BattleCry@WPI 14 - Reg Open 2-Apr 1200

[ColleenShaver]

BattleCry@WPI 14 with take place over 1.5 days on 17-18 May 2013 in Worcester, MA.

This 54-team event will include all the usual stuff...

Your $350 registration fee gets you:
An great two days of intense and fun matches
10 BC14 T-shirts
10 Friday night BBQ Dinners
10 Friday night Ice Cream Social Tickets
Unlimited access to the Friday R&R activities
10 Bagged lunches on Saturday
Guaranteed 7 qualification matches & a spot in the elimination matches

Tell your friends, tell your rivals, tell your neighboring rookie teams... we welcome and encourage everyone who is interested to sign up! However.. last year, registration filled in under 3 minutes!

Those who do not make the initial 54 will be placed on the Ready Reserves. EVERY YEAR we end up calling almost every team on the Ready Reserves looking for folks to play, especially for last minute drop-outs, so don't hesitate to register even if the 54 slots are full and expect that you will be called up.

To register, go to www.wpi.edu/+bc at 1200 on 2-Apr and click "Enter the Fray".

We are currently working on updating our website with an adjusted schedule (start times remain the same), elimination brackets, etc.

If you are interested in volunteering, we'd love to have your help as well! Sign up here http://www.tinyurl.com/bc14vols

See you at BC14!

[esquared]

10 Friday night Ice Cream Social Tickets
Unlimited access to the Friday R&R activities


Ice cream last year was great, but I think the real winner of Battlecry 13 was the Andy Grady/Jess Boucher $10,000 Pyramid-esque quiz show :)

[Jay O'Donnell]

Battlecry is one of the most well run robotics events out there. Great competition, fun elimination rounds, and a great Friday night social. Can't wait for it already! If your team isn't sure whether or not to sign up, believe me it is well worth it.

[PVCpirate]

I'm curious, do you have any idea how the 18 alliance tournament will be done? The only thing I can think of is having 2 "play-in" matchups among the bottom 4 seeds.

[ColleenShaver]

The formation of our 'eighth finals' is always dependent on data from the season. We evaluate regional events and the number of times the winner of the first match does or doesn't end up winning the set. This is why it changes year-to-year whether we play one, two, or best-of-3 matches in the eighth final.

Our current VISION (i.e. subject to change) for how the 18 alliances will play out is:
- 15 seed vs 18 seed play best 2-of-3 match set
- 16 seed vs 17 seed play best 2-of-3 match set
- Winners of those sets become the 15th and 16th seed
- Eighth finals are played 1v16, 2v15,... with a single match played to determine advancement
- Quarter, semis, and finals play out as normal in FIRST

[Francis-134]

Ice cream last year was great, but I think the real winner of Battlecry 13 was the Andy Grady/Jess Boucher $10,000 Pyramid-esque quiz show :)

Glad to see you like the game show, Eric! Andy and Jess put a lot of time into making it a fun time for everyone involved. I know that I have been looking forward to the FIRST Pyramid game for several years.

As the Director of Fun for BattleCry@WPI 14, I was wondering if anyone else had any other feedback on the team social from last year? We are always looking to improve the experience for teams and to make the event more fun than the year before!

[Koko Ed]

This could be my first 'full" Battlecry (fingers crossed. Hopefully the new car will co-operate with this intent) and I am looking forward to finally experiencing the full Battlecry experience.

[SarahBeth]

Had a blast at BattleCry last year, looking forward to it this year too. :)

[Chi Meson]

BattleCry is the Best, but here is a hint to all those new teams out there...

when registration opens, WAIT 5 MINUTES before hitting "enter the fray."

Trust me...:D

It goes without saying we have seen good luck and good times at WPI recently, but dang, it's the best day-and-a-half in FIRST Robotics.

[Brandon Zalinsky]

Yes! So excited for BattleCry- it always spawns some great rivalries and huge underdogs!

[ColleenShaver]

If you didn't catch Brian's sarcasm.. our registration tends to fill up quickly! Our slowest year took 30 mins to fill, and only because we accidentally forgot to announce what day/time it would open!

Last year, registration opened at 8AM. The 48th team registered at 8:02:13.9. The 49th team.. 8:02:14 (yes, we have to clock it in tenths of a second). If we had gone to 54 teams last year, like we are this year, it would have been full at 8:02:39.1

While some folks don't like the randomness/luck of this style of registration process, we'd rather that than us decide who should attend!

As an aside, the registration page turns on automatically at a designated time (1200 this year), but it usually takes until the end of that minute for it to actually show. So.. don't panic if it's 12:01 before the page shows for you.. it'll show at the same time for everyone.

www.wpi.edu/+bc (http://www.wpi.edu/+bc)

[Chi Meson]

If you didn't catch Brian's sarcasm.. our registration tends to fill up quickly!

