Code of Conduct

The REC Foundation considers the positive, respectful, and ethical conduct of teams to be an essential component of the competition. Participants are expected to behave in a respectful and professional manner, and to operate as student-centered teams with limited adult assistance. This includes all students, teachers, coaches, mentors, parents, and spectators associated with a team.

For more details, please refer to the REC Foundation Code of Conduct and Student-Centered Policy. If you have concerns about compliance with the Code of Conduct, please speak to the Event Partner during the event.

Agenda

The folllowing Agenda is tentative and will be updated closer to the event dates

Friday, February 16, 2024

5:30 PM - Inspection and skills field open

8:15 PM - Inspection and skills field close

8:30 PM - Facility closes. All teams required to vacate the premises.

Agenda 

Saturday, February 17, 2024

6:45 AM - Doors Open and Inspection Begins - Only teams not inspected on Feb 16

7:30 AM - Inspection closes (hard deadline)

7:45 AM - Opening Ceremonies

8:00 AM - Drivers Meeting

8:30 AM - Qualification matches and skills begin

12:00 PM - Lunch break 

12:30 PM - Qualification matches resume

7:30 PM - Day Ends, clean up and start vacating the premises

8:00 PM - Facility closes. All teams required to vacate the premises.
 

Sun, February 18, 2024

7:00 AM - Doors Open

7:30 AM - Qualification Matches & Skills Resume 

12:00 PM - Alliance Selection Begins & Skills Fields Close

12::30 AM - Lunch

1:00 PM - Elimination Matches Begin

3:30 PM - Award Ceremonies and Closing Completed

4:00 PM - All teams are required to vacate the premises. Facility Closed.

5:00 PM - Middle School Signature event - Door Opens

Volunteer

We could not host successful events without our amazing volunteers!

Please sign up here for volunteering!

• No prior robotics experience is needed.

• All volunteering counts towards volunteering hours for students

• We are happy to sign necessary volunteering hours forms for you

Emergency/Bad Weather Policy

We do not expect bad weather to impact this event, since all activities are indoors or in covered areas.

However, in case of an unforeseen cancellation, the event partner(s) will communicate with you as early as possible. 

Teams should make sure their contact information on Robotevents.com is up to date, and includes phone numbers that they will be able to access during weekends and / or holidays, in case of any urgent communications become necessary.

Refund and Payment Policies

If the Event Partner cancels the event:

Event partner(s) will try their best to issue full refunds (minus some possible unavaoidable charges) in the event of an unforeseen cancellation.

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

Refunds may be issued at the discretion of the event partner(s), if there are teams on the waiting list that can backfill vacated spots, and if you let us know at least five weeks prior to the event date.

All payments MUST be received before the payment deadline date of Jan 15, 2024 11:59 PM. If payment is not received, teams will be moved to the waitlist and teams from the waitlist will be offered the spot. Teams placed on the waitlist will go back to the queue. Reminders will be sent before the payment deadline. Unless you have explicit exception from the event partner, your team will be placed back on the waitlist if payment is not received before the payment deadline.

Health and Safety Policies

There are no vaccination or mask mandates, but we highly encourage everyone to avoid coming into the facility if you are not feeling well and follow all commonly expected safety and health precautions.

Date: 16-Feb-2024 - 18-Feb-2024

Travel Info

Book your group rate for VEX Robotics Competition Room Block

Teams make their own reservations at the link below to book rooms at a discount. You will be directed to the property’s home page with the negotiated rate code already entered in the appropriate field for a quickroom reservation. You may also call the Marriott reservation line at 1 (800) 321-2211 or (510) 656-1800 and refer to the name of the group to receive the special group rate.

VEX Robotics Competition Room Block Information

Hotel: Courtyard & TownePlace Suites by Marriott
1480 Falcon Drive, Milpitas CA 95035

TownePlace Suites Milpitas Silicon Valley for 99 USD - 139 USD per night

Courtyard Milpitas Silicon Valley for 104 USD per night

Booking Link:  https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1701276099724&key=GRP&app=resvlink

• Arrival Date: Friday, February 16, 2024
• Departure Date: Monday, February 19, 2024
• Cutoff Date: Friday, February 9, 2024. but note that these reservations get full much earlier.
• Hotel contact: Maya Huerta, Group & Event/Guest Experience Specialist - P.408.719.1966 ext. 690

Any reservations or changes made past the cutoff date cannot be guaranteed but will be accepted based on availability.

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Things to do nearby:

• Go Kart Racing - Santa Clara - 8 miles - Directions from Tournament Location

• Things to do in San Francisco - TripAdivsor 

• Exploratorium - a public learning laboratory exploring the world through science, art, and human perception on Pier 15, San Francisco 

• California Academy of Sciences - an aquarium, planetarium, rainforest, and natural history museum in the heart of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park

• Chabot Space & Science Center - a full dome planetarium, giant screen theater, and research-level telescopes in the Redwood Regional Park in Oakland 

• Hiller Aviation Museum - a Smithsonian Affiliate museum, was opened by helicopter designer and inventor Stanley Hiller Jr., featuring more than 50 aircraft 

• Computer History Museum

• NASA Ames Research Center 

• Intel Museum

Webcast

Visit team315.org/live for the webcast.

Judging Format

Please look out for updates to this section closer to the event date.

Judging format for this event will be: Digital Engineering Notebook Submissions + In Person Team Interviews.

• Engineering notebooks will need to be submitted digitally for evaluation via a link found within the "My Account" panel of the team contact on RobotEvents.
• Initial Team Interviews may be conducted remotely, possibly before the date of the event, followed by team interviews conducted in-person at the event.
• Engineering Notebook submission deadline: Please see the instructions here

Signature Event Early Bird Policy

• All Signature Events will have a specific Early Bird Registration that is independent of all local/regional Early Bird systems
  • Each team starts the season with three (3) opportunities to register during the Signature Event Early-Bird period
    • An opportunity is taken away each time the team registers for a Signature Event, whether during the Signature Event Early-Bird period or Standard period
    • A Signature Event Early-Bird opportunity is not taken away if a team registers for a tournament hosted by their school or organization (where the team’s coach is the Event Partner)
  • Early Bird Registration will open 16 weeks before the event at 12:00PM EST
    • Note: Modifications to this may be made for events in August and September
  • Standard Registration will open 14 weeks before the event at 12:00PM EST
  • An Event Partner may register their own teams to their Signature Event during Signature Event Early Bird Registration no matter how many other Signature Events they are already registered for  
    • The Event Partner must be the Primary Contact for the teams they are registering