A late return changes the next handover

Start with the whole visit

Orchard Fair has three ordinary information posts: A, the welcome tent; B, the information desk; and C, the exhibition hall. Ada, Ben and Cleo already have their posts. Remy provides relief cover. Each absence lasts 20 minutes, with five minutes to take over before it and five minutes to hand back afterward.

A cover: 10:00–10:20 · arrive for handover 09:55 · leave 10:25
B cover: 10:40–11:00 · arrive for handover 10:35 · leave 11:05
C cover: 11:15–11:35 · arrive for handover 11:10 · leave 11:40

The walking routes are directed inputs: HQ → A takes five minutes, A → B ten, B → C five and C → HQ ten. A reverse route is not implied. Starting from HQ at 09:50, Remy reaches every handover and returns at 11:50.

Cover:    3 × 20 = 60 minutes
Handovers: 6 × 5 = 30 minutes
Walking: 5 + 10 + 5 + 10 = 30 minutes
Total: 120 minutes, from 09:50 to 11:50

In the app, open the extracted app/index.html, choose Load Orchard Fair, then Propose route in Review. Inspect the post cards and Remy’s itinerary. Issue revision 1 and save the project before changing the plan.

Find the ten-minute gap

Ben now needs cover until 11:10 instead of 11:00. Keep A and B assigned to Remy. The extra ten minutes do not simply move into spare time: the handback at B now finishes at 11:15, and the five-minute walk reaches C at 11:20.

B cover ends       11:10
B handback ends    11:15
Arrival at C       11:20
C handover needed  11:10
Arrival is 10 minutes late.

C’s absence still begins at 11:15, and its five-minute takeover must begin at 11:10. Keep C visibly unresolved. Moving the displayed cover time without checking the incumbent’s window would conceal the problem.

The delayed example also adds B → HQ as an explicit 15-minute return route. In Review, expand Try the late-return example and choose Apply B delay + return route, then propose again. The resulting partial route covers A and B and returns Remy to HQ at 11:30.

Give the next post a real backup

Jo is eligible for the same information role and is available at C from 11:10. Jo can take over at 11:10, cover Cleo’s unchanged 11:15–11:35 absence and finish the handback at 11:40. Remy can finish at B and return to HQ independently.

Choose Add backup Jo at C, then Propose route. Confirm all three requests are assigned and inspect both itineraries. Jo starts and finishes at C, so this example adds no walk for Jo; this is an explicit fixture assumption, not a general assumption about backup staff.

Remy: A 10:00–10:20, B 10:40–11:10, HQ by 11:30
Jo:   C 11:15–11:35, handback complete at 11:40
Across both rovers: 70 cover + 30 handover + 30 walking = 130 minutes

The 130 minutes are combined activity across two people. They are not the elapsed length of a single route. Confirm the names, availability and walking estimates with the actual team before issuing a real plan.

Replace the affected instructions

Issue revision 2, then save the downloaded project JSON. The replacement checklist identifies B and C plus the Remy and Jo sheets. B’s cover end changed; C’s relief person changed; Remy’s itinerary changed; Jo has a new itinerary. A’s cover assignment remains the same.

• Check the event name, date, revision and complete or partial status on the output.
• Select revision 2 when printing the replacement sheets. Revision 1 stays available in the paper-source menu.
• Use A4 or Letter, portrait, default margins and 100% scale; disable Chrome’s headers and footers.
• Communicate the new instructions to the people affected and retire their superseded sheets.
• Save the project JSON deliberately. The app has no autosave and a downloaded assignment CSV does not preserve the full revision history.

The assignment CSV describes the current draft, even if an older revision is selected for printing. Use the selected revision’s paper output when you need its issued instructions. For spreadsheet use, choose the spreadsheet-safe CSV option; canonical CSV retains the original values.

Check the free example against the answers

The free pack supplies orchard.json, delayed.json and repaired.json. For this article, we independently read those files and replayed each assignment with minute arithmetic, without calling VelesRelay’s planner. The checks cover arrival before handover, cover windows, role eligibility, return times and the numerical totals above.

• Original: all three posts assigned; Remy returns at 11:50; totals 60/30/30.
• Delayed: C unresolved; Remy returns from B at 11:30; totals 50/20/30.
• Repaired: Jo covers C; Remy returns at 11:30 and Jo finishes at 11:40; totals 70/30/30.
• The original revision remains identical in all three files. The repaired file’s second revision matches its repaired plan.

Screenshots here come from the release review; this article’s additional check is the independent example-data replay. The example does not prove the best possible allocation or verify anybody’s real attendance.

VelesRelay supports one same-day event on a five-minute grid, with up to 12 posts, six rovers and 40 requests. A bounded search can stop before exploring everything, and intermediate visits around pinned placements can require manual planning. Review unresolved requests and incomplete-search notices.

This is a planning aid for an existing fixed rota. It does not manage volunteer signup, messaging, shift allocation or attendance. It does not establish suitability for medical, security, traffic or safeguarding coverage or calculate legal break entitlements. The full guide lists input, revision and file-size limits.