Printable View
So I've had a look at the church hall and the layout of the place and I think I am comfortable with adding two more spaces to the event but then that will be it. The signup form has been re-opened.
Because of the very limited plugs available, I recommend that people share extension leads where possible. It is also worth noting that since there is also little in the way of tables to begin with, we'll have to fashion some tables out of the abundance of chairs around.
The two extra slots have been filled. I'll sort out the draw later on, there will be 8 groups rather than 4 this time as there are 35 robots in this one.
Mad idea time, if we have exactly 35 bots, could we do 7 groups of 5 & have a big rumble for the 8th slot? That way every bot gets the same amount of fights & even robots that don't do well in the groups still have a chance.
That isn't a bad idea though it'd be a case of each team selecting (where they have more than one robot signed up) one of their machines to participate. If people are OK with that, I've no problem going down that route though distancing around the arena might be tricky. I'll also need to ensure each group has only one robot from each team. I'll try and figure that out.
Hi Lucy, I was wondering if you could provide any info on the tech check procedures you use? This will be my first proper event and I know that AWS ants don’t exactly have the same safety rules as other weight classes (eg no power light or cradle requirements). I just want to make sure that I don’t miss anything blindingly obvious as I’m guessing that social distancing requirements will mean that checking each robot may take longer than in previous years.
So AWs in general don't typically adhere to the FRA rules in their entirety and BotFest models its tech checking requirements off of the AWS rules as well. I've attached the form I use to do the check with (noting that the mention of Beetleweights is a potential future thing... :P) though I think I may end up changing this a touch after this event. Cradles I don't insist on for AWs.
Attachment 9670
In my experience of running these events, I don't think the extra social distancing measures should be too much of a problem.
Just a thought, there should be a section on checking failsafe for drive also? I notice you have AW weapon failsafe test only? AWS events for ants I have been to (one) have tested failsafe on drive and I am sure future BW events you may hold it would be required?
I've only ever been to Ant Freeze events where the drive isn't checked as far as I recall but good point. Beetles definitely will need their drive checking I agree. The tech sheet was written in the mindset of having a non-spinner BW arena.
Update: The drive check has been added for both AWs and BWs.
I've been to over a dozen antweight events & have never had the drive failsafe checked. I imagine it's mostly a time saving thing, since some events recently have actually ran over the time the venue was rented for. 4 of the last 5 AWS's had over 100 bots & if we spent 20 seconds checking each bot that would be over half an hour gone.
good point, maybe it was done to me as i was a new bot into my first comp?
I dunno. I think it rather depends on the event organiser. Even when I was new to the Ant Freeze events, the drive wasn't checked as far as I recollect. Either way, we are talking 35 entrants to this event. 30 seconds a check is 17.5 minutes which isn't terrible considering we also have a break after the group stage as well.
Group draw is nearly done, just need to validate that the robots have been split up correctly.
Will you be posting the draw once it's ready?Quote:
Originally Posted by Ocracoke
Yes, I will be.
Please find attached the group draws, please tell me if you have two or more robots in the same group but I don't think that is the case here.
http://teamkaizen.ocracoke.org.uk/bo...7_11-54-10.png
As previous events, it will be a "everyone fights everyone 1v1" in that group with each match being a maximum of two minutes.
The 8th slot to go into the quarter finals will be filled by a last chance rumble with each team picking a bot to put in if still operational of course. This match will last until last one stands though we'll be stopping at each time someone is pitted or otherwise disabled to prevent a large amount of people being around the arena for a long period of time.
Important: Though I am still hoping this event is going to take place (and that is still the case at present), I've seen in the news today that there is the potential for the number of people who can socialise to be reduced quite significantly from 30 to 6 in England as I understand it (ref). I don't know if this includes sport events but I am hoping it doesn't. I'll be keeping an eye on the news for updates but the chance is there that this could be postponed yet again.
Edit: Rephrased due to poor wording of the original post.
Is there a reason why the draw has been done so far ahead of the event? I was hoping to have a second robot completed in the next few weeks and as far as I was aware, a registration deadline was not set.
I also know of at least one person who has to drop out due to personal reasons, plus there is still time for people to have to potentially drop out due to self-isolation.