Aw shucks!:cool:

[Chris is me]

Our current VISION (i.e. subject to change) for how the 18 alliances will play out is:
- 15 seed vs 18 seed play best 2-of-3 match set
- 16 seed vs 17 seed play best 2-of-3 match set
- Winners of those sets become the 15th and 16th seed
- Eighth finals are played 1v16, 2v15,... with a single match played to determine advancement
- Quarter, semis, and finals play out as normal in FIRST

Personally, I'd rather the 15v16 and 17v18 matches be single matches, and the eighth finals be the same best-in-two format of previous Battlecrys. Seems like potentially spending 75% as much time as the eighth finals on the four worst alliances wouldn't be the best to watch, and a single match to advance would be a lot of pressure.

That said, having more alliances, teams, and matches is a good no matter how you do it. Thanks!

[ColleenShaver]

Just a reminder that BC14 registration opens Tuesday at 1200! It fills fast!

http://www.wpi.edu/+bc

----

In response to doing best 2-of-3 in the eighth-finals, it actually has been quite a few years since we did that. Some years, we run 2 matches per alliance in the eighth-finals, either you win both or we do a combined score to move on. There simply isn't time to risk running 3 matches in the eighth-finals. However, we analyze the outcomes at regionals each year before we finalize our decision on one match vs two matches in the eighth. If there are lots of contested elims, we'd go for 2, otherwise we do 1.

We are also considering other options, like 1 match only, unless the score is closer than X pts in which case we'd play two.

The reason the 16th finals are being considered to get a best 2-of-3 format is because the closer the two alliances, the more evenly matched they tend to be and the more likely it is that the lower seed may win. We are constantly trying to balance the idea of fairness to the teams with the length of the day!

[Chris is me]

Sorry, I wasn't very clear: I meant the "best in two matches" play in the eighth finals similar to 2011, not "best two out of three"

I like the "1 match unless the score is within X points" idea.

[ColleenShaver]

Registration filled in one minute, 10 seconds. Still plenty of room on the Ready Reserves though so sign up!

http://www.wpi.edu/+bc

[Meshbeard]

Team 422 is very excited to be registered for BattleCry 14!

In the Operations Order, the dates are listed as May 18th and 19th. Is this a mistake, or is the front page (says May 17-18) in error?

We're going to do our best to make it up there either way!

[PVCpirate]

It always starts on Friday afternoon, and then runs all day Saturday. So it should be the 17-18th.

[Kims Robot]

Registration filled in one minute, 10 seconds. Still plenty of room on the Ready Reserves though so sign up!

WOW - I bet that is faster than most regionals!! Im not surprised, as this is definitely one of the most fun & exciting offseasons I've ever been too (sorry Rumble at the Rock in the hurricane still might take the cake!).

Is there a volunteer signup anywhere? or do we just email you Colleen? :-D

[Zuelu562]

Kim: http://www.tinyurl.com/bc14vols

Already signed up to volunteer and team is on Ready Reserve! SEE YOU THERE!!

[esquared]

That Ready Reserves list looks pretty stacked, I hope some of them are able to get in the competition. If so, we could end up with the best of WPI, GSR, BOS, and CT combined which would make for a verydeep field. And some incredible QF, SF, and Finals!

[ColleenShaver]

The Operations Order page has been updated with the correct dates/times. We are excited to have a team from VA join us, along with the many Northeast BC veterans and rookies!

We may never match Rumble at the Rock (I was there in the hurricane too!), but we do our best to make sure each team has a great time and we kick off the 'off-season' with a bang!

We always welcome experienced and non-experienced volunteers at our event. It's also a great way to get your feet wet and try out a volunteer position you may have interest in doing at an official FIRST event! To volunteer, sign up here http://www.tinyurl.com/bc14vols and our VC Ruth will contact you as we get closer to BC about your assigned position.

And Ready Reserves shouldn't fret.. we usually go several teams deep on the list to fill spots as we get closer to the event. As always, we ask Challenger teams to notify us as soon as possible if they run into a problem and cannot attend!

[plnyyanks]

I'm trying to decide if I want to volunteer, and 1124 is #2 on the Ready Reserves. BC13 was a blast last year, and I bet it'll be even better this summer. I can't wait!

[Chi Meson]

My heart was pounding out of my chest at 12:01, I must admit.

I truly hope that no one took my original post seriously! Remember the old days when it would take 20 minutes to fill up? Was that just 2 years ago?

[ColleenShaver]

I think that was 2-3 years ago Brian.. there was one year we accidentally forgot to announce to teams the time/day it opened. That year it took about 25 minutes to fill.

We hope that all team realize that BC14 isn't the only show in town.. there are plenty of wonderful New England and Northeast off-seasons (Beantown Blitz, Mayhem in Merrimack, Bash at the Beach, River Rage, Mainely Spirit, to name a few).

FRC190 hosts their 'Beginning of the Season (BotS)' at the beginning of May, because we consider the off-season events where the real fun begins! If your team does not attend a lot of off-seasons, we highly recommend it!

[Nathan Streeter]

1519 is very excited to be playing at Battlecry again!

I have two questions regarding the event...

First, where will the pits/field be located? In the same location it has in prior years (Harrington Auditorium) or the new Sports & Recreation Center?

Second, how close together are the 2 Bonus Circles? The rule change for Battlecry says they're located along the center line... and it mentions a single robot covering them both is worth 15 points, so I assume they're close together... Are they tangent to each other? 18" apart center-to-center?

Battlecry is always one of our favorite events (if not the favorite!)... Can't wait!

[ColleenShaver]

The pit/field setup will be similar to the WPI Regional. For those of you who did not attend the regional (not sure why this would happen).. the Playing Field will be in Harrington centered between the two sets of bleachers (yes, both sides are available for your viewing pleasure).

The Pits are located in the adjacent, level-access Sports & Rec Center.

As for the BC's.. they are located on the centerline, 15" apart center-to-center.

[BrendanB]

The pit/field setup will be similar to the WPI Regional. For those of you who did not attend the regional (not sure why this would happen).. the Playing Field will be in Harrington centered between the two sets of bleachers (yes, both sides are available for your viewing pleasure).

The Pits are located in the adjacent, level-access Sports & Rec Center.

As for the BC's.. they are located on the centerline, 15" apart center-to-center.

Thank you for the information!

Team 3467 is extremely excited for BC! Definitely a highlight event of the year for us now and one of my favorites! WPI really knows how to host an event!

[dsmoker]

I am happy to report that 558 will now be there - as the placebo bot, unless another team drops out. Either way, we're happy to head to back to WPI to play with our friends!:)

[Zuelu562]

My team (TerrorBots) will be there (as a competitor)! I will personally see you there with my 3rd year volunteering for this event, this year as Field Reset! SEE YOU ON FRIDAY!

[ColleenShaver]

Also.. the BC14 Trailer (https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=692920744402&saved) is ready!

We can't wait to see everyone at BattleCry@WPI 14 on May 17-18!

[Nathan Streeter]

The pit/field setup will be similar to the WPI Regional. For those of you who did not attend the regional (not sure why this would happen).. the Playing Field will be in Harrington centered between the two sets of bleachers (yes, both sides are available for your viewing pleasure).

The Pits are located in the adjacent, level-access Sports & Rec Center.

As for the BC's.. they are located on the centerline, 15" apart center-to-center.

Thanks for letting me know - I'll make sure the various groups on the team know where to be!

[who716]

cant wait for battle-cry only two days until we leave for it, after being finalist last year as an 11 seed anything can a will happen.

[Jay O'Donnell]

cant wait for battle-cry only two days until we leave for it, after being finalist last year as an 11 seed anything can a will happen.

That was perhaps one of the coolest robotics things ever! Glad to have worked with you and 175 on that alliance.

[who716]

That was perhaps one of the coolest robotics things ever! Glad to have worked with you and 175 on that alliance.

yeah, that was awesome, unfortunately I don't see buzz on the team list but im sure at some point we will cross paths on the field again.

[esquared]

yeah, that was awesome, unfortunately I don't see buzz on the team list but im sure at some point we will cross paths on the field again.

With so many of the CT teams at the State Championship, I'm surprised to see so many of them doing back to back offseasons especially toward the end of the school year.

Blah, why can't it be Friday afternoon already!:rolleyes:

[MamaSpoldi]

With so many of the CT teams at the State Championship, I'm surprised to see so many of them doing back to back offseasons especially toward the end of the school year.

Blah, why can't it be Friday afternoon already!:rolleyes:

For the Gaelhawks BattleCry is a tradition not to be missed. Besides the CT State Championship is only on Saturday so they didn't miss any school. For us the bigger issue was the kids that had to leave early to get ready for prom. :)

[dsmoker]

We're in as a full competitor! Psyched to get to play again with so many great robots, and some we haven't had the pleasure of seeing yet.:o

[Francis-134]

We're in as a full competitor! Psyched to get to play again with so many great robots, and some we haven't had the pleasure of seeing yet.:o

Glad to see you guys made it in! You all had a fantastic performance at the CT State Championship, and I hope you can repeat it at BattleCry!

I also hope everyone is excited for the team social on Friday night! We're putting in a lot of work to make it fun for everyone. There will be board games, a whole slew of party-style video games, VEX robots to play with and more.

In fact, the thing I am looking forward to the most is going to be Andy Grady's game show, a FIRST version of the Match Game! You certainly don't want to miss this, so make sure you catch it at the Campus Center stage, right in the doors are you come inside from eating at the ice cream bar!

Also, during the day on Saturday, we will be hosting BattleCry trivia! We have a whole slew of trivia questions that we will be displaying on the big screen between each match. You can text your answer to a number that will be displayed on the screen. The person with the most points will win a great prize! And heck, you might even learn a few things about FIRST in the process.

I hope everyone is ready for a fun time at BattleCry this year!

[AcesPease]

For the Gaelhawks BattleCry is a tradition not to be missed. Besides the CT State Championship is only on Saturday so they didn't miss any school. For us the bigger issue was the kids that had to leave early to get ready for prom. :)

Good to see other CT teams also have their priorities straight. We have never missed BattleCry!

[plnyyanks]

With so many of the CT teams at the State Championship, I'm surprised to see so many of them doing back to back offseasons especially toward the end of the school year.

We miss March a little too much...

I'm so happy we decided to return to BattleCry last year after a number of years' hiatus. It's all the awesomeness of a regional condensed into a smaller event (and cheaper, too!); in the future, we wouldn't miss it for the world.

CT Championship was awesome (or so I heard), and we're fresh off a return to eliminations ready for another awesome weekend. Can you tell I'm excited?

[ColleenShaver]

The pits are up and field setup starts at 10AM Thursday. If anyone is in the area and wants to help, just stop on by!

Can't wait to see 54 amazing teams on Friday!

[Chi Meson]

Very ready for this!

Has anyone any information on live webcast of this event?

[dag0620]

I'll be attending my first ever Battle Cry this weekend. I'm very excited to be volunteering for it!

[electroken]

Has anyone any information on live webcast of this event?

This is all I can find:

https://www.wpi.edu/news/Events/BattleCry/webcast.html

[Francis-134]

We are planning on webcasting the event. Check the front page for BattleCry at wpi.edu/+bc after 1530 tomorrow, and it should be up (subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances).

[Chi Meson]

Here's the team list as of right now. With only a few missing teams, it is a veritable "Who's-Who" of robotics in New England. Cyberknights eked-in at the last minute!

100% New England this time around!Has that happened before?

61 BVT Robotics Upton MA
78 AIR Strike Newport County RI
88 TJ2 Bridgewater MA
121 Rhode Warriors Newport County RI
125 NUTRONs Boston MA
126 Gael Force Clinton MA
131 CHAOS Manchester NH
138 Entropy Amherst NH
157 Aztechs Marlborough MA
166 ChopShop Merrimack NH
172 Northern Force Gorham ME
173 R.A.G.E. Robotics East Hartford CT
176 Aces High Windsor Locks CT
181 Birds of Prey Hartford CT
190 Gompei & the HERD Worcester MA
195 Cyberknights Southington CT
228 GUS Robotics Team Meriden CT
230 Gaelhawks Shelton CT
238 Cruisin Crusaders Manchester NH
348 Norwell Robotics Norwell MA
467 Shrewsbury Colonials Shrewsbury MA
501 power knights Manchester NH
558 Robo Squad New Haven CT
663 Robonauts Whitinsville MA
716 Who'sCTEKS Falls Village CT
839 Rosie Robotics Agawam MA
1058 PVC Pirates Londonderry NH
1073 The Force Team Hollis NH
1100 The T-Hawks Northborough MA
1124 UberBots Avon CT
1350 Rambots Providence RI
1474 MasterLink Militia Tewksbury MA
1519 Mechanical Mayhem Milford NH
1687 Doherty Technical Forces Worcester MA
1721 Concord Robotics Concord NH
1729 Plan B Peterborough NH
1735 Green Reapers Worcester MA
1991 Dragons Hartford CT
2079 ALARM Robotics Millis MA
2168 Aluminum Falcons Groton CT
2342 Greater Nashua FIRST Robotics Team Merrimack NH
2423 The KwarQs Watertown MA
2648 Infinite Loop Oakland ME
2713 iRaiders Melrose MA
2836 Team Beta Woodbury CT
3182 Athena's Warriors West Hartford CT
3236 Tri-Force Franklin MA
3280 Rhode Rebels Providence RI
3323 Potential Energy Litchfield NH
3467 The Windham Windup Windham NH
3555 Aluminati Storrs CT
3623 Terrorbots Leominster MA
3780 Robot Unicorn Attack Providence RI
4097 Devilbots Northampton MA

[ColleenShaver]

One might even call it the 'New England Championship' :P

Excited to see so many top-notch teams in the bunch. Regional winners, finalists, Chairman's Award winners, you name it. It's going to be a blast.

