2012 Mid-Atlantic Robotics FRC Region Championship [Archive]

scottandme

05-04-2012, 12:05

We're up to 44 now, but moving slowly. They're clearly moving down the list, as 303 registered yesterday from the #58 seed.

Anybody have knowledge about which teams declined so we can cross them off the list?

I added another sheet to the google doc to calculate standings during/after the MAR champs. Does anyone know if the 5 point based spots for world champs can be declined/backfill? In the MAR bylaws it says that the 7 award based slots can only be given to the winner of that award (3x champ, 2x CA, 1x EI, 1x RAS), but nothing about the 5 next highest teams by points. It does mention that if a district winner also wins an award they would add a 6th point based qualifier. Seeing as 5 of the top 9 teams by points are already attending nationals, it would be a shame if those spots couldn't slide down.

The biggest minus of this new setup is that travel costs are going to be insane for teams qualifying next week, if you can even find a flight for 20+ people. I'm hoping that FIRST/Steele Meetings hold some rooms for week 6/7 qualifying teams, but that's probably going to be rough as well.

Hallry

05-04-2012, 12:12

I added another sheet to the google doc to calculate standings during/after the MAR champs. Does anyone know if the 5 point based spots for world champs can be declined/backfill? In the MAR bylaws it says that the 7 award based slots can only be given to the winner of that award (3x champ, 2x CA, 1x EI, 1x RAS), but nothing about the 5 next highest teams by points. It does mention that if a district winner also wins an award they would add a 6th point based qualifier. Seeing as 5 of the top 9 teams by points are already attending nationals, it would be a shame if those spots couldn't slide down.

Agreed. Even if the MAR rules don't do it automatically, if a team qualifies to St. Louis both through MAR due to ranking and outside of MAR, maybe they will voluntarily decline their MAR ranking spot, giving it to the next highest ranked team? ::rtm::

Steven Donow

05-04-2012, 12:12

Anybody have knowledge about which teams declined so we can cross them off the list?

Well, the declines could be any of the teams on this list posted above(as well as every team not on the list up until 303):

103
1302
224
2729
316
555
1811
2191
1228
1143
87
75
204
1672
1367

I removed 834 from the previously posted list; they're up on the list, as are 1626, who were the first on the "waiting list".

Steven Donow

05-04-2012, 12:13

Agreed. Even if the MAR rules don't do it automatically, if a team qualifies to St. Louis both through MAR due to ranking and outside of MAR, maybe they will voluntarily decline their MAR ranking spot, giving it to the next highest ranked team? ::rtm::

Part of me says they don't; I don't remember where I read it though. It wasn't explicitly saying that though, IIRC it said something along the likes of, "The 5 point-based spots cannot be passed on to other teams".

EDIT: Nevermind, my thought of that was from reading the part of the MAR by-laws about the 7 award winners...MAR Supplement says nothing about the 5 spots..just that they go to non-award winners...hopefully they'd pass it down the line.

camtunkpa

05-04-2012, 12:42

222 is almost ready....we have a couple things we are working on....hopefully they will be done in time.

Deetman

05-04-2012, 12:50

1712 received a call this morning inviting us to the MAR Championship, which means they've either processed through earlier declines or 2 additional teams have declined since 303 accepted.

We're working with FIRST to get everything finalized now, but 1712 is excited to be attending and is looking forward to a great competition.

Dancin103

05-04-2012, 13:06

Well 103 made the decision since January that we would not be going to state championship, so since we were 11th, that left a spot for one team.

The Lucas

05-04-2012, 13:49

Like 103, I speculate that 555 and 1143 (both registered for Worlds) may forgo MAR CMP on their way to CMP.

As for the issue of backfilling, I would recommend reading the 2012 EVENT ELIGIBILITY, REGISTRATION AND PAYMENT (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1407395/MAR%20Docs/MAR%20Event%20Docs/Piont%20ranking%20%26%20Grant%20forms/Mid-Atlantic%20Robotics%202012%20EVENT%20ELIGIBILITY%2 C%20REGISTRATION%20AND%20PAYMENT.pdf) over the MAR Supplemental rules over the since they are more up to date (Feb 28 vs Jan 6).

The 5 spots for the top ranked teams will be filled by starting at the top of the rankings and moving down as far as is necessary to fill the 5 spots with teams other than the 7 award winners.
The 7 award spots may not be filled by any team(s) other than the 7 award winners even if one of the 7 award winning teams chooses to decline their spot. The only exception is when a member of the winning alliance has already been awarded a slot by winning the MAR Region Championship Chairman’s, Engineering Inspiration, or Rookie All Star award. In this case, a team
will be added from the top ranked teams.

*Note: To the extent any of the three teams on the winning alliance are already registered or qualify for a spot another way, the next available team in ranked order will be substituted in their place.
I don't think it is out of the question that MAR could extend the exception to backfill (next team based on pts) for the winning alliance is "already registered or qualify for a spot another way". This could be very important since I can see many plausible winning alliance combinations with 3 teams already registered for Worlds. I don't expect any backfilling for CA and/or EI if already registered teams 2590 or 3142 win them.

Steven Donow

05-04-2012, 13:53

Looks like 75, 316, and 1672 were just added, bringing the total to 47 right now, meaning 7 more teams left.

Hallry

05-04-2012, 15:53

I don't think it is out of the question that MAR could extend the exception to backfill (next team based on pts) for the winning alliance is "already registered or qualify for a spot another way". This could be very important since I can see many plausible winning alliance combinations with 3 teams already registered for Worlds. I don't expect any backfilling for CA and/or EI if already registered teams 2590 or 3142 win them.

Can anyone get any official response to our 'backfilling' wonders: If a team that is ranked in the top 5 is already qualified for Champs from outside of MAR (HOF, Winner/Chairmans/EI/RAC at a regional, early registration), would the next highest ranked team get to go, and if not automatically, could the already qualified team gracious decline their spot through MAR? ::rtm::

Jared Russell

06-04-2012, 13:34

Up to 50 teams listed now (not counting 1712).

Deetman

06-04-2012, 15:17

Up to 50 teams listed now (not counting 1712).

You can count us now... up to 51!

Cyclotron

06-04-2012, 16:26

Hallry

06-04-2012, 16:53

Can anyone get any official response to our 'backfilling' wonders: If a team that is ranked in the top 5 is already qualified for Champs from outside of MAR (HOF, Winner/Chairmans/EI/RAC at a regional, early registration), would the next highest ranked team get to go, and if not automatically, could the already qualified team graciously decline their spot through MAR? ::rtm::

I've been doing some more investigating:

The remaining 10 qualifying spots will be filled by starting at the top of the re-computed rankings and moving down as far as is necessary to fill the ten spots, skipping over teams that are already eligible or scheduled to attend.
*Note: To the extent any of the three teams on the winning alliance are already registered or qualify for a spot another way, the next available team in ranked order will be substituted in their place.
(emphasis mine)
and, We're not going to turn any teams away, so if you're already registered for championship, or if you earn a slot during week six or seven, there's already a space waiting for you.

So if St. Louis is expecting to accommodate the maximum number of teams, and since FiM skips over those teams (for ranking spots) that are already going to St. Louis, why wouldn't MAR do the same, and also pass over teams ranked in the top 5 that are already eligible? Does anyone have an official answer if they are going to or not? The MAR rules do not seem to have a definite answer, and only states:

The 5 spots for the top ranked teams will be filled by starting at the top of the rankings and moving down as far as is necessary to fill the 5 spots with teams other than the 7 award winners.

It says nothing about teams that qualify for St. Louis through means outside of MAR.

(Just for reference, 5 teams in the top 9 are already going to St. Louis, three of which are in the top 5)

George A.

06-04-2012, 18:11

Siri

06-04-2012, 18:18

MAR just posted an updated event agenda on its website and on the FIRST event page - see link http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/Robotics_Programs/FRC/Events/2012/2012_PA_Agenda.pdf

Note that two rounds of qualifying matches will be held on Thursday at 4PM - be ready!Does anyone see/know of any benefit to the Wednesday evening load-in versus waiting until Thursday morning?

Also, any idea why the 45 minutes Thursday morning are still reserved like that? It used to be for uncrating, but now that everyone's just opening a bag it seems that time could theoretically be given back to the teams.

Deetman

06-04-2012, 20:32

Does anyone see/know of any benefit to the Wednesday evening load-in versus waiting until Thursday morning?

Also, any idea why the 45 minutes Thursday morning are still reserved like that? It used to be for uncrating, but now that everyone's just opening a bag it seems that time could theoretically be given back to the teams.

If I had to guess this is mainly for logistics purposes. The more you can split teams up trying to load in, the less congestion and confusion there should be both on the loading dock and the pits. I would imagine there will be a split with the teams closer to the Philadelphia area electing to load in Wednesday night and teams traveling a larger distance loading in Thursday morning. There is probably a volunteer benefit as well with needing less people there Wednesday night.

As for the dedicated 45 minutes, in addition to the logistics benefits of keeping the pits as clear as possible, this doesn't give a team that unloaded Wednesday night 45 minutes of extra time Thursday morning (although not that much in the FIRST world) that a team loading in Thursday would not have.

Siri

07-04-2012, 10:53

I would imagine there will be a split with the teams closer to the Philadelphia area electing to load in Wednesday night and teams traveling a larger distance loading in Thursday morning.That all makes sense, thanks. So most of the teams that live over, say, an hour away will be checking in and unloading during the 45 minutes before the pits open on Thursday? Yikes. We may want to do it Wednesday after all...

Mike8519

07-04-2012, 11:00

DELurker

07-04-2012, 11:06

What would people think of using #MARChamps to interact with people at the event and the volunteers that are on twitter? I think it would be a neat idea, that way the people also watching at home on the webcast can interact with us at the event.

Would you want #MARChamps or #FRCMARCh? Since I'm mostly a techno-Luddite, I won't be twittererererering, but I think it's a neat idea, too. Anything to get the messaage of FIRST spread further.

mmrilling

07-04-2012, 13:53

FIRST team 433 is excited to be attending MAR Champs and would like to officially invite all MAR teams (attending champs or not) to our annual Firebirds Fiesta. The fiesta is on Friday, April 13th from 7-10 at our school, which is about 30 minutes away from the event (Mount Saint Joseph Academy- 120 W. Wissahickon Avenue Flourtown, PA 19031). It's free and we'll have lots of food and a DJ (and a place for mentors to relax and socialize), so we hope to see you all there! Can't wait to see you all at the competition!

The Lucas

07-04-2012, 16:57

I was thinking of doing something that could be fun and wanted to gauge people's interest.

What would people think of using #MARChamps to interact with people at the event and the volunteers that are on twitter? I think it would be a neat idea, that way the people also watching at home on the webcast can interact with us at the event.

What does everyone think?

Would you want #MARChamps or #FRCMARCh? Since I'm mostly a techno-Luddite, I won't be twittererererering, but I think it's a neat idea, too. Anything to get the messaage of FIRST spread further.

The official FIRST Hashtag for MAR Championships is #FRCPA. It is used by the FMS system to report the score and by various aggregators used around the community. The point of hashtags is to organize conversations about the same subject (and track trending) so it is important unite around a single one. The PA regional code is a legacy that doesn't make much sense in its new role, similar to the GL code for FiM Championship. No slight is meant to my friends in NJ and DE, the code is just there for continuity.

So if St. Louis is expecting to accommodate the maximum number of teams, and since FiM skips over those teams (for ranking spots) that are already going to St. Louis, why wouldn't MAR do the same, and also pass over teams ranked in the top 5 that are already eligible? Does anyone have an official answer if they are going to or not? The MAR rules do not seem to have a definite answer, and only states:

It says nothing about teams that qualify for St. Louis through means outside of MAR.

(Just for reference, 5 teams in the top 9 are already going to St. Louis, three of which are in the top 5)

Just a note: the FiM rules still prevent them from backfilling for already registered winners of the Region CA, EI and RAS awards. They can only backfill the Champion Alliance.

Also, I have heard nothing new to answer the Worlds qualified outside of MAR question, sorry.

scottandme

07-04-2012, 21:40

The only downside to using #frcpa is that you'll be pulling down the hundred+ FMS results that would drown out the actual tweets. The Connecticut regional piggybacked on the #omgrobots hashtag and used #omgct (or ctr, can't remember), which would be a nice way to have a standardized format for every regional while not having to sift through FMS results (omg + regional code). Still very cryptic given the somewhat random codes given to many of the regional/district event.

Rutgers got the "nj" suffix, and they already used "phl" for the chestnut hill competition, which is in greater philadelphia I suppose.

Still at 51 teams, don't know if FIRST works on the weekends, but hopefully we'll have a finalized list soon.

DELurker

08-04-2012, 08:49

I have to agree with scottandme. The #FRCPA hashtag would be bad to use for non-scoring purposes. The only thing the scoring system hashtags should be used for, especially on a competition weekend, is scoring system notifications, if for no other reason than to prevent FRCSpyder and other apps from having to filter out all of the spam to get the scores.

Can you imagine what the Liacouras Center would be like if Spyder crashed? :ahh:

The Lucas

08-04-2012, 10:59

Perhaps, we should promote a hashtag for all of MAR (not just this event) to use in the future. It could become well known around FIRST and used for all MAR events. My suggestion is #MARobots (#MARobo, #MARFIRST, or#omgmar could be good, too). In order, to promote the new tag (whatever that is) to a larger audience, #omgrobots (http://trendistic.indextank.com/omgrobots) should be included in most tweets (the 2 championships are the only events next week anyway). #FRC(+ Regional Code) and #omgrobots are probably the only well known tags (internationally) in FIRST.

