Team Registration

Two-to-four person check in team provides programs, information, instructions, etc. This crew also receives team, mentor, teacher rosters and paperwork.

Hospitality

Three-to-four person team sets up the volunteer break room and provides food to volunteers and teams. Staffs the BESTique booth.

Volunteer Registration

One-to-two person check-in team provides programs, name tag with schedule, information, instructions, after event optional dinner plans, t-shirts, etc. to event volunteers.

Compliance Check

Four-to-eight people inspect each team’s robot for compliance with rules before the competition, including the 24 pound maximum weight and the 24 inch cube dimension requirements. Robots may also be inspected again during or following the competition. These judges are familiar with the applicable game and kit documentation. Each year these judges use the current BRI-created Compliance Sheet to confirm each team’s robot complies with the rules. This team receives a paper copy of the Team Demographics form from teachers on Practice Day.

Pit Boss

The Pit Boss manages all activities in the Pit including Pit volunteer recruitment and training, Pit area set-up on event days, collaboration for in-house security and emergency medical personnel. The Pit Boss is the final authority for all problems in the Pit, including Robot Compliance Check-in, access control to Pit of teams and judges, and ensuring good safety practices in the Pit. The Pit Boss coordinates with Judges and oversees the Staging Crew.

Staging Crew

This four person crew queues up the teams for each upcoming match so that they are ready to move onto the game floor without delay after the teams from the previous match have cleared the floor. Two people work at the “In-The-Hole” Staging Tables to organize the next group of four teams. The In-The-Hole crew consists of the Lead Queue and the Lead Driver Check. Two people work at the “On-Deck” Staging Tables near the game floor. This crew requires excellent communication capability.

Pit Monitors

This four person crew oversees all pit operations and report to the Pit Boss. This crew checks that people in the pit are wearing pit passes and looks for safety-related issues. They forward teams with hardware / software issues to the Technical Support Team in the pit. The Pit Monitors carefully view how much work is being done on the robots by mentors. Mentors are allowed to provide guidance with repairs, etc., but must not perform the repairs.

Runners

A few runners assist the Staging Crew, Scorekeepers and other officials. They locate individuals or teams as needed; assist communication between the scoring table and teams, or between the field and the pit area; and perform other tasks as needed.

Emergency Medical Technician / First Aid

A Certificated medical person will be present and available during the events to provide medical attention/first aid as needed. The EMT reports to the Pit Boss.

Floor Boss

The Floor Boss (FB) is the final authority for any dispute that arises during the contest. The FB acts as the “Trouble Shooter” to resolve any problem that arise. The FB must be very familiar with the rules and the Q & As, and is available at all times during the contests. The FB participates in training the referees and judges.

Head Referee

The Head Referee (HR) supervises the referees and backs up their decisions. The HR is the official timekeeper for each match, and as such, starts and concludes each match based on his/her stopwatch with a beginning and concluding whistle. The HR verifies teams are in position to start, referees are ready, and the game floor is properly set before starting each match. The HR wears a striped referee shirt. A backup HR allows trade off relief during the contest.

Referees

Four to eight referees – with two teams of four allowing trade-off relief during the contest, either singly or as a team. Referees must be trained on the rules, what to look for, and the scoring procedure. Their role in the scoring and the communication with the Scorekeepers is critical to the smooth operation of the contest and keeping protests to a minimum. Referees monitor each of the teams and have ultimate authority during the competition. They count game field scoring pieces and complete the scoring sheet after each match. They have the student team driver confirm the scoring sheet is filled out properly. They then reset the game floor to prepare for the next match. They wear striped referee shirts.

Scorekeepers

Two to four scorekeepers enter data into scoring software from scores provided by the referees at the end of each match. They may also perform manual scoring as a backup and double check the automated scoring. The Scorekeepers’ computer displays the match results during the competition, including the conclusion of the seeding matches, prior to the wildcard match, after the semi-final matches, and the conclusion of the competition.

Awards and Judging Lead

The Awards and Judging (A&J) Lead is in charge of all of the judging. The A&J Lead recruits the Award Judges and Lead Judges and briefs them. The A&J Lead collects the Engineering Notebook scores from the Lead Engineering Judge (LEN) and consults with the Hub Director and Scorekeepers to determine which teams compete in the Wildcard match. The A&J Lead collects the scoring results from the Lead Judges and Awards Judges, including the BEST Award Judges, and provides all of the judging results to the MC prior to the Awards Presentation.

Award Judges

Ten to twenty judges are needed for the BEST Award, Founders Award for Creative Design Award, Most Robust Machine Award, Software Development Award, and for all Hub optional awards. The Engineering Notebook judging takes place the two weeks between Practice and Game Day. The Marketing Presentation judging takes place on Practice Day prior to Game Day. The other judging will take place during the Game Day competition using provided score sheets and rubrics and other guidance. The scoring results are given to the A&J Lead prior to the Awards Ceremony.

Master of Ceremonies

The Master of Ceremonies (MC) is the director for both Practice Day and Game Day. The MC gives the opening welcome and remarks; organizes and directs the opening ceremony; explains the game, its story, and the scoring to the participants and the spectators; introduces each step of the contest; and conducts the awards ceremony at the conclusion of the contest. The MC works closely with the Announcer, the Floor Boss, the Head Referee and the Scorekeepers to keep the contest moving on schedule throughout the day.

Announcer

The Announcer announces the participating teams and their assigned color for each match. At various times, the Announcer announces the leading teams and scores, the teams for the wildcard match, the teams advancing to the semi-final and final matches. In addition, the announcer is responsible for the background music at various times during the day (including intermissions), for providing guidelines to team bands and cheering teams, and for any other miscellaneous announcements.

Photographer

The photographer takes digital still pictures of each team at the beginning of the Game Day competition, each winning team during the Awards Presentation, staff, and random pictures for the webpage.

Video Photographer

The Video Photographer takes video pictures of the event: competition, pit area, participants, pep bands, cheering teams, interviews and awards presentation.

Lead Engineering Notebook Judge

The Lead Engineering Notebook Judge (LEN) is responsible for recruiting and briefing the Notebook Judges, scheduling the judging, collecting the scores and providing the results to the A&J Lead. The LEN obtains team notebooks from each school’s online folder and consolidates these on Practice Day and provides team notebook evaluations and scores prior to 5 PM on the Friday before Game Day to the A&J Lead to be returned to the teams. If required, he/she may act as an Engineering Notebook Judge.

Engineering Notebook Judges

A team of Engineering Notebook (EN) Judges are needed during the week before Game Day. Each team is required to prepare a EN and post it on-line on Practice Day to be eligible to compete on Game Day. Each judge will judge notebooks, based on the BEST Awards and Judging Policies and Guidelines. The EN Judges use Score Sheets and rubrics to evaluate points for each team’s notebook and to provide feedback to the teams. The Score Sheets are provided to the LEN Judge. The EN Judges will be briefed on the applicable rules and score sheets by the LEN prior to the competition.