Agenda

Friday, November 4th, 2022

Note: Teams who help with setup on Friday night will be eligible to do all skills runs at this time. Please contact the event partner for more information.

Saturday, November 5th, 2022

Note: this event will be run at a quick pace to maximize each team's number of matches. Teams should come to matches prepared. This means pneumatics pumped, batteries and controllers present, and all drive team members ready and excited to go! 

Volunteer

Volunteers are the lifeblood of any successful event! Please reach out to Brendan McGuire (bmmcgui@clemson.edu) for questions about volunteering.

Volunteer Sign Up: https://go.bren.app/volunteer

Note: volunteers will be provided lunch and snacks throughout the day. If you have any dietary concerns we should be aware of, feel free to reach out so we can accommodate you!

Emergency/Bad Weather Policy

In the unlikely event that the event will need to be cancelled, coaches will be informed through their primary team contact email in RobotEvents. 

Refund Policy

If the Event Partner cancels/postpones the event: 

In the rare circumstance that we must cancel the event, the event partner will issue refunds to teams who have paid, or allow them to transfer their payment to cover another event hosted by the event partner.

If a Coach/Mentor completes registration for the event and then chooses to withdraw or not attend: 

Teams are eligible for a refund up to 4 weeks before the event start date. All teams requesting refunds should submit requests to bmmcgui@clemson.edu by October 5, 2022, at 11:59 PM.

Health and Safety Policies

All team participants, including Students, Coaches, and Parents will be required to follow all Clemson University policies while on campus. 

Optional COVID-19 Testing

Event participants may opt to receive rapid COVID-19 testing from Rymedi, the University's testing partner on Friday, November 4th, before the event by selecting the community member option. Please contact the event partner for more information.

https://cucourse.app.clemson.edu/login/sign-in.php

Date: 5-Nov-2022

Travel Info

This event will take place at Hendrix Student Center on Clemson University's campus. You will need to purchase a parking pass to park on campus - the best way to do this is to purchase a weekend pass for $8.

Enter through the front entrance, and climb the staircase to the 2nd floor. Elevators are available to the right.
 

Food

Hendrix Student Center contains multiple on-campus restaurants, including Panda Express, Chick-Fil-A, Einstein Bro's Bagel Company, and 55 Exchange.

Webcast

This event will be broadcast live to the South Carolina VEX youtube channel!

https://youtu.be/_uYS1c3dZZs

Judging Format

In-Person Submission of Engineering Notebooks

In order to be eligible for the Design or Excellence Award, a team must submit an engineering notebook. For this event, teams will be required to submit a physical copy of their design notebook. Teams with a digital design notebook should convert their notebook to a physical form. Teams will need to submit notebooks by 9:00 AM on the day of the event for notebooks to be considered.

In-Person Judging Interviews

For this event, teams will be interviewed by judges in their pit area. 

All questions about the judging process for this event should be directed to the Event Partner, Brendan McGuire (bmmcgui@clemson.edu)

Updates

Update #1 – 9 Sept 2022

Hey Coaches! Thank you for registering for the Tigertown Throwdown!

We are very excited to have you! We are 2 months out from the event, so I wanted to take the chance to introduce myself and give you some basic details about the event.

Venue & Logistics

This event will take place on Clemson University's campus at Hendrix Student Center. Clemson Parking has asked me to remind you that you must purchase a parking pass for the event. You can purchase a weekend pass here for $8, valid from Friday at 4:00 PM until Monday at 7:00 AM.

Volunteers will receive a parking pass for their cars. If you team would like to supply volunteers, please reach out!

Judging

The current judging policy requires that teams submit notebooks In-Person, and that teams with digital notebooks will need to convert their notebooks to physical form (by printing). I am considering changing this to digital notebook submissions. Let me know if you have any feedback regarding this!

Out-of-State Teams

Because we have a greater than average number of out-of-state teams planning to attend (welcome Arab and Brookwood!) I wanted to highlight the rules about teams attending competitions

1. If there is a team competing at the event that is from outside of that Event Region and wins an award that would have won a spot, or a team that double qualifies from the event (not from previous events or other methods), that spot will go to the next highest unqualified team on the Robot Skills ranking at that event. There is no look-back to previous events to see if a team has previously qualified. These spots are automatically calculated and filled in RobotEvents.com

2. Teams that compete outside of their region will not be eligible for spots within or outside of their event region. However, their Robot Skills scores will be posted to the World Skills Standings.

Any questions about this policy can be directed to me or our Event Engagement Manager, Sarah Burnett. We look forward to seeing you here in South Carolina!

Competition Fields

The current RobotEvents posting specifies the competition fields at the event will be metal competition fields with GPS strips attached. I am considering switching these to portable fields for easier setup. For this event, fields will not be raised, and fields will use the new competition control system. 

Please ensure that teams are familiar with the new control system and its differences from the old system. Read more about the competition control system here.

As always, feel free to email me if there are any questions or concerns. I look forward to seeing your teams compete!

Brendan McGuire

Event Partner

Update #2 – 26 October 2022

Hey Coaches!

I'm excited to welcome you to Clemson this November 5th, 2022, for Tigertown Throwdown! This email has some quick updates to prepare you and your teams for the event.

Action Items

Action Item: Convert your team's notebook to a physical form if you maintain a digital notebook

Action Item: Set up your team's V5 Brain to be ready for the new field control system using this guide

Costume Contest

Our Head Referee, Zach, has issued another Costume Contest challenge in the late celebration of Halloween! Encourage your students to dress up, and we'll give out a $20 prize each to the Best in Show, Most Creative, and Funniest (as determined by Zach)

Parking Reminder

Remember that all cars parking at Clemson must acquire a parking pass or pay at the meter. See the parking services website to get a pass.

Note: volunteers will get a parking pass. Please email me if you are interested in volunteering!

Check-In

The doors to Hendrix Student Center will automatically unlock at 8:00 AM. When you arrive, check in on the 2nd floor. Teams should submit their notebook at the check-in desk before 9:00 AM to be judged.

Qualifications To State

Sarah, our Event Engagement Manager for South Carolina has assigned a spot level to our event. The following awards will qualify South Carolina teams for the State Championship:

Excellence HS

Excellence MS

Tournament Champions

Design

Control System

This event will use the new control system for competition fields. The new V5 control system will gradually replace the old system. 

The biggest change is you will now plug a V5 smart cable into one of the 2 smart ports on your controller! See this knowledge base article for more information.

I'm looking forward to seeing you all here in Clemson in just 9 days!

Brendan McGuire

Event Partner