2004 BeanTown Blitz!

[dez250]

So the 2004 BeanTown Blitz is under 3 weeks away. This competition is being held at the Matthews Arena at Northeastern University on May 22nd. The event will be hosted by an outstanding group of volunteers and crew members, with a top line up of competing teams! I know I personally can not wait until the event and get to spend my weekend in Boston! Lets get pumped for this event and what is everyone expecting for BTB 2004! I know i have been waiting over a year for this time to come...

[MikeDubreuil]

So the 2004 BeanTown Blitz is under 3 weeks away. This competition is being held at the Matthews Arena at Northeastern University on May 22nd. The event will be hosted by an outstanding group of volunteers and crew members, with a top line up of competing teams! I know I personally can not wait until the event and get to spend my weekend in Boston! Lets get pumped for this event and what is everyone expecting for BTB 2004! I know i have been waiting over a year for this time to come...

I'm excited. This will be the first robotics competition that I can walk to from my dorm :D

[Tom Bottiglieri]

i can't wait till BTB, it should be fun. :)

[Heretic121]

i can't wait to drive a robot for the first time in my life w00t =D...

[Bridgette]

I'm so bummed that I can't go. I was really looking forward to it, but I'm getting confirmed that day. :( Oh well. There's always next year.

[Erin Rapacki]

Hmm... here's some additional stuff you guys could do in the area
(everything listed is within 20 minute walk of NU)

Prudential Center Mall: Step onto Huntington Ave, look up… and walk towards tall building that says ‘Prudential Center’ on it

Krispy Kream (new!): Located in the Prudential Center Mall

Boston Duck Tours: Buy tickets in Prudential Center Mall, tours leave from 800 Boylston Entrance

Jillian’s (18 and over): video games, pool, food (145 Ipswich St., behind Fenway Park)

Fenway Park: 10 minute walk toward the lights!

Prudential Center Skywalk: good view of the city

Newberry Street: shopping galore! Street runs parallel with Boylston

Restaurants: are everywhere along Huntington. When in doubt… walk towards tall buildings :-)

Dance Clubs: Lansdowne St. near Fenway Park

Economy Hardware/True Value & CVS: Walk inbound on Huntington Ave and take a left onto Mass Ave (Symphony Hall is on that corner)

[Aaron Lussier]

Boston is such a great place in addition to everything Erin said there is also:

-Museum of Science (Take the green line inbound to the Museum of science stop) The T costs 1.25 per person so Its kind of a lot but the museum is a fun place to be.

-Aaron

[minic@HYPER69]

Can you post a list of teams?

[MikeDubreuil]

Radio Shack- walk up Huntington Ave (towards the Prudential center) and take a left onto Massachusetts Ave (going towards Cambridge). The Radio Shack will be up a ways on your left in a small strip mall.

[MikeDubreuil]

To get an idea, are any teams staying overnight in hotels? Or are you just coming for the day?

[Erin Rapacki]

Radio Shack- walk up Huntington Ave (towards the Prudential center) and take a left onto Massachusetts Ave (going towards Cambridge). The Radio Shack will be up a ways on your left in a small strip mall.

Ah yes, that's the same strip-mall as Economy Hardware, CVS, Blockbuster, & Compleat Strategist (gamer store)... one stop 'oh crap I forgot something!' shopping!

[Heretic121]

Can you post a list of teams?
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26559&page=2&pp=20

go to the bottom post =D

[Erin Rapacki]

We have a website up now, yay! (expect to be updated)

www.nutrons.neu.edu/btb

Not all the teams have sent in their registration fees yet, and 3 teams have officially dropped out. If your team wishes to be put on the waiting list, please contact me soon... because there's a really good chance you can get in! There is no reason we cannot fill our event with 36 teams, we will stop accepting payment on May 14th.

Thanks!

erin

[Emily Pease]

Also, there's always Public Gardens and Boston Common, both of which can be reached by walking down Boylston Street, and the Christian Science plaza/reflecting pool (literally a five-minute walk down Mass. Ave) is a great place to ...reflect. Har.

Or, if it's hot, you can jump around/frolic in the Christian Science fountain!

If you still don't know what to do in Boston, just come up and ask me. I've lived here for almost 3 years and have quite a few suggestions.

[MikeDubreuil]

Using Boston's T (http://www.mbta.com/traveling_t/schedules_subway.asp)

Boston's subway system is called the T. All of Boston is organized into 4 train systems (or lines as is most commonly used). They are usually referred to by their colors: Red, Blue, Orange, and Green; their direction is inbound or outbound and can also be referred to by their final destination before turning around. Northeastern University is easily accessed using the Northeastern stop on the “E-Train Heath St” Green Line. It is also possible to access Northeastern using the Ruggles stop on the Orange line.

To further confuse the Green line, 4 different trains run on this line. It's important to take the correct train outbound because they go to different places. The Northeastern stop is located on “E-Train Heath St”, part of the system. The Heath St name designates Heath St as the final stop when headed outbound. You can identify the train by the sign on the front and sides. If you're not sure, ask the conductor.

The quickest way to access the event location Matthews Arena is to use the Symphony stop on the “E-Train Heath St” Green line. Or alternatively, on the Orange line via the Massachusetts Avenue stop. See the Beantown Blitz directions for walking navigation.

Inbound/Outbound-
Think of the lines as the spokes of a wheel. The center/hub of the wheel being the square formed by the following stops: Government Center, Park St, Downtown Crossing and State Station. If you are headed inbound, you are headed toward one of these spots. If you are headed outbound, you are headed away from one of those stations.

Changing lines-
Changing lines is usually free and can be done at Government Center, Park St, Downtown Crossing, Haymarket, North Station and State Station.

Fare-
The fare is $1.25 per person. Occasionally, the fee is waved, but don't bet on it. You'll know the fee is waved if the conductor opens the side doors to the train and you don't have to walk by him or her.
Paying with tokens is preferable and they can be bought from most indoor stops.

Times-
Times can vary, it's safe to say that you can travel from 6am to 12am without problem. Trains usually come by a stop every 10 minutes. After that, it's possible to use the Night Owl bus service or take a Taxi.

Attached is a subway map taken from the MBTA. (http://www.mbta.com/)

Important Links:

MBTA - Subway (http://www.mbta.com/traveling_t/schedules_subway.asp)
Green Line (http://www.mbta.com/traveling_t/schedules_subway_greenline.asp)
Beantown Blitz Directions (http://www.nutrons.neu.edu/btb/directions/)
MBTA Night Owl (http://www.mbta.com/traveling_t/schedules_buses_nightowl_index.asp)
Boston Taxi Information (http://www.ci.boston.ma.us/transportation/cabs.asp)
World's oldest Ice Hockey rink- Matthews Arena (http://gonu.com/facilities/matthews.html)

[Elgin Clock]

Anybody up for a midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at Lowes Theater in Harvard Square?

What they do, is combine a live-action play and the show the movie on the theater screen for a truely unique experience. The only catch is, that you have to buy your tickets early in the night or better yet afternoon, so as not to miss out on the show.

It runs very late into the night, so if you have a long drive home I suggest you either not go, or stay somewhere overnight, or just get a lot of sleep the night before BTB, which of course we all will, right?? :D

Oh, and if you do go to it and have to park in Harvard Square, be careful where you park your car. When I went last time, we got out real late and I almost was not able to get my car out of the parking garage. If you park in a garage, make sure you know what time it closes. If it closes at any time before 2:00am then you may want to go somewhere else.

Or you can do like I am doing, and hopefully crash at a friends "pad" for the night and drive home Sunday.

[Jessica Boucher]

Or you can do like I am doing, and hopefully crash at a friends "pad" for the night and drive home Sunday.

I take it you mean me. Sheesh, Elgin, why don't you ask about these things? :p

Anyway, to add some substance to this post (besides making fun of Elgin ;) ).....Anyone who's up to doing something the night before, let me know...cause it looks like I'm staying here for the summer.

[Erin Rapacki]

Whahoo! Less than 2 days to the Blitz :)

...I've been waiting for over a year for this, can't wait!

[Steve W]

Erin, don't forget to get a video for Andy Baker and Survivor.

[Erin Rapacki]

Erin, don't forget to get a video for Andy Baker and Survivor.

I have it noted in my signiture! ;)

[BillyGoats]

Is the Matthews Arena close to the Jerry Lewis Arena(i am pretty sure thats the name)?

[Heretic121]

Erin, don't forget to get a video for Andy Baker and Survivor.
i am bringing my digital camcorder so ill be there and ill up load it that night when i get home =D

[Emily Pease]

Is the Matthews Arena close to the Jerry Lewis Arena(i am pretty sure thats the name)?
*REGGIE Lewis Arena in Roxbury is about a 20 to 30-minute walk from Matthews Arena. Here (http://www.rltac.com) is the website. You could take the T, but it's only one stop and I am a cheapskate so I would just walk it for free rather than pay $1.25 to go one stop. From Matthews Arena, take a right on Mass Ave and go two blocks until you hit Tremont Street. Take a right on Tremont street and walk for maybe 15 minutes and Reggie Lewis Arena will be on the left.

