Queue Manager

Queue Managers are responsible for staging teams and getting them lined up for upcoming matches. Depending on the size of the venue, there may be multiple ‘Checkpoint Stations’ along the path between the team Pits and the Holding area next to the Field. For example, the stations could be at (A) the Holding Area, (B) a corridor leading to the Field and (C) the Pit. Queue Managers are stationed at each checkpoint and they note the passage or arrival of each team in GMS. The key feature is that this status is shared rapidly with other Queue Managers and everyone gets to see the same up-to-date information on a team's location. This often eliminates the need for the Lead Queue Manager to use Walkie-Talkies to ask for status. Note that GMS also supports Text and Audio Messaging.

There are three items on the display which are color coded to convey status: the match lines, team numbers of each team in the match, and the station IDs below the team number. Each can be colored.

In a nutshell, there can be any number of Queue managers, up to 4 Checkpoint stations. Each station has 4 states. The match schedule must be available at the GMS server. There is a separate note on Best Practices for Queue Managers.

There are two main views for QMs: the Schedule View and the Pit Map view.

Schedule View

GMS displays the match schedule in a tabular form when a user logs in as a Queue Manager. Each row displays a match and the team alliances.

The significance of the color of the team number and the color of the station are described below.

Match Line

The Match line for the next match on the schedule is colored green. The teams for this match should be at the head of the Holding area ready for the next match. The next two matches to be queued are colored yellow.

The queue length is typically 2 matches ahead of the current match. This “lead time” value can be globally changed from the GMS configuration screen on the server. Select Tools è Configure è Application è "Queuing lead for Red" and "Yellow".

The current match should auto advance as the matches progress, however, the selection can be changed by clicking on the match number. If available, the actual start time for each match is displayed below the scheduled time. Also, if available, the score will be displayed below the match number. Touch the "Current" match button at the bottom of the screen to reset the screen to the current match.

Team Coloring

Team numbers are colored as described below.

Team Color	Meaning
Red	Team has some inspection issue that needs to be resolved before they can be allowed on the field.
No Color (White)	Team has passed inspection and may be queued. It has not yet passed through any station.
Green	Team has passed inspection and is being queued. It has passed through at least one queuing station.
Purple	Last match for the Team. Send them for re-inspection.
Yellow	Team has another match very soon in the schedule. Tell them to avoid returning to the Pit.
Orange	Queuer has "marked" this team as a personal reminder. This marking is not shared with other QMs.

Queue Manager Stations

For each team, there can be up to 4 "stations" that they need to pass through between their Pit and the Field Holding Area. The stations are designated as one of the letters, A, B, C or D. They appear below the team number in the schedule. The figure above shows 3 stations. An example station assignment can be:

Final queue (near the field)
Intermediate checkpoint
Pit runners
(optional)

There can be multiple Queue Managers sharing the same station letter. For example, there could be two Queue Managers, both using the station letter. For example there could be 2 QMs for station ‘A’, one each for the red and blue final queues, even though the queues may be at different ends of the field.

To configure the number of stations, select Menu è Settings è Teams per Page. Select from 1 to 4 stations.

Station Letter Coloring

Each station (A, B, C, etc.) can be in one of 4 states as indicated by its color. QMs can check off a team by clicking on it. This changes the state of the team at that station for that match. For each click, the station state cycles through:

No Color è Yellow è Green è Red è No Color è Yellow è …

The station letter colors can have the following significance:

Station Color	Meaning
No Color	Team not yet seen at station, no status yet.
Yellow	Team not available, but human player is present
Green	Team is at or has passed the station
Red	Re-check this team's presence or status. The Lead Queue Manager can flag a team red to ask the associated Queuer to verify the team's presence at that station.

The colorings are synchronized and shared with all QMs, so all QMs see the same states. The synchronization delay can be adjusted to less than 10 seconds by configuring the update frequency in the Settings menu.

Changing Stations

QMs can select or change their current station by long-pressing on a team number in the schedule. The selected station is remembered until it is changed. A QM at one station can flag a different station if needed, but they can’t do it accidentally. This allows the Lead Queue Manager to flag other stations as needed.

There are 3 stations (A, B and C) selected in the figure above. The final queue is station A and the pit runners are using C. The screen shows that match 102 has completed, it started 4 minutes early and the scores are displayed. (Source: MAR Championships 2014.) For match 103, team 1403 has made it past station B but is not yet in the final queue. For match 104, team 225 has a human player in the queue perhaps because their robot has not yet been inspected (red). The QMs have not got to match 105 as yet, where team 303 is not inspected (red).

The number of stations being used (1 to 4) can be configured in the GMS Settings panel. Two or three stations are adequate for most event venues. Four may be needed at a humungous venue like the St. Louis Championships.

Queue Managers can use Android phones with smaller screens as well. Here is how it looks on a 4.6” Samsung Nexus phone (with 2 stations selected).

Updating the schedule

The matches that are being queued will be displayed in color. This includes the next match and the two following them. A setting on the server can be changed to control the number of matches being queued.

GMS will automatically update the "current" match as the event progresses if FMS is posting updates to FIRST and if the GMS server has access to the Internet. If GMS falls behind, the "current" match can be changed by touching it in the Match column. The button at the bottom indicates what GMS thinks is the current match. If the button is green, then the screen will auto-advance.

Queuers can set the current match time to indicate that a match has started. Long press on the match number and set its start time. The next match will be displayed when the screen refreshes. The current match number cannot be moved back if a queuer advances it too far ahead. It can only be reset from the LRI or Pit Admin PC.

A scheduled match can get deleted during eliminations (Playoffs) if an alliance loses its first two matches. The third match gets deleted. A queuer can update GMS with this change. Long press on the rightmost column of the match to be deleted and confirm the deletion. The Expert/Terse setting must be set on the tablet and only the lead queuer should do this step.

Pit Map View

Clicking the Pit Map button displays the event pit map. This will be useful for QMs who function as the pit runners. This display can be swiped vertically and horizontally.

The pit map display combines colorings from the team readiness and stations.:

No Color	Team not being queued currently
Green	Team has been checked through at least one station
Yellow	Queued team has not been seen at any station
Red	Team needs to be inspected and should not be queued.
Orange	Team has been marked as a personal reminder.

Clicking on a team on the pit map display’s the team details page. QMs can check off a team by long-clicking on the team number and selecting their station as shown earlier. This will advance the station state. The current state for that station will be displayed.

The pit map colors only the teams that are currently scheduled for queuing. The match being queued can be incremented or decremented by swiping the screen left or right. This will change the teams being queued and hence the pit map coloring. The status line at the bottom of the screen shows the match being queued. Touching the status line will restore the current match.

The pit map itself does not display the team’s participation in the red vs. blue alliance for each match. However, this information is available by clicking on a team and viewing the team’s schedule in the team details page. This page also displays the current match delay. An example is shown below.

Swiping the pit map vertically displays the Team Attributes table, which allows teams to be sorted in different ways.

Off Season Events

During In-Season FRC events, GMS automatically gets match completion times and scores from the FIRST web site. This allows the schedule to be updated correctly and allows the current match to auto advance. For Off-Season events, the match schedule must be manually fed into GMS. Match completion times must be manually provided for auto advance to function. This time can be set by long-pressing on a match time. Setting the time will auto-advance all users to the current match number. This task can be performed by any one person at the off-season event: a Queue Manager, Match Observer, or FTA. Long pressing in the Match Description column allows a match to be deleted, which is useful when the third match is not played during Eliminations.

Miscellaneous

Like other roles, Queue Managers can communicate with each other using voice and text messages. They can take notes (pictures, video, text) on teams and, if permitted, can view Match Observer comments. Notes are not automatically shared between Queue Managers.

There is not much to set up for the Queue Manager functionality.

· The QM users need to have the “Queue Manager” role.

· The current match schedule needs to be loaded.

· The pit map should be defined.

· Optionally, there should be a way for GMS to auto advance matches.