Bonus, there is only about a foot of snow predicted this time.. :)

It's true we typically have some New York representation in the group. It's certainly been a long time since only the the New England states were represented.

Other than a few finishing touches, BC is ready to roll! Can't wait too see all the teams here. Pit map is attached for those itching to see where they are!

[BrendanB]

One might even call it the 'New England Championship' :P

Excited to see so many top-notch teams in the bunch. Regional winners, finalists, Chairman's Award winners, you name it. It's going to be a blast.

Bonus, there is only about a foot of snow predicted this time.. :)

It's true we typically have some New York representation in the group. It's certainly been a long time since only the the New England states were represented.

Other than a few finishing touches, BC is ready to roll! Can't wait too see all the teams here. Pit map is attached for those itching to see where they are!

Where is that secondary small room where the higher numbered teams are?

Thanks for releasing this!

[ColleenShaver]

It's the loading dock area connected to the main pit area. It's designed to host teams (rigged for power drops, etc), but the way HVAC had to be in that area the head space is lower.

If the map were drawn to scale, that room is just in the upper left corner, directly attached to the main room right around the 'pit admin' label (which I just realized is incorrect, it's at the other end).

It's not unlike our small annex in the previous year, quieter, more elbow, and plenty of doors to open to enjoy the beautiful weather.

[Ken Streeter]

Webcast looks pretty good, linked off of http://wpi.edu/+bc Thanks to those that organized the webcast for those of us that can't be there in person!

However, the match schedule and match results currently linked off of the above web page still point to the 2012 versions. Hopefully the BC crew will be able to post here to let us all know when the new ones are up!

[MOE]

enjoy :D

1- 195,3467,663
2- 1519,126,121
3- 3280,228,1058
4- 138,839,1687
5- 125,230,3780
6- 3236,558,3182
7- 2168,716,3555
8- 181,190,4097
9- 172,78,2079
10- 166,176,1729
11- 3323,1350,2423
12- 61,1073,2342
13- 1124,1474,2836,
14- 131,2648,3623
15- 348,1100,501
16- 1991,157,173
17- 1735,88,1721
18- 467,238,2713

15 vs 18 = seed 15
16 vs 17 = seed 16
Then reg 1-16 2-15 etc

Good luck to all ::rtm::
MOE

[CTbiker105]

Following the 3rd finals match of the afternoon, the winning alliance consists of...

Team 195 - The Cyber Knights, from Southington, CT
Team 3467 - Windham Windup, from Windham, NH
Team 663 - The Robonauts, from Whitinsville, MA

After a 4 point win in the first match from the red alliance, followed by a not-so-close win in the second match from the blue alliance, the red alliance takes home the win by a mere one point lead in the last match.

Team 195 congratulates Team 126 Gael Force from Clinton CT, 121 Rhode Warriors from Newport County RI, and 1519 Mechanical Mayhem from Milford, NH for their awesome game play. They made it a tough finals!

[Jay O'Donnell]

I had a blast at Battlecry (again) this year. It being my first competition as a driver, I was obviously nervous, but the support of teams around me was fantastic. A HUGE thanks to the volunteers and everyone who helped run the event, it was perfect. Also thanks to teams 3280 and 228 for working with us in eliminations and making it to the semi-finals, it was a really fun time.

Can't wait til next year!

[Zuelu562]

Once again, I had an ABSOLUTE BLAST volunteering for BattleCry for the 3rd straight year. Thanks to everyone on the BC Planning Committee (Ken, Francis, Coleen and Ruth, among others) for putting together a stellar event as usual. Thanks to our FTA's, Jacob and Matt. And to the rest of my fellow volunteers, Koko Ed, the field reset team and all the participating teams, thanks for giving me a reason to keep fighting through the pain.

"You know you're overdosed on FIRST when you spent three days setting up a field, counting disks, high five-ing everyone within arms reach, knees buckling, feet on fire and back aching and you are sad as you drive away from the venue."

[ReaperGoat]

I just want to say thanks to everyone who came to help us out this weekend! I also had a blast, and it was such a pleasure to get to work so closely with all of the volunteers.

Special thanks go to Colleen, Ken, Francis and Mitch, the rest of the BC14 planning committee. It was an honor to be able to work with you again to put on such a spectacular event.

--Ruth, BC 14 Volunteer Coordinator

[LilsisdeRosie]

Congratulations to the winning alliance:
Team 195 - The Cyber Knights,
Team 3467 - Windham Windup,
Team 663 The Robonauts,
That was an awesome finals to watch!:)

[Jay O'Donnell]

Would anyone happen to have any match videos?