Maybe LibbyK can help originate a new tag for MAR. She is coming to MAR champ and didn't she originate #omgrobots?

Still very cryptic given the somewhat random codes given to many of the regional/district event.

Rutgers got the "nj" suffix, and they already used "phl" for the chestnut hill competition, which is in greater philadelphia I suppose.

Since Rutgers was the site of the NJ regional before 2004, I think that is why it got the NJ legacy tag. The standard format for new regional codes seems to be 2 letter postal code for state (or province) + first letter of town: (not that eveyone follows it)
NJF - New Jersey Flanders
OHC - OHio Cincinnati

Many of the FiM codes are based off of Michigan counties or their 3 legacy regionals (GL MI DT). Gull Lake district (MIGL) is the only 4 letter code. It is in Kalamazoo County so I guess they passed on KZOO :D

Grim Tuesday

08-04-2012, 12:03

The funny thing about OHC tag is that it could either apply to OHio Cleveland or OHio Cincinnati. For that matter, it could also apply to OHio Columbus!

The Lucas

08-04-2012, 12:20

The funny thing about OHC tag is that it could either apply to OHio Cleveland or OHio Cincinnati. For that matter, it could also apply to OHio Columbus!

Even more confusing:
The 3 Washington events (all "S" towns) and the DC regional:
wa Seattle Olympic
wa2 Seattle Cascade
was Spokane (Cheney, WA)
dc Washington DC

Also, numbers are used differentiate events in the same general area. Most places use '2' for the second one but Oakland County Michigan uses '1' (prob better way for engineer/programmer to count 0,1...) :
oc Troy FiM
oc1 Waterford FiM

Akash Rastogi

08-04-2012, 12:24

@Brian Lucas - did you receive and email regarding the change to judging for Rookie All Star? (assuming you are one of the contacts for 4342)

Our team was extremely disappointed in the change presented to us.

To MAR FRC Teams competing for either the Engineering Inspiration Award (#75, #321, #433, #1923, #3142) or the Rookie All-Star Award (#3929, #4128, #4342, #4347) at the upcoming MAR FRC Region Championship being held next week at the Liacouras Center, Temple University, Philadelphia PA . . .

Teams - please verify back to me receipt of this email - thank you!

From Judge Advisor Dave Greenley:

The judging process for the 5 teams competing for the Engineering Inspiration Award and the 4 teams competing for the Rookie All Star Award at the MAR Championship will consist of 10 minute dialogs with a group of judges. The judges for these two awards will not be visiting teams in the pits, instead the discussions will take place in a judging room in the Liacouras Center. Teams are asked not to make prepared presentations or to create any special material for the judges. A sign-up sheet will be placed in Pit Admin on Thursday, teams will be able to pick their time slot with the judges. At this time, Judging for Engineering Inspiration and Rookie All-star is scheduled to take place on Friday. If any of the eligible teams are not planning to attend the event please let Dave Greenley, dgreenley@comcast.net Judge Advisor for the MAR Championship know as soon as possible so that we can arrange a time for your team to meet the judges.

Best Wishes and Good Luck to all teams . . . we hope you have and will celebrate the awards your team has won at the five MAR FRC District events!

Donald http://us.mg5.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=1%5f33763522%5fAKFVimIAAJFoT3%2be0Ai2 fQ7HlhU&pid=2&fid=Inbox&inline=1&appid=YahooMailNeo

Donald H. Bowers

FIRST Regional Director

DE-NJ-Eastern PA

I feel that this is extremely unfair to the students who, at district events, put in countless hours preparing materials for the judges to take into consideration only to have none of the same materials taken into consideration at the MAR Championship. It creates, in my opinion, a different judging criteria than it did for our district event. What do other people feel about this?

The Lucas

08-04-2012, 13:34

@Brian Lucas - did you receive and email regarding the change to judging for Rookie All Star? (assuming you are one of the contacts for 4342)

Our team was extremely disappointed in the change presented to us.

I feel that this is extremely unfair to the students who, at district events, put in countless hours preparing materials for the judges to take into consideration only to have none of the same materials taken into consideration at the MAR Championship. It creates, in my opinion, a different judging criteria than it did for our district event. What do other people feel about this?

Dan (4342 leader) hasn't forwarded it yet, so it is news to me.

In my opinion, the no pit interviews is an attempt to even the playing field for the EI & RAS teams that did not qualify for MAR Championship. Only 3 of MAR 10 rookies qualified for Championship, 4342, 3926 and 3974 (Double Rookie Inspiration winner). I always thought the robot was a part of the judging for the RAS at most events but I guess not.

The prepared material restriction is a little bit confusing to me, especially for EI. Are the students expected to give a speech or just answer questions? If it is a speech, it is customary to prepare for it. Also, all rookies are encouraged to create a Chairman's style essay.

Because the Chairman’s Award recognizes sustained excellence and impact, not just a one (1) year team effort, it is not possible for a first year (rookie) team to receive this honor. FIRST does, however, invite and encourage rookies to develop a Chairman’s Award submission which may be evaluated by the judges determining the winner of the Rookie All-Star Award. This submission will document where the team started its FIRST journey and will also provide background for documenting the results of the team’s efforts – it will be a great way to start the team’s efforts to earn the Chairman’s Award in the future.

Rookie Teams: If you prepare a Regional Chairman’s Award submission, you must print a copy to give the Judges when they visit you at your Pit Station. Judges will not be viewing them online.

I was never directly involved in the MOE's Chairman's Award (http://moe365.org/chairmans.php) Judging process, but I tried to give 4342 the best second hand advice I could. I guess writing their story will just have to be a good experience, rather than a handout.

Anyone from FiM care to share their judging process for EI and RAS?

Alexa Stott

09-04-2012, 01:05

Perhaps, we should promote a hashtag for all of MAR (not just this event) to use in the future. It could become well known around FIRST and used for all MAR events. My suggestion is #MARobots (#MARobo, #MARFIRST, or#omgmar could be good, too). In order, to promote the new tag (whatever that is) to a larger audience, #omgrobots (http://trendistic.indextank.com/omgrobots) should be included in most tweets (the 2 championships are the only events next week anyway). #FRC(+ Regional Code) and #omgrobots are probably the only well known tags (internationally) in FIRST.

Maybe LibbyK can help originate a new tag for MAR. She is coming to MAR champ and didn't she originate #omgrobots?

I like #omgMAR. It fits with the #omgrobots, #omgiri, #omgcmp, etc. tags.

Even more confusing:
The 3 Washington events (all "S" towns) and the DC regional:
wa Seattle Olympic
wa2 Seattle Cascade
was Spokane (Cheney, WA)
dc Washington DC

Off-topic, but DC makes sense to me. No one from around here really calls it "Washington." Most just say "DC" or "the District," unless they actually work for the government (a lot of my friends are congressional interns), in which case they will say they intern "on the hill." For the greater Washington, DC metro area, everyone says "DMV" for DC-Maryland-Virginia.

And now back to robots with you all...

dellagd

09-04-2012, 07:46

Can someone post the link for where the event will be wecast? Ive looked and cant find it.

Sorry if I missed it. Im on my phone.

Kristian Calhoun

09-04-2012, 08:43

Can someone post the link for where the event will be wecast? Ive looked and cant find it.

Sorry if I missed it. Im on my phone.

In an e-mail sent out last Thursday, MAR was still looking for a team to volunteer to webcast the event. I'm not sure if anything has happened since then.

I'll be attending the event Friday and Saturday, so I hope there's a webcast so I can watch Thursday night's matches!

waitwhat?

09-04-2012, 16:12

Team 869 would like to announce that we will be providing the webcast for the 2012 MAR Championship! We just talked with the even coordinator today and are in the process of setting up the link! I should be posting a link within the next two days. Good Luck to everyone and see you all at the competition!

Horsegirrl

09-04-2012, 16:23

Good Luck to everyone and see you all at the competition!
Great job on the direct quote from the game animation

dellagd

09-04-2012, 16:36

Great job on the direct quote from the game animation

I say that all the time to alliances after we work out a strategy. Unfortunately, most dont get it.

Amateurs...

The Lucas

09-04-2012, 16:55

Looks like 3515 added, 2 left to go. They were the 63th ranked team so perhaps none of the teams above them will attend?
I guess they will. 1811 (38th) just added, 1 left

Dancin103

09-04-2012, 18:57

[QUOTE=The Lucas;1154582]Like 103, I speculate that 555 and 1143 (both registered for Worlds) may forgo MAR CMP on their way to CMP.

103 is not attending MAR State Champs simply because we don't need to qualify again for worlds, thus we thought let another team have a shot at getting there, why do we need to qualify again?

I'm just saying and maybe we will go next year, idk because we did not know what this district model was going to entail, but that's just the story for this year. Just thought I would share.

Cass

Libby K

09-04-2012, 19:44

Maybe LibbyK can help originate a new tag for MAR. She is coming to MAR champ and didn't she originate #omgrobots?

You flatter me. Jess Boucher (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/member.php?u=17) originated #omgrobots.

#MARFIRST makes sense to me? Or #omgMAR ... .

George A.

09-04-2012, 19:55

You flatter me. Jess Boucher (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/member.php?u=17) originated #omgrobots.

#MARFIRST makes sense to me? Or #omgMAR ... .

I'm thinking #marfirst would be a good one. All in favor?

nlknauss

09-04-2012, 21:51

I'm thinking #marfirst would be a good one. All in favor?

I second #marfirst

The Lucas

09-04-2012, 22:13

Sounds good to me. #MARFIRST for all MAR tweets. Maybe toss in #omgrobots for good measure.

You flatter me. Jess Boucher (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/member.php?u=17) originated #omgrobots.

So that was Jess, huh. That makes sense, too.

Lil' Lavery

09-04-2012, 22:41

#omgMidAtlanticRoboticsRegionalFRCChampionshipEven t2012ReboundRumbleGoDawgma

Libby K

09-04-2012, 23:02

#omgMidAtlanticRoboticsRegionalFRCChampionshipEven t2012ReboundRumbleGoDawgma

Sounds perfect.... :p

dellagd

09-04-2012, 23:07

Andrew Schreiber

09-04-2012, 23:11

[QUOTE=Dancin103;1155981]

I applaud this :D
I wonder why teams like 341 still register in spite of this. They already won the Boston regional.

Because it's their money and they want to use it to play more matches... I'm glad they are going since I'm staying with one of their mentors.

AlexH

09-04-2012, 23:18

#omgMidAtlanticRoboticsRegionalFRCChampionshipEven t2012ReboundRumbleGoDawgma

change godawgma to gomoooooooose and i'll be happy. :-P

#marfirst is more "professional" than #omgmar

Lil' Lavery

09-04-2012, 23:30

Because it's their money and they want to use it to play more matches... I'm glad they are going since I'm staying with one of their mentors.

Because 341 would be oh so far away if they weren't going? ;)

OZ_341

10-04-2012, 00:21

I applaud this :D I wonder why teams like 341 still register in spite of this. They already won the Boston regional.
Because any kids, including yours, that worked their tails off building a machine for 6 weeks in a high school wood shop, should have the right to compete against the best teams in MAR, if they have earned that right. We did not invent the MAR qualifying system, we are only living in it just like you.

Additionally, Several people proposed that all MAR CCA teams should not even be a part of the head-count for MAR qualifying teams, since 365, 103, and 341 qualify each year already. But that proposal was not accepted. That being said, all students in MAR have the right to play every match that they possibly can, including the MAR Championship.

Jared Russell

10-04-2012, 08:20

Because 341 would be oh so far away if they weren't going? ;)

Well, I probably wouldn't park the car that I sleep in so close to Temple if we weren't attending. ::safety::

waitwhat?

10-04-2012, 08:31

The 2012 MAR Regional Championship will be on webcast at the following link:

http://www.powercord869.com/webcast/

If anyone has any questions please feel free to PM me. Everything should be up and running for the Thursday matches.

"Good Luck to everyone and see you all at the competition!"

(Now I'm knowingly quoting the game animation) haha :cool:

thefro526

10-04-2012, 08:35

I applaud this :D
I wonder why teams like 341 still register in spite of this. They already won the Boston regional.

There are plenty of teams already registered for the Championship that are competing at the MAR CMP - 222, 341 (HOF), 365 (HOF), 714, 816 , 1403, 1647, 2590 (Winner MTL), 3142.

All of those teams have earned a spot at the MAR Championship and have a right to play should they chose to. It's not about a Championship spot for many teams but just continuing to see returns on a season's worth of hard work.

Akash Rastogi

10-04-2012, 08:59

There are plenty of teams already registered for the Championship that are competing at the MAR CMP - 222, 341 (HOF), 365 (HOF), 714, 816 , 1403, 1647, 2590 (Winner MTL), 3142.

All of those teams have earned a spot at the MAR Championship and have a right to play should they chose to. It's not about a Championship spot for many teams but just continuing to see returns on a season's worth of hard work.

357 is eligible as well.

thefro526

10-04-2012, 09:19

357 is eligible as well.

I omitted them from my previous list since they are not currently registered for the Championship event even though they qualified at DC in week 4....

Ryan Dognaux

10-04-2012, 09:31

I wonder why teams like 341 still register in spite of this. They already won the Boston regional.

Seriously? You're questioning why a team wants to play in their region's championship event? This is a competition you know.

