BattleCry 5, coming soon to a WPI near you!

[WernerNYK]

BattleCry@WPI 5 is rapidly approaching, and most of the details of the event have fallen well into place. I'm part of the planning staff and this is really going to be the best BattleCry ever! This is our 5 year "golden anniversary" so there's no doubt it will be good.

To start out, the BattleCry website received a slight facelift to reflect the anniversary year, notice how BattleCry is now gold, as well as a few other "upgrades" at www.wpi.edu/+battlecry

Just browsing around that site and reading the "Tactical Updates" (SITREP #1 and #2) pretty much gives the full idea of what we're looking to do this year, but I'll give a brief summary of everything here.

- Expanded to a 42-team, 2-day tournament, sponsored by Raytheon and WPI
- Special replay of the 1st FIRST competition, the 1992 MAIZE Craze game with field and orignal tethered machines
- Activity-filled day of fun on Friday:
Driver Skills test, "Barring the Raise"... think 4 identical mini IFI robots, balloons, ramps, on the main field.
Campus tours
Dorm-room housing for those interested
Free BBQ dinner
Music on the quad
Free ice cream social (sundae bar)
Free bowling
Pool tables - CRUD to be taught
Darts
Foosball
Arcade games/pinball
Movies of sorts on the big screen after the event
- Human player sharpshooter competition
- As per last year, professional video presentation on the big-screen with multiple roaming cameras
- Webcast of entire event as shown on the big screen
- Archival of video of each and every event on the web to watch later
- As always all participating teams play in the eliminations
- Special guest appearances
- Special 5-year veteran awards
- Many other "specials" and surprises for our 5-year anniversary

Don't miss it!! June 18-19 in Harrington Auditorium at WPI, or live on the web.

Also note that there is still room left on the "Ready Reserves" waiting list of teams to compete. To register, please send an email to battlecry@wpi.edu. Also, any teams that still have a 1992 robot are encouraged to attend with their robot, whether to compete or simply show as part of a "hall of fame."

[Edit: News release can be found here: http://www.wpi.edu/News/Releases/20034/battlecry.html]

[Elgin Clock]

Did you say bowling???

Who's up for a tourney?

And while I'm at it, I'll offer 3 XL team 237 T-shirts for trade at Battlecry for a XL shirt from your team. If anyone is seriously interested, reply here or PM me.

XL for an XL.. that's what I got, that's what I want!! Thank you!

[Greg Perkins]

Just for reference, any info on the dorms?? i cant seem to find any on the site.

as a side note, I'm Reffing!!!

[KathieK]

RAGE is looking forward to being there on Friday and Saturday!

[jeremy562]

SPARK 562 will be there. Can't wait!

[Alex Pelan]

Bad news about 177's WPI experience. Friday is the high school graduation of our main mentor's daughter, so we will not be there on Friday. Due to all of our school rules, we can't be officially chaperoned by one of our engineer, and he is the only person who works at the school that is able to go. However, I personally can't wait for Saturday and would like to say that 177's bot is fully up and running from our basket difficulties in the Galileo finals. I hope to meet a bunch of people there, also anyone who has an extra shirt in large, bring it and I can hook you up with a large 177 shirt.

[BillyGoats]

61 is doing some repairs to our robot after we lost our front end at merrimack =( but we are making some repairs and will be ready for an awsome time at WPI! look forward to seeing everyone

If you care here is what our front end looks like now... notice no wood left.. kinda flew off during the speed compition...no not becuase we went to fast becuase we ran in the the other robot and full speed.. it was already kinda sorta falling apart... what can you expect after 50 matches!

Team with the front endless robot
http://www.valleytech.k12.ma.us/robotics/images/2004Pictures/2004_Tyngs39.JPG

Close up... kinda
http://www.valleytech.k12.ma.us/robotics/images/2004Pictures/2004_Tyngs44.JPG

[miketwalker]

I was wondering, how do we access the webfeed? Thanks.

[dk5sm5luigi]

I will be putting a link on the main BattleCry page (http://www.wpi.edu/+battlecry) to the webcast. Also on the website (with any luck) we will be having the standings and the match results posted on the site.

Here are the Requirements for the webcast:
For best results, we recommend you check your computer to be sure you have the following installed:

Windows Media Player 9.0 (http://www.windowsmedia.com/download/)
Plus, either of these browsers:


Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.asp)
Netscape Navigator (http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/download.jsp), version 6 or 7.
* Linux users should be able to use either Avifile (http://freshmeat.net/projects/avifile/?topic_id=128%2C125) or MPlayer (http://freshmeat.net/projects/mplayer/?topic_id=127%2C128).

[Heretic121]

Netscape... does this mean Mozill and Firefox SHOULD work?? thx =D

[tiffany34990]

sounds really cool i wish i could catch it

enjoy the event


have fun y'all

[dk5sm5luigi]

We assume it will work however we can not guarentee it. The webcast that we are using here is the exact same code that we used for the WPI Commencement. We did a lot of testing before that and we will be doing the testing for this webcast either tomorrow or Friday morning so we will know more then.


Netscape... does this mean Mozill and Firefox SHOULD work?? thx =D

[Heretic121]

teh bumb =D... ok... had to bump this, as registration and practice rounds start in a mere 4 hours... cant wait to see everyone there and hopes everyone who cant make it watch the webcast and feel like they are there =D

also... i dont see the webcast link... can someone post that??? im supposed to send it to a few of my relatives but im leaving in 2 hours =X

[Ashley Weed]

teh bumb =D... ok... had to bump this, as registration and practice rounds start in a mere 4 hours... cant wait to see everyone there and hopes everyone who cant make it watch the webcast and feel like they are there =D

also... i dont see the webcast link... can someone post that??? im supposed to send it to a few of my relatives but im leaving in 2 hours =X


I've been patiently refreshing the Battlecry mainpage for that webcast link too. LOL... the time is drawing nearer!!!!! :yikes:

[Elgin Clock]

also... i dont see the webcast link... can someone post that??? im supposed to send it to a few of my relatives but im leaving in 2 hours =X
http://www.wpi.edu/News/Events/BattleCry/webcast.html

[Heretic121]

http://www.wpi.edu/News/Events/BattleCry/webcast.html
thank you sir =D

[dk5sm5luigi]

I would appreciate it if you didn't go to the webcast yet because we are still working a few kinks out. That is the link however please hold out until we actually put the link on the main page.
Thanks
Nick

[dk5sm5luigi]

The webcast is now ready to be viewed. Go to http://www.wpi.edu/+battlecry/webcast.html

[ahecht]

Hmm, I like the way TacOps looks. Piotr did a good job with the customizations!

[Alex Pelan]

Question: How many qualifiers are there going to be tomorrow before the eliminations?

[Greg Perkins]

Blarg, its 12:27 and ive been up since 6am friday morning (due to kens cat, grrr). Heres the skinny about what has happened yesterday due to being past midnight. we arrived around 8ish to the higgins auditorium, and had to wait and wait and wait and wait and wait for the AV people to finish hooking up their 9 computers, webcast, and other various components for the life of me i cant explain. ok so 4 oclock comes and we still dont have a match list finalized. what a LOOONG day.

Side notes, THE EVENT IS AWESOME!!! and the evening activities were rockin too. CRUD ROCKS!


see ya all in t-minus 7 hours :(


~ Probe

[Marc P.]

Oh come on. We were there just as late as you. We don't agree on the 9 computers though, it's more like 15.

Here's looking forward to the '92 replay tomorrow.


~Homeless

[Joe Ross]

for people using mplayer (or possibly other video players), the link you need to use is mms://media.atc.wpi.edu/battlecry

[Corey Balint]

if someone could post videos of the last few rounds, or any rounds that would be great too. cuz my computer doesnt seem like it wants to work today, its only giving me broken up sounds and one second of video since 1130. so not a fun day.

[Ashley Weed]

Did anyone else just loose the webcast??????? :ahh:

[ahecht]

It should be back now.

[Bharat Nain]

Yes i lost the webcast

[Bharat Nain]

OK back up now

[Alex Cormier]

sorry i missed it earlier, whats the alliances made up of?

[Bharat Nain]

sorry i missed it earlier, whats the alliances made up of?
http://battlecry.wpi.edu/live/matches.html
if that helps.. I havent been following it deeply, more studying for my final exams.. ugh.

[Ashley Weed]

NOOOO!!!!! I Lost the connection halfway through the last match!!!! What happened???? :ahh:

[Alex Cormier]

NOOOO!!!!! I Lost the connection halfway through the last match!!!! What happened???? :ahh:
mee too! blue alliance won

[jgannon]

Congrats to 177 and 181. Your win was quite impressive, considering that you only had two robots in your alliance. :)

[Bharat Nain]

mee too! blue alliance won Me 3!!! Congracts to 181 and 177. Good job guys!

[Ashley Weed]

Congratulations to the Battlecry 5 Champion Alliance!!!!!! ....... I can't believe I lost the connection with 1 min to go after one and a half days!!!! :eek: Congrats to all, it was a great show. Thanks to the video crew.... it was a treat to be able to watch the event!!!!

Congrats to Andy Grady on the Rising Star Award!!!!

[811SmallFry]

Ok, we had to leave early and missed the Semi-finals and on. What happened? Who won what awards?

[Alex Pelan]

Here's what I remember:
Victors: 177, 181
Runners Up: 782 571 569(?) (596?)
Rising Star: Andy Grady
Best General Strategy: 177
Best Battlecry: 173
The rest has become muddled in my mind. Sorry I couldn't be of any more help.
EDIT: Pin Man's post has jogged my memory a bit:
Best at Completing One Task: 782 (They hung every match w/o fail)
Medal of Honor: 809 (They sufferred the death of a teammate and loss of a sponsor :( )
ANd Team 131 won an award for their efforts at "Barring the raise"
Also, 236 won an award (Was it engineering excellence?)

[Pin Man]

Here's what I remember:
Victors: 177, 181
Runners Up: 782 571 569(?) (596?)
Rising Star: Andy Grady
Best General Strategy: 177
Best Battlecry: 173
The rest has become muddled in my mind. Sorry I couldn't be of any more help.
Victors: 177, 181
Runners Up: 782 571 596
Rising Star: Andy Grady
Best General Strategy: 177
Best Battlecry: 173
Awesome Offense: 173
Best Defense: 88
Purple Heart: 121

[Heretic121]

ya... im gonna tell the 121 story... as some of you know... at BeanTownBlitz, in our 2nd quaterfinal match, or hook bent about 34* after a fall off the platform to the ground after it hit the guard rail... the hook was sevearly damaged, and it was almost in need of replacing... from there, we straigntend it out, but we were missing 3 things that should have been wielded onto it...

first, there was a missing wield on the bottom of the hook which we just screwed in... then the rachaet was also not weilded on, we have to dremel 2 screws to make them fit into the 2nd stage of our hook, and that was SOMEwhat fixed... then our rope was missing its bar, which makes it hang, so we had to use an ibolt instead... then it worked.... kind of... in our last quailfying match, our rachet buckeled and our hook wouldnt move at all... it was totaled!!! From there we had to take a 1/2" peice of aluminum and carve out of a solid block to make it, and now its better than ever (it sounds like a woden rollercoaster going up =D but that wasnt our worst problem...

after our first QuaterFinal match, our clutch gave way from our drill motor... our right side only drove with our back wheel... It actually broke in the our second (it had to be replayed because of a tie) So from there we had to completely un-assemble how it was mounted, and then take it apart... luckily our great alliance partner team 1027, had an extra clutch/transmission (wasnt 100% sure what it was, i was just doing what i was told)... and one of thier mentors helped out SO much so THANK YOU!!! but we only had about 20 min before semi-final 1, where we were rusehd on, and it worked better than before... but un-fortuanley, that wasnt the end of our bad luck... the Semi-final 3 for us, we with 190 went out.. 190 was unsecessful on hanging, which was VERY unfortuante for us, and also our clutch came lose from its attachment from the wheel, and we lost right side control, i couldnt turn left, which costed us the match because we could not get on the second platform...

I do have to say, that this was the biggest blow to the team all year, and without the mentor from 1027, Dave Delong (MrToast) we wouldnt have been able to pull it off... So i will add here, that we decided to give MrToast the award, as for he pulled through on the hook, and the trans... and it was also his birthday on friday =P... so thank you for all those who helped and we cant wait to go to BattleCry Next year... (and congrats for 181 and 177) (and who was that one 237 that yelled at me because i was wearing your shirt when we went down to get our trophy!?! thx =D)

[Goobergunch]

I've added the final team seeds to FIRSTwiki at http://www.firstwiki.org/index.php/Battlecry_%282004%29 - if anyone wishes to add the awards to that page, it would be appreciated.

EDIT: I've added some awards taken from this thread, but since I wasn't at Battlecry and didn't have a chance to watch the webcast, it's somewhat incomplete - additional editing would still be appreciated.