[robocup-humanoid] *Important* information about the schedule, playing fields and equipment

[Maike Paetzel]

Hej HL-RoboCuppers,

this is an important e-mail with information about the convention hall, 
playing fields and equipment and the schedule for the first set-up days. 
Please read the email carefully and completely!

= Convention hall, playing fields and equipment =
Reinhard, Soroush, Hideaki and I as OC, TC and LOC visited the 
convention hall today and inspected the fields and team area. Overall, I 
think it looks great and its all there for us to have a fun and fruitful 
event. We encountered a few minor things we would like to make you aware of:
- As you can see in the image, the fields are composed of multiple 
pieces. Between a few of them, there are small gaps. Since this is most 
challenging for the KidSize robots, we will try to have Teen and Adult 
size playing on the fields with the larger gaps. There is nothing we can 
really do about the gaps in the fields, so please try to adjust to them 
as good as possible.
Image: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-5lmPb0LW1fVVBaOHEyeWcxYTg
- The painting of the white lines comes off quite easily. Therefore, 
please avoid stepping or sitting on the lines as humans when practicing 
with the robots on the fields. We hope we can get some repainting if 
possible, but let's all work together to keep the field lines "fresh" as 
long as possible
- As you see on the image, between field A / B and C / D there is no 
boarder or gap or anything separating the fields except of the small 
space on the floor. This means your robots will likely see the goal 
posts of the other field in one of the directions as well. The 
environment around the fields is not defined in the rule book on 
purpose, so we expect the teams to be able to adapt.
Image: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-5lmPb0LW1fZmNhamZBWXNURnM

Here is another general view on the fields and audience seats: 
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-5lmPb0LW1fekN1cm5ROHhrUnM

= Getting to the convention hall, opening hours, free train tickets =
The hall and registration opens tomorrow at 8:00 AM. Please be aware 
that the train ride from Nagoya station takes about half an hour by 
Aonami Line (get of at Kinjofuto Station). You need to buy train tickets 
yourself to get to the convention tomorrow. However, you will then 
receive train tickets for your way back tomorrow and for 26th - 30th of 
July round trip.

= Practice Games and visit by media representatives =
On Wednesday, some media and press representatives will be shown around 
in the convention hall. At 11:15 they are scheduled to look at the 
humanoid league. We would like to show some demonstration games during 
that time so pictures can be taken for press releases. It would be great 
if teams could volunteer for that. We will discuss this further tomorrow 
during the team leader meeting, but please consider already if you can 
imagine participating. It doesn't have to work all perfect by then, but 
it would be great to show the variety of robots we are having. To 
practice for the media visit, but first and foremost to test out the new 
GameController, we will have some practice games tomorrow evening. As 
you all know, we had to add quite a bit of functionality to the 
GameController compared to last year and this has not yet been fully 
tested during live games. In order to ensure everything works without 
bugs for the first regular games, we would like to extensively test the 
GameController during those practice games for all leagues. Again, we 
would highly appreciate if teams would volunteer for that.

= Robot Inspection =
This year, we will have a list of available time slots for you to sign 
up for the robot inspection. We will put the list up tomorrow. Please be 
aware that the first available time slots are tomorrow in the afternoon 
already. Please sign up for an available time slot as soon as possible 
and be sure to be at the inspection on time. It is your responsibility 
to get your robots inspected! With the new time slot system, we hope to 
reduce the waiting time for all teams and to distribute the available 
time better for the organizers.

= Technical Challenges =
In order to prepare the schedule for the next days, we would like you to 
announce your participation in the technical challenges during the setup 
days already. More information will follow in the team leader meeting 
tomorrow, but please consider with your team already if you want to 
participate.

= Schedule for Tuesday, 26th of July =
16:00 Team leader meeting - we meet at field A and go to the meeting 
room together
17:00 - 19:00 Robot Inspection (first available time slots)
19:00 Practice games to test the GameController (regular games)
20:00 Practice games to test the GameController (drop-in)

= Schedule for Wednesday, 27th of July =
9:00 - 12:00 Robot Inspection
11:15 Visit by media and press representatives
13:00 - 15:00 Referee Training
15:00 - 19:30 Robot Inspection
18:00 - 19:00 Opening Ceremony
19:30 Team leader and referee meeting

We expect all team leaders to be present at the team leader meeting at 
16:00 tomorrow. If no member of your team can be present by then, please 
drop me an email to let me know.

So, that's it - see you all tomorrow! If you have any questions or 
concerns, you should always find a member of the OC or TC at the table 
next to field D (marked with "League Chair Desk" in the map that was 
sent around earlier).

Cheers,
Maike (for the HL TC and OC)