357 is looking forward to playing with all of the great teams from the MAR district events, especially some of the NJ teams we haven't seen yet. We will not be attending the Championship event, so this is it for us this year. Good luck to all the teams competing!

SteveGPage

10-04-2012, 09:45

Seriously? You're questioning why a team wants to play in their region's championship event? This is a competition you know.

357 is looking forward to playing with all of the great teams from the MAR district events, especially some of the NJ teams we haven't seen yet. We will not be attending the Championship event, so this is it for us this year. Good luck to all the teams competing!

Sorry to see you guys won't make it to Champs. You were a great team to play with, and ultimately compete against in DC. Best of luck at MAR!

coldfusion1279

10-04-2012, 10:12

waitwhat?

10-04-2012, 10:23

I wouldn't call it much of a championship if all the pre-qualifying and pre-registered CMP teams were not in attendance. Everyone wants the glory of victory from playing with and against teams like 365 and 341.

I totally agree, going up against the best of the best is kind of the point of a championship. That makes a winning competition that much more of a success! Also, on the other side, its awesome to have the opportunity to work with such high caliber teams!

team222badbrad

10-04-2012, 12:09

Even though 222 was already attending Championships in St. Louis we decided to attend the MAR Championship for several reasons.

#1 We earned the spot
#2 Extra experience for the team.
#3 The kids worked hard to get here.
#4 We we able to acquire the funding from various sources... :D
#5 We have a few tricks up our sleeves which need to be competition tested...

See you Thursday. Were leaving at 4am. :eek:

Wayne C.

10-04-2012, 15:22

I wouldn't call it much of a championship if all the pre-qualifying and pre-registered CMP teams were not in attendance. Everyone wants the glory of victory from playing with and against teams like 365 and 341.

Perhaps the MAR group should look towards giving a free registration to the MAR Championship to the winners of the Qualifier tournaments. That way there is little excuse for the best of the qualifiers not attending.

I may be wrong but in HS athletics the winners of the sectional tournaments don't need to come up with additional money to play in the state championship. If we really want to put FIRST in every school like an athletic team this additional need for money needs to be addressed

JR.

10-04-2012, 15:53

[QUOTE=Dancin103;1155981]

I applaud this :D
I wonder why teams like 341 still register in spite of this. They already won the Boston regional.

Would you propose that teams already qualified for championships forgo all of their events except championships to give other teams a better chance of qualifying because IMO you are asking the same thing by suggesting teams qualified for championships not attend MAR championships.

Even though 222 was already attending Championships in St. Louis we decided to attend the MAR Championship for several reasons.

#1 We earned the spot
#2 Extra experience for the team.
#3 The kids worked hard to get here.
#4 We we able to acquire the funding from various sources... :D
#5 We have a few tricks up our sleeves which need to be competition tested...

Agreed and while these are all valid reasons for competing at MAR championships I think the reasons for teams already qualified for worlds competing go beyond the personal interests of the team. FIRST is about inspiring other people in and out of FIRST and recognizing and celebrating amazing robots and I think all teams do this especially successful teams like chairman’s award winners and perennial powerhouses. I also think that it is important to make MAR championships as competitive as possible with the hope of inspiring people to start more teams and bring a stronger culture of FIRST to our region. Look at Michigan, the most successful region in FIRST with the most competitive event aside from championships every year in MSC. Furthermore Michigan has had significant growth since going with a district system and some teams that don't even qualify for MSC are still involved with the championship event in some manner. If teams already qualified for championships did not go to MAR championships the quality of the competition would go down and the competition might not attract as much attention. (I'm guessing on these next statements) I think that having experienced and successful teams at competitions gives younger and less successful teams a benchmark to strive for and inspires them rather than suppress them and not having MAR's three CCA's at MAR championships would be a real detriment to the whole event. For these reasons I was personally disappointed when 103 decided not to attend MAR championships although I understand and respect their decision. I wish them the best of luck and hope to see them at championships because they have an amazing robot and I was looking forward to playing with and against them again.

Also I'm excited to see what improvements you have made to an already amazing robot, 222 will certainly be a force at MAR championships.

Dancin103

10-04-2012, 16:07

[QUOTE=Carol;1156054]

Would you propose that teams already qualified for championships forgo all of their events except championships to give other teams a better chance of qualifying because IMO you are asking the same thing by suggesting teams qualified for championships not attend MAR championships.

Well put Carol, I never really thought of it that way. Now that we have seen the district model play out, almost fully, we will be assessing every aspect for next year! :)

Cassie

Lil' Lavery

10-04-2012, 16:09

Gogo broken quote chain!

Dancin103

10-04-2012, 16:15

Gogo broken quote chain!

And I caught that as well. Who know's what happened. Lol I tried to fix it, but I only successfully change the name to Carol's. I've been missed quoted above.

Steven Donow

10-04-2012, 16:16

With the qualification matches on Thursday, my question is will judges be making official rounds/interviews at all on Thursday?

Dancin103

10-04-2012, 16:17

With the qualification matches on Thursday, my question is will judges be making official rounds/interviews at all on Thursday?

Qualification matches start on Thursday?!?! What time?

JR.

10-04-2012, 16:23

Qualification matches start on Thursday?!?! What time?

http://www.midatlanticrobotics.com/2012-mid-atlantic-robotics-frc-region-championship-team-agenda/

4:00 PM

coldfusion1279

10-04-2012, 16:27

Qualification matches start on Thursday?!?! What time?

4-6 PM. My guess about 2 matches per team. A nice little bonus if you ask me.

Dancin103

10-04-2012, 18:17

http://www.midatlanticrobotics.com/2012-mid-atlantic-robotics-frc-region-championship-team-agenda/

4:00 PM

Oh sweet deal! I must have looked right over that!

The Lucas

10-04-2012, 18:20

[QUOTE=Dancin103;1155981]

I applaud this :D
I wonder why teams like 341 still register in spite of this. They already won the Boston regional.

Seriously? You're questioning why a team wants to play in their region's championship event? This is a competition you know.

357 is looking forward to playing with all of the great teams from the MAR district events, especially some of the NJ teams we haven't seen yet. We will not be attending the Championship event, so this is it for us this year. Good luck to all the teams competing!

Last time I checked, this event is called "Mid-Atlantic Robotics FRC Region Championship" not the "Mid-Atlantic Region Qualifying Event". This is about the best MAR teams competing for the first ever MAR championship. It is an honor to qualify and compete in this special event. Sure, the top performers will earn CMP qualification spots awarded, but that is far from the main purpose of the event.

Those that are looking at MAR champs as simply a qualifier of CMP are underestimating what is in front of them. Every team at MAR champ has elimination experience, making the 12 qualifying matches more like a 3 day elimination tournament. Outside of FiM, teams have never seen anything like this (except for the few teams in the region that have make the pilgrimage to IRI). My most mind blowing observation when I started watching the Michigan State Championship, is that quality of play in the qualifications is clearly better than division qualifications (many "reasonably astute observers" would agree). Sure the division will produce a better elim field of 24, but during the quals those 24 are spread out among the a huge division (now more than 100 teams).

MAR is about half the size of FiM, but I still expect consistent quality from the teams and highly competitive qualification matches. The teams are familiar with each other, so strategies and counter-strategies will have more opportunity to develop. I also expect a stronger 24 team elim field than any of the regionals, many of which had more than 54 teams.

I wish 103, 555 1143 & all the other qualified teams could attend, but understand that they cannot. As great as this event will be, we will always know it would have been even better with them. I hope the scheduler gives my teams (365 & 4342) matches with/against all the teams we haven't had a match with this year (somehow at 37 team Chestnut Hill, 365 & 341 were never in the same match). This should be a fun new experience for all teams.

Gogo broken quote chain!
The messed up quote names are pretty funny. I made it a point to multi quote so I could see what names show up, but they were correct.

Alexa Stott

10-04-2012, 18:51

DonRotolo

10-04-2012, 18:54

I wonder why teams like 341 still register in spite of this. They already won the Boston regional.
Perhaps they are showing their unwavering support for MAR in its first year. Not everyone in the area fully supports MAR, and by attending they are sending a clear message that they do.
Perhaps the MAR group should look towards giving a free registration to the MAR Championship to the winners of the Qualifier tournaments. I know of at least one excellent team not attending Philly because of lack of funding, so this suggestion has real merit. I will be sure to bring this to the MAR Board; I urge others to do so as well - they'll all be in Philly.

MOEhat

10-04-2012, 22:59

looking forward to the MAR championship. it's gonna be tough going up against other good teams. hopefully 365 and 341 get in a match together!

Carol

11-04-2012, 09:16

I know of at least one excellent team not attending Philly because of lack of funding, so this suggestion has real merit. I will be sure to bring this to the MAR Board; I urge others to do so as well - they'll all be in Philly.

There are grants available from MAR to help teams pay for the MAR Championships. Many teams have already taken advantage of this.

staplemonx

11-04-2012, 10:29

If people need things this weekend at the MAR regional. my house is 10 minutes from the event and 3929's shop is 15 minutes away.

Jared Russell

11-04-2012, 10:34

So I guess this will be a 53 team competition, then?

LH Machinist

11-04-2012, 11:03

53 teams doesn't work well with scheduling unless each team plays 12 matches and I don't believe that will be the case...106 qualification matches!

Kristian Calhoun

11-04-2012, 11:12

53 teams doesn't work well with scheduling unless each team plays 12 matches and I don't believe that will be the case...106 qualification matches!

At the local kickoffs, MAR teams were promised 12 qualification matches per event and I don't think that number is going to change for the state championship. The goal for Thursday is to get two complete rounds finished, leaving 10 matches per team to be played between Friday and Saturday, which is definitely feasible.

Joe Ross

11-04-2012, 12:14

Similar to what I did in previous years (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showpost.php?p=735425&postcount=165), I ran through 200 simulated qualification match schedules (with 12 matches per team, using the FIRST match generator). I used each team's highest adjusted opr at any event for their contribution to a match, based on Ed Law's data. I calculated the results for each of the 200 simulated qualification schedules, and then looked at some statistics from the aggregate results.

Since the standings are much more complicated this year, I did not try to calculate the standings. This is only the contribution of w-l-t to the qualification score (eg 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, no points for a loss).

Everyone should attend Karthik's presentation (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=105540) where he covers "Why 'OPR' is a flawed indicator in Rebound Rumble".

OPR Average Median Mode Min Max StDev
1218 36.19 21.58 22 22 16 24 1.74
341 35.38 21.425 22 22 15 24 1.88
25 33.75 21.165 22 22 15 24 1.94
365 33.63 20.975 22 22 16 24 1.98
1676 29.47 19.12 20 20 8 24 2.57
222 24.18 16.585 16 16 10 24 2.85
1089 21.98 16.055 16 16 6 22 2.71
1279 21.96 15.825 16 18 10 24 2.99
1403 21.91 15.73 16 16 10 22 2.54
357 21.58 15.675 16 16 8 22 2.69
316 19.83 14.555 14 14 5 22 2.97
2180 19.62 14.795 14 14 7 22 3.17
224 18.83 14.35 14 14 8 20 2.67
423 18.21 13.365 14 12 6 20 3.04
2590 17.97 13.555 14 14 6 21 2.94
486 17.69 13.5 14 12 6 21 2.87
11 17.50 13.86 14 14 4 22 2.96
225 16.84 13.045 13 12 6 22 2.84
834 16.65 13.625 13 12 6 22 2.93
1712 16.46 12.565 12 14 5 19 2.70
2234 15.92 12.405 12 14 5 21 2.78
714 15.56 12.545 12 12 4 21 3.07
223 15.33 11.83 12 12 4 19 2.81
4342 15.15 12.155 12 14 4 22 3.22
56 14.91 11.645 12 12 4 20 3.18
272 14.77 11.855 12 12 4 22 2.92
1302 14.53 11.915 12 12 6 20 2.75
2016 14.46 11.235 11.5 10 3 18 2.83
1640 14.03 11.285 12 12 3 18 2.86
869 13.29 10.725 11 12 4 18 2.79
484 12.42 10.14 10 12 2 18 2.90
3314 12.28 10.145 10 10 2 18 2.77
2607 12.16 10.105 10 12 4 18 2.90
816 12.12 10.355 10 12 3 18 2.90
303 12.02 9.89 10 10 2 16 2.80
2729 10.51 9.385 10 10 0 16 2.70
1370 10.51 9.715 10 10 2 19 3.11
1391 10.51 9.315 9 8 2 19 2.93
708 10.38 9.16 9 8 2 16 2.93
3929 10.19 9.18 9 8 2 16 2.77
1923 10.06 9.07 9 10 2 18 2.80
3974 9.79 9.19 9 8 2 22 2.85
3637 9.62 8.865 8 8 2 16 2.93
75 9.36 8.39 8 10 2 16 2.84
1647 9.28 8.44 8 8 2 18 2.72
1168 8.20 7.85 8 8 0 15 2.76
433 7.94 7.915 8 8 2 16 2.65
3142 7.34 7.555 8 8 0 14 2.78
2559 6.74 7.395 8 8 0 14 2.93
1626 6.13 6.48 6 6 0 15 2.75
1811 5.32 6.555 6 8 0 16 2.82
1672 4.80 6.21 6 6 0 12 2.54
3515 3.58 5.75 6 6 0 14 2.54

The Lucas

11-04-2012, 12:59

Jared Russell

11-04-2012, 17:17

I know of at least one excellent team not attending Philly because of lack of funding, so this suggestion has real merit. I will be sure to bring this to the MAR Board; I urge others to do so as well - they'll all be in Philly.

I would settle for free parking...

http://www.midatlanticrobotics.com/urgent-message-to-all-attending-the-2012-mar-rc/

$14 a day :mad:

DonRotolo

11-04-2012, 17:22

That's cheap by NYC standards, a total of $42 for the weekend.
Now you know why I am taking the bus with the team. At 5 am. ugh.

But excitement is building rapidly. Can't wait much longer!

Kristian Calhoun

11-04-2012, 17:24

I would settle for free parking...

http://www.midatlanticrobotics.com/urgent-message-to-all-attending-the-2012-mar-rc/

$14 a day :mad:

There will also be cheaper, $6 parking available a couple blocks away: http://www.midatlanticrobotics.com/region-championship-reduced-price-outdoor-parking-lots/

Lil' Lavery

11-04-2012, 18:05

I would settle for free parking...

http://www.midatlanticrobotics.com/urgent-message-to-all-attending-the-2012-mar-rc/

$14 a day :mad:

One of the few times I love SEPTA.

Deetman

11-04-2012, 20:28

One of the few times I love SEPTA.

Agreed... I'll be taking the R6 (Manayunk/Norristown) line in.

On that note.. just got back from load-in. Half or more of the teams are loaded in and ready to go tomorrow morning!

Akash Rastogi

11-04-2012, 20:31

One of the few times I love SEPTA.

Haha, definitely agree with this.

I'll be there on Saturday since my boss won't let me off work :P We will be a down a few mentors but I think the kids will be on top of their game (hopefully) :rolleyes:

Good luck tomorrow everyone!

eaglesfan51520

11-04-2012, 21:05

This should be a very good competition. I'm excited to see all the improvements teams made and compete against them!

team222badbrad

11-04-2012, 23:38

222 departs in 5 hours!

See you all there!

Libby K

12-04-2012, 01:22

Unfortunately I'll have to miss tomorrow, but I will be there for Friday and Saturday. Can't wait to see you all!

Brandon Holley

12-04-2012, 11:06

Good luck to the MAR Championship teams this weekend. The focus of the FIRSTiverse will be focused on you and Michigan.

A special bout of good luck to team 11 and their bid at some MAR Chairman's hardware.

-Brando

DonRotolo

12-04-2012, 12:49

Just verified with Ed Petrillo that the "5" teams qualifying for CMP on MAR points doesn't include teams who have already made it. So teams will really be fighting for MAR points this weekend, they are worth triple at this event...

Kristian Calhoun

12-04-2012, 13:17

The match schedule is currently available through FRC Tracker 2012. (It's not yet on the FIRST website. Does anyone know where the app scrapes its data from?)

The competition is going to be tough, as there are a lot of great match-ups. We play against both 341 and 1676 in our first match today! :ahh:

thefro526

12-04-2012, 13:33

The match schedule is currently available through FRC Tracker 2012. (It's not yet on the FIRST website. Does anyone know where the app scrapes its data from?)

I'm trying to find it as well. The tidbits I've gotten from other teams lead me to believe that we're in for one hell of a show.

Alpha Beta

12-04-2012, 13:43

Looks like matches start at 4:00 eastern time for those waiting to watch the action online.

Match 63 looks intersting. 303, 2729 & 341 vs 365, 3974 & 1218.

jblay

12-04-2012, 14:51

Can someone take a photo or something of the match schedule and post it here so that those of us without iphones can see it?

bduddy

12-04-2012, 15:08

Can someone take a photo or something of the match schedule and post it here so that those of us without iphones can see it?How about this?
http://www2.usfirst.org/2012comp/events/PA/schedulequal.html

Joe Ross

12-04-2012, 15:18

I ran through the actual qualification match schedules (as posted on the FIRST website). I used each team's highest adjusted opr at any event for their contribution to a match, based on Ed Law's data. I calculated the results for each of the matches.

Since the standings are much more complicated this year, I did not try to calculate the standings. This is only the contribution of w-l-t to the qualification score (eg 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, no points for a loss).

Everyone should attend Karthik's presentation where he covers "Why 'OPR' is a flawed indicator in Rebound Rumble".

Matches:
Match Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Blue 1 Blue 2 Blue 3 Rscore Bscore
1 834 708 1811 423 11 2016 32 50
2 816 2559 1168 56 1218 2590 27 69
3 222 433 316 357 1712 3515 52 42
4 4342 1403 1923 486 484 2729 47 41
5 1672 225 303 1391 272 869 34 39
6 341 75 1676 1302 25 3929 73 59
7 1370 223 1640 3314 2180 365 40 66
8 2234 714 1279 1647 3974 2607 54 31
9 3637 1089 3142 1626 224 303 39 37
10 1712 1811 2559 1403 1302 1391 28 48
11 1168 484 2180 1672 869 433 40 26
12 225 272 2607 834 3515 25 44 55
13 223 1279 423 56 222 1089 55 61
14 316 1647 2016 3314 2729 2590 43 41
15 357 1923 365 4342 2234 1676 66 60
16 3974 816 11 1626 3142 3929 40 23
17 708 1218 486 714 3637 1370 64 37
18 75 1640 1403 224 341 2607 45 66
19 2180 357 423 1279 2729 1923 60 43
20 1676 3314 1302 834 225 1168 56 42
21 1672 25 316 1089 1218 1370 59 69
22 1626 484 869 223 708 1647 31 34
23 1640 3974 3929 272 56 486 34 48
24 341 433 3142 1391 222 224 50 54
25 714 75 3515 11 2559 2234 29 41
26 1712 2590 816 365 1811 3637 46 49
27 303 2016 2180 4342 225 3929 46 42
28 1370 3974 341 357 224 1168 56 49
29 834 1089 423 3142 316 2234 57 43
30 1647 2559 222 1640 1923 11 40 42
31 1811 2590 1403 1279 3515 1218 45 62
32 3637 816 272 223 4342 75 37 39
33 2729 433 1712 1676 869 714 35 58
34 708 1391 25 303 486 3314 55 42
35 2607 1626 2016 1672 365 56 32 54
36 484 1089 272 1302 2590 3142 49 40
37 2180 2729 3929 222 3637 3974 41 44
38 486 1168 433 75 225 708 34 36
39 1370 423 1676 1626 223 1403 58 43
40 365 1279 2559 11 484 1672 63 35
41 1640 1302 2234 25 2016 869 45 61
42 341 1391 1923 316 56 816 56 47
43 224 1712 4342 1218 1647 834 50 62
44 3314 714 2607 303 357 1811 40 39
45 869 1302 3974 3515 433 1403 38 34
46 2180 225 316 1676 3637 2559 57 46
47 4342 2729 11 223 1168 1712 44 39
48 1218 1811 2234 1647 341 3929 57 54
49 2607 303 1089 1370 3515 2016 46 29
50 834 56 1640 708 357 2590 46 50
51 1391 423 486 365 272 224 47 68
52 1923 3142 714 75 1672 1626 33 20
53 484 222 1279 25 816 3314 58 58
54 225 2559 56 3974 2729 1089 39 43
55 303 708 1403 2180 834 341 44 72
56 4342 1302 316 365 714 1626 50 56
57 1391 2016 3929 1168 2590 1923 35 36
58 25 357 486 1712 423 1647 74 43
59 3314 1218 869 75 2607 11 61 39
60 222 272 1672 484 2234 224 44 47
61 1370 816 1279 433 1676 1640 45 51
62 1811 3515 3142 3637 223 56 16 40
63 303 2729 341 365 3974 1218 58 80
64 316 357 11 1302 225 484 60 44
65 25 1647 1089 816 2180 433 65 40
66 1672 2234 3314 3637 486 1403 33 50
67 708 1712 2607 223 1923 272 38 40
68 1279 3142 224 1168 714 2016 48 38
69 1676 3515 1626 1391 1640 1811 39 30
70 834 1370 2590 75 222 869 46 46
71 423 3929 433 4342 2559 341 36 57
72 2729 1302 224 1672 816 708 45 27
73 1647 484 365 1168 3637 3515 55 22
74 834 272 3314 1811 1923 1089 44 37
75 25 1676 1403 11 714 56 85 49
76 4342 3142 486 869 316 2607 40 45
77 2590 75 2180 303 2234 423 47 46
78 1218 223 2016 1391 3974 357 65 43
79 1712 3929 1370 225 1640 1279 37 53
80 222 1626 25 2559 486 316 64 45
81 1811 56 224 869 4342 2180 39 48
82 1647 3515 816 834 1672 3974 25 32
83 1391 11 225 2234 2729 1370 46 38
84 1403 714 1089 3929 1168 365 60 52
85 1676 357 1218 708 3142 222 87 41
86 3637 1302 433 423 2607 1923 33 40
87 272 2559 1626 1279 3314 341 28 69
88 303 484 75 1712 2016 1640 33 44
89 2590 714 25 223 2729 3142 68 33
90 365 708 869 816 357 3929 57 44
91 1626 433 1218 2234 2180 272 50 51
92 1089 1640 3314 3974 4342 423 48 43
93 316 3637 1391 834 1279 1403 41 61
94 1168 1647 56 1302 222 303 32 51
95 11 3515 223 486 341 2016 37 67
96 224 2590 1672 225 1676 1712 42 62
97 484 2559 1923 2607 1811 1370 29 28
98 75 1391 1279 1089 4342 708 42 47
99 272 1302 2016 222 1403 2180 44 66
100 1218 1672 1168 25 1640 423 49 66
101 365 223 303 433 2559 834 61 32
102 225 1923 869 341 714 816 40 63
103 1712 3142 56 1647 3314 1370 38 32
104 486 3974 2234 1676 484 1811 44 46
105 75 224 3929 3515 316 2729 38 35
106 2607 357 3637 11 1626 2590 44 42

W-L-T:
TTeam Wins Losses Ties
365 11 1 0
1089 11 1 0
1218 10 2 0
1676 10 2 0
2180 10 2 0
25 9 2 1
341 9 3 0
1923 9 3 0
869 8 3 1
222 7 3 2
714 8 4 0
1279 7 4 1
834 7 4 1
3314 7 4 1
357 7 5 0
224 7 5 0
1403 7 5 0
272 7 5 0
3974 7 5 0
708 7 5 0
2016 7 5 0
11 7 5 0
484 6 5 1
4342 6 6 0
423 6 6 0
1640 6 6 0
1391 6 6 0
56 6 6 0
223 6 6 0
2607 6 6 0
3637 6 6 0
2590 5 6 1
75 5 6 1
316 5 7 0
2234 5 7 0
225 5 7 0
1302 5 7 0
486 5 7 0
1647 5 7 0
303 4 8 0
2559 4 8 0
3142 4 8 0
1370 3 8 1
2729 3 9 0
1712 3 9 0
1811 3 9 0
1626 3 9 0
3515 3 9 0
816 2 9 1
433 2 10 0
1168 2 10 0
1672 2 10 0
3929 1 11 0

Grim Tuesday

12-04-2012, 15:40

Wow, Daisy has a really tough schedule. It'll be interesting to see how the coop bridge plays into the whole predicted OPR business.

George A.

12-04-2012, 16:15

Hey everyone! We have started our qualifications so be sure to tweet along with #marfirst!

mechinn

13-04-2012, 11:24

Just wanted to let everyone know I will be posting all the matches from the MAR regional championship webcast on a youtube album located here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFC81AAE68B04E34B

All the matches from the first day are already posted.

Akash Rastogi

13-04-2012, 12:08

Is MAR doing any awards today?

George A.

13-04-2012, 12:44

Is MAR doing any awards today?

Yes. I'm not sure which ones, but there will be some after the matches today

DonRotolo

13-04-2012, 19:34

Well, awards went *really* well for me. Hard to believe it still, thanks everyone for the kind words.

Don

Deetman

13-04-2012, 20:01

Well, awards went *really* well for me. Hard to believe it still, thanks everyone for the kind words.

Don

Congrats on the Woodie Flowers award Don! Well deserved!

jblay

13-04-2012, 20:02

I saw quite a few awesome matches today on the webcast and a lot of great robots.

Great to see 341 continuing to put up big scores. That robot is just incredible.

I also loved seeing 2016 start to turn it on towards the end of the day. Starting to pick up 3 balls per round of scoring seemed to really help you guys increase your amount of balls shot per match and it seems like your shooter is more on target now.

1676 looked dominant when it played but appeared to have communication issues. Can someone clarify exactly what was going wrong? Hopefully all issues are gone tomorrow, when working right you guys have the capability of scoring with the best teams.

25 was amazing all day from what I saw. That wheelie onto the bridge is so smooth and so very ridiculous. I knew you guys were capable of scoring consistently at the fender but you are just as good from the key, in fact from what I saw you might even have a higher percentage from the key.

Tomorrow should be incredible to watch on the webcast(unfortunately the commute is just too ridiculous for me to make on my own so I won't be there). The best of luck to all the teams competing, I look forward to seeing some hard fought matches. Can we perhaps get some triple balances in the eliminations at a MAR event?

Also a huge congrats to Don for the WFFA.

Deetman

13-04-2012, 20:08

Can we perhaps get some triple balances in the eliminations at a MAR event?

With the right alliance, absolutely! I witnessed a few triples on the practice field today but as we all know practice field != competition. One interesting tidbit I learned today: there are 18 (or was it 13?) wide robots in the field of 53.

