Event Information arrow FRC Event Information

Team Information:

This information is directed to all registered teams attending the Orlando FIRST Robotics Competition at the UCF Arena March 10-12, 2011. Please bookmark this page for additional information & updates. This information includes:

1.   2012 Public Agenda
2.   Event Schedule
3.   Uncrating and Load-in Instructions
4.   Safety
5.   Meals/Snacks/Beverages
7.   Machine Shop
8.   Transiting Between Arena/Pit
9.   Security & Safety
10. Site Layout
11. Directions and Parking
12. Exhibits

2012 Orlando Regional Public Agenda

The following Agenda is for the 2012 Orlando Florida FIRST Robotics Competition. This schedule is subject to change. All times are estimated based on flow of rounds. See Pit Administration table for updated times. Admission to this event is free and open to the public.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012
6:00PM - 8:00PM: Five Team Reps allowed to Load-In Robots and Equipment only. NO Pit setup.

Thursday, March 8, 2012
7:45AM: 5 Team Reps allowed to Load-In
8:30AM: Pits and Machine Shop Open to all Teams
Robots may be un-bagged if they have passed inspection
8:30AM - 12:00PM: Registration and Robot Inspection
10:00AM - 12:00PM: Practice Rounds
12:00PM - 1:00PM: Lunch Break
1:00 PM - 4:30 PM Practice rounds 8:00PM: Pits and Machine Shop Close

Friday, March 9, 2012
8:00AM: Pits and Machine Shop Open
8:30AM - 9:15AM: Opening Ceremonies
9:15AM-12:00PM: Seeding Matches
12:00PM-12:45PM: Lunch Break
12:45PM-5:30PM: Seeding Matches
5:30PM - 6:15pm: Awards Ceremony
7:00PM: Pits and Machine Shop close immediately following ceremony

Saturday, March 10, 2012
8:00AM: Pits and Machine Shop Open
8:30AM - 9:00AM: Opening Ceremonies
9:00AM - 12:15PM: Seeding Matches
12:15PM - 12:30PM: Alliance Selections
12:30PM - 1:30PM: Lunch
1:30PM - 4:30PM: Final Rounds
4:45PM - 5:30PM: Awards Ceremony
6:30PM: Pits Close, crates packed


Event Schedule
The event schedule can be found here. Robotics competitions are complex to run, and there are many opportunities for slowdowns. While organizers make every effort to operate on a timely basis, by nature of the event, the schedule is a guide and not a guarantee. Teams receive a welcome packet at check-in. Please review the schedule in this packet, for any changes to the schedule.

In the interest of fairness to all teams, pit closing times will be strictly enforced. Please remember your gracious professionalism and vacate the pits by the closing time (see the schedule; closing time varies by day). Our volunteers cannot leave until after the teams have, and they need their rest too!

Wednesday/Thursday Load-in Instructions
Load-In Traffic Flow
Traffic Flow Wednesday, 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. and Thursday, 7:45 a.m.-8:30 a.m.
The intention during early load-in hours is for teams to find their pit space, place their bagged robot and tools in the pit space, and depart. Teams will load in through the roll-up bay door located in the back of the pits (by Garage F). At this time the side pit entrance will be closed for safety reasons. Team members loading-in must enter the pits through the roll-up bay door. Teams are highly encouraged to arrive early to ensure they can load in large items for their pit space during this time.

Teams may queue their pit supplies in the area between the UCF Arena (pits building) and Garage F. Note: Teams are not permitted to drive their vehicles in the space between the pits building and Garage F.

As a courtesy, teams will be allowed to quickly unload large items (i.e. toolboxes) along the west side of the Arena along the sidewalk. Due to the large number of teams and the small space, teams are only permitted to stay in this area long enough to unload heavy items. Teams should plan on unloading in this area for no longer than 2 or 3 minutes. If a driver is waiting on team members to arrive to unload the vehicle/trailer, they will be required to wait in lot D2 until they are able to unload (see Section 10 for parking map).

After load-in, teams may park their trailers, busses and other oversized vehicles in parking lot D2. Cars may be parked in Garages D, F and H. The fee for parking is $5. After the waiting teams have loaded in, the roll-up bay door will be closed until Saturday afternoon for load-out. The side pit entrance will be open. Teams are NOT to use the doors at the back of the pits for entrance or exit at any time. Please be prepared in the event of rain to protect your equipment from the elements during the load-in period.

Early load-in restrictions are as follows:
Only 5 team members will be allowed to bring in materials. At least one of those team members must be an adult mentor on the team (18+ years of age and not a high school student). Otherwise, any combination of mentors and team members is acceptable. Representatives will sign in at the doors in the back of the pits saying they understand the load-in policies. Standard safety rules (i.e. safety glasses) apply during this time.

Teams may bring in their robot and any other equipment/pit items that they would normally be permitted to bring in to the venue. No work of any kind is allowed during the drop-off period. Teams are to bring in their material, set it down in their pit areas, and leave.
‘Work’ includes, but is not limited to:
• Plugging in battery chargers
• Unrolling extension cords
• Unrolling carpet or laying out any other kind of flooring material
• Putting up pop-up canopies or any other construction
• Opening roll-in workstations
• Deliberately arranging equipment in the pit for future use
• Any other activity in which the team is doing anything more than unloading what they have brought in.

Teams are encouraged to make a single trip in with their robot and equipment, but may make more than one if necessary. After team members have dropped off their material, they are to exit the pit area until the pits open on Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. Teams bringing in their equipment on Wednesday night are asked to wait until the pits open on Thursday morning to bring in additional, small hand-carried items. Robots may not be unbagged until both their bag and tag forms have been inspected and pits have officially opened on practice day. Teams that shipped their robots to the competition may uncrate their robot on Wednesday from 6 pm to 8 pm, or Thursday beginning at 7:45 am. They may NOT unbag their robot until 8:30 am on Thursday morning. All other instructions pertaining to bag and tag teams apply.

Safety
Per FIRST guidelines, safety glasses will not be distributed to teams. When you are packing, please remember to include safety glasses for every student, mentor, team and family members who will be visiting your team in the pit area. You might consider bringing extras as spares in case glasses are misplaced. FIRST has only a limited supply of safety glasses on hand, so we appreciate your efforts to supply enough safety glasses for everyone you bring with you!
Everyone (team members, family, friends, mentors, visitors) is required to wear non-shaded, ANSI-approved eye protection (safety glasses).

Everyone (team members, family, friends, mentors, visitors) is required to wear closed-toed, closed-heel shoes in the pits and around the playing fields. Shoes must cover the entire foot. Shoes must have closed-toes and heels to protect against foot injuries, regardless of work location. Flip-Flops, sandals, mules, Crocs, etc. are not acceptable when working on or near the robot or while participating in FIRST competitions.

Children under 12 MUST be accompanied in the pits by an adult at all times!

Water in the Pit
Teams are permitted to bring sealed water bottles into the pits. There are no water fountains in the facility and the closest concession stands are at the front of the arena. We encourage teams to bring water; Florida can be hot even in March and the pit can get hot on Thursday morning when the big bay door is open for load-in. No food, open water bottles, non-water drinks, or coolers will be permitted in the pits at any time.

Meals/Snacks/Beverages
Meals are not provided for the attendees. There are food concessions located in the building as well as several restaurants on the UCF campus of which some will be open during spring break. There is not a pre-order box lunch option at the Orlando Regional. We recommend that you assign a few adults to develop a lunch plan for feeding the team and providing snacks throughout the event. Food brought in from or bought outside the arena cannot be brought into the arena. If the weather is nice, there are many grassy areas near the arena where teams can set up a picnic lunch. We highly recommend that the entire team NOT leave the arena/venue for lunch so that they can prepare and arrive on-time for their first match after lunch. We will not delay matches for tardy teams.

Vendor Spring Break Hours:

Wednesday, 7th - Open 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
    - Joffreys (8a - 2p)
    - Mrs. Fields (8a - 2p)
    - Sbarro (11a - 3p)
    - Sm King (10a - 4p)
    - Subway (7a - 5p)
    - Wackadoos (8:30a - 5p)

Thursday, 8th - Open 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
    - Crepe Royale (8a - 5p)
    - Joffreys (8a - 2p)
    - Mrs. Fields (8a - 2p)
    - Sbarro (11a - 3p)
    - Sm King (10a - 4p)
    - Wackadoos (8:30a - 5p)

Friday, 9th - Open 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
    - Crepe Royale (8a - 5p)
    - Joffreys (8a - 2p)
    - Mrs. Fields (8a - 2p)
    - Sbarro (11a - 3p)
    - Sm King (10a - 4p)
    - Wackadoos (8:30a - 5p)

Saturday, 12th - Open 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
    - Crepe Royale (9a - 5p)
    - Joffreys (8a - 2p)
    - Sbarro (11a - 3p)
    - Sm King (10a - 4p)
    - Wackadoos (11:00a - 5p)
NOTE: Hours may change without notice at vendors' discretion

Machine Shop
Machine shop services will be provided by the UCF College of Engineering and Computer Science. Transportation to and from the arena/venue will be provided. The machine shop has mill, drill and lathe machining capability, band saw and table saw cutting capability, a bit of soldering/ welding, grinding/ polishing, threading & taping capability, and most hand/ hand power tools. The shop will be manned by at least one machinist during all competition activities. The machine shop is a great asset for the teams. It is important to follow their rules to assure safety for both team members and UCF employees operating the machine shop. Transportation to the machine shop can be arranged at Pit Admin.

