – Overall Schedule
Online Judging Session:
- The team will be evaluated in one, 30 minute, single judging session.
- Team members do not have to be physically in the same room to access the session. And it might work better to be in separate areas unless you have a good wide angle web camera to be able to see everyone and a good microphone to pick up all of the voices.
- We will provide team members and the 2 primary coaches access to a virtual platform (Hopin) accessible via a web browser. Team members and coaches will need access to a computer/tablet, access to the internet, and the ability to share audio and video. Many browsers are supported but we have found Chrome to work best.
- Please note that the team will not have a separate Core Values judging session or Core Values activity, starting from 2020 season, a Core Values judge will be in the one consolidated judging session. The team is expected to demonstrate Core Values in everything they do.
- Please check out the judging session flow chart and also look at the completely revamped Rubrics.
- As in previous years, the team will have a 5 minute project presentation.
- It is recommended but not required for the team to have a Robot Design Presentation for the “Robot Design Explanation” section.
- Finally, there will be a few Core Values questions during the “Core Values Reflection” time but no presentation during that time.
- Also importantly, the judges are being instructed to provide initial verbal feedback and we will be instructing NorCal judges to make this focused on positive points.
- The rubrics themselves have a section for capturing an area for the team to think about improving.
- There is no mechanism allowed to “send” the Judges any materials – no links, etc but the team members or coaches will be enabled to share their screen or windows/tabs.
- For any video sharing, it is best to run this through a browser window and share the tab. If you run a separate application (ie vlc), in order for the sound to come through, you must share your entire screen. Unfortunately it doesn’t work to just share the window in that case.
- Everything that the judges will consider must be part of the 30 minute judging session.
- We strongly advise that the team rehearse delivering their judging presentation(s) online using video and audio on their devices.
- Make sure to test your internet bandwidth too.
- Generally, it will be difficult to hold up your robot (and any project models or similar) to your web camera in an easy, steady way (or move the camera to the item), so good, well lit pictures of your team’s robot and any project models would be good to have.
On-line Robot Rounds:
- Last season resources for remote game videos – 2021 resources coming soon:
- There will not be any Practice Round during the event in the 2021 season.
Your team may submit up to 3 pre-recorded videos. Your team could also choose to meet in person and run “live”. This is up to each team to decide (and you can submit game video but then decide to run “live” on the event day).
Once you are in your event game round with the ref crew, your team must decide to either play the video for that round OR run live. You may not change once time has started -if you start live, you must finish live. If you start with video, then you must finish with video. One or the other for the entire round! Each round though of the 3 scored game rounds could be different.
Important to note for 2021 season, each match must have a unique setup for Mission M10 SORTING CENTER SETUP ADJUSTMENT. See Challenge Updates
After showing the video or running live, the team will have ~ 5 minutes with the referee crew to score the match for that round. There will be a live scoreboard in the event (Look in the Expo area).
- Matches
- Teams may provide up to 3 separately recorded, unedited robot game round video that should include your pre-game inspection and your 2.5 minute robot game video.
- A visible clock/timer will be needed in your setup to mark time. online timer
- Kindly do not record all 3 robot game runs in one video, as it will be too large to upload.
- As in person events, only two technicians are allowed at the field at once. Substitute technicians can switch with current technicians at any time. Reminder that the team members themselves must be the technicians operating the robot.
- Robot Run Videos – How to submit:
- Teams registered for a specific remote tournaments will be sent a Jotform to upload their videos ahead of their tournament.
- The team will not upload anything related to judging, only robot game.
- Game videos must be uploaded no later than 8am of the day of your event.
- Match Instruction :
- Do a (slow) walk around of the field – with a focus on the setup unique to that game round for M10 (see Game Update 11)
- Then, place robot on field for Table Inspection as part of M1
- Then with clock visible during the entire match, do a 3-2-1 count down, then capture of the 2.5 min run
- All of this should be nonstop, unedited round.
- After the time stops, the team can hit stop / turn off the robot
- Do not pick up the robot – leave it where it stops
- Then, do a slow walk round of the field, with a pause/focus on each scored mission. It is helpful to have the team talk through each scored mission as well during this time
On-line Team Pit Sharing & Ceremonies:
- During the on-line remote part of the event, each team will have a dedicated pit sharing time.
- Pit Sharing :
- Each team will have a dedicated 5 minute time to share with other teams about their project, robot and other aspects of their season.
- Last year, some teams created mini-games or a short overview about the team to share
- Ceremonies :
- At the beginning of the event, there will be a Welcoming Opening ceremony.
- At the end of the on-line event, there will be a Closing Award ceremony.
- At all events, the award ceremony will be where the Award winners are announced. At the advancing league events, it will be announced which teams are invited to participate in our NorCal Innovation Expo in March 2022 and teams that will advance to a NorCal Regional Championship in February 2022.
FAQ:
- Are we allowed to use Zoom virtual backgrounds as our presentation props? We will not be using Zoom for our video conferencing. Playing at Learning will be hosting qualifying tournaments on a virtual event platform called Hopin. You can use virtual backgrounds using something like Snap Camera or OBS (open source tool), but this might be too complicated for teams.
- Are we allowed to share our screen to show pictures of project/ robot/robot strategy/ code? Yes. It is recommended though that only 1 person plans on sharing their screen, that they have the right permissions and understanding of their computer (ie do they have a firewall installed that limits sharing of camera/microphone).
- Any instructions on how to record the robot games regarding placement of camera etc.? 2021 updated guidance coming soon…. 2020 guidance: Robot Game Round Guidance Slides
- Who can be scorekeeper and where do we submit the scores? Or, do we submit the runs and referees score us? Teams do not submit their own scores. Referees will virtually join in a session, the team will play the pre-recorded robot game video or run their match live, and then the referee will fill out (and share and talk through) the official scoresheet. Scores from the event will be shared in the “Scoresheet” Expo section of Hopin.
- Where will the referee crew be, will he/she/they be at your end? The referee crew will be on the screen LIVE watching your pre-recorded run as teams share it on the platform.
- Do we need to first send a practice video to confirm it from referee crew before we can upload actual robot runs? For 2021, if a team has questions about 1 or more aspects of the game, you will be able to submit a portion of a practice match. It will not be scored but questions about the field setup, scoring condition, unclear strategy can be asked. This must be done ahead of time – there will not be any practice match during the event itself.
- After recording video for 2.5min for a match, do we need to count the score for missions and send total scores while uploading video? The robot game runs are NOT self-scored. The referee will be scoring.
- Is there a time in the schedule for a team to re-record their matches after the practice match and before their official matches?
There is time in the schedule for a team to re-record their matches after the first 2 matches and before their final 3rd match. Or, they can record the match as it is being viewed by the referee crew or run live if desired. - Can we record the project and/or robot design presentation and present as a video file or should it be live? Panel of judges will be LIVE on the screen during your session. If you wish to present your project via a video file, that should be fine as long as you stay within your time limits. Please review the judging session flow chart time schedule.
Event Platform:
- Playing at Learning will be hosting qualifying tournaments on a virtual event platform called Hopin.