[Pin Man]

Oh boy I can't wait until Beantown Blitz!!! It should be craazy!!! 88 is gonna be there and we are going to bus up our team and some students from our school to show them what we are all about... It should be a good experience... Though most of our juniors will not be attending because the night before is Prom... But even though I am a junior I'll be coming right from my friend's house to go to Beantown... I'm not going to sleep at all before the Blitz so it'll be interesting to see if I can shoot at all... hahaha should be a blast!!!

[Heretic121]

sissies =P... i have my jr. prom also the night before and im still going cause im probably going to be driving the robot =P... our regular manipulator has confirmation and can not make any of the event, and our regular driver most likely wont be driving so im hpoing to try out =D... i cant wait ... 25 hrs till prom... less than 36 hrs till i leave lil RI for BTB =D

[Pin Man]

sissies =P... i have my jr. prom also the night before and im still going cause im probably going to be driving the robot =P... our regular manipulator has confirmation and can not make any of the event, and our regular driver most likely wont be driving so im hpoing to try out =D... i cant wait ... 25 hrs till prom... less than 36 hrs till i leave lil RI for BTB =D
Do you also get to go to a party all night and stay up until beantown? hehehe I do... Its all abbout the dedication... hahaha I can't wait to get there... But it will take me a while to find the shot maybe... because I won't sleep from 530 am friday until 1030 pm saturday night!!! ooooo boy...

[Heretic121]

YAY ITS TODAY!!! =P... just got home from prom... (should have been home around 3am but a ride feel through so my post prom fun got cut off early *tear*) well anyways, see everyone in about 7-8hrs =D

[Cory]

I'm flying into Boston tommorow to go see WPI. Too bad I wont get in till around 6:00 or so =/

Cory

[Petey]

Just got back from Bean Town Blitz.

Well, it was interesting. We found that what we conjectured from the beginning of the season to be very true--our robot does not stand well on its own. Though our robot worked like a charm throughout every match (the only downside being a single instance of discombobulation with autonomous mode) we had some instances where our alliance partners were not able to deliver or where something went wrong with their robot and, in two cases, questionable officiating calls (more on that later). But lady luck was definitely not with our team today--and even went so far as to curse alliance partners sometimes (re: Hyper's radio dying in our match with them).

If I had one beef, it was in the officiating. Now, let me preface this by saying that I have umped in Little League games, so I have not doubts as to the difficulty of any refereeing job. That said--and this is a personal opinion, not meant to represent Team 1073 in any way--I found there to be alarming discrepencies in the refereeing. My team, for existence, was disqualified in a match because a referee said he had seen our coach reach a few inches out of the corral to reach for a ball. Now, our team found this to be accurate when we consulted eyewitnesses along the sides. What we also found to be true, however, was that this type of infraction was extremely common, and yet was not being called. Now, I'm not ratting on my fellow players, because as someone who served in the capacity of human player and coach, I know that sometimes one slips, or a particularly greasy ball slithers out of reach, and such an infraction is an unavoidable occurence. This was the case with out team, and we were called for it.

Then, the next time we were up, the ref who had called us for the "reach" penalty sidled up to the ref who was standing by our player station and started talking to him. He made gestures to our team and said something along the lines of "make sure you watch them". We were then called for several penalties. One of them was correctly given, as I (as coach) stepped across the blue line to yell something to the other coach. However, we ended up losing many points for having our robot go "into the corral". Now, we once again consulted the eyewitnesses on the side, and they said that our robot had twice entered the corral. Such an infraction has a stipulated penalty of ten points for each occurence. But for some indiscernable reason, our team was docked much more than 20 points, even allowing for the line-step. And all I know is that when I asked a ref why there was such a large discrepency in what our final score was an what it should have been, he replied that there had been "many instances of entrance" with a distinct smirk on his face. This was another rule that was, shall we say, enforced selectively.

I'm not saying that we played a flawless game--far from it. But I do know that the refs were distinctly different in their judging style, and didn't necessarily seem to be on the same page. And I don't know why so many more penalties were accrued during the BTB as compared to, say, Manchvegas. Certainly the teams were not as polished, but the difference is almost alarming. I know that several people said they had had a similar impression--that the refereeing was, although commendable by its very nature, not quite up to expectations. I don't mean to start a riot here or anything, I'm just sharing my suggestion, supported by anecdotal evidence, that refereeing is something that could be worked on for next year. I'd like to hear other people's opinions on this.

