Vex World Competition Help

Our team may be going to the World Championship in Dallas this April, and we were wondering if there is anything important we should know.

How many matches will there approximately be?

Will there be long breaks in between matches?

What are the odds that we will be competing on all three days?

Any tips or suggestions on hotels, transportation, etc?

Any information would be helpful.

Thank you,
Spur-flys :smiley:

We’ve never been to Dallas, but we have been to Atlanta. Here’s part of a document with some info on robot transportation that might be helpful.

Transportation Considerations
Transporting the robot can be tricky if you plan to fly, as airport security will most likely open and inspect anything with strange metal, wires, and batteries. Some options are:

  1. Send the robot in advance by Fed Ex to a trusted friend in or to the hotel, if they will receive it (reports on this option are generally good).

  2. Pack the robot in checked luggage (results vary from lost or mangled to undamaged robots).

  3. Attempt to bring the robot through carry-on luggage (no successful reports on Vex robots using this option, although LEGO robots have been successfully transported).

    If you do plan to send the robot through checked luggage, there are several things you can do to minimize damage. First, disconnect the batteries and store them in a separate container, with the wire ends taped to the battery. Second, unplug all wires and tape them to a piece of cardboard, with the ends far away from each other. This way, when your luggage gets X-rayed, the wires look visibly disconnected, rather than looking like an active device. One last suggestion is to paste a flier on each piece of luggage showing photos the team, a close-up of the robot, and a competition field with robots and students, accompanied by a note with your name, address, and a request to not damage the robot, as it needs to be competition-ready the next day. Using this procedure, our team found inspection notices in all bags with robot parts, but nothing was moved, altered, or damaged. In contrast, some robots fully assembled have arrived partially disassembled, with wires ripped out and damaged.

One final consideration is what to bring for transporting your robot from the pit to the competition arena (potentially widely separated). Some teams use a wheeled cart or luggage carrier, while others use a cardboard or plastic bin with handles. During the competition, you may make as many as 8 round trips daily so bring good walking shoes. Carrying the robot in arms without a box is not advised – it generally results in sore arms, and loose parts that drop off may be lost forever.

My team is also hoping for more information very soon, as well. I have suggested to my contact at VEX that they consider setting up a receiving location at theh Convention Center, where teams can ship tools, parts and robots by UPS or FedEx. Of course that would mean VEX would need to have someone on site and managing the receiving facility as shipments start coming in (three or four days ahead of the event). But it may it much easier for teams. Once a team arrives, a designated contact with ID, could go sign out their team’s items.

On the return home, the receiving location could be used to arrange shipment of materials and robots to back home.

My VEX contact thought it was a great idea and was going to pass it on to others in the company. I am not sure where the item stands, but other teams asking for this type of service would not hurt.

I second the use of Fed-Ex or UPS as a way to get the robot to another location. The airlines are very picky and getting electronics from point A to point B is not simple.

I recommend buying one of those large black locking containers that are designed to footlockers or large tool storage. They can be locked and with padding in the inside to protect the robot from getting bounced around. Make sure that everything in the box is secure.

Good luck at the Worlds!

We took one of our Vex FTC robots to Atlanta last year. The robot was unbolted into two pieces (basically the arm and the base) and packed into a rolling suitcase. We took it on-board as carry-on luggage, after explaining to a TSA rep what we were doing. Sharp tools went into checked luggage. It took a really small amount of conversation (about 5 minutes) and TSA allowed us to take the robot on the plane. We were prepared to send someone over to baggage check-in if we had to check it, though. We had no problems in either direction in our carry-on bags.