[who716]

Wow, that was one of the best events ever everyone that is part of organizing battle cry deserves a hugecongratulations, it was awsome to see 54 teams compete.
I was very happy to see our teams hard work since the end of the year pay off and have a very good robot. Thanks aluminum falcons for picking us we made a great alliance and hopefully we can alliance again sometime down the road.

I didn't know what to do after leaving wpi I still wish there was another 5 days to compete..... Seeya all next year

[BrendanB]

What a weekend! Huge thank Thank You to the WPI crew and all of the volunteers who put in the hours to make BC14 amazing! It was another flawless event and really is one of the finest competitions FRC has to offer!

Big thank you to 195 for asking us to join your alliance it was a pleasure working with you guys! You have one of the deadliest FCS and can still cycle with the best. Good luck to the rest of your 2013 season, hopefully we can play more with each other! :)

To 663 you guys were phenomenal! These guys worked extremely hard in the eliminations playing a role they hadn't experience much this season and kept excelling the further we went in the tournament. These guys were great to work with on the field and were serious about making sure their robot was 100% ready to go. It would have been impossible to win without your last second hang in finals match 3!

Congratulations to the number 2 alliance of 1519, 126, & 121 for a spectacular 3 finals matches. It was shocking to see the three of you playing considering the extremely deep Battlecry history you three have combined! The finals were one of the most intense matches this season with constant strategy changes. The blue alliance always had another trick up their sleeves with 1519 blocking 195 and 121 blocking our shots at the pyramid in between their cycles. The intensity of the finals was truely measured in that the final score in match number 3 came down to one point!

Thank you to all the teams who offered assistance to us during the semi finals and finals (126, 1519, 2168). For those who are wondering in the first semi finals match our driver felt the drivebase didn't have all the power it should have had. After the match we checked all the wiring and without a source of the problem assumed a bad battery was the cause. During semi final match 2 the problem was increasingly worse with turning difficult/laggy and our robot refused to drive in high gear (even low was painfully slow). While waiting for the finals to begin we tested all of our cim motors assuming one (or two) had failed and after ensuring all were in working condition discovered the source was overheating motors! The long elimination tournament had fought back with our robot not getting sufficient time to cool. The problem continued in finals match 1 and before finals match 2 we got ice packs and some air flow during our time out. This solved our problem and in finals matches 2 & 3 (after more ice) our drivetrain ran as it should!

[Kims Robot]

BattleCry is always such an amazing event!! The more we get to know the New England teams and event committees the more we love volunteering & getting to see everyone!!

Colleen, Francis, Ruth & Crew - you guys put on one heck of a show!! Francis, we had such an awesome time finally getting to do the thrift shop video!! Can't wait to see the release of the official video!

I'm hoping it won't be much longer before I can finish up the real photos, but I still have to catch up on CT State Championship photos from last week!! So I've posted a quick fun album of the Uberbots Monkey taking a full tour of BattleCry!! There are fun captions with all the photos to give you a little more story to his day, so be sure to check those out!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimsrobot/sets/72157633535840616/with/8753934383/

I will get the real previews & full album posted as soon as I can :)

Thanks again to the committee, the volunteers, and all the teams for such a great time!

[Chi Meson]

The photographer is shot!

[dag0620]

For my first BattleCry, I was blown away. It is an amazing event I must say.

To the planning committee (Colleen, Ruth, Ken, Francis, others) a fantastic job on organizing and putting everything together! To my fellow volunteers, it was a pleasure to work with all of you.

Congratulations to 195, 663, and 3467 on becoming champions! You guys had some amazing matches, and the last match was something wild to watch.

Overall it was a great weekend and I'm looking forward to next year!

[BrendanB]

Congratulations to 195, 663, and 3467 on becoming champions! You guys had some amazing matches, and the last match was something wild to watch.


Wild it was! In finals match 3 our climber started with only one pawl enganged, as we reached up to grab level 2 you can see us starting to twist and fall off of level 1. We started pulling up to level 2 just in time but we were now about 8inches off center meaning we wouldn't fit at the top. Somehow we had enough power left to pinch ourselves sideways on the bar to pop in for the 30!

Wild, crazy, and bittersweet! We face 1519 way too often! :(

[plnyyanks]

Phil's BattleCry #2 (somehow) managed to top last year's and be another incredibly awesome time. Congrats to 195, 663, and 3467 on your win, I don't think I've ever seen matches so close and exciting. Thanks to all the volunteers who made BC14 happen, you did a great job, I can't wait to see you next year (and hopefully join your ranks).

