2008 Boston Regional [Archive]

Greg Marra

20-01-2008, 20:13

Where is everyone going to park now that the parking lot is a building? (Don't worry - the parking garage is still there.) But it was amazing how fast that thing went up...or maybe time just went really fast. I thought construction was just starting around the time of last year's event.

Oh I kept driving by that building on the Pike and going, "Wow that building is very proximate to Agganis Arena," but I didn't realize it had replaced the parking lot!

I am sure people will be able to find ample parking nearby. Agganis is right by a T stop too, so people staying in the city may find Boston's subway system even more convenient than driving!

KathieK

20-01-2008, 21:42

I'm excited to be volunteering in Boston. Great regional!

Roger

21-01-2008, 06:46

There is parking underneath the almost whole block, though the Agganis has it's own parking.

For those who are taking the T (Boston subway), it is the Pleasant Street stop (http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/subway/lines/stations/?stopId=11201&lat=42.351345&lng=-71.118783) on the "B" (Boston College) line of the Green Line.

Macdaddy549

21-01-2008, 10:28

Team549 will be competing. Can't wait. We missed last years.
GO PATS!!!

Roger

05-03-2008, 15:20

Go to http://maps.live.com and turn on Bird's eye view on the Agganis Arena (sorry, I can't seem to link it here) -- the North and South views shows a finished building (except for all the construction trailers), but the East and West views are the building is still wide open!

bbr4d3r

09-03-2008, 19:50

Hey everyone Team 20 will be there. How many teams going have gone to another regional so far and how did things go for your team??

commodoredl

16-03-2008, 22:15

Team 578 will be at Boston, we remember you guys from FLR. Great robot. We didn't do so hot due to lots of electrical problems. So far there looks to be some great competition attending this one.

kborer22

16-03-2008, 22:49

Hey everyone Team 20 will be there. How many teams going have gone to another regional so far and how did things go for your team??

125 will be there, we went to PHX....our robot did not show up until about 3pm on thursday, but we were able to get up and working(with support from all the arizona teams) , and were semi finalists, with a few minor tweaks we will be firing on all cylinders, looking forward to yet another AMAZING Boston Regional....Any teams that need help we are continuing our Ask an Engineer program, we will have a booth set up where you can come and someone will help you with whatever robot related problems you have!!! See you all soon

Chris Marra

16-03-2008, 22:57

I will be there for the third year in a row. Boston is hands down, one of the best run regionals. They always have something really cool and unique to show off, between pixel panels, warehouse robots, and an amazing team social. I am really looking forward to it, and doing some potential Blue Alliance coverage of the event as well.

Kyle Fenton

16-03-2008, 23:05

Where is everyone going to eat now that the McDonald's across the street is gone? :yikes:

(Not that I eat there -- I work across the street the other way and I didn't notice it was gone for about a month!)

Forget McDonalds, the Shaws down the street has a fast food section that is decent, and has the best prices.

ReaperGoat

16-03-2008, 23:35

1735's going to be there in full force! i'm counting down the days...:D

Chris Marra

18-03-2008, 09:54

Now that we have been given official approval by the powers above (aka: Boston RPC), The Blue Alliance will be filming a special behind-the-scenes episode looking at the regional from a point of view most teams don't get to see while caught up in competition.

As part of the coverage, we are requesting t-shirts (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?p=719971)from any attending teams who can spare one. It will be featured at least once in the video, and we can return them if necessary. Please PM me if your team can accomodate us so we can work something out.

Thanks,
Chris Marra

Brandon Holley

18-03-2008, 10:10

I know 125 is psyched to be back in our hometown for another great regional. Only 9 days away!

Stillen

18-03-2008, 10:26

TEAM 549 is kinda in a logistical nightmare with transportation. We are staying at the HYATT, and we are having a problem with transportation to and from the venue..... We only a limited amount of transportation , and want to try and minimize the trips back and fourth.... Are there any teams out there that are staying at the Hyatt that have a HUGE bus or similar??

Mike

TD78

18-03-2008, 10:29

Are you staying at the Hyatt in Cambridge? If so, you shouldn't need a bus at all. My team stayed there last year and it's only a 5-8 minute walk across the bridge. Keep in mind you have to cross a few streets, but if you use the sidewalks and crosswalks, you shouldnt have a problem.

Conor Ryan

18-03-2008, 10:54

Yeah walking from the Hyatt is a pretty nice walk over to the Venue, plan on leaving about 15 minutes before you want to be there.

Good luck to everyone going to Boston, it is always a great show they put on, this will be the first one I have missed since they brought it back (I believe MIT was home to one of the earliest FIRST competitions). Boston has been home to some of the most unique stuff I have seen at a regional, make sure you make time in your busy schedule to see the opening ceremonies and anything else they put on- everything they do is a big production! 2 years ago they had the greatest Opening Ceremony ever! I hope they top it this year!

Stillen

18-03-2008, 11:00

ReaperGoat

18-03-2008, 11:01

yeah, a mile sounds right. 1735 is staying there too...a bunch of teams are!

TD78

18-03-2008, 11:04

Hmmm, I just banged it into my GPS, it looks to be just under a 1 mile walk, does this seem right?

yup! you can just about see the hotel across the river from the arena. its a great way to wake up in the morning on the way over to the pits, especially when its brisk out!

Brandon Holley

18-03-2008, 11:53

Yeah its less than a mile...not a bad walk

Roger

20-03-2008, 09:34

MCAS - ELA Reading Comprehension Session 3 - March 27th

Out of curiousity how is everyone handling MCAS on Thursday? I would guess there is a high percentage of schools from Massachusetts going to this regional (just guessing, y'know? ;) ) and the 10th graders are finishing up their MCAS on Thursday morning.

At our parents meeting last night we decided to have parents drive them in after school Thursday, all 14 of them. Fortunately we have enough students for drivers on Thursday, but I'm thinking that day is going to seem rather empty.

(For those out-of-state, MCAS is a Massachusetts state-wide test given to various grades at various times of the year. And in spite of the teacher asking everybody what the schedule was and everybody assuring him everything was okay -- it wasn't.)

KathieK

20-03-2008, 15:46

This sort of thing happens in many states during FRC competition season. Last week the CT teams faced their mandatory state testing on Thursday and some also had SATs on Saturday which were re-scheduled from a previous date that was snowed out. You do what you can do to get the students there when they can be there.

Joe Matt

20-03-2008, 15:57

Roger

21-03-2008, 08:04

You do what you can do to get the students there when they can be there.I know that. :) I was curious what teams were doing for this time: Skip it and take a makeup (not an option with us), get extra transportation right after the test (we didn't want to rush them), get extra transportation after school (what we did), wait until Friday to drive them in, etc. Plus how would it affect the team having a whole grade out for the day. Granted, it's a practice day, but for a lot of teams this is their first and only regional.

Too bad this regional wasn't held the weekend before (St Patricks weekend, so big a holiday in Boston the government takes the day off and calls it Evacuation Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evacuation_Day_%28Massachusetts%29)) -- maybe it would have been the Green Man Group!

MOE

23-03-2008, 21:10

HELLOOooo :D
Well this is Bostons turn to shine. This should be a Hoot at BU hope all have a safe trip and welcome to BOSTON. See All of the Great TEAMS Soooon
Team 88 TJ2 and MOE :yikes:

BandChick

23-03-2008, 22:24

I am sad to be missing this regional!
Good luck to a ALARM and thanks again for the wonderful time I had staying with you all last year!

Nawaid Ladak

24-03-2008, 00:51

any word on a web cast?

David55

24-03-2008, 01:27

any word on a web cast?

Yes there will be a webcast of the regional, as well as an online archive with all the matches. The Blue Alliance (http://www.thebluealliance.net/) is taking care of that.

David

Tom Bottiglieri

24-03-2008, 10:58

any word on a web cast?
NASA and The Blue Alliance will be providing a webcast of the event.

There will be a chatroom and embedded video player on a webpage, much like the Waterloo ustream.tv setup, only with much better video quality :)

Greg Marra

24-03-2008, 11:09

NASA and The Blue Alliance will be providing a webcast of the event.

There will be a chatroom and embedded video player on a webpage, much like the Waterloo ustream.tv setup, only with much better video quality :)

Third post in a row on the same topic :)

http://www.thebluealliance.net/boston08/

Brandon Holley

24-03-2008, 13:50

Third post in a row on the same topic :)

http://www.thebluealliance.net/boston08/

HOLLA

matt91

24-03-2008, 20:53

HAS EVERYONE FORGOTTEN???? Taco Bell is like a 5 min walk right down the street!!! I cant wait i dont live any where near one so yea good times to be had by all!!

afi419

24-03-2008, 21:14

Is there a team social?

Brandon Holley

24-03-2008, 22:53

HAS EVERYONE FORGOTTEN???? Taco Bell is like a 5 min walk right down the street!!! I cant wait i dont live any where near one so yea good times to be had by all!!

Its about 5 minutes, it might be a little longer, its down almost to the end of the BU campus

Steve Howland

25-03-2008, 00:42

Is there a team social?

There will be two organized social events for the FIRST teams this year. On Thursday, an Ice Cream social will be held nearby the arena for a limited number of members per team. It will run from 4 to 7.

On Friday night, all teams will be given free access to the Boston Museum of Science. Unless teams have already arranged getting a spot for a bus, public transportation is probably best. There is a food court if teams don't have other dinner arrangements.

Roger

25-03-2008, 08:34

Brandon Holley

25-03-2008, 08:36

Koko Ed

25-03-2008, 08:38

Brandon Holley

25-03-2008, 08:54

Do any train lines go out to the arena?

The "B" Green Line has a stop right in front of the arena

Roger

25-03-2008, 08:54

Just ate their a few days ago...good stuff!

Food is so good, they come up from New Jersey to eat there!

Do any train lines go out to the arena?

See post #7 (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showpost.php?p=682661&postcount=7). The "T" (MBTA) has the Boston College "B" line of the Green line goes out Comm Ave. If you're coming from Amtrak you can get off at Back Bay and walk up to Copley OUTBOUND and catch the trolley from there. From South Station you take the Red Line up to Park Street and transfer to the Green Line. Make sure it's the "B" trolley OUTBOUND. Not to Government Center.

If you do get off at Back Bay, you'll walk past the park with The Hint (42.349905, -71.076072, 342,242026) in front of Trinity Church.