That said, I had a ton of fun at Bean Town Blitz. Even if our robot finished 32nd out of 33 teams, it was nice to get it out there and give our alternate driving team some opportunities that they'd missed at Manchester. I had fun coaching and playing, and in cheering on some of our old buds from Manchvegas.

On behalf of Team 1073 and myself, I'd like to thank:

Erin, for organizing the whole shebang and putting so much into it. You did a spectacular job.

All of the redshirts and refs who volunteered to help out.

Thanks to Northeastern and Raytheon for providing their support.

Always, eternally, gratefully: Rosie 839, for returning as our cheering partners.

Our assorted alliance partners, for working with us.

Big thanks to Hyper 69 (especially Tom!) for picking us to be their alliance partners behind the Dirty Birds (to whom I also extends thanks and kudos). We managed to make incarnate our dream partnership from Manchvegas, and it was a blast even with the technical difficulties that we suffered in that one match together. You guys had an amazing bot and were really fun to work with, as always. Hopefully, we can meet up some more next year.

Well, I had to leave early due to some previously scheduled engagements, but kudos to whoever ended up winning, and kudos to all the teams that made it into the top 8. One team that comes particularly to mind was Team 222, who had an amazing bot that was knocked out in one of the most exciting matches I've seen in awhile. Also, kudos to WPI for deploying one of the coolest bots that I've seen in awhile.

Oh, and barbecues always make me love places too.

And Boston is, as always, an incredible place to be.

If it is held again next year, I'll definitely try to push my team into returning.

Thanks all,

--Petey
Team 1073

[Pin Man]

Ooooooooooooooh man... I had the best time at Beantown Blitz... Even though 75% of the team was not able to go we still had an amazing time... I went right from the Prom after party to BTB and I haven't slept since friday morning... oooooooo boy...

hahaha Yeah you guys heard me... I was the annoying kid in all tie-dye with my buddy Ryan screaming non stop... We had so much fun making so many people laugh... Especially the lady standing next to Erin during the awards ceremony... It was a great expirence...

Thank you to our partners for picking us and sorry that we broke... That was a tough time... But we made it to the semis...

Most of all thank you Erin for everything you have done... It would not have been BTB if it were not for you... THANKS!!!

[Joe3]

Just curious...can anyone post results?

[Ashley Weed]

Just curious...can anyone post results?
Winners, 61, 571, 1100.
Runners up, 181, 126, 178.
semis, 1474, 175, 839.
348, 88, 596.
Quarters, 222, 190, 782.
121, 176, 19.
69, 213, 1073.
1099, 237, 663.

... I apologize for the chopiness its from a txt message.

[Jessica Boucher]

hahaha Yeah you guys heard me... I was the annoying kid in all tie-dye with my buddy Ryan screaming non stop... We had so much fun making so many people laugh... Especially the lady standing next to Erin during the awards ceremony... It was a great expirence...

Hahahah....for the record, that "lady standing next to Erin" was me ;) I take it was Ryan who was screaming "How you doin'?" every time I was in the general area. I was in stitches all freakin' day because of you guys. Thanks!

[Joel J]

Did anyone happen to record the elimination rounds of the Beantown Blitz? I'm looking for either a VHS or digitized copy. The elims were really good, so I wouldn't mind being able to watch them again.

[Jeff Rodriguez]

Did anyone happen to record the elimination rounds of the Beantown Blitz? I'm looking for either a VHS or digitized copy. The elims were really good, so I wouldn't mind being able to watch them again.

You just want to listen to yourself
:D

[Solace]

hey, i want to know what happened too. if no recordings, anyone want to write a play by play?

[Marc P.]

I have a few pictures from the scoring table of the finals. I'll put them up when I finish unpacking.

Overall a great event, especially for it's first time!!

[Pin Man]

Hahahah....for the record, that "lady standing next to Erin" was me ;) I take it was Ryan who was screaming "How you doin'?" every time I was in the general area. I was in stitches all freakin' day because of you guys. Thanks!
hahaha actually... it was both of us... we do sound a lot a like while doing the impression of Moe... He probably did it more than me considering half the time I was down on the field as HP...

[Greg Perkins]

Just got back from Bean Town Blitz.

Well, it was interesting. We found that what we conjectured from the beginning of the season to be very true--our robot does not stand well on its own. Though our robot worked like a charm throughout every match (the only downside being a single instance of discombobulation with autonomous mode) we had some instances where our alliance partners were not able to deliver or where something went wrong with their robot and, in two cases, questionable officiating calls (more on that later). But lady luck was definitely not with our team today--and even went so far as to curse alliance partners sometimes (re: Hyper's radio dying in our match with them).