Machine Shop hours:
Thursday 8:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Friday 8:00 a.m. - immediate following the Awards ceremonies (approximately 7:00 p.m.)
Saturday 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Transiting Between Arena/Pit
Teams and visitors may use either the upper hallway and Side Arena Entrance (see the load-in map) or the downstairs inner hallway on the east side of the arena to travel between the arena and the pits for the duration of the competition. Robot traffic will be given priority over teams and visitors using the downstairs inner hallway when transiting between the pits and the arena floor. Safety first!

Only team members with driver badges or media badges transporting a robot will be permitted to enter the arena floor.

Teams will each be provided one media badge. Team members wearing a media badge must have a camera with them and accompany their drive team with the robot to the arena to be given access to the field. Team members wearing the media badge are not permitted to work on a robot, coach during a match, or leave the designated media area during match play to ensure the safety of volunteers and team members. Media members must stay with the drive team in the queuing area until their team is loading onto the field. Volunteers on the field may make changes as needed for safety and to ensure a good flow of matches.

Teams are NOT to use the doors at the back of the pits for entrance or exit at any time.

Security
Teams should never leave anything of value unattended. For added protection, it is recommended teams use security locks/cables to attach computers to a large object such as a table. Please label all robot batteries, battery chargers, controllers etc. with your team number. Turn in lost and found items to the Pit Admin Desk in the pit area.

Site Layout
The field is located in The Arena and the pits are located in The Venue. A pit map will be posted on the Orlando Regional website as soon as it is available.

Directions and Parking
Arena with Parking and Major Roads
Campus Map The address for the UCF Arena is Bldg. 50 North Gemini Blvd, Orlando, FL 32816
(Gemini Blvd N & West Plaza Dr).

Teams may park their trailers, busses and other oversized vehicles in Parking Lot D2.

Cars may be parked in Parking Garages D, F and H.

The fee for parking is $5.














Table/Exhibits
The Information Table and FIRST Scholarship Table will be located on the 1st floor of the arena in the lobby

College/University information tables will be located on the 2nd floor of the arena. Be sure to stop by and talk to the recruiters! (some schools will arrive on Thursday, all are expected to be there on Friday, some may be there on Saturday). Colleges/Universities that have been invited are: University of Central Florida, University of South Florida, University of Florida, DeVry, Florida Institute of Technology, and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.

FLL will have an exhibit on the 1st floor of the arena in the lobby on Friday and Saturday. FTC will also be there on Saturday.

Sponsor tables will be located on the 2nd floor of the arena.

The U.S. Army will be bringing their Mission Support Battalion tractor/trailer asset to the regional. It will be located in front of the arena.

See you on March 8th!
Travel Safe
Sarah Plemmons
Chair, Regional Planning Committee



Team Welcome

Welcome to the Florida FIRST Orlando Regional Competition 2012. The Orlando FIRST Regional Planning Committee welcomes you to our 2012 robotics competition! If you've been here before, you know Orlando puts on one of the best competitions within FIRST. We're looking forward to seeing your team members, mentors and other supporters at the University of Central Florida in March. We have a record 64 teams in the competition from throughout Florida, the nation, the Dominican Republic, and Australia.

This year's event will be held from March 8th through March 10th at the U.C.F. arena located at 50 North Gemini Blvd., Orlando, FL. 32816.

Click here for a list of registered teams.

Click here to see the game animation.

Click here for a description of the game.

Steele Meetings has made arrangements with our local hotels to get you the very best deals. You can check them out at the FIRST Regional hotel page. The list includes several hotels in the attractions area. If your group is planning to come a day early or stay an additional day, be sure to contact the local attractions about discounts for youth programs. Keep an eye on the Orlando Regional website for updates and announcements.

To volunteer at the Orlando Regional, contact David Volz at firstvolunteer@gmail.com.

Sarah Plemmons
Regional Competition Committee

Note: All FIRST Robotics Competition regionals and tournaments are free and open to the public. Additional community events are listed as a service to the FIRST community and do not represent an endorsement by FIRST. Local Kickoffs and Events Run by Teams are conducted, managed and overseen by the identified organizer, not by FIRST. Link for Program Registration: https://my.usfirst.org/frc/tims/

Previous Year's Information:

2011 FRC Event information

2010 FRC Event information

2009 FRC Event information