What is it?
FRC Queue is a communication & queue management app designed to improve the team experience at FRC events.
How does it work?
Teams sign up to receive queuing notifications via SMS and/or Slack. Lead queuers control queuing at events from an internet connected mobile device.
How does FRC Queue improve the team experience?
- Reduces high-stress volunteer/team interaction- when a team’s robot is broken, they don’t need a queuer in their pit telling them to go to their match. They just need to know how much time they have left.
- Enforces queuing best practices- FRC Queue can prevent queuers from operating in ways that negatively affect team experience, such as queuing too far in advance.
- Reduces time-in-queue- With targeted notifications and accurate queue time estimates, teams can waste less time in queue.
- Provides an accurate schedule- printed schedules have match start times on them, but they can’t get updated when the field falls behind. Providing teams with the most accurate time-to-queue estimates allows them to make better decisions about how to use their valuable time.
- Reduces confusion with schedule exceptions- The dynamic schedules on FRC Queue can be updated to reflect match replays and moved breaks.
- Simplifies double eliminations queuing- teams can view a live updating list of their upcoming matches so they always know which match they are playing in next (and what color bumpers to put on)
- Quieter pits- ineffective pit announcements can be replaced by targeted notifications.
Where has it been used?
Nine events during the 2022 offseason used FRC Queue, reaching almost 300 teams. More than 17,000 text messages and 1,000 Slack messages were sent to queue 626 matches.
| Event | Location | Teams |
|---|---|---|
| Texas Robotics Invitational | Houston, TX | 28 |
| Chezy Champs | San Jose, CA | 39 |
| CalGames | Pittsburg, CA | 36 |
| Minnesota Robotics Invitational | Roseville, MN | 36 |
| Tidal Tumble | Ventura, CA | 32 |
| River Rage | Manchester, NH | 32 |
| STEMley Cup | Hamilton, Ontario | 25 |
| Overtime | Hamilton, Ontario | 21 |
| Beach Blitz | Mission Viejo, CA | 42 |
What was the feedback from teams?
97% of post-event survey respondents recommended FRC Queue be used at future FRC events (n=97). Only 1% of respondents responded negatively to questions about their queuing experience at events that used FRC Queue (n=107).
Anonymous comments from selected survey respondents:
FRC Queue is amazing. Every event should have this. All of the team always knew when matches were happening and nobody missed any timings for anything.
OMG every event should use this! We linked the app to our slack channel and we all knew when the robot needed to be checked in, and that the drive team checked in and when to watch the round! LOVED it!
OMG SOOOOOOO much better!! I loved that we had both SMS AND a [team] specific web page!
What a great idea for larger venues or venues where the pits are not right by the field...like Worlds!!!
What was the feedback from queuers?
FRC Queue was used by both inexperienced and very experienced lead queuers.
Selected comments from queuers who used FRC Queue at an event:
Finally got to use this at STEMley Cup. I not only want this for events. I NEED THIS FOR EVENTS!
This system is amazing in so many ways. I heard not one negative thing about it. … I’d invest in this system for any event at which I’m a lead queuer. Once this leaves beta, everyone should push their events to implement this.
Overall, I am very glad FRC Queue was at TRI. … If I had the option to pay for the text costs out of my pocket but have the system at my events in the future, I would do it without thinking twice
I fully endorse this to event coordinators looking to improve the team and volunteer experience around queuing. It can help keep an event on schedule or ahead of schedule.
What are the hardware/venue requirements?
The lead queuer needs 1 mobile device with internet connectivity near the field. Venues with multiple queuing entrances (red/blue) need an additional device.
For queuing notifications, pits need sufficient cellular coverage. If this is not available, traditional queuing announcements can be made instead. The queue management features of FRC Queue can still be used.
FRC Queue can use the FRC API to retrieve team lists and qualification match schedules. No continuous data feed from FMS is required.
How is PII handled?
- View the FRC Queue privacy policy
- FRC Queue collects the minimum amount of PII necessary to provide the service
- Queuers and team members can only view obfuscated phone numbers after they are entered into the system
- All phone numbers are deleted after the conclusion of the event
- The Slack integration uses the minimum number of permissions necessary via the Slack API which allows FRC Queue to post messages to a single channel selected by the user. Messages and user information within a Slack workspace cannot be accessed by FRC Queue.
- Ultimately, every person has a different level of comfort when sharing their personal information and submitting phone numbers to FRC Queue is completely optional.