Hopefully we can finagle our way past the new lockdown restrictions as an organized team sport. We have a set date and group stage draw, so its organized. Everyone had to put down a team name on the form and robot combat is a sport. Apparently a full list of the exemptions will be released before it comes into effect on the 14th.
As much as I wish we can, I very much doubt robot combat will be classified as a sport for the purposes of these rules
"The Council of Europe charter on sport uses the following definition: "Sport means all forms of physical activity, which through casual or organised participation, aim at expressing or improving physical fitness and mental well-being, forming social relationships or obtaining results in competition at all levels"."
I don't think robot combat meets that criteria purely due to the lack of physical activity. Obviously it's still down to Lucy if the event goes ahead, of course.
The assumption was that everyone who signed up would attend. If there are dropouts for whatever reason, I can always shuffle them around to balance things out as best I can. I did the draw ahead of time to save time at the event itself and represents a "best case" scenario of who you might be facing. If you have a second robot that can fill that space, I've no problem swapping that in.Quote:
Is there a reason why the draw has been done so far ahead of the event? I was hoping to have a second robot completed in the next few weeks and as far as I was aware, a registration deadline was not set.
I need to see the full list of exemptions (specifically the law bill itself) before making the call on it. The BBC (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54081131) make specific reference to "organised team sports", which fighting robots is technically but I agree, this is a grey area at the moment.Quote:
I don't think robot combat meets that criteria purely due to the lack of physical activity. Obviously it's still down to Lucy if the event goes ahead, of course.
I think it would be classed under it but it honestly though it's down the govement at this point we just have to wait and see
Oh Lord !-This is no doubt a headache for any organiser but I think if you regiment the event itself as proposed
the only sticking point would be keeping the competitors apart during breaks.
Guidance from the Government is woeful at best-use you own judgement.
I suspect the provision for "organised team sport" is based on sports where the teams are necessarily greater than six people. E.g., if you're playing 5-a-side football you have to have at least 10 people in total. Whereas singles badminton is played with only two people, so you don't need to exceed the limit. I don't think that would include us, even if they decide to class combat robotics as a sport (which I also doubt, regardless of my own feelings on the subject!).
I would like the event to go ahead but not enough to try and squeeze around the rules. The guidance is crap but ultimately it makes sense to minimise contact with other people and the current situation isn't looking great*. Hopefully things will be clearer in a few days, but whatever happens don't feel under any pressure to go ahead Lucy - it's not worth getting yourself, or the venue, in trouble over.
[rant]*...despite the fact that half the reporting is utter nonsense - they keep talking about how many new cases have been "recorded", but they're ignoring delays in recording and processing results - a lot of the apparent sudden spike is due to specimens from several days ago being processed late...![/rant]
Fighting robotics, I would argue, is a sport in the sense that it is highly organised, has the same type of rules and structure in place as you would football or cricket or whichever traditional sport you care to mention and is competitive. An event like this, where you had to register beforehand, walk-ins are not permitted, strict hygiene requirements are being enforced and contact information collected well in advance of the event itself should qualify as "organised" at the very least.
And yet you make a good point about the numbers and the expectation. This is why it is a "grey area" for me and that is why I am making the call only after I've seen the announcement by the government at 16:00 BST today and the actual law bill in PDF format. I also get the basic premise and idea behind this restriction being (re)introduced.
I realise this is a long shot but could we move the event to this Saturday, before the new rules come into force?
So the new changes have be announced about Covid and unless you break the rules regarding 6 people
gathering together I don't see a problem.
For an ant weight event you don't need more than one overseer and one person per team to approach the
Arena-Makes 3-job done-fight/clean/repeat.
I suspect this church your proposing has plenty of room for social distancing so no Jobsworth police man
or council official could say it was a gathering of more than 6 people.
Ultimately it's your decision Lucy,read the PDF on rules if you can find it but I suspect it will be as clear
as Mud.
Section 2.1/2
https://www.gov.uk/government/public...an-and-cant-do
Maybe harder to argue for antweights, but lifting heavyweight scale robots in and out of sheds/garages/cars/vans is a hell of a lot of physical activity :lol:
I am afraid not.Quote:
I realise this is a long shot but could we move the event to this Saturday, before the new rules come into force?
So the recent (upcoming) law change has pretty much made running BotFest 4 impossible to do in its current form. The exemption around team sports only applies if the governing body has submitted a plan to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (the DCMS) and it is subsequently listed on the page regarding team sports frameworks (ref: https://www.gov.uk/government/public...rt-framework):
The FRA isn't listed there so it would be illegal for the event to continue as planned as is my understanding. I did briefly consider splitting the event into its group stages but there would still be the situation where there would be more than 6 people present in a certain group and there is also the extended timeline to consider, not to mention the cost of event insurance which I've had to swallow due to the change. Therefore, it is with regret that I am have to pull the plug on the event again. All of the form data will be wiped as per GDPR.Quote:
Once DCMS has given this confirmation, the national governing body will be linked at the bottom of this page. Until the national governing body is linked on GOV.UK, the team sport should not restart.
Honestly, I am gutted and sorry this has happened again. I know this event was being looked forwards to and I was really looking forwards to it myself.
Thanks for the update Lucy. It sucks but at least you know where you stand now. Until the next time!
Ahhh thats a real shame :( But totally out of everyones hands and just one of those things! On to 2021 now I guess and lets pretend 2020 never happened!
Viva La Bot Fest!
Aye, just one of those things. Short of a miracle happening, I am not expecting to run an event now until next year. By then... BotFest might have a completely new arena. ;)
OK, so following the announcement of the provisional roadmap by the government, my proposal is to have BotFest 4, finally, at the end of June though this does depend on, amongst other things, A) Wherever or not the law permits this at a reasonable time before the event itself and B) when AWS 62 is scheduled for.
Again, I stress, this is a proposal but at least a glimmer. ;)
Hi Lucy
If you could organise an outdoor event-maybe under a gazebo I believe 27th of March is the official
start date for sporting events outdoors though it's up to the individual to assess when they feel
prepared to hold any event.
Awesome! Hope we can finally have this! TBH I don't think we'd have an AWS so soon after lockdown is eased so you're probably good on that front.
I did consider a outdoors event and I am open to considering it. Nothing is set in stone.Quote:
Hi Lucy
If you could organise an outdoor event-maybe under a gazebo I believe 27th of March is the official
start date for sporting events outdoors though it's up to the individual to assess when they feel
prepared to hold any event.
Yeah, I hope we can have this too. :P As I understand it, AWS 62 hasn't been scheduled yet? I'll need to check RW101 to see what the latest is there.Quote:
Awesome! Hope we can finally have this! TBH I don't think we'd have an AWS so soon after lockdown is eased so you're probably good on that front.
I know Harry was planning to host it at one point. Whether or not he's still interested IDK, I could always ask Dave what the score is if you want.
Hooray! It's looking a bit vague at the moment but it sounded like pubs would potentially be allowed to do outside service by mid April, so if I can go and have a pint in a beer garden I would've thought outdoor robot combat would be permitted.
Anyway, whenever it happens I'll look forward to being not quite ready in time and rushing despite having over a year to finish something.
I will be there 100% if it is at all possible to put on! Reallty would be amazing to have something to look forward to!Quote:
Originally Posted by Ocracoke
Bad Wolf
With the 21st of June coming, I would have liked to have said "yes, its going ahead on the 26th" with some relative certainty but with the situation in the UK as is at the moment, I am waiting to see what the government says first before committing to this. Assuming that the 21st goes ahead as planned, then I want to run BotFest 4 on the 26th of June at the church (see previous post for times and rules).
Prospective signup: http://antlog.garya.org.uk/event/27
Let's hope we can actually run this ;)
EDIT: This has now been moved to the 24th of July.
Looking forward to finally being able to do this!
I think there's a Robodojo FW event planned for the 26th Lucy, if that might affect your plans. Although after all this time you'll probably get plenty of takers anyway...
Argh, I didn't know about that. :( I'll leave the signup as is for the moment and if there is a Dojo on the 26th (I'll e-mail Ian shortly), I'll see about moving this a week or two - I am supposed to be at Rapture on the 3rd of July.