So I've posted a quick fun album of the Uberbots Monkey taking a full tour of BattleCry!! There are fun captions with all the photos to give you a little more story to his day, so be sure to check those out!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimsrobot/sets/72157633535840616/with/8753934383/
I now see you weren't kidding when you said the monkey got around... We've got to print out a bunch of these and show our physics teacher where his monkey has been (I still don't think he's noticed it's gone...)

[Banderoonies]

Thank you to the entire staff coordinating Battle Cry 14, what an awesome event! Very smooth, fun and relaxed. It was great competing with such powerful teams throughout New England.

Team 195 wants to thank our alliance partners Team 3467 The Windham Windup and Team 663 The Robonauts for an exciting Battle Cry. Loved working with both of you and hope to again in the future. 3467, your robot was so amazing! 663 you tapped into your hidden talent and played awesome defense!

Congratulations to Team 126 Gael Force, 121 Rhode Warriors, and 1519 Mechanical Mayhem for the most intense and competitive finals we have experienced. What an incredible last match! With matches so close, we virtually pull you up to the winner's podium with us.

A special shout out to our friends 181. Those on the webcast could even hear you screaming and cheering for our team. You guys are the greatest and can't wait for more good times and late nights down at the practice field next season with you guys.

125, 230, 3780 great idea putting the Gaelhawks blocker on 3780. Gave us a challenge for sure.

558, we were soooooo relieved when we saw we weren't facing you in Qual matches as you KNOW how make it hard for us.

228 and 2168, Loved being on the same side of the glass with both of you guys for the first time. Hope it happens again! 2168 congrats on your awesome offense award and 228 congrats on your "Speak Up" award

....Till we all hear the next Cry for Battle!
Team 195

[electroken]

125, 230, 3780 great idea putting the Gaelhawks blocker on 3780. Gave us a challenge for sure.



We thought you'd like that. :)

And congratulations!

[dsmoker]

What an exhausting but amazing weekend at BattleCry! Considering we weren't even attending the event until Tuesday, and weren't aware we were competing until late Wednesday, we were thrilled with our performance. It was great seeing familiar friends and making new ones. Thanks to our alliance partners, 3326 and 3182 for some great matches, and especially to 3326 for getting their climbing arm fixed so quickly after that spectacular fall in the eighth finals.

An extra special shout-out to team 228, Gus. If it wasn't for you guys lending up a compressor, we wouldn't have even been playing on Saturday after our compressor broke from some, uh, lets say spirited defense by team 166 (who were gracious enough to come help us fix it as well) in our last match Friday. When a team you eliminated last weekend at the CT Championships steps up to lend you a compressor the next - well, that's what FIRST is really supposed to be all about, isn't it. You guys get it. You always have. And you're a real example for other teams to follow.

To the winners, especially our friends at 195 - congrats on a well-deserved and hard-earned victory. And thanks for the shout-out earlier on this thread. We'll see you in Wolcott in a few weeks :)

Finally, 2168, we were a heartbeat away from working with you guys for the first time this year. It would have been epic. But there's always Bash at the Beach! And good luck at Beantown!

[Chi Meson]

On behalf of the Aluminum Falcons, thanks to everyone who voted us in as Awesome Offense team. Luck has always been a significant part of the game. Last time at WPI, luck went our way. This time...meltdown, literally!

You deal with it, but it still hurts. The recognition from the people however, makes all the difference. Thank you all!

You may ask what happened in the last qualifier: a short in the cRIO caused a blowout in the 24 volt section of the PD board. The cRIO was OK, but the board had to be replaced.

I'd like it to be known that the replacement and rewiring of the board was done entirely by student members of the team. I'm talking 100%. The mentors left the pit completely. Shriji, Alex, Cam and Austin, you guys were inspired!

AND A SHOUT OUT TO GAEL FORCE AND GOMPEI: one number! 217!

[Banderoonies]

< quote from 558: An extra special shout-out to team 228, Gus. If it wasn't for you guys lending up a compressor, we wouldn't have even been playing on Saturday after our compressor broke from some, uh, lets say spirited defense by team 166 (who were gracious enough to come help us fix it as well) in our last match Friday. When a team you eliminated last weekend at the CT Championships steps up to lend you a compressor the next - well, that's what FIRST is really supposed to be all about, isn't it. You guys get it. You always have. And you're a real example for other teams to follow>


I totally Agree with you Gus-228 REALLY DOES get it and are amazing role models to other teams. It didn't surprise me to hear they helped you get up and running...that is what 228 does and who they are. They are always there in a time of need to ANY team. Gus- hat's off to you for the GP you continue to show year after year.

[Francis-134]

First, big thanks to Mark, Andy and Eric for helping out with the Friday opening video. People really seemed to enjoy it, in no small part thanks to your wonderful "acting."

