Team Leaders, here are some additional details for the Duluth Regionals:
There is still time to build one more robot! Junkyard Robots are back for the 7th year (https://mnfirst.org/frc/duluth-junkyard-robots ). This is a great tradition that teams have a lot of fun with. For our planning purposes, you must register by March 2nd.
Load in/out – changes for 2018
Due to construction along the waterfront and canals by the DECC, the load-in and load-out procedures have changed for this year. Please read the directions on this page (https://mnfirst.org/duluth-regionals/duluth-directions/ ). Northern Lights teams load in and out at the normal location (Door 9). Lake Superior teams load in and out at Door 6 which is around on the east side of the DECC. Previously, Door 7 was used. The other change for those of you who stay in Canal Park is that there is a very good chance that the walkover bridge will be closed for renovations. Make sure your students bring warm clothes because the walk to the DECC will be much longer.
Early Pit Setup is Wednesday night and Thursday morning. The Early Pit Setup section of the Rules and Expectations for FIRST Robotics Competition Page (https://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/frc/event-experience ) will govern. On Wednesday night from 6:00pm to 9:00pm, teams will unload their trailers at the appropriate door for your regional event (see map: https://mnfirst.org/frc/duluth-directions ). A driver must stay with the vehicle at all times. When curbside drop-off is complete, the vehicle must be moved. Only 5 people (one must be an adult) will be allowed in the pit for setup. For safety purposes, robots will be directed to a holding area so that they are not in the pits during pit setup. Once a team’s pit setup is complete, the robot can be retrieved from the holding area and returned to the team’s designated pit. Teams are not allowed to work on their robots until 8:30am Thursday morning. The pits close promptly at 9:00pm on Wednesday night. Teams loading-in on Thursday morning will follow the same procedure beginning at 7:45am. When a team’s pit setup is complete, the setup crew must leave the pit area and not return until 8:30am on Thursday morning. Please tell your students and appropriate mentors about this procedure. Also at load-in, Junkyard Robots will be directed to a holding bin and team banners will be collected.
Emergency Exit
We have posted the DECC site plan (https://mnfirst.org/duluth-regionals/duluth-venue-map/ ).Please make sure your team has a safety plan in place if the need arises to evacuate the building.
Team Seminars (as of today) – Thursday, Split Rock 2 room
Event Ambassador training 1:00pm – 1:30pm
Team 1816 – Core Values 1:30pm -2:30pm
Team 2502 – Chairman’s exchange 2:30pm – 3:30pm
Mentor Roundtable 3:30pm – 4:30pm
Event shirts
There will be a vendor on site selling logo’d shirts. We hope you enjoy them.
Regards, Mark Lawrence
Chairman, MN FIRST Regional Planning Committee
