MARC 2010 IS OPEN

[Steve Ketron]

Last year, 32 teams from all around the Midwest enjoyed a two-day event with a real friendly atmosphere. We are only getting better from the words that those teams are spreading. If your team wants to enjoy a very competitive off-season event with a friendly atmosphere, please sign-up for the 2010 MARC. EVENT INFORMATION:

2010 M.A.R.C. ROBOTICS COMPETITION


WHAT: Michigan Advanced Robotics Competition (MARC)

WHEN: June 25th at 1pm and
June 26th (ALL DAY)

WHERE: Monroe High School
901 Herr Rd
Monroe, MI 48161

PRICE: $250 per team $200 for the orgininal 12 Teams

TEAM LIMIT: 42

REGISTRATION: Now until May 30th. Pay by May 30th and receive a $50.00 discount. Pay must be submitted by 6-14-10 to compete.

HOW TO REGISTER: 2010 Michigan Advanced Robotics Competition (MARC) Registration Form.

FOOD: Teams can purchase hot dogs, nachos, pizza, cheesy bread and water/pop during the event (both days) at the arena. We are again having a pig roast for the Friday night social. Prepaid tickets are $2.00 per person (this helps us have an idea of how many people and to control the amount of seconds/thirds until everyone eats)

LODGING: Available close by.

VOLUNTEERS: We have NUMEROUS positions that need great volunteers - field reset, crowd control, queuing, field repair, refereeing, pit admin...the list goes on. Those interested in volunteering should contact Steve Ketron. Due to the lack of volunteers to fill primary roles, special discounts will be given to teams that provide volunteers for refereeing, judging, and queuing ($25 OFF PRICE), Head Referee ($50)

EVENT INFO: Contact Steve Ketron 734-265-3567
KETRON@MONROE.K12.MI.US
VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR Lisa Perez lisaperez@gmail.com

[J@GMFlint]

You can count Team #1243 (one of the originals) in again for this one! :)

MARC is fast becoming a great MI Off-Season event and well worth attending! It's also a great opportunity to introduce new recruits to the competition, start to train new drivers, or prepare for IRI!

[FoleyEngineer]

Team 910 - The Foley Freeze (one of the original teams) would LOVE to come! It's a super-fun event, well run, lots of competition and a great way for the kids to hang out with their friends from other teams in the summer.

I'm sure we'll be able to offer some volunteers to help out again also.

MARC ROCKS!

Thanks,
John

[Tom Line]

I just sent the post to our head mentor - I'm hoping we'll attend too. It's GREAT fun, and I'm crossing my fingers on a mentor driving competition :D

[Steve Ketron]

Have no fear. The mentor matches and pig roast are in full swing

[Wayne TenBrink]

Did somebody say pig roast?? And mentor matches?? Oh, and robotics for the kids to boot? Sounds like a plan.

It seemed to work out for us last year...

[Steve Ketron]

GaryVoshol has just stepped up to the plate and volunteered to be our head ref. People like this is what makes MARC a success.

[Craig Roys]

1718 will be there - we love the event and always have a good time. Plus you gotta love the pig roast and mentor matches!

[Jack Jones]

1718 will be there - we love the event and always have a good time. Plus you gotta love the pig roast and mentor matches!

I don't think the pig shares your feelings. ;) ;)

[MrFixIt2719]

this year should be a blast i can't wait for the mentor matches and the oh so yummy hog roast and the great people from the other teams and i hope we fill all the team spots for this year :)

[Craig Roys]

I don't think the pig shares your feelings. ;) ;)

Why should the pig care if we have mentor matches or not? :D

[GaryVoshol]

GaryVoshol has just stepped up to the plate and volunteered to be our head ref. People like this is what makes MARC a success.

Mentor matches? I gotta ref MENTOR MATCHES? :eek: :eek: :eek:

But if there's a pig roast involved, OK, I guess I'll put up with some whiney mentors behind the glass.

[MrFixIt2719]

craig you feel as i feel i can't wait for the mentor matches as being an old driver i can't wait to just compete aagin

[Wildcat]

This event sounds like a lot of fun, im gonna try to talk my team into attending it. for if/when i convince them to attend where can i get the registration forum?

[flippy147852]

Did somebody say pig roast?? And mentor matches?? Oh, and robotics for the kids to boot? Sounds like a plan.

It seemed to work out for us last year...

wayne, we have to go. THERE'S A PIG ROAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek: :ahh:

[Steve Ketron]

This event sounds like a lot of fun, im gonna try to talk my team into attending it. for if/when i convince them to attend where can i get the registration forum?

Email me at ketron@monroe.k12.mi.us and I will send one to you.

[Steve Ketron]

Jack, I regrettably forgot to ask you to come to our event last year. You have been a vital part to the success of the MARC event and I would like to know if you are interested in coming to our event?

[ExTexan]

Did somebody say pig roast?? And mentor matches??

OK, before we send in the form.....just to clarify.....I understand the mentors playing but just so there is no misunderstanding........the only pigs that get roasted are animals, right? oink, oink :rolleyes:

[MishraArtificer]

Hm...roast pig...hm...

Don't be suprised if I randomly show up, looking for something to do...not sure what my schedule's going to look like at that point, but seeing as I'm still unemployed, I think I should be able to come.

Not sure if my alma mater will show up, though...

(...roast pig...now if only Team 1902 would show up...))

[Matt2081]

So how exactly is this competition run? Is it just open games?

[Tom Line]

It's a standard competition, just like any regional you'd go to - without the huge lights and the black curtain.

The difference is, there's a ton of fun things to do after each day - pig roast, card playing, meeting other teams. And most im.... I mean LEAST importantly, there's an actual mentor driver competition where you get to play eliminations against other mentors.

Hopefully we'll get to team up with 51 again this year to defend our mentor Title :D

[Steve Ketron]

The difference is, there's a ton of fun things to do after each day - pig roast, card playing, meeting other teams. And most im.... I mean LEAST importantly, there's an actual mentor driver competition where you get to play eliminations against other mentors.:D

Tom, Thanks for the compliments. We will be having a blast again this year. As I mentioned after last years event, there is going to be a $10 per team charitable donation to compete with a small trophy given to the winning teams.

[Matt2081]

And most im.... I mean LEAST importantly, there's an actual mentor driver competition where you get to play eliminations against other mentors.


So does this mean that there is no elimination rounds driven by the students? Are all the final rounds driven by the mentors?

[Steve Ketron]

This event uses a regular competition format, so it will be just like a FIRST run event. The mentor matches and other things are just fun things to do at the end of the days so that teams can met others and have fun.

[Ed Law]

Hopefully we'll get to team up with 51 again this year to defend our mentor Title :D

and 2834 too! I did deliver 2 empty cells and drive up to dump one load. Not as good as what my students were able to do but make me appreciate how hard it was.

[Craig Roys]

and 2834 too! I did deliver 2 empty cells and drive up to dump one load. Not as good as what my students were able to do but make me appreciate how hard it was.

Ed, you beat me to it - I was just about to tell Tom not to forget about 2834! After a certain student on our team left the pin out of the trailer for the final match is was all up to you and 51 to finish it. It was definitely fun and we look forward to coming back - especially now that I hear there will be a trophy too! All we got last year was bragging rights...but it did inspire our students to drive a little better the rest of the way - they couldn't let the mentors drive better than them. :ahh:

[Tom Line]

Of course! How could I forget! You guys totally saved our bacon in the finals match when a student coach who shall remain nameless (Fuzzy/Josh) didn't put the pin in.

We still tell that story - it was hilarious because we (the mentors) weren't sure if we should e-stop or not. I'd drive a couple feet, stop... see if anyone noticed.... finally the ref started waving at us and we nailed the E-stop. Boy did those robots handle better without the trailers attached :D

[fuzzy1718]

Hey... in my defense the pin was in the robot!!! ...the trailer is another story, but we still won:o I'm just suprised I'm still alive after the look on Tom's face when he relized what had happened:p

[Collin Fultz]

MARC was a great event last year and I hope Cyber Blue will be able to go back this year. It will probably depend on mentor and student schedules. Maybe we can talk some more Indiana teams into coming up with us.

Our mentor drivers dumped all of our moonrocks outside the arena during our mentor match. It didn't help that our drive coach wasn't tall enough to see over the two mentors in front of her driving. According to her, our operator mentor-operator "isn't a very good listener".

[Ed Law]

MARC was a great event last year and I hope Cyber Blue will be able to go back this year. It will probably depend on mentor and student schedules. Maybe we can talk some more Indiana teams into coming up with us.

Our mentor drivers dumped all of our moