Lesson 1: Starting the Day

The first match of the day cannot start until three things have finished: every team is checked in, every robot is inspected, and the Event Meeting is over. This lesson is about what each of those three things is and why they happen in that order.

Check-In

Check-in is how a team formally arrives at your event. A coach or another adult from the team stops at the check-in table, confirms the team is present, and picks up their pit assignment.

It is important that an adult checks in for each team. The Game Manuals require every student at an event to be supervised by a responsible adult for the full day (rule <S2>), and check-in is where you confirm that adult is present for that team and know who to find in an emergency. Check-in also gives you an accurate count of who is in the building before you post a match schedule.

Teams rarely arrive all at the same time, so check-in opens early. Once every team has arrived (or been confirmed as a no-show), the station is finished for the day and the volunteers working it can move somewhere else in the venue. 

Your check-in volunteers can keep you updated on what teams are still missing throughout the check-in window. Be sure to have contact information for all teams handy, so you can get in touch if necessary. Life happens (teams may be late or unable to attend), and the earlier you can find out that information, the better you can adjust the day.

Inspection

Inspection is a check of a robot against the Game Manual's Robot rules before that robot plays its first match. It is the gate between arriving and competing. No robot can compete until it passes inspection, and that is what lets a match be fair and safe: every robot on the field has been confirmed to be following the same rules.

A team brings their robot, controller, license plates, and a charged battery to an inspection station, where a Robot Inspector works through an Inspection checklist with them. Students present the robot and answer the inspector's questions.

Plenty of robots do not pass on the first try. Not passing inspection on the first try does not mean the team is disqualified from the event. Inspection issues are ordinary rather than a problem: a robot that is a little oversized comes back trimmed, a missing license plate gets added, and the team is ready to compete. Inspection should be open and available for a long time, just like check-in, to be sure that all teams can work through the process.

Your Head Referee is the point person for inspection and can train additional volunteers as inspectors. Your part is designating an inspection station and keeping checklists and sizing tools available there. Once every robot has passed, the inspection station can close and those volunteers can move to another post, the same way the check-in crew does. If a robot changes substantively during the event, it can get re-inspected at the queueing area prior to a match, with the Head Referee overseeing the process.

See these articles to learn more about the program-specific Inspection Checklists that you will need to have available at your event: 

• VEX IQ Robotics Competition: VEX IQ Inspection Checklist
• VEX V5 Robotics Competition: VEX V5 Inspection Checklist
• VEX U Robotics Competition: VEX U Inspection Checklist

The Event Meeting

The Event Meeting is a short gathering for the teams at the start of your event. Contained within the Event Meeting is the Driver’s Meeting. You stop everything, bring teams and coaches together in one place, and give them all the same information at the same time. The Event Meeting is usually held right around the competition fields, where the whole group can stand comfortably, and it does not run long. It is also the last thing that happens before match play begins, and it cannot happen until check-in and inspection are complete. 

You and your Head Referee lead the Event Meeting together. Typically, the Event Partner talks about event/venue specifics, then hands it off to the Head Referee for the Driver’s Meeting portion, including rules and match play, and either of you can talk about safety reminders.

The topics typically covered include: 

From you, the Event Partner: 

• A welcome and the shape of the day
• Where things are — pits, competition fields, Robot Skills field, restrooms, etc.
• How lunch works
• Anything your venue requires

From your Head Referee: 

• How match play will run
• Where Drive Team Members stand, and when they may approach the field
• How to get a referee's attention, and how a score gets confirmed
• Anything about this game's rules worth calling out before the first match

Safety expectations (from either the Event Partner or Head Referee): 

• Walk in the pits
• Stay out of the field except during your own match
• Follow the instructions of event staff and volunteers
• At a VEX V5 event, Drive Team Members wear eye protection at the field, as required by the Game Manual's safety rules 

Much of what is covered is likely to be reminders for students who have been to events before, but it is important to establish a shared understanding of how your particular event will run for everyone. The meeting also lets everyone know who you and your Head Referee are, so they know who to look for when questions arise during the day.