I would also like to thank the rest of the BC planning committee for doing a great job all around! It would be hard to do my job if Mitch, Ruth, Ken, and Colleen didn't do a great job executing their responsibilities. Also, a huge thank-you needs to go out to the rest of the volunteer staff. With something near 50 people volunteering this year, there are too many of you to name, but you all deserve a great deal of thanks for the hard work you put in through the weekend.

Finally, I want to thank all the teams for truly making the event what it was! While planning a party for me and 850 of my closest friends is fun in-and-of-itself, it would not be nearly as enjoyable if I didn't get to see everyone smiling and happy as they are getting their ice cream after a long day of competition, or wailing on the drums during a big rock ending on Rock Band, or laughing at the hijinx of Eric, Sam, Ed (especially Ed), Jess, Marc, and Jacob at Andy's game show.

If anyone was curious, you can find the answers to the FIRST trivia questions we had running throughout Saturday here (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D45jr6kTzHPQexH4enH3pjuNlGrI7W6C7mpUieExHG0/edit?usp=sharing).

Also, we hope to get a copy of the opening video, complete with the live elements, onto youtube this week.

[Kims Robot]

Alright, my actual BattleCry@WPI 14 Photos are posted!! (as opposed to the the Monkey meets Battlecry ones!). Sorry for the delay!!

I struggled A LOT with the insanely frequent changes in lighting (I think my ISO button is worn out now), as I absolutely hate to use Flash at FIRST events and avoid it like the plague (though had to pull it out for ice cream and some towards the finale... and probably should have used it more often). So some of my photos are not as crisp as I would have liked, but hopefully they at least do a good job of telling the "story" of BattleCry :) I do have about 100-200 more photos that need more work that I will post in the next month or so, but this was the majority that I could get processed in under 10 hours.

I spent most of Friday with my zoom getting all the teams and robots, and the majority of the rest of the event with my wide angle getting more action & fun shots. I had an absolute blast capturing the teams and hanging out with the teams & volunteers :) Thanks to everyone as always for putting up with me sticking my camera in your faces & robots!!!

Some important business though: PLEASE PROVIDE PHOTO CREDIT (and/or leave my copyright symbol). I spend the entire event taking photos, and 10-14 hours after each event working on & processing my photos and they are under my copyright. The entire reason I post them is for people & teams to reuse them... facebook profiles/slideshows/sponsor presentations/websites/press releases/etc... I post my photos in full resolution so that they can be reused, but as I may eventually build a business & reputation out of it, credits will help with that. It can be as simple as a small font at the end of your slideshow or a caption of of "photos by kimsrobot" or "Photo by Kim Eckhardt", or just leaving the copyright symbol in the lower right. The only time I ask that you ask permission to use my photos is if you are going to remove the copyright symbol off the bottom or need a photo without the copyright symbol (in which case I will request that my name or kimsrobot be listed somewhere unless there is a good reason not to). Again, I love for everyone to use these photos (it makes taking them totally worth it!!!!), but please respect the copyright :D

Hope you enjoy!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimsrobot/sets/72157633776700854/

[ColleenShaver]

Kim - awesome job!

And I can't echo Kim's sentiment enough.. please make sure her photos are properly credited!

For events, professional services like photography to capture the experience can be very costly. Having someone like Kim volunteer to provide such a great service is a huge benefit that we want to ensure continues. Without proper credit for the creative services, volunteers like her may not want to continue! It's really important we acknowledge and recognize their work, not unlike giving you sponsor a name on your robot in exchange for a donation, or citing another's work in your essay instead of just plagiarizing.

I'm sure many of you will want to use these great photos personally or within your team, so just make sure to leave the watermark or appropriately credit the work!

Thanks Kim and all the volunteers who go ABOVE AND BEYOND to make our events such a great success!

[Jay O'Donnell]

Just out of curiosity, does WPI or anyone else have match videos from the past two Battlecry competitions? The only ones that I've been able to find are 2168's from 2012 and 3467's from 2013. If anyone could post any video they have it would be very appreciated!

[BrendanB]

Just out of curiosity, does WPI or anyone else have match videos from the past two Battlecry competitions? The only ones that I've been able to find are 2168's from 2012 and 3467's from 2013. If anyone could post any video they have it would be very appreciated!

I'm posting a link to our playlist.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBjap5sKdr4UNm0rHVsz8HwioXGM4xh1T

Sorry for the changing quality. The videos were first recorded on my cell phone, then a borrowed flip cam from our school, and finally a HD video camera for the eliminations when the owner was able to make it out. We also have our videos from Pine Tree, Championship, and soon IRI.