Student Robotics 2018/2019 – our trip to Student Robotics was quite adventurous:
As travelling across countries with robots and electronics as luggage can be quite unpredictable (you might be stuck with security for ages…) we planned our trip with a lot of extra time in between.
Additionally it was unclear at the time of booking if there will be any new regulations for EU inhabitants travelling to the UK which led to us adding even more time buffers.
Because we did have to attend school regularly, we took a very late flight on Thursday evening, hence arriving in London Gatwick Airport at about midnight. Because obviously there were no busses to Southampton at that time of the night, we ended up spending it at London Gatwick airport.
Understandably finding sleep was not easy due to the lights being incredibly bright and the airport seats not the most comfortable with ridges preventing any actual lying down. A man near us had an inflatable air mattress with him and we envied him lots. Our unsteady sleep was further interrupted by police and drug dogs checking by every now and then. Luckily we managed to pass the time by playing a few games and just talking. At 6am we left our “camp airport” to catch the bus to Southampton and a wild bus ride later we finally arrived, rather sleep-deprived but incredibly happy and excited for the competition!
Hotel, flight, train… everything is booked for our trip to Student Robotics this year. We hope that our journey this year will be more laid-back! Wish us luck 😉
(author: Mattis)