AERO Battle on Brindlee Mountain (Remote - Middle School)

General Info

THIS IS A LIVE, REMOTE, SKILLS-ONLY EVENT. SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS.

This event will be hosted via the Zoom platform. You will be sent an invitation to the Zoom meeting upon registration.. In addition, you will need to select two time slots for your skills attempts.  

Each team will be able to select two 15-minute slots for their skills attempts. This is a total of 30 minutes alloted for your maximum of 6 skills attempts (3 programming & 3 driver). We highly recommend you do not select two slots that are back-to-back to allow your team time to adjust their robot/code between attempts. Keep in mind that this includes any time your team spends resetting the field, adjusting your robot/code, or placing your robot in the starting postition. Breakout rooms will be used to conduct inspections outside of your alloted time and speed things up. 

 

Skills-Only Event: Remote, Live

A “Remote, Live” Skills-Only Event is an event held exclusively via a live online video platform organized by the Event Partner. The intent of a Remote, Live event is to replicate the competition experience of an “In-Person, Live” Skills-Only Event as much as possible.

Additional rules and requirements have been established in an effort to help facilitate a fair and flexible experience for all Teams and Event Partners.

 

The Remote Skills Only environment (i.e. digital platform) may be chosen at Event Partner discretion.

     a. All registered Teams must be able to view live the matches being played by all other registered Teams.

     b. REC Foundation Staff must have access to view all matches while being played live.

     c. The online meeting environment must not be accessed or viewed by the general online public while the event is live, e.g. the event must be password protected or invite-only.

          i. Guests invited by the Event Partner can be able to view, but may not have use of their microphone or camera or display anything for teams to see or hear.

          ii. One example that would satisfy this requirement would be to use an online video conferencing application that allows for a large number of people who must register to attend. The Event Partner would approve spectators who can view the matches, but would only give Teams the ability to share their screen, camera or microphone.

           iii. After the event is over, there are no such restrictions (i.e. the Event Partner may post a recording of the event if they wish).

 

Registered Teams will be assigned scheduled times to complete Robot Inspection and up to (3) Programming Skills Matches and (3) Driving Skills Matches over a live, online environment.

 

The minimum event staff must include one (1) Event Partner and at least one (1) certified Head Referee. A dedicated Tournament Manager operator is also recommended, but not required, if the Head Referee and/or Event Partner wish to fulfill this role.

 

At all times, there must be a minimum of (2) Adults over the age of 18 in the remote meeting environment before Students are allowed to connect. One of those Adults must be the Event Partner.

 

The Team’s Primary Contact, or another designated Adult Team contact (over the age of 18), must be present in the remote meeting environment throughout the duration of the scheduled time for that Team. The Team’s Primary Contact will be responsible for providing the Adult representative’s contact information to the Event Partner prior to the event.

 

Teams will complete a full Robot inspection, in accordance with , live with the Head Referee prior to their first Robot Skills Match. This inspection process should follow the checklist on a standard inspection sheet, including a demonstration of sizing compliance as explained in

 

 All Team camera footage must be streamed live, from one camera feed, with no “cuts”.

     a. Pre-recorded Robot Skills Matches are strictly prohibited in a Live, Remote event.

     b. The Drive Team Member(s), Robot(s), Controller(s) and complete competition field must remain on camera at all times during the match.

     c. A Stopwatch / Tournament Manager display that shows the match time must be on video the entire time during the match.

     d. The camera must be able to move around the field, with no breaks or “cuts”, so that it can verify standard Head Referee checks before and after the Match. These could include (but are not limited to) Starting Position placement, game and field element placements, and any necessary scoring verification.

          i. If this is not feasible due to a Team’s equipment or facility limitations, a second camera stream must be used for these close-up checks. This is the only permissible exception to the “single-camera” rule set forth by , and Teams utilizing this exception should expect additional scrutiny.

 

Live, Remote Robot Skills Matches must include some live interaction between the Team and the Head Referee.

     a. A Drive Team Member must pair their Controller to their Robot on video prior to each Match.

     b. The Head Referee must ask the Team if they are ready, and the Team must respond verbally/visually on video. i. If the Head Referee needs to see a closer or different angle of the Robot Starting Position or any field elements, the Team must be able to satisfy this request, per .

     c. The Match will begin with the Team member who is controlling their clock to give a countdown for the Match to start. This person does not need to be a Drive Team Member.

     d. After the Match, Teams must move the camera per the Head Referee’s instructions to verify scored game elements before the field is reset, per . The Head Referee will confirm to the Team verbally what is being counted.

            i. still applies - the Head Referee’s judgment based on what can be seen on camera is final, as it would if they were observing it in person. There are no video or photo replays in a Live, Remote Skills-Only Event.

 

 Match replays are at the discretion of the Head Referee. In addition to the examples provided in , live video circumstances (such as a video cutting out, or a Match timing error) could warrant a Match replay at the Head Referee’s discretion.

 

 Any violation of any rules will result in the Match score being recorded as zero. That Match will count as one of the Team’s allotted Matches.

Grade Level: Middle School

Skills Challenge Offered: Yes

Judging Format: All Remote Judging