As far as the communications issues I'm not sure of the particulars of 1676's issues even though they are right next to us in the pits, but I do know that I have seen FAR more issues here at MAR champs than at Hatboro-Horsham, Chestnut Hill, and Lenape.

DELurker

13-04-2012, 21:20

With the right alliance, absolutely! I witnessed a few triples on the practice field today but as we all know practice field != competition. One interesting tidbit I learned today: there are 18 (or was it 13?) wide robots in the field of 53.

As far as the communications issues I'm not sure of the particulars of 1676's issues even though they are right next to us in the pits, but I do know that I have seen FAR more issues here at MAR champs than at Hatboro-Horsham, Chestnut Hill, and Lenape.

As the team across the aisle from 1676, we are working with them to try to resolve the issues. At the moment, nothing is really firm, but rumor has it that this is the same field that was used at Rutgers, where several teams had comm issues. More information to come...

coldfusion1279

13-04-2012, 21:22

With the right alliance, absolutely! I witnessed a few triples on the practice field today but as we all know practice field != competition. One interesting tidbit I learned today: there are 18 (or was it 13?) wide robots in the field of 53.

As far as the communications issues I'm not sure of the particulars of 1676's issues even though they are right next to us in the pits, but I do know that I have seen FAR more issues here at MAR champs than at Hatboro-Horsham, Chestnut Hill, and Lenape.

Did it without human interference 3 times on the practice field. Don't doubt it's possible in the competition. Our long robot transforms it's footprint to one shorter than a wide-format robot.

jblay

13-04-2012, 21:37

Did it without human interference 3 times on the practice field. Don't doubt it's possible in the competition. Our long robot transforms it's footprint to one shorter than a wide-format robot.

I wonder where this idea came from...

As the team across the aisle from 1676, we are working with them to try to resolve the issues. At the moment, nothing is really firm, but rumor has it that this is the same field that was used at Rutgers, where several teams had comm issues. More information to come...

Has 1676 tried a different radio? I recall 2168 had comm issues and then swapped their radio for Connecticut and found that their problems where gone, they took apart the radio and discovered some issues. I'm not sure if this is any help or that my information is on point on 2168 but I figured it was worth mentioning.

Sue-San

13-04-2012, 23:35

25 was amazing all day from what I saw.

Why thank you :D

Also, I'd like to give a quick thanks to Team 2590 for supplying us with vital scouting data that we lost today. It was a true act of gracious professionalism!

Lil' Lavery

13-04-2012, 23:50

Karthik

14-04-2012, 13:16

Ummm, wow. 341, 25 & 1640 just had one of the most insane matches of the season. 115 points, with the triple completed with about 20 seconds left. That was amazing.

Walter Deitzler

14-04-2012, 13:19

341, 25, 1640, wow. Just wow... 115 points. It was amazing.

Grim Tuesday

14-04-2012, 13:32

Calling it now; 1218's alliance vs 341's in the finals if they keep playing like that!

dodar

14-04-2012, 13:49

115 and 108 in consecutive matches is just unbelievable and to be able to triple balance that smoothly w/o a birdge balancer is amazing alliance selection.

Andrew Lawrence

14-04-2012, 13:57

Wow, a lot of blue alliance wins. Though, to be fair, 1676 was too awesome for anything but a win. ;)

Brandon Holley

14-04-2012, 14:03

115 and 108 in consecutive matches is just unbelievable and to be able to triple balance that smoothly w/o a birdge balancer is amazing alliance selection.

341 has a stinger and 25 has servo-driven drive train brakes.

-Brando

dodar

14-04-2012, 14:06

341 has a stinger and 25 has servo-driven drive train brakes.

-Brando

They didnt use it though, therefore, they did 2 triple balances w/o a bridge balancer.

EDIT: 341, 25, 1640 through 5 elimination matches are averaging 102 points per match with an average winning margin of 55 points and never scored beneath 100 total points in all 6 matches...that is ridiculous!

Grim Tuesday

14-04-2012, 15:07

I have to say, Semis-2 is heartbreaking. 1218 and 365 are my two favorite teams in MAR; I just hope that 1218 ends up with enough MAR points to qualify for Champs.

Grim Tuesday

14-04-2012, 15:35

Unbelievable. Not sure what to say about the call made about those fouls. I would have called G45 for sure on the red alliance.

badger3.14

14-04-2012, 15:40

Unbelievable. Not sure what to say about the call made about those fouls. I would have called G45 for sure on the red alliance.

the rule G45 mentions rule G44, and G28 is an exception to G44

dodar

14-04-2012, 15:40

Unbelievable. Not sure what to say about the call made about those fouls. I would have called G45 for sure on the red alliance.

It should have been a 49 point penalty on 1218.

sportzkrazzy

14-04-2012, 15:42

Idk.

George A.

14-04-2012, 15:42

Unbelievable. Not sure what to say about the call made about those fouls. I would have called G45 for sure on the red alliance.

Coming from your announcer, our head ref Sunny called Aiden during lunch and asked him about that exact scenario. Aiden informed him that if a redbot is in contact with the bride and then makes contact with an opposing robot it is 3 points per contact.

bduddy

14-04-2012, 15:42

Coming from your announcer, our head ref Sunny called Aiden during lunch and asked him about that exact scenario. Aiden informed him that if a redbot is in contact with the bride and then makes contact with an opposing robot it is 3 points per contact.But at some point, doesn't racking up penalties violate [G45]?

Grim Tuesday

14-04-2012, 15:43

It should have been a 49 point penalty on 1218.

I'm going to try and not clutter this thread with discussion of this issue and refer you to this one (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1157767#post1157767), about where the same situation occured but the opposite call was made. Were they right? I think the GDC should make a ruling and wouldn't be surprised if they're on the phone right now.

Brandon Holley

14-04-2012, 15:43

Coming from your announcer, our head ref Sunny called Aiden during lunch and asked him about that exact scenario. Aiden informed him that if a redbot is in contact with the bride and then makes contact with an opposing robot it is 3 points per contact.

Precedent from last weekend in Queen City is contradictory to that call.

dodar

14-04-2012, 15:44

But at some point, doesn't racking up penalties violate [G45]?

Nope, some team at CVR racked up 63 points in penalties in 1 match.

badger3.14

14-04-2012, 15:45

But at some point, doesn't racking up penalties violate [G45]?

the rule G45 mentions rule G44, and G28 is an exception to G44.

Grim Tuesday

14-04-2012, 15:46

So the question is: Were they taking advantage of the exception and thus in violation of [G45]?

Looks like the call will stand.

dodar

14-04-2012, 15:47

So the question is: Were they taking advantage of the exception and thus in violation of [G45]?

Looks like the call will stand.

No, they were trying to triple balance for the win.

Grim Tuesday

14-04-2012, 15:52

No, they were trying to triple balance for the win.

But their actions were ramming and sandwiching 1218 to get them 8 fouls.

dodar

14-04-2012, 15:53

But their actions were ramming and sandwiching 1218 to get them 8 fouls.

And 1218 couldn't have driven away from the red bridge?

bduddy

14-04-2012, 15:55

And 1218 couldn't have driven away from the red bridge?Is there a rule that says they have to?

dodar

14-04-2012, 15:56

Is there a rule that says they have to?

Was their match goal to get 28 points in penalties?

bduddy

14-04-2012, 16:07

Was their match goal to get 28 points in penalties?The fact remains that it wasn't their own actions that caused those penalties, it was the actions of the other alliance. If [G45] wasn't intended to apply to that kind of scenario, what it is supposed to apply to?

dodar

14-04-2012, 16:08

The fact remains that it wasn't their own actions that caused those penalties, it was the actions of the other alliance. If [G45] wasn't intended to apply to that kind of scenario, what it is supposed to apply to?

it was their own actions, they parked in front of 341 in between them and the bridge. G28 also says there should have been a TF for consequential contact, i.e. instant 49 points for repetitive contact with the bridge.

chris1592

14-04-2012, 16:10

The fact remains that it wasn't their own actions that caused those penalties, it was the actions of the other alliance. If [G45] wasn't intended to apply to that kind of scenario, what it is supposed to apply to?

G45 states: Strategies exploiting Rule [G44] are not in the spirit of the FRC and are not allowed.
Violation: Technical-Foul and Red Card

G44: Generally, a rule violation by an Alliance that was directly caused by actions of the opposing Alliance will not be penalized. Rule [G28] is an exception to this rule.

and G28:
Robots may not touch an opponent Robot in contact with its Key, Alley, or Bridge.
Violation: Foul; Technical-Foul for purposeful, consequential contact.

EricH

14-04-2012, 16:16

Game - The Game » Robot-Robot Interaction » G28
Q. Is a strategy to exploit G28 considered to be a strategy to exploit G44 which would be a technical foul and red card according to G45?
A. Yes.

Game - The Game » Penalties » G45
Q. Red robot is in its key lining up to shoot. Blue robot approaches close to red robot to block the shot. Red robot intentionally pushes blue robot back to clear the way for its shot, contacting blue robot while red robot is still in contact with its key. Is this a violation of [G45]?
A. We cannot make a definitive statement on a hypothetical situation, and the final decision on violations of Game Rules is left to the Head Referee at each event. However, generally, if a Robot is attempting to play the game, not simply create Fouls for the opposing Alliance, Rule [G45] will not be violated.

That is what the Q&A has to say on this matter (or a related one).

If it was a strategy to rack up the penalties, [G45]. However, if a robot seems to be trying to play the game, say by knocking another robot away from the bridge, then that's not a strategy to rack up penalties, and no [G45]. YMTC. (And please let the refs at the event do the same--it's their call that counts.)

bduddy

14-04-2012, 16:18

it was their own actions, they parked in front of 341 in between them and the bridge. G28 also says there should have been a TF for consequential contact, i.e. instant 49 points for repetitive contact with the bridge.But the direct cause of those penalties was the driving of the red alliance - if they had gone at the bridge from the other side, for example, there would have been no penalties. Also, [G28] assigns Technical Fouls only for purposeful, consequential contact, and this was not purposeful. Not really sure where you're getting the 49 points from, because the extra 40 points would come from [G25], which you can definitely not be forced into committing...

dodar

14-04-2012, 16:24

But the direct cause of those penalties was the driving of the red alliance - if they had gone at the bridge from the other side, for example, there would have been no penalties. Also, [G28] assigns Technical Fouls only for purposeful, consequential contact, and this was not purposeful. Not really sure where you're getting the 49 points from, because the extra 40 points would come from [G25], which you can definitely not be forced into committing...

If you read the italicized print from G25 you'd see that it reads: Techincal-Foul, if the act of balancing is interfered with, also a red Card with the bridge will be counted as balanced with the maximum number of robots possible for that match. They interfered with the act of balancing. This defines what happened in that match.

Grim Tuesday

14-04-2012, 16:25

If you read the italicized print from G25 you'd see that it reads: Techincal-Foul, if the act of balancing is interfered with, also a red Card with the bridge will be counted as balanced with the maximum number of robots possible for that match. They interfered with the act of balancing. This defines what happened in that match.

Aah, but the G28 exception from G44 doesn't apply to G25.

dodar

14-04-2012, 16:28

Because it doesn't matter. If it happens it gets the penalty called no matter what.

Grim Tuesday

14-04-2012, 16:30

Because it doesn't matter. If it happens it gets the penalty called no matter what.

[G44]
Generally, a rule violation by an Alliance that was directly caused by actions of the opposing Alliance will not be penalized. Rule [G28] is an exception to this rule.

We are talking about the same rule, right? G25 (the bridge rule) falls under the jurisdiction of G44.

dodar

14-04-2012, 16:35

We are talking about the same rule, right? G25 (the bridge rule) falls under the jurisdiction of G44.

Q. Does rule G25 apply at all times? What happens if a robot is pinned against an opponents bridge (does rule G44 apply)?

A. Yes, Rule [G25] applies throughout the Match. The Referee will determine if Rule [G44] applies given the exact circumstances.

EricH

14-04-2012, 16:37

Q. Does rule G25 apply at all times? What happens if a robot is pinned against an opponents bridge (does rule G44 apply)? FRC3005 2012-01-11

A. Yes, Rule [G25] applies throughout the Match. The Referee will determine if Rule [G44] applies given the exact circumstances.
And what does [G44] say? Generally, a team can't be forced into a penalty. If they were pushed up the bridge, I'd definitely call that forced into a penalty.

Foster

14-04-2012, 17:43

Well, awards went *really* well for me. Hard to believe it still, thanks everyone for the kind words.

Congrats!! It was a surprise to me, I thought you had already won one of those. Well done sir, well done.

nahstobor

14-04-2012, 17:44

Well since no one has said this yet, congratulations to teams 341, 25, and 1640 for winning the first MAR championship. There was only one playoff match where this alliance scored less than 100 points :eek: .

Deetman

14-04-2012, 19:08

Congrats to 341, 25, and 1640 for a truly impressive set of elimination matches and for winning the MAR Championship.

All the teams in the elimination rounds really stepped up their games and created some of the most exciting elimination rounds I've seen in person.

Congrats to both 75 and 433 for their well deserved MAR Chairman's Awards.

jblay

14-04-2012, 19:13

Congrats to 75 and 433 for winning the chairman's awards. From your videos I can tell that you both have accomplished quite a bit.

341, 25, 1640 was quite an alliance to watch. That triple balance with brakes was weird wild stuff. Your alliance would have the strength to challenge any alliance that will be on Einstein that's how deep MAR was.

Congrats to 1676 and 2016 for making it to championship. I actually watched the award ceremonies in the webcast to find out if these two teams would make it, because championship wouldn't be right without your two awesome robots, I will see you guys in St. Louis.

Deetman

14-04-2012, 19:29

Grim Tuesday

14-04-2012, 19:39

I'd give it to the 341, 25, 1640 alliance. They made quite the team and a congratulations is very due. 341 is arguably the best robot in FRC right now. Multiball auton? Check. 90+ accuracy in teleop? Check. Triple balance? Check. I could easily see this robot leading an alliance onto Einstein.

rocpe

14-04-2012, 20:41

Congratulations to Teams 341, 25 and 1640 for taking the MAR Championship. Special thanks to our alliance partners 365 and 222 for taking a chance on us. It was a pleasure being a "Moe"bot during our run to the semis. Your teams exhibited only grace and professionalism under pressure and in defeat. Your programs set a shining example that we hope our program can strive to emulate and develop into in the future.

scottandme

14-04-2012, 21:09

Did they calculate the 5 teams by points correctly? Some kind soul updated my spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqCax1FanfCIdEtYalQyUkVNVlpMY3Y1YVpMQURnY 0E, which seems correct at first glance.

The 5 teams by points should be:

1218 (then skip 365 and 222)
1676
2180
2016 (then skip 2590)
486

I may be forgetting the order, but I thought they announced: 1218, 1676, 486, 357, 2016 - and then 56 & 2180 as 6 and 7.

Are there errors on the sheet or incorrect numbers there?

dodar

14-04-2012, 21:11

No, they skipped 357 because they had already qualifyied by winning DC.

Foster

14-04-2012, 21:14

Heard an interesting discussion come up down by the field during the finals. MAR champs vs. FiM champs at IRI. 341, 25, and 1640 vs 67, 469, 830. Don't know if it could happen but it would be quite a match.

Well there is always lunchtime the first day at IRI. :rolleyes: Lots of time for a best two out of three....

ENeyman

14-04-2012, 21:17

I am pretty sure I remember them announcing 357 as one of those teams. I could be mistaken, but I remember thinking, "wait, didn't they already qualify at DC regional?" Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

AGPapa

14-04-2012, 22:25

DonRotolo

14-04-2012, 22:26

1676 looked dominant when it played but appeared to have communication issues. Can someone clarify exactly what was going wrong?I can try. We would lose comms, the lights on the radio were solid blue (not flickering), the RSL never missed a beat, and the cRio was up and happy every time an FTA could see the lights.

We changed radios several times, radio power supplies (and all related wiring), ethernet cables, redeployed code, re imaged the cRio, cyt the frame rate on the camera again (to 10) and a whole bunch of other things - basically, anything anyone suggested.

Here's the exact scenario, which is 100% repeatable: We power on, connect to the field, then after ~1 minute, we lose comms. Reboot the cRio, wait another ~1 minute, lose comms again. Reboot again, and comms stay solid forever. We were 100% successful with this once we stumbles upon it mid-dat Friday.

We had at least 5 FTAs look it over, and we couldn't nail it down to anything specific.

I have to call out Pete K especially for his HUGE efforts in helping us troubleshoot this thing. He graciously stayed late Thursday and ran a match for us 3 or 4 times, and graciously agreed to let us run a match with 6 robots Saturday morning (the bots were on carts, not on the field, but we were trying to ensure the wireless was properly loaded). The NI guy, and several others all gave it a great shot, but Pete was our hero for the MAR Region Championship.

From what we learned, we think we'll be able to duplicate the field conditions at home and use a packet sniffer (again) to see what's really going on.

I'm not convinced it is a field problem, but more likely a problem in our bot that makes us more sensitive to something in the field. The fact that we never failed as red but always failed as Blue is suspicious. Especially when several teams also failed as blue.

Now this bug is getting personal, we're going to find it and fix it - but maybe not in time for St Louis.

MOEhat

14-04-2012, 22:28

nuggetsyl

14-04-2012, 22:44

Thank you to 341 and 1640. I do not think you will find a alliance to triple balance faster. Look forward to seeing you both at champs.

Ryan Dognaux

15-04-2012, 02:17

They definitely called 357. I was (and am) confused too.

They did call our team number even though we had qualified already by winning the DC regional. Since we had already qualified, one would assume our spot would be passed to the next MAR team in line. Though I'm not sure if our DC qualifiation would have any bearing on our MAR qualifation. Regardless, we are not attending the championship event this year, and we wish 56 and/or 2180 good luck! Both teams built great quality machines that will represent the region well.

I want to say thanks to 1089 for picking us and thanks to 816 for joining the #3 alliance. Unfortunately we had issues in our second QF match, sometimes things just go wrong at the worst possible moment. That's FIRST. However, I'm still glad we were scouted as an accurate shooter even if our ranking wasn't showing it.

Great job to 365, 222 and 1626 for playing some great matches, a true quality alliance.

1218 - we are extremely happy that you qualified for the championship event! Good luck in St. Louis!

3929 - the whole team was ecstatic when you won the Rookie All Star award. You have had a heck of a rookie season, good luck at the championship and keep the momentum going into next year!

341, 25 & 1640 - the most impressive play I have seen this year. Good luck in St. Louis as well, I expect to see one of these teams in the finals of their division.

All in all, a VERY competitive district championship. In the years to come, I think we will see teams only improving and growing stronger due to the district model. Here's to a great season and good luck to all the MAR teams who will be competing at the Championship event!

DELurker

15-04-2012, 06:33

They did call our team number even though we had qualified already by winning the DC regional. Since we had already qualified, one would assume our spot would be passed to the next MAR team in line. Though I'm not sure if our DC qualifiation would have any bearing on our MAR qualifation. Regardless, we are not attending the championship event this year, and we wish 56 and/or 2180 good luck! Both teams built great quality machines that will represent the region well.

Basically, they took the "registered for Championships" list and eliminated any teams that were on that list. Since 357 has not yet registered, they were eligible for the 5 wild-card slots at MAR.

DELurker

15-04-2012, 06:38

From what we learned, we think we'll be able to duplicate the field conditions at home and use a packet sniffer (again) to see what's really going on.

I'm not convinced it is a field problem, but more likely a problem in our bot that makes us more sensitive to something in the field. The fact that we never failed as red but always failed as Blue is suspicious. Especially when several teams also failed as blue.

Now this bug is getting personal, we're going to find it and fix it - but maybe not in time for St Louis.

Team 1370 would like to help you guys out some more in tracking down this problem. If you need anything or want to get another bot group together on your simulated field, please let us know.

bjbmcd

15-04-2012, 08:12

Scott. Thanks for the ranking spreadsheet. You asked "Are there errors on the sheet or incorrect numbers there?" I believe 3974 should have 4 championship award points. 2 for Highest Rookie Seed Award and 2 for Rookie Inspiration Award.

Team 3974 (E=mCD) would like to thank everyone from the MAR District for making our rookie season terrific. The GP shown by all the teams was incredible. One question we heard many, many times at the events was “What does the mCD stand for". It is short hand for our school name Bishop McDevitt.

Siri

15-04-2012, 09:04

First and foremost from 1640, many thanks and congratulations to all the awesome volunteers that ensured the MAR Championship and MAR in general had a great first year!

And of course huge, huge (did I say huge?) thanks to 341 and 25 for entrusting us with this job. I cannot articulate how honored any of us are. Despite our scoring issues in quals, we always love contributing our flexibility to an alliance of such astounding capability and strategic insight. Plus, triple balancing rocks! :) Thank you again, and we can't wait to see you at champs.

Also, congratulations to Don Rotolo on a well-deserved WFFA. From what I've heard (apologies for missing our discussion in the whirlwind of mentoring 1640's pit and field crew through a rather abnormal weekend), there's no one better to represent MAR for this year's WFA. And many congratulations to 1676 as a whole on their well-deserved slot to Worlds! We hope to see you there.

My hats off to 1218, 2180 and 2016 (2016 as a 2nd pick!? Only at MAR) as well. You gave us a very serious run for our money in the Finals, especially on the triples. I could not be happier that all of you made Worlds, and I think it's a testament to how well the MAR/FiM system works that this is possible. It was very odd being on the other side of the glass from 1218; what a season!

And of course we'd be remiss in overlooking the huge accomplishments of 3929 (RAS--I've never met a better rookie), and 433 and 75 (RCA), as well as 3142 (EI). I didn't quite fathom the depth of MAR until I realized all the great teams in contention for these awards. Though just so you know, Firebirds, I think you're going every year until you take it all. :)

Finally, my personal congratulations to 365, 222 and 1626. Watching the MOE streak break is difficult for me even in this case. Let me say that your alliance was utterly impressive all through elims, and we were definitely concerned about how finals with you would've played out. You're a fantastic alliance and fantastic teams, and best of luck to MOE and Tigertrons at Worlds. You'll certainly be great, and we hope to play with (not so much against...) you there.

----

:yikes: On a more practical note, we're leaving for St. Louis next Wednesday. Wow. So to all those amazing teams in our area also going...anyone have any unused cargo space or seats? We're definitely not as ready for this as we need to be. I don't even know our exact head count quite yet, but offers (specifically cargo space; I suspect most members will fly) are very, very much appreciated.

Jared Russell

15-04-2012, 09:33

Now that the first season of Mid-Atlantic Robotics is in the books I can come out and say it - from Week 1 at Hatboro-Horsham through Week 7 at the Region Championship, my expectations have been consistently surpassed. These events have run EXTREMELY smoothly, and you can already see what the extra competition and unbagging time has done for the level of competition in our region!

There are many thanks and congratulations to give out:

Thanks to 25 and 1640 for being amazing alliance partners! What is scary is that we were putting up 100+ consistently with PLENTY of room for improvement.

25 - Your driver and drive team are the definition of clutch, and your locking drive train was a huge part of why our triple balances were so quick and painless. You were a pleasure to work with in the booth - let's do it again some time soon :)

1640 - We were ecstatic that you were still available! Yes, there were higher scoring teams still on the board, but no one else could come close to your versatility (blocking the inbounder slot, crossing the barrier effortlessly, feeding balls, contributing a couple shots, and your swerve drive helped to ensure easy triples!)

Our finals opponents 1218, 2180, and 2016 gave us huge scares in both Finals rounds!

1218 - You are my favorite team in FRC. You were able to overcome some setbacks during qualifications and selections to assemble quite an impressive display of firepower! Nobody was cheering harder than I when it was announced that you had qualified for Championships. Can't wait to see and talk to you there!

2180 - Great, great robot! It is always a hard fought match when we line up across from you.

2016 - Similar to 1218, I was ecstatic when you guys qualified for the big show. Congratulations!

365 - We have now played 70 rounds of Rebound Rumble, and only saw you ONCE on the field! I don't know why the scheduling gods have conspired to keep us apart this year, but hopefully in St. Louis and the offseason we will actually get to play on the same side for once!

3929 - Congratulations on RAS! I cannot believe you guys are rookies. See you in St. Louis!

75 and 433 - Congrats on Chairman's! Those videos were impressive.

3142 - Congrats on EI! A huge accomplishment for a relatively young team in our ancient region!

Don Rotolo - Count me among those who thought, "what, he hasn't already won WFFA?" It was great to finally meet you in person and I look forward to getting to know you better over the coming years :)

........

Miss Daisy is battered, bruised, and scarred from 70 hard-fought qualification and elimination matches, but she is ready and raring to go for the World Championship in St. Louis. We will do our best to represent the Mid-Atlantic Region and try to bring home some more hardware! Thank you to ALL of our competitors and partners during this Regional/District season: Each of you has helped us to learn how to use our machine more effectively, and has provided inspiration to drive our continuous improvement process.

The Miss Daisy robot that we put on the field is truly a reflection on all of you.

waitwhat?

15-04-2012, 09:52

Team 869 would like to congratulate the winning alliance of 341, 25, and 1640. Your team was absolutely phenomenal and it seems like MAR will be very well represented this year in Champs.

Team 341, for what its worth, we just wanted to thank you guys specifically for taking the time out to try the triple with us a couple times on the practice field, even though we didn't get a chance to try it in competition, it was still an exciting experience. I would also like to thanks you guys for playing against us in one of the most exciting matches of my F.I.R.S.T. career.

At the same time, team 869 would like to thank our alliance partners, 2590 and 486 for taking a chance and picking us! Wish we could've gone farther but it was still a hell of a ride!

scottandme

15-04-2012, 10:15

Basically, they took the "registered for Championships" list and eliminated any teams that were on that list. Since 357 has not yet registered, they were eligible for the 5 wild-card slots at MAR.

That's what I assumed, just because they deferred at some point (which MAR may/may not have known), doesn't mean they would necessarily defer again.

Can anyone else confirm my memory of the teams announced yesterday? My numbers and the MAR list don't agree, and no final numbers have been posted on the MAR site.

From the crowdsourced data here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqCax1FanfCIdEtYalQyUkVNVlpMY3Y1YVpMQURnY 0E#gid=20

1. 1218 (skip 365, skip 222)
2. 1676
3. 2180
4. 2016 (skip 2590)
5. 486 (skip 272)
6. 357
7. 11
8. 56

What I thought was announced at the MAR Awards: (may have swapped 56 and 2180), but I'm fairly positive 2016 was the #5 spot.

1. 1218
2. 1676
3. 486
4. 357
5. 2016
6. 56
7. 2180

There are some big differences here, which seem to significantly impact 2180 and 56.

ZeroGAdam

15-04-2012, 10:18

That's what I assumed, just because they deferred at some point (which MAR may/may not have known), doesn't mean they would necessarily defer again.

Can anyone else confirm my memory of the teams announced yesterday? My numbers and the MAR list don't agree, and no final numbers have been posted on the MAR site.

From the crowdsourced data here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqCax1FanfCIdEtYalQyUkVNVlpMY3Y1YVpMQURnY 0E#gid=20

1. 1218 (skip 365, skip 222)
2. 1676
3. 2180
4. 2016 (skip 2590)
5. 486 (skip 272)
6. 357 (skip 11)
7. 56

What I thought was announced at the MAR Awards: (may have swapped 56 and 2180), but I'm fairly positive 2016 was the #5 spot.

1. 1218
2. 1676
3. 486
4. 357
5. 2016
6. 56
7. 2180

There are some big differences here, which seem to significantly impact 2180 and 56.

There was a scoring error in the Unofficial MAR ranks... We were contacted today and were told that we qualified. I suspect that they forgot to add in 60 points to our score for finishing as finalists. This would only effect us and not 1218 nor 2016... Everything has been worked out now...

galewind

15-04-2012, 10:22

Awesome! Congrats 2180!! I was hoping you'd qualify!!

scottandme

15-04-2012, 10:29

There was a scoring error in the Unofficial MAR ranks... We were contacted today and were told that we qualified. I suspect that they forgot to add in 60 points to our score for finishing as finalists. This would only effect us and not 1218 nor 2016... Everything has been worked out now...

Awesome to hear that they caught it. Congrats!

It looks like we'll have 26! teams at the championship event assuming the CA/EI/RAS teams attend. Seeing over a quarter of the teams in MAR at the championship event is going to be amazing. I'm excited to see the field assignments.

Already registered: 341,365,222,2590,272,1403,103,816,1391,714,1647,31 42,555,1143,41,293

Waiting to register/pay FIRST: 25,1640,75,3929,433,1218,1676,2180,2016,486

ZeroGAdam

15-04-2012, 10:40

Awesome! Congrats 2180!! I was hoping you'd qualify!!

Thanks Mr. Gregory!!! I was hoping that you guys were going to qualify with us, and I was disappointed when I saw your alliance get knocked out in the quarters...

Thanks for all of the help over the weekend, we would not be where we are without the help of your team!!!!

-Adam Cyran
Team Captain FRC 2180

Lil' Lavery

15-04-2012, 11:43

115 and 108 in consecutive matches is just unbelievable and to be able to triple balance that smoothly w/o a birdge balancer is amazing alliance selection.
341 used their piston/"stinger" in every balancing attempt I watched from the blue alliance side of the field. I assume they used it in the ones I watched from the red alliance side of the field, as well.

Nope, some team at CVR racked up 63 points in penalties in 1 match.
That was 63 of penalty points for the other alliance. It wasn't forcing an opponent into 63 points of penalties. Not a [G44] scenario.

And 1218 couldn't have driven away from the red bridge?
341 had a position that effectively "pinned" them into the corner (without actually pinning them).

If you read the italicized print from G25 you'd see that it reads: Techincal-Foul, if the act of balancing is interfered with, also a red Card with the bridge will be counted as balanced with the maximum number of robots possible for that match. They interfered with the act of balancing. This defines what happened in that match.
In my mind, the "act of balancing" only occurs once robots are on the bridge and attempting to balance. Perhaps there was a Q&A that further clarified this.

Jared Russell

15-04-2012, 12:03

We did use our stinger in all 5 of our triple balances. But a huge part of being able to do it so quickly was due to 25 and 1640. 25's locking drivetrain effectively eliminates the problem of overshoot, and 1640's swerve ensures that they stay straight on the bridge even when they are in the middle of the "sandwich".

The question of how to officiate defense against the triple balance is definitely an interesting one, as it has had major roles in the outcomes of this event, MSC, and the Queen City Regional. I know that the MAR referee crew had talked to Aiden about this exact situation prior to occurring, so I have complete confidence that the way it was officiated at this event will be consistent with how it is officiated going forward. A team update or message from the GDC to confirm this would be appreciated, however.

Robotmmm

15-04-2012, 12:03

From the crowdsourced data here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...RnY 0E#gid=20

1. 1218 (skip 365, skip 222)
2. 1676
3. 2180
4. 2016 (skip 2590)
5. 486 (skip 272)
6. 357 (skip 11)
7. 56

Can someone explain to me what this means? Why are the teams in parentheses skipped?

Lil' Lavery

15-04-2012, 12:07

Jared Russell

15-04-2012, 12:13

Because they had already registered for Championship or qualified via winning the MAR Chairman's award.

How did 11 already qualify?

dodar

15-04-2012, 12:18

How did 11 already qualify?

They aren't. The FIRST website doesnt have them registered for Champs yet.

Robotmmm

15-04-2012, 12:23

Exactly. As far as they know, they are not going. As I read the stats they have more points than 56. I am confused.

Lil' Lavery

15-04-2012, 12:25

How did 11 already qualify?

I'm sorry, you are correct. Had them and 75 mixed up in my head for a moment (as the two Chairman's winners of MAR districts I didn't attend). I, too, am unsure of why they are being "skipped" in the crowdsourced data.

rrossbach

15-04-2012, 12:36

Lil' Lavery

15-04-2012, 12:58

Anywho, on behalf of myself and 1712 I'd love to congratulate many on an awesome weekend and season.

341- What a truly special season for you guys. Thanks for the help you have provided us over the years, and it's awesome to see you take your game to the next level. A single point away from an undefeated weekend! Can't wait to see what you can accomplish at Championship. Thanks for the words of encouragement members of your team gave us at Hatboro and Philadelphia.

25 - We're glad you were able to rebound from our disappointing finish in Lenape. Absolutely brilliant performance by you over the course of the weekend, and you were definitely deserving of that #1 selection. Good luck in St. Louis!

1640 - Congratulations! You were a blast to sit near on Saturday, and we were thrilled that you guys ended up on your ideal alliance. We knew how worried some of you were by the final selection, and how exhilarating it is to be picked there.

357 - Terrific season by some of our best friends in FRC, and we're bummed you won't be in St. Louis. We were shocked by where you were ranked, and a little upset we contributed to it by losing as your alliance partners all the way back in match 3 (sorry we didn't have our bridge manipulator working for that match). But, despite that, you were still proven as a terrific scoring machine and very deserving of your early 1st round selection.

1089 - Congratulations on a well deserved GP award. Your team is awesome. Wish we could have played in a match together this weekend.

365 - Great season guys. Thankfully, our streak of annual quarterfinal match-ups is over. Hopefully we can align on the same side in eliminations sometime soon!

816 - If only we could have matched the success we found as qualification partners this year in the eliminations in the past two seasons (92 points in Lenape and a great win this weekend).

272 - Wow did you guys improve over the season! We were rooting for you to pull off what would have been an incredible upset in the semis, especially with quite an unorthodox triple balancing method. Wish both of our teams had been competing at this level while we were at Hatboro together (though we lost to not one, but two members of the #2 alliance at the MAR Championship by only a single ball). Great team and great friends. Hopefully we can re-unite in the eliminations again in the future.

433 and 75 - Congratulations to two incredibly deserving MARCA winners! 433 has been an inspiration to Dawgma for a while. We haven't had much interaction with 75 in the past, but your video demonstrated a truly quality program that should be emulated.

What an incredible experience to play at a championship event like this. 22 QP would have put us as the third seed at Hatboro back in week one, but was only good enough for 44th place this time around. A few poorly timed mistakes and failures really cost us at an event of this high stakes, but that's the nature of the game. We do feel that Dawgma proved itself worthy of the event with our performance on the field, even if we only made it in from the wait list. Can't wait to give it another run next season.

Mr MOE

15-04-2012, 13:02

Thanks to a well done inaugural FIRST MAR District Championship Event!

Thank you to all participating teams, event organizers, volunteers, and sponsors. Although we played in the Liacouras Center at Temple for a number of years when the event was the Philadelphia Regional, this event was different. It was the MAR Championship and it showed.

FRC Teams 75 and 433 - I am proud to have you both represent our district for the Chairman's Award. Two great teams and programs.

Team 3142 - Congratulations on your Engineering Inspiration Award! Keep inspiring!

Don Rotolo, FRC Team 1676 - it was an honor to announce your Woodie Flowers Award on Friday afternoon. You are so deserving. Congratulations! Also, a big thanks for the "Dream Team" of WFFA winners in our region get together for this award. I want a copy of that photo!

MAR Deans List finalists
Alexandra Sorge - 102
Steven Donow - 223
Margaret Mary Rilling - 433
Elizabeth Skeele - 75

Wow! You guys have done some fantastic things already in your FIRST careers. I'm looking forward to even more in future years. Way to go!

FRC Teams 341, 25, 1640 - What a Championship Alliance! You guys were a force! While our alliance was hoping to be playing against you, it sure was fun (and less stressful) watching your matches against some great finalists: FRC Teams 1218, 1280, and 2016.

FRC Teams 222 and 1626 - Thanks for some terrific alliance partnership! We were only a double balance away from the finals! Tigertrons, I believe this was our first alliance pairing during an official FIRST event - nice to finally be on the same side!

To all teams qualifying for the Championship Event - congratulations. For those going, it will be a week or so of scrambling and planning. I am looking forward to seeing you all in St Louis. All the best as you represent our region.

Go FIRST! Go MAR Region!

Akash Rastogi

15-04-2012, 13:48

scottandme

15-04-2012, 13:51

I'm sorry, you are correct. Had them and 75 mixed up in my head for a moment (as the two Chairman's winners of MAR districts I didn't attend). I, too, am unsure of why they are being "skipped" in the crowdsourced data.

Sorry, my fault, I swapped 75 and 11 in my mind, shouldn't post to CD just after waking up...

In the event any of 1218, 1676, 2180, 2016, or 486 passing on their spot, it would go 357 (already passed), 11, 56, 1279, etc, etc.

techhelpbb

15-04-2012, 14:11

They aren't. The FIRST website doesnt have them registered for Champs yet.

I wasn't aware that our team was planning on going to that at this time either.

I'm unclear if anyone clarified what the 'skipped' means.

Any ideas?

techhelpbb

15-04-2012, 14:17

Went 3 for 3 on Rookie All-Star awards, the kids really impressed the judges and other teams, we've made a strong reputation for ourselves as a team to watch for, got a visit from a PA congressman, and qualified for World Championships. Not too bad of a weekend but still disappointed in robot performance and missing elims, being a long bot stinks :p.

Thanks for the kind words and emails from various teams.

A huge round of applause to 341's alliance for the most exciting eliminations matches I've had the chance to see. I am really hoping to see you guys in the same division as us at Champs.

Congrats to 11 as well for a great season so far, hopefully it is not over for you yet. I was sad to not see you walk away with the Chairman's award.

One more thing: It was a little ridiculous to still see teams losing comms and stop moving at this event. It seemed to even happen in eliminations, aside from the issues 1676 already mentioned with their robot. Were the lost comms for other teams determined to be field related or robot related?

Where was this field from? Was it NYC/CT? Internal MAR field? Rutgers field?

I think Team 11 did wonderfully despite the communications issues that effected them and other teams.

It's my understanding that the field teams worked quite hard with Team 11 to diagnose the underlying issues and my deepest thanks to everyone that helped everyone to deal with it.

It seems the communication issues are a mix of problems many of them pointing back to things that adversly effect the power to the D-Link APs.

Some teams report replacing the PDB adddressed it, for Team 11 it seems to be the DC-DC converter.

I'm not convinced that there isn't a field related aspect to what's going on, but I haven't seen anything offical and I can't dig further till I can get my hands on that DC-DC converter.

Deetman

15-04-2012, 14:18

One more thing: It was a little ridiculous to still see teams losing comms and stop moving at this event. It seemed to even happen in eliminations, aside from the issues 1676 already mentioned with their robot. Were the lost comms for other teams determined to be field related or robot related?

Where was this field from? Was it NYC/CT? Internal MAR field? Rutgers field?

I was quite shocked to see the comms issues after seeing so few at Hatboro-Horsham, Chestnut Hill, and Lenape. They appeared to be pretty random throughout the event and didn't seem to plague any one team (1676 aside). 1712 had one issue where our driver station laptop wouldn't link up with the robot (FTA's classmate fixed that) but I'm 99% certain that it was on our side with the laptop. As I never spent any time troubleshooting an issue I'd be interested to hear from other teams that had issues and if they repeated or if it was just a one time occurrence.

I'm pretty sure that this was not the MAR field and was one of FIRST's. What other events the field was used at I do not know.

Also wanted to thank 869 for webcasting the event and recording it as well. It isn't broken up into easily digestible chunks yet, but if you missed any of the MAR Champs action it is available at http://www.twitch.tv/powercord869/videos?kind=past_broadcasts

Lil' Lavery

15-04-2012, 14:25

It was the FIRST field with sea green colored crates. Unsure of which events it was at previously.

nlknauss

15-04-2012, 15:30

My expectations for a District championship event have certainly been made after this event. Thank you to all of the teams who made the inaugural MAR Region Championship event one to remember. A huge thanks needs to be sent to the championship volunteers! You all are the best in supporting our teams and the event

Congrats to teams 433 and 75 on your Chairman's Award win. I am sure you all will represent the MAR region well in STL as you look to become the 4th team in our region to join the FIRST HoF.

Best of luck to team 3142 for the Engineering Excellence, 3929 for the Rookie All-star Award, and all of the other qualifying teams moving on to World Championships. Compete like crazy and have fun!

To Don R from 1676 and all of the Dean's List Finalists, thank you for being the role models to our students and mentors. You all certainly those we should be looking up to as leaders within the FIRST community.

Our championship volunteers of the year, Ed Petrillo and Frank Larkin, you both sincerely rock! Your dedication to the teams in our region and leadership in kicking off the District model was huge. THANK YOU

On behalf of the Storm Robotics Team, thank you to all teams for your support and enthusiasm. Our students and mentors greatly appreciate being a part of this FIRST community and look forward to everything the future brings in our region.

No, I /animate/

15-04-2012, 16:14

I have to say, I've never been to a more INTENSE regional. Between all the close matches, the triple balances, and the last minute scoring, I was on the edge of/out of my seat the entire time.

Mad props to the human player from 75 who won a qualifier by one point by throwing a basket from the feeder station. :)

DonRotolo

15-04-2012, 17:10

(2016 as a 2nd pick!? Only at MAR) Indeed.
Now that the first season of Mid-Atlantic Robotics is in the books I can come out and say it - from Week 1 at Hatboro-Horsham through Week 7 at the Region Championship, my expectations have been consistently surpassed. Re-quoted for truth
In the event any of 1218, 1676, 2180, 2016, or 486 passing on their spot, it would go 357 (already passed), 11, 56, 1279, etc, etc.1676 is definitely going.

Cory

15-04-2012, 19:45

The Lucas

15-04-2012, 20:06

One more thing: It was a little ridiculous to still see teams losing comms and stop moving at this event. It seemed to even happen in eliminations, aside from the issues 1676 already mentioned with their robot. Were the lost comms for other teams determined to be field related or robot related?

Where was this field from? Was it NYC/CT? Internal MAR field? Rutgers field?

The field was not the "MAR Field" and I believe the same one as Rutgers (Chestnut Hill had the MAR field that week).

From what I heard from some of the Field Crew, at least 2 of the Elim issues were bad batteries, and at least 1 was watchdog. Remember to have several batteries fully charged before Elims, because the matches come fast.

Since Fridays are a slow day for RI, I usually try to watch for robot control issues (not limited to "dead bots", including mechanism malfunctions) and provide in pit advice. Most of what I saw was cut and dry cRIO and Radio reboots. Reminder: secure those radio power cables with tape or ties, it was not rated for going over the bump ;)

galewind

15-04-2012, 20:30

We blew a jag, which caused our system to go batty...

My HYPOTHESIS is that since it was on our CAN network, it caused our 2CAN to go haywire, which caused it to stop responding. This caused (or something else caused) the cRio to max out its CPU cycles and stopped responding.

In the meantime, our turret (which is on a separate victor) started turning, and the system wasn't watching our potentiometer voltage go beyond its desired limit. Thus, we sheared our turret belt and the potentiometer coupling (just a piece of surgical tubing).

When 1089 goes down, it's often in a blaze of glory. We always have an issue in eliminations when it matters most. It's been affectionately referred to as "The 1089 Curse"

I do, though, want to give a huge thanks to 357 and 816 for being such awesome and understanding alliance partners. It would've been awesome to pull that triple balance off in the match.

ks_mumupsi

15-04-2012, 20:33

I have been following this thread with regards to the penalties or no penalties, I believe the refs made the best calls they could given the circumstances. I don't think any members of our alliance would disagree with that.

I would like to congratulate 341 again, they have built a world class robot this year. Their partners 25 and 1640 were no slouches in their respective rights, each deserving the championship they earned. Each of them brought a great set of strengths. Congrats on the first MAR championship.

I would like to thank 1218 for picking us, our whole team turned around to see who was shouting our number because we thought it was our kids for a second. We really were very surprised, when we didnt get picked in the first round but I think we as a team know and understand why, the robot really did not perform to the levels its expected to in quals, fortunately we got that fixed in elims I think. I dont think we could have asked for better partners than 1218 and 2180 to put us in the finals. The three robots really gave us a huge advantage of having 3 really solid scorers.

I would like to make a special mention to team 3929 for putting together a great team and they are definitely no rookies to be passed up as such, I was extremely happy to see them qualify for nationals with RAS.

Congrats to all the other award winners and point qualifiers, I look forward to seeing many of the teams in St.Louis.

See you all in another week.

Steven Donow

15-04-2012, 21:19

Any idea when the matches beyond 41 will be posted?

Thanks for putting everything up.

http://www.twitch.tv/powercord869/b/314953823
This video is all of Saturday, including the awards ceremony. Videos at the bottom of the page include the rest of the matches, although post match 41 are not split up.

In regards to connection issues(we lost comm a couple times during our matches, sometimes it was mysterious, one time it was a motor on fire :yikes: ), one thing an NI rep suggested to us as a potential problem was that our cRIO was running at 100% CPU usage the entire time. This even went on at the Rutgers and Lenape districts, only we never had a problem (except for one loss of comm at Rutgers). Upon doing some things to fix this, we were running much better,, but many connection problems I saw this weekend were just plain mysterious.

But on a much, much more positive note, thanks to everyone for the Dean's List congratulations, it's a truly amazing honor, and I'll be writing up a larger "thank you/congratualtions" post (hopefully) sometime tomorrow.

DonRotolo

15-04-2012, 21:28

one time it was a motor on fire :yikes:
You guys really do that that "Extreme Heat" thing seriously, dontcha? ;)

The Lucas

15-04-2012, 21:51

We blew a jag, which caused our system to go batty...

My HYPOTHESIS is that since it was on our CAN network, it caused our 2CAN to go haywire, which caused it to stop responding. This caused (or something else caused) the cRio to max out its CPU cycles and stopped responding.

In the meantime, our turret (which is on a separate victor) started turning, and the system wasn't watching our potentiometer voltage go beyond its desired limit. Thus, we sheared our turret belt and the potentiometer coupling (just a piece of surgical tubing).

When you attempt to use CAN to communicate to a blown Jag it blocks the thread until it timeout (default is 0.02sec which is 1 normal teleop cycle). I recommend running all CAN Network communications in separate threads for each mechanism and out of your main DS communication thread (so that it doesnt delay other functions waiting for a response). In Labview, this usually means placing these commands in separate loops in the Periodic Taks VI.

Clem1640

16-04-2012, 00:44

Thank you for your very kind words.

We hold tremendous respect for 2016. You guys rock! Your robot is consistently top of class.

I have been following this thread with regards to the penalties or no penalties, I believe the refs made the best calls they could given the circumstances. I don't think any members of our alliance would disagree with that.

I would like to congratulate 341 again, they have built a world class robot this year. Their partners 25 and 1640 were no slouches in their respective rights, each deserving the championship they earned. Each of them brought a great set of strengths. Congrats on the first MAR championship.

I would like to thank 1218 for picking us, our whole team turned around to see who was shouting our number because we thought it was our kids for a second. We really were very surprised, when we didnt get picked in the first round but I think we as a team know and understand why, the robot really did not perform to the levels its expected to in quals, fortunately we got that fixed in elims I think. I dont think we could have asked for better partners than 1218 and 2180 to put us in the finals. The three robots really gave us a huge advantage of having 3 really solid scorers.

I would like to make a special mention to team 3929 for putting together a great team and they are definitely no rookies to be passed up as such, I was extremely happy to see them qualify for nationals with RAS.

Congrats to all the other award winners and point qualifiers, I look forward to seeing many of the teams in St.Louis.

See you all in another week.

camtunkpa

16-04-2012, 07:45

Wow MAR championships had some exciting matches! As always thanks so much to the volunteers that make the event run smoothly.

Thanks to our partners 365 and 1626. We were very excited about having our first eliminations behind the glass with MOE. Top it off with 1626 and the ability to triple balance and there was much excitement. We only wish our shooter would have contributed more. We made big gamble installing a new shooter and just haven't had the seat time to get it working as well as our old shooter.

We played hard until the very end. 1218 2180 and 2016 clearly earned their spot in the finals.

341, 25 and 1640 congrats on your victory! I was glad to see 25 win their way to St. Louis.

What a great ending to the MAR district's 1st season.

See everyone in St. Louis...hopefully with an intelligent shooter.

thefro526

16-04-2012, 07:54

The inaugural MAR Championship is definitely going to go down in my mind as one of the most competitive events ever held in our Region. I believe that it proved that the District System does work as most, if not all teams were able to come out swinging and positively contribute to their alliances efforts.

Congrats to the winners 341, 25 and 1640. You guys can only be called a dream alliance. The fact that 1640 was left that late in the draft is simply astounding and the combination of 25 and 341 was just devastating. Going into MAR CMP I don't think anyone could have called you two getting together, but after seeing the results, I'd have to say it worked well.

On a more personal note, congrats to 3929 on RAS, it's been interesting watching you guys grow throughout the season, I really hope you make it to the CMP. (Especially Akash.... :P)

Finally, thanks to 341 and crew for 'adopting' me for the weekend. It was definitely a blast working with you guys, we'll have to do it again some time.

Carol

16-04-2012, 08:19

It was the FIRST field with sea green colored crates. Unsure of which events it was at previously.

The field used at Temple field was at Minnesota Week 5 and at Cincinnati Week 6.

Mr MOE

16-04-2012, 08:34

Went 3 for 3 on Rookie All-Star awards, the kids really impressed the judges and other teams, we've made a strong reputation for ourselves as a team to watch for, got a visit from a PA congressman, and qualified for World Championships.

Congrats to you Akash and 3929! I forgot to mention y'all in my earlier post. Awesome job this season! See you in St Louis.

Robotmmm

16-04-2012, 10:43

So happy for Team 11!!!

They just found out that 486 will not be using their spot and they indeed will be going to Champs!

GO MORT!!!

Akash Rastogi

16-04-2012, 10:47

So happy for Team 11!!!

They just found out that 486 will not be using their spot and they indeed will be going to Champs!

GO MORT!!!

That is the best news ever. :D

Will Andrews

16-04-2012, 10:53

Team 1218 would like to congratulate every team that competed this weekend at the MAR Championship. We were extremely impressed by the high level of play. What a great precedent for the future of our new district model.

We would also like to thank our partners 2180 and 2016. The seventh alliance rarely has such great talent available and picking up 2016 in the second round was a wonderful surprise. You guys were some of the best partners I've had a chance to play with in my time in this program. Our teams worked together extremely well from the modifications to 2016's machine to facilitate a triple with 2180 to 2180's selfless willingness to play defense in the majority of matches. It was truly an alliance.

We would also like to specifically congratulate the winning alliance of 341, 25, and 1640 for their win. Three great teams that were able to work together and show everyone what MAR is capable of with 115 points and time to spare. You guys are absolutely great competitors and we hope to be next to you rather than against you at the Championship.

See you guys in St. Louis!

Hallry

16-04-2012, 11:33

So happy for Team 11!!!

They just found out that 486 will not be using their spot and they indeed will be going to Champs!

GO MORT!!!

That's great news! Congrats MORT! We're so happy to be seeing you down there!

M-O-R-T MORT MORT MORT!!!

techhelpbb

16-04-2012, 11:49

So happy for Team 11!!!

They just found out that 486 will not be using their spot and they indeed will be going to Champs!

GO MORT!!!

Sweet!

Team memos need work ;)

aboppana

16-04-2012, 19:24

Team 1923 would like to thank everyone for making their experience at the 2012 Inaugural Mid-Atlantic Robotics Championship memorable. We had a great time and even though we didn't get to play in the eliminations, we still had loads of fun in all of the qualifying events.

We would like to especially thank Team 2016 for helping us out by letting us use their tools and helping us out whenever we needed to borrow their arbor press or their drill press. We couldn't have performed as well as we did without your help. Thank you so much and we hope we can be pit buddies again in a later competition!

We would also like to thank Team 1403 for helping us acquire a hex-cross section brace from the KOP that no one else had. Our battery had almost flown out of our robot when our robot got some air after a fall, and it took out our brace and sheared two bolts into it. They promised to get it out of their shop for us the next day, and we were surprised to see that they had tapped it and cut it to length as well! We couldn't have asked for more from this gracious team. Thank you so much!

We would also like to thank Team 11 for helping us solve our programming problems. We found ourselves dead-in-the-water after hybrid in one match, and we remembered that MORT had the same problem when we were allianced with them. We rushed over to their pit to ask for help, and they gladly looked over our code and pointed out some things that would prevent it. We knew we could trust them and sure enough, we were operational in teleop the next match. Thank you MORT!

Finally, we would like to thank the teams that triple-balanced with us. It gave us a feeling about the dynamics of our robot and how easy or how hard it can be to triple balance. Off the top of my head, we attemped to triple balance with 357, 3929, 341, 2016 and 869. It was great to triple balance with you guys and even though we never got to do it in a real match, it still gave us the piece of mind that we could triple balance.

Thank you to all the volunteers who made this event possible. We really appreciated every volunteer at the event, from the the quick unbagging process with a volunteer standing by our pit at the time we walked in to the quick and efficient number-based unloading process. Thank you for volunteering your time for us!

Thank you to all the other teams who graciously provided parts and help to us. And good luck to all the teams representing Mid-Atlantic Robotics in St. Louis! We really enjoyed this year's competition and are looking forward to next year's! See you guys at the offseasons! :D