By the way, the trolley is the "public transportation" to get to the Science Museum, but if your coming from the competition, you'll have to transfer at Govt Center to the E line, which is the only one that continues to the museum stop. (Or at least, that was the way it was the last time I took it a couple years ago.)

Koko Ed

25-03-2008, 08:57

Food is so good, they come up from New Jersey to eat there!

See post #7 (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showpost.php?p=682661&postcount=7). The "T" (MBTA) has the Boston College "B" line of the Green line goes out Comm Ave. If you're coming from Amtrak you can get off at Back Bay and walk up to Copley OUTBOUND and catch the trolley from there. From South Station you take the Red Line up to Park Street and transfer to the Green Line. Make sure it's the "B" trolley OUTBOUND. Not to Government Center.

If you do get off at Back Bay, you'll walk past the park with The Hint (42.349905, -71.076072, 342,242026) in front of Trinity Church.

By the way, the trolley is the "public transportation" to get to the Science Museum, but if your coming from the competition, you'll have to transfer at Govt Center to the E line, which is the only one that continues to the museum stop. (Or at least, that was the way it was the last time I took it a couple years ago.)

I learned my lesson from years of driving around Boston (born in Boston. Visit relatives regularly) to take the T whenever possible. Boston parking prices can be quite insane as is weekday morning traffic.

Jessica Boucher

25-03-2008, 09:06

If you want something a bit higher than Taco Bell (~shudder~) there is the Sunset Cantina (http://www.campusfood.com/restaurant.asp?campusid=8&mlid=18503)* across the street. It does takeout or eat-in and the portions are big and good. My boss goes there for lunch all the time, and it's where we have our "office parties", but only because it's right outside our back door.

*Don't worry about the "Restaurant Closed" on the website -- it means it opens at 11:30am.

I prefer their sister restaurant, the Sunset Grill and Tap, a couple stops down on the B line, but both are awesome. The Cantina can get wicked busy because of its prime location.

Koko Ed is coming to Boston?!?!? Now the party can begin! We must find a place with air hockey now!

kibbs425

25-03-2008, 09:59

For anyone not familiar with the T visit www.mbta.com

It's the website for the T. They have trip planners on the website too, so you can plan out your commutes, roughly... The T in general is pretty good though. It at the minimum will tell you an approximate time to go across town. This is not perfect though, there are backups occasionally and other things that will cause delays, especially around rush hour.

Also Green line trains can become very packed, around rush hour/busy night times, so make sure you can split up your group just in case you have to. I think in general though you are far enough out going inbound where it shouldn't be too bad.

If you are taking the T to the Museum you'll need to transfer to a Lechmere train. Lechmere trains do tend to be E trains but they are only specific B, C, D or E Trains when they are headed out of the city towards the end of the B, C, D or E line. When they are coming inbound they are either Government Center, North Station or Lechmere.

Just some experiences from taking the T for 4 years. Hopefully this will help some of you.

Koko Ed

25-03-2008, 10:03

I prefer their sister restaurant, the Sunset Grill and Tap, a couple stops down on the B line, but both are awesome. The Cantina can get wicked busy because of its prime location.

Koko Ed is coming to Boston?!?!? Now the party can begin! We must find a place with air hockey now!

Yeah. Wayne asked me to volunteer so I applied late but there may not be any more jobs to be had.

kibbs425

25-03-2008, 10:12

Yeah. Wayne asked me to volunteer so I applied late but there may not be any more jobs to be had.

Oh, I'm sure they can find a spot and if not stop by the Ask an Engineer booth! I'm sure there will be many jobs to be had.

Brandon Holley

25-03-2008, 10:34

Food is so good, they come up from New Jersey to eat there!

While the food is delicious...I go to school at Northeastern University in Boston, so I did not come up from "the jerz"

Roger

25-03-2008, 10:43

Brandon Holley

25-03-2008, 11:24

Yeah, but "Food so good they come over from Northeastern University" doesn't quite have the same touch. :)

Just so everyone knows, there are plenty of sub/pizza shops in the area -- this is a college area.

haha yes this is true...

and i can vouch for the bountiful amounts of pizza and sub shops in boston...there are a ton

Brandon Holley

26-03-2008, 13:57

A little birdie told me that the mainlight curtain is up and running in beantown!

http://mainlight.net/softled/images/

Greg Marra

26-03-2008, 14:24

A little birdie told me that the mainlight curtain is up and running in beantown!

http://mainlight.net/softled/images/

This curtain is one of the coolest things the Boston Regional sports. I wonder if the Blue Man Group will put up graphics during their show?

Brandon Holley

26-03-2008, 14:46

This curtain is one of the coolest things the Boston Regional sports. I wonder if the Blue Man Group will put up graphics during their show?

The company i currently work for is responsible for the LED technology in these curtains

www.colorkinetics.com ...check out their showcase...they do a lot of really COOL stuff

I will have a small sample of lights on hand that team 125 will be using, if you want to check them out keep an eye out for the changing rainbow of colors coming from the stands or pits.

alex1699

26-03-2008, 15:14

rawr im going to be there im so happy im leaving in like 2 hours and 17 minutes to go catch the bus yay! so happy..

KathieK

26-03-2008, 20:44

I'll be at the FIRST exhibit at the NSTA Convention tomorrow and Friday, but I'm looking forward to seeing everyone on Saturday at the Regional!

MikeDubreuil

26-03-2008, 21:43

I prefer their sister restaurant, the Sunset Grill and Tap
Sunset Grill in Allston is my favorite restaurant of all time! The Cantina across from Agganis is very convenient and serves the same food; except PBJ sandwiches, they are only in Allston. Sunset FTW!

Greg Marra

26-03-2008, 22:44

I was just at the venue, and everything looks GREAT! The pixel panel looks awesome, and has a special "OVER DRIVE" logo with little race cars. The field is all set up, and the crates are ready to go.

This is going to be an awesome event!

Tom Bottiglieri

27-03-2008, 15:19

Can anyone at the event give updates? How are the teams doing?

akshar

28-03-2008, 00:36

HAS EVERYONE FORGOTTEN???? Taco Bell is like a 5 min walk right down the street!!! I cant wait i dont live any where near one so yea good times to be had by all!!

enjoy the taco bell, the rumors are that saturday or sunday is the last sunday that it will be open, I go to BU, and BU bought it to make a 5th starbucks.

There is also a T anthonys a block down from where McDonalds used to be.

1568 took a year off this year, but i will be there on saturday as a spectator.

Freddy Schurr

28-03-2008, 20:03

So what is happening in Boston?

darkorbit

28-03-2008, 23:25

Well at 4:22pm 3-28-08 the Ranks were:
1: Team 20
2: Team 157
3: Team 88
4: Team 61
5: Team 69
6: Team 1100
7: Team 1768
8: Team 1699
9: Team 40
10: Team 578

andrew348

29-03-2008, 06:06

The best part of the regional so far I think was in Match 12 when 1100 by accident swung from the bar and andy Grady siad "That move was so 2004"

Greg Marra

29-03-2008, 15:14

Did anyone see the Blue Man Group performance? That was absolutely amazing!

Freddy Schurr

29-03-2008, 19:19

Is video up yet from the Blue Man group performance?

Brandon Holley

29-03-2008, 21:50

congratulations to team 839 on your MUCH deserved chairmans award. I am so excited for your guys first ever tripped to Atlanta. Considering the strong connections between our teams, it almost feels like we won too! Congrats guys you more than deserve it.... Rosie rocks

John Neun

30-03-2008, 00:13

Many thanks to all of the teams at the Boston Regional, and to the organizers who made it happen. This was our first time in Boston, and it was terrific! It was an honor to participate. Many thanks especially to our alliance partners Teams 40 and 1474. You guys ROCK!! I hope we can return to Boston in the future.

David55

30-03-2008, 00:23

Is video up yet from the Blue Man group performance?

The video will be uploaded tomorrow to The Blue Alliance Boston archive (http://www.thebluealliance.net/tbatv/event.php?eventid=167) (and maybe youtube). This page also contains videos of all the matches, with the exception of a few that were missed.

Joe Matt

30-03-2008, 01:47

Did anyone see the Blue Man Group performance? That was absolutely amazing!

If you thought that was good, go see a real show...

Mark1153

30-03-2008, 08:48

Team 1153 would like to THANK team 61 for picking us in the playoffs, being a great alliance partner, and leading us to the finals, and team 97 for being a great partner.

Congratulations to a great winning alliance of 20, 40 and 1474 who showed great competitive spirit and gracious professionalism throughout. After our 2nd match in the finals when we were tied 1-1, we had a broken elevator lift fork and no timeouts remaining. We think the alliance of 20,40,1474 went above and beyond - in the best tradion of FIRST to use their timeout, and give us the time to fix our robot, so we could be competitive in the final match. I personally, team 1153 as a whole, and our alliance partners 61 & 97 greatly appreciate your gracious professionalism and competitve spirit.

To everyone involved in the Boston Regional Team [board, staff, volunteers, referees, judges, teams] - a great big THANK YOU. You ran a great event, the kids - mentors - parents and spectators had a great time, saw some great robotics, listened to some great music, saw many acts of gracious professionalism. Having over 7,000 people come to the afternoon session to see the BLUE MAN group and the playoffs was amazing.

Mark Gallivan - Team 1153 Mentor - Walpole High School

ZZII 527

30-03-2008, 11:25

The Boston Regional has been great since it began in 2006, but I think this year really set a new standard for showcasing FIRST at a regional event. It was officially the most attended regional in history (7,000+). It was an amazing display of art and technology with the Blue Man Group, Woodie's entrance, the LED curtains, the field lighting, and the numerous displays like the MIT DARPA Urban Challenge vehicle and the Bluefin underwater autonomous vehicle. Thank you to the event organizers who did a tremendous job setting all this up and having it run so smoothly.

Team 97 thanks 61 and 1153 for drafting us into a great alliance. We made an awesome team and put on a great show in the playoffs. Congratulations to 20, 40, and 1474 on a well-deserved win and an excellent display of sportsmanship. And congratulations to 839 on your Chairman's Award win. Good luck to all in Atlanta!

AmoryG

30-03-2008, 12:39

Congrats to team 20, 40, and 1474! You guys had an amazing alliance, but I still enjoyed the finals. Great win by the blue alliance in the second match. I can't say I wasn't slightly disapointed we couldn't get into the finals, but I still had a great time playing in the qualifying matches and watching the finals!! And I'm very happy with our unexpected rookie allstars award! Hopefully we will be seeing you guys in Atlanta (if we get the money).

Nuttyman54

30-03-2008, 13:26

Video of Woodie rappelling has been uploaded here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNsScJwXAJY

commodoredl

30-03-2008, 14:06

Team 578 would like to thank teams 174 and 173 for being on our alliance for the playoffs. We didn't make it past the first round, and had a really disappointing loss in the second match because of penalties, but still put up a very good fight against our opponents in a very close first match.
Boston was amazing and the whole team had tons of fun while we were there. We had been considering alternating between the Philadelphia and Boston regionals each year as our "away game," but I don't think there's any doubt in our minds that Boston is the regional to attend.

Tetraman

30-03-2008, 14:21

As the only guy from 174 on CD (haha), I want to thank 578 and 173 for giving us a shot in the elims. We really enjoyed our first year at Boston and are looking forward to returning.

Congrats to Team 20 from our FLR alliance for their second regional win this year as well as to team 40 and 1474.

Cleinhun

30-03-2008, 16:11

The Boston Regional has been great since it began in 2006, but I think this year really set a new standard for showcasing FIRST at a regional event. It was officially the most attended regional in history (7,000+). It was an amazing display of art and technology with the Blue Man Group, Woodie's entrance, the LED curtains, the field lighting, and the numerous displays like the MIT DARPA Urban Challenge vehicle and the Bluefin underwater autonomous vehicle. Thank you to the event organizers who did a tremendous job setting all this up and having it run so smoothly.

So when do we get something like this on the west coast? I wish I had been there.

raceteen48

30-03-2008, 18:45

I thought Boston was an awesome regional, a lot of younger teams there than Manchester, I know we sure did a lot better, we got it all figured out in time for Boston i felt, and had a good time. thanks to 69 for picking us in the Selections, and thanks to 2084 for being a great alliance partner, i think we had a great alliance out there.

I do however have a question about certain penalties that I am confused about.
in one of our QF matches 69 got called for "Impeding a Hurdle" on team 125, which i was kind of confused about, because they are a launcher robot, and therefore i asked a referee later what the definition of "Hurdling" is, and he said "Hurdling is when the ball is just off the floor, now that seemed wrong to me, and when i got home i saw this on the First forums.

"The act of completing a HURDLE. To be considered in the process of HURDLING, the ROBOT must:

* be in its own HOME STRETCH, and
* be in POSSESSION of a TRACKBALL, and
* be moving toward the OVERPASS and/or elevating the TRACKBALL so that the top of the TRACKBALL is higher than the LANE DIVIDER."

now to me, that says that the robot has to have the ball ABOVE the lane divider, so therefore, a shooter robot should hypothetically never get a penalty called against someone else for impeding them in hurdling.

we also had one point in a match where we were hurdling, and a robot hit us, they never got called, we asked Benge and he said "it was incidental Contact" now i never saw anywhere in the rules where it specified whether it was incidental or not made a difference, especially when we were the only robot on that side and they could have gone left or right of us.

also, how does the "Contact outside the bumper zone" work? In SF2 Match 2, in like the last 5 seconds of the match, we were trying to take the Red ball down from the overpass, and 1153's arm got caught in our robot, actually holding onto our battery cable. we were then unable to knock the ball off, and as i understood it, if you have an attachment outside the starting size limitations, and it hits/interferes with another robot especially being INSIDE their robot, you should get a ten point penalty, and yet they didn't, Benge even had to step OVER their arm to leave the circle of judges, and then i even pointed it out to a ref, who responded with "We already gave them a penalty for something" then they posted the score, and he said "still want that penalty" and then they took the score down, and changed it, and they actually won, so we argued with Benge and he just said "we call it as we see it guys" and i walked over to the ref i had talked to earlier and said "ya, i want it called now" and he just said that he talked to Benge and Benge made up his mind but he would talk to him again. i do not know if he did or not, i was really upset about this, since they never gave us a reason other than "they already called them for a penalty (which was impeding a hurdle btw). since when can a team only get called one penalty against them? even if wouldn't effect the match outcome? I feel that we really missed out on a third match that should have been played, and might have changed the outcome of the whole regional.

AmoryG

30-03-2008, 18:58

Well, if they decided not to penalize them because they were already penalized then I'm amazed. I was the controller of my team's robot and in my team's first match, I accidently went back and forth over the line to knock the ball off from underneath. We got like 2-3 penalties for that.

Also, there was one penalty I thought was very unfair. At the last lap aparently as I was passing over the line, a robot infront of me was blocking the way and I slowed down, but bounced back a very tiny bit over the line. That counted as a penalty. There were also some teams complaining about robots that rammed into their robots at high speeds, but didn't get any penalties called on them. I guess judges can make mistakes, but with 10? out there their calls should be pretty accurate.

B_Dubbs

30-03-2008, 19:16

also, how does the "Contact outside the bumper zone" work? In SF2 Match 2, in like the last 5 seconds of the match, we were trying to take the Red ball down from the overpass, and 1153's arm got caught in our robot, actually holding onto our battery cable. we were then unable to knock the ball off, and as i understood it, if you have an attachment outside the starting size limitations, and it hits/interferes with another robot especially being INSIDE their robot, you should get a ten point penalty, and yet they didn't, Benge even had to step OVER their arm to leave the circle of judges, and then i even pointed it out to a ref, who responded with "We already gave them a penalty for something" then they posted the score, and he said "still want that penalty" and then they took the score down, and changed it, and they actually won, so we argued with Benge and he just said "we call it as we see it guys" and i walked over to the ref i had talked to earlier and said "ya, i want it called now" and he just said that he talked to Benge and Benge made up his mind but he would talk to him again. i do not know if he did or not, i was really upset about this, since they never gave us a reason other than "they already called them for a penalty (which was impeding a hurdle btw). since when can a team only get called one penalty against them? even if wouldn't effect the match outcome? I feel that we really missed out on a third match that should have been played, and might have changed the outcome of the whole regional.

The reason it did not cause a penalty was because it was unintentional. If you watch the match you'll see that at the end after we place the robot and stayed still in front of the ball. Then when your robot drove at the ball to knock it off, it came in at an angle forcing our arm's double hinge to activate and fold up. When you pushed forward again, nothing kept the arm in the folding position and it fell on your robot. Unfortunately it got tangled up in your robot. If you were wondering they took the score down because they didn't count the red ball on the overpass at the end.

raceteen48

30-03-2008, 19:31

while i understand that we might have hit you, I thought the rule stated that if your attachments are outside the bumper zone, then you are responsible for all contact they make with another robot, and even then, shouldn't the arms then fall under <R07> no mechanism shall pose an obvious risk of entanglement with another robot? and i thought that we had been penalized in an earlier match for hitting outside the bumper zone when we were sitting still, but i might be blurring Manchester and Boston here, so i might be wrong.

sorry, I am not trying to be a pain here, just trying to understand the rules and their limitations

B_Dubbs

30-03-2008, 19:40

while i understand that we might have hit you, I thought the rule stated that if your attachments are outside the bumper zone, then you are responsible for all contact they make with another robot, and i thought that we had been penalized in an earlier match for hitting outside the bumper zone when we were sitting still, but i might be blurring Manchester and Boston here, so i might be wrong.

I'm not sure, I just remember Benge's final ruling being that it was an unintentional hit/entanglement so no penalty was called. Either way both semifinal matches were extraordinary and well played by both alliances. As for R04, I believe that because the arms fold up in contact with the overpass or another robot (or anything so long as it isn't a head on collision) that the inspectors and judges felt that they would not impose an obvious risk. Then again, its all in one's interpretation of the word obvious...

raceteen48

30-03-2008, 19:47

oh, ok, and ya, they were both great matches, and I never heard Benge's ruling, all he told us was that he called it as they saw it, i never heard that he ruled it as unintentional, and yea, i think the problem with a lot of these rules is how people take them, I mean, look at 190, i am glad we were in a situation where we didn't 'waste' six weeks on something that breaks a rule every time it works if i understand other discussions in this forum. (not that they wasted it, but kind of stinks to be in that predicament)

Vikesrock

30-03-2008, 20:09

I do however have a question about certain penalties that I am confused about.
in one of our QF matches 69 got called for "Impeding a Hurdle" on team 125, which i was kind of confused about, because they are a launcher robot, and therefore i asked a referee later what the definition of "Hurdling" is, and he said "Hurdling is when the ball is just off the floor, now that seemed wrong to me, and when i got home i saw this on the First forums.

"The act of completing a HURDLE. To be considered in the process of HURDLING, the ROBOT must:

* be in its own HOME STRETCH, and
* be in POSSESSION of a TRACKBALL, and
* be moving toward the OVERPASS and/or elevating the TRACKBALL so that the top of the TRACKBALL is higher than the LANE DIVIDER."

now to me, that says that the robot has to have the ball ABOVE the lane divider, so therefore, a shooter robot should hypothetically never get a penalty called against someone else for impeding them in hurdling.

Emphasis mine

This means that if they were in their home stretch with possession of a trackball and moving towards the overpass then they are considered to be hurdling.

Rosiebotboss

30-03-2008, 20:13

Boston ROCKS!

Marc Hodosh, Regional Planning Committee Chair and RD Steve Cremer and their team deserve a HUGE pat on the back for bringing over 7200 people, many of whom were NOT FIRST connected to see a Regional and at least be exposed to the magic of FIRST.

The Boston Regional Mentor program is one of those programs that comes along the stands above the noise and really makes a difference. This program needs to be emulated throughout FIRST at all levels.

Ask an Engineer--same thing. The engineering students from Northeastern University who make up that group are outstanding. They are the future and I gotta put on my shades! They are and will be making a difference in the lives of many many people in the future.

And last but by no means least, to the Judges, referees, the field reset, cuers, pit admin, volunteers and elevator operators.....YOU are the ones that made Boston so memorable for all of us on Rosie. :D

raceteen48

30-03-2008, 20:18

Emphasis mine

This means that if they were in their home stretch with possession of a trackball and moving towards the overpass then they are considered to be hurdling.

ok, I don't like that they put the and/or in there, they should have made it one of the others, because the way i read it, the "or" was meant for when they are stopped next to the rack putting it over and are above the rack.

but either way it doesn't make a difference, I saw the match, and 69 was coming around the turn, and 125 backed in front of them, and hyper hit them, they then were sitting still i believe, and if hyper were to have backed up they would have broken a plane and gotten a ten point penalty, they really had to keep pushing or else they would have gotten penalized for something else, idk, i guess it was just a bad call all around. it was in QF4 match 1 btw can be found here http://www.thebluealliance.net/tbatv/match.php?matchid=9738

and Congrats rosie on the award

commodoredl

30-03-2008, 20:43

With shooter robots it is sometimes difficult to tell and sometimes annoying with calling the "Impeding Hurdling" penalty. I know that 578 ran into tons of problems with not getting that called on their opponents. In one match we were trying to launch and actually rammed from behind as our arm lowered to kick the ball. We only kicked it about 4 feet high because of that and no penalty was called, but we still won the match.
On a team like 125, their shooter device was located on the robot and "loaded" very slowly (I think), so a ref would have a hard time knowing if it was trying to hurdle. Some liberties would have to be taken to be fair to the shooter team, especially if they actually are in the act of hurdling without raising any sort of arm.

alex1699

30-03-2008, 20:56

i had fun and would to thank 2043 for picking team 1699 as an alliance. out of the last three year of building robots that was the first time for are team. thank you so much. i was so happy hearing we would like team one six nine nine after thinking about who that was. thank you so much. i stil have a smile on my face. :D :D :D :D :D

alex1699

30-03-2008, 20:58

Well at 4:22pm 3-28-08 the Ranks were:
1: Team 20
2: Team 157
3: Team 88
4: Team 61
5: Team 69
6: Team 1100
7: Team 1768
8: Team 1699
9: Team 40
10: Team 578

#8 wooooot three losses and a tie made use in 15 or the same a 5th from what i herd...

Daniel Brim

30-03-2008, 21:03

Wow. What a regional. The 2008 Boston regional is BY FAR the best planned, run, and attended regional that I have ever been to. Clearly, this deserves a huge thank you to the planning committee, the regional director, and the attendees.

To team 839 (Rosie): It was a pleasure working with you with Ask an Engineer. Whenever we needed extra help, parts, and such, you were one of the first teams that we went to. And congratulations on your much deserved Chairman's Award. The description, while good, did not capture the full extent of your efforts in the FIRST community. Having personally worked with two former Rosie members (Kyle and Neil), I can say without a doubt that you are a truly inspiring team. Good luck in Atlanta.

Also, some other thank yous to send out. Thank you to 2043 and 1699 for picking us for the elimination rounds. It's too bad that our arm broke during the third match, otherwise we could have put up more of a fight. And a thank you to the judges as well for the Delphi Driving Tomorrow's Technology award. This is the first time in the 11 year history of the NUTRONS that they have been given an award other than finalist/winner.

And on a note pertaining to the current conversation:

With shooter robots it is sometimes difficult to tell and sometimes annoying with calling the "Impeding Hurdling" penalty. I know that 578 ran into tons of problems with not getting that called on their opponents. In one match we were trying to launch and actually rammed from behind as our arm lowered to kick the ball. We only kicked it about 4 feet high because of that and no penalty was called, but we still won the match.
On a team like 125, their shooter device was located on the robot and "loaded" very slowly (I think), so a ref would have a hard time knowing if it was trying to hurdle. Some liberties would have to be taken to be fair to the shooter team, especially if they actually are in the act of hurdling without raising any sort of arm.It was fairly obvious when we were ready to shoot, because the winch was back. It did take quite awhile to prepare to fire, but a lap was enough time.

Thank you again Boston, and I look forward to seeing what is in store for next year.

Brandon Holley

30-03-2008, 21:05

ok, I don't like that they put the and/or in there, they should have made it one of the others, because the way i read it, the "or" was meant for when they are stopped next to the rack putting it over and are above the rack.

but either way it doesn't make a difference, I saw the match, and 69 was coming around the turn, and 125 backed in front of them, and hyper hit them, they then were sitting still i believe, and if hyper were to have backed up they would have broken a plane and gotten a ten point penalty, they really had to keep pushing or else they would have gotten penalized for something else, idk, i guess it was just a bad call all around. it was in QF4 match 1 btw can be found here http://www.thebluealliance.net/tbatv/match.php?matchid=9738

and Congrats rosie on the award

Honestly I thought it was a legitimate call. We have a strong relationship with HYPER so right after the match we exchanged thoughts and were both fine with the way that call went. That alliance went on to win the QF anyway so no harm done, HYPER is alright in our books.

I talked to benge and he reiterated to me that a shooter has the same protection if we are moving toward the overpass. We were moving toward the overpass until HYPER hit us. Thats the way I see it.

With shooter robots it is sometimes difficult to tell and sometimes annoying with calling the "Impeding Hurdling" penalty. I know that 578 ran into tons of problems with not getting that called on their opponents. In one match we were trying to launch and actually rammed from behind as our arm lowered to kick the ball. We only kicked it about 4 feet high because of that and no penalty was called, but we still won the match.
On a team like 125, their shooter device was located on the robot and "loaded" very slowly (I think), so a ref would have a hard time knowing if it was trying to hurdle. Some liberties would have to be taken to be fair to the shooter team, especially if they actually are in the act of hurdling without raising any sort of arm.

It takes around 4-5 seconds for us to load, but for 90% of the match we are loaded anyway. We were making sure we had a clear lane to the overpass as well as making sure we were straight on, however we were still attempting to move toward the overpass and were prohibited at doing that.

Congrats to everyone at Boston...it was an awesome event.

raceteen48

30-03-2008, 22:06

well, I realize that it didn't affect the outcome, but i know that in between matches our whole alliance was questioning it, I understand it now, but i would have liked a better explanation from the ref i asked rather than just "the ball has to be above the ground, that was the main problem I had

Roger

31-03-2008, 07:22

I want to extend a personal thank you to Rosie Robotics (team 839) for giving me a nice lunch in the garage on Friday! Roger.

peace

31-03-2008, 11:30

I would just like to say the Boston Regional was a wonderful experience. The venue is just great for this event and the volunteers did such a wonderful job.

The teams really came with their best stuff. Congratulations to all.

I am posting pictures of the event. I have been doing a few events for FIRST as part of my VISTA service and have learned a lot on how to photograph these events specifically, unfortunately do to the sheer amount of data collected and to provide these images in at least a minimally timely fashion, you will see the good and the bad together. I collected about 20gigs of image data total. Download time from cards to computers was about 7 hours. Anyone with high speed cpu's or motherboards to donate, we will graciously accept. :)

Image Gallery and Slideshow:

http://www.beaverbots.com/boston_frc/index.htm

More images later in the week.
peace

raceteen48

31-03-2008, 13:39

does anyone have pictures or vidoes of Team 1100 hanging from the bar? the Webcast shot is not very good.

Thanks!

AmoryG

31-03-2008, 18:30

Also, some other thank yous to send out. Thank you to 2043 and 1699 for picking us for the elimination rounds. It's too bad that our arm broke during the third match, otherwise we could have put up more of a fight. And a thank you to the judges as well for the Delphi Driving Tomorrow's Technology award. This is the first time in the 11 year history of the NUTRONS that they have been given an award other than finalist/winner.

Yea, I was a bit disappointed when your arm broke, I loved seeing it in action, always wondering if the ball would fly out of the arena ;).

Outlaw

31-03-2008, 19:19

Hello, my name is Luke.

I was the Robocoach for Team 1995 Fatal Error at the 2008 Boston Regional.

If anyone has any pictures or videos that include my team, please send me an email at jammasta42@gmail.com. My team is trying to compile media to put into a team DVD. Please include information to be used in the video's credits.

It's not too hard to spot our team. We had black shirts with green barcodes on the front and 1995 in big letters on the back.

Thank you very much.

Luke Trombley
Team 1995
Fatal Error
2008 Drive Team
Robocoach

David55

31-03-2008, 19:55

If anyone has any pictures or videos that include my team, please send me an email at jammasta42@gmail.com.

All of the matches from the Boston regional can be found on www.thebluealliance.net. Your videos can be found here (http://www.thebluealliance.net/tbatv/team.php?team=1995).

Roger

01-04-2008, 08:08

Panoramic photo (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/31168) of the Boston regional, with the Mayor talking and the Judges ready for Blue Man Group.
(Sorry, had to brag about it here - it fell off the photos page so quickly!)

RoboMom

01-04-2008, 09:10

Read about the event here:
http://www.xconomy.com/2008/03/31/first-robotics-update-menino-wowed-big-crowd-really-loud/
And in the interesting trivia department, Colin Angle entertained the judges with stories about his experiences having a small role in the new movie "21". Colin plays a MIT professor who is based on our own Woodie.
http://www.xconomy.com/2008/03/28/irobot-ceo-angle-lands-role-in-mit-blackjack-movie/

ZZII 527

01-04-2008, 21:53

more cool pics courtesy of Ed Moriarty and Teams 97 / 1757 / 1916 / 2043 / 2124 / 2349:

http://web.mit.edu/first/www/BOS08/BOS08Ed.html

Scroll down for BMG / Woodie pics.

DanTod97

01-04-2008, 22:21

I still want a re-do.

DanTod97

01-04-2008, 22:29

but in more of a joking manner

Rosiebotboss

01-04-2008, 22:37

I'm looking for video of the award ceremony on Saturday......Specifically the Chairman's. I don't remember anything Woodie read after "....sumer camp and fun":D

Thanks

David55

02-04-2008, 01:47

I'm looking for video of the award ceremony on Saturday......Specifically the Chairman's. I don't remember anything Woodie read after "....sumer camp and fun":D

Thanks

TBA has the awards and they will be posted here (http://vimeo.com/album/10595).

AmoryG

05-04-2008, 14:29

Anyone has the video for the Rookie Allstars Award? I would like to see that.

Greg Marra

05-04-2008, 23:17

Anyone has the video for the Rookie Allstars Award? I would like to see that.

http://vimeo.com/864661

:)

AmoryG

05-04-2008, 23:45

Thanx :)

Astronouth7303

10-04-2008, 02:21

I know it's a little late, but I wanted to get my $.02.

I volunteered as the Spare Parts attendant, my first year as a volunteer. They guy with the pink head behind the table? That was me.

I have one thing I want to say: many, many props to team 125 and their Ask An Engineer program. It made a difference for many teams, and having to work spare parts right next to them, I heard a lot of what was going on. (You broke a CIM motor? omg, you did.) When teams asked for help, they got them help, checked back later to make sure they had help, and checked on teams when they hadn't passed inspection Thursday night. Major, major cheers for you guys.