Small VRC tournament setup

VEX Robotics Competition Discussion VRC
1

I’m planning to run a small VRC Tournament in October with one competition field and one skills field and using the smart filed controllers. I’m new to TM and have some questions about the setup. I’m finding it hard to source Raspberry Pis at a reasonable cost, and many places are out of stock. At my school, we have quite a few older (but functional) iMacs. Would the attached setup work for a tournament?

Would a similar setup work with only one computer running multiple screens from the one computer, and the field controllers connected directly to the computer?

Or is there a simpler way to run a small tournament?

VRC TM Setup.pdf (29.0 KB)

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Yes, that setup will work. If you want extra reliability, run long ethernet cables to the field iMacs, but as long as they stick to the WiFi things will still work. Of course, test everything a couple weeks before the event to make sure your setup will work.

Fair warning: TM on macOS is… a bit of an enigma. If you can run Windows on the iMacs via boot camp (or just have a couple of old Windows laptops available instead), that’s probably a good idea.

5 Likes
3

$100 rP4 with keyboard, mouse, power supply, and in stock.

Works.

Simpler set up:
skills - just use smart field controller standalone - let the teams control the robot - record score and stop time -

single competition field - one PC two displays (Macs can do this too!). connect Smart field controller to the PC/Mac …

4

Thanks for the reply. Does TM work on the Raspberry Pi 400. I thought it needed to be a Raspberry Pi 2 or 3 model B.

Also, if using the smart field controller for skills, would I record the score on a tablet connected to TM?

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Thanks for the reply. I’ve read that using TM on a Mac can have its challenges. Our school uses Macs widely, so I have access to a good supply of older Macs after they are replaced.

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Works with rPi 4 and rPi 400 and Le Potato (this year, not guaranteed to be supported past this season $35 + housing, power supply, memory card…)

You can still use mobile scoring BUT you said small tournament, keep it simple, printed score card, hand to TM operator to enter.

Small events are easier if you keep it simple… (yeah I know I run extra tech, because…)

Keep it simple, have fun!

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Thanks for the reply. We also plan to run a small IQ Elementary and Middle School competition simultaneously with a small VRC comp (we have plenty of volunteers). Would the attached setup work?

IQ ELEM + MS Setup.pdf (30.1 KB)

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I would suggest having a practice field separate from skills, if possible. Check with your colleagues from other teams, and you’ll probably find a couple willing to loan a field.

If it’s a space issue, you might consider doing what we’ll be doing at our first tournament: Monroe County Fair VIQRC Full Volume MI Kickoff : Blended VIQRC ES/MS Michigan Region 3 Qualifier : Robot Events Because of space, we’re outside under a tent (huge one for VRC, smaller one for VIQRC), we will have only two fields. We’ll start the day with skills runs on all the fields, then switch to qualification matches, then a few more skills during lunch if needed.