If I had one beef, it was in the officiating. Now, let me preface this by saying that I have umped in Little League games, so I have not doubts as to the difficulty of any refereeing job. That said--and this is a personal opinion, not meant to represent Team 1073 in any way--I found there to be alarming discrepencies in the refereeing. My team, for existence, was disqualified in a match because a referee said he had seen our coach reach a few inches out of the corral to reach for a ball. Now, our team found this to be accurate when we consulted eyewitnesses along the sides. What we also found to be true, however, was that this type of infraction was extremely common, and yet was not being called. Now, I'm not ratting on my fellow players, because as someone who served in the capacity of human player and coach, I know that sometimes one slips, or a particularly greasy ball slithers out of reach, and such an infraction is an unavoidable occurence. This was the case with out team, and we were called for it.

Then, the next time we were up, the ref who had called us for the "reach" penalty sidled up to the ref who was standing by our player station and started talking to him. He made gestures to our team and said something along the lines of "make sure you watch them". We were then called for several penalties. One of them was correctly given, as I (as coach) stepped across the blue line to yell something to the other coach. However, we ended up losing many points for having our robot go "into the corral". Now, we once again consulted the eyewitnesses on the side, and they said that our robot had twice entered the corral. Such an infraction has a stipulated penalty of ten points for each occurence. But for some indiscernable reason, our team was docked much more than 20 points, even allowing for the line-step. And all I know is that when I asked a ref why there was such a large discrepency in what our final score was an what it should have been, he replied that there had been "many instances of entrance" with a distinct smirk on his face. This was another rule that was, shall we say, enforced selectively.

I'm not saying that we played a flawless game--far from it. But I do know that the refs were distinctly different in their judging style, and didn't necessarily seem to be on the same page. And I don't know why so many more penalties were accrued during the BTB as compared to, say, Manchvegas. Certainly the teams were not as polished, but the difference is almost alarming. I know that several people said they had had a similar impression--that the refereeing was, although commendable by its very nature, not quite up to expectations. I don't mean to start a riot here or anything, I'm just sharing my suggestion, supported by anecdotal evidence, that refereeing is something that could be worked on for next year. I'd like to hear other people's opinions on this.

That said, I had a ton of fun at Bean Town Blitz. Even if our robot finished 32nd out of 33 teams, it was nice to get it out there and give our alternate driving team some opportunities that they'd missed at Manchester. I had fun coaching and playing, and in cheering on some of our old buds from Manchvegas.

On behalf of Team 1073 and myself, I'd like to thank:

Erin, for organizing the whole shebang and putting so much into it. You did a spectacular job.

All of the redshirts and refs who volunteered to help out.

Thanks to Northeastern and Raytheon for providing their support.

Always, eternally, gratefully: Rosie 839, for returning as our cheering partners.

Our assorted alliance partners, for working with us.

Big thanks to Hyper 69 (especially Tom!) for picking us to be their alliance partners behind the Dirty Birds (to whom I also extends thanks and kudos). We managed to make incarnate our dream partnership from Manchvegas, and it was a blast even with the technical difficulties that we suffered in that one match together. You guys had an amazing bot and were really fun to work with, as always. Hopefully, we can meet up some more next year.

Well, I had to leave early due to some previously scheduled engagements, but kudos to whoever ended up winning, and kudos to all the teams that made it into the top 8. One team that comes particularly to mind was Team 222, who had an amazing bot that was knocked out in one of the most exciting matches I've seen in awhile. Also, kudos to WPI for deploying one of the coolest bots that I've seen in awhile.

Oh, and barbecues always make me love places too.

And Boston is, as always, an incredible place to be.

If it is held again next year, I'll definitely try to push my team into returning.

Thanks all,

--Petey
Team 1073


Petey,

Being a ref at another post-season event I can see where your coming from.

However, there is a certain way that the ref staff handles controversies and penalties. There is a ref assigned to each robot per match, they are responsible for calling the penalties. They also confer after each round to discuss and vote on who saw the infraction.
Like i said in a previous post, don't complain about decisions that were made on the feild, its just a game, and keep the decisions final.


Great Job everybody,

Greg

[Kathleen Joyal]

Does anyone have a list of the award winners at Beantown Blitz? I had to leave before the awards and my students couldn't remember who the winners were!

[biffy96]

team 1027 would like to think Erin Rapacki for her time and effrat into BeanTown Blitz.

jeremiah smith,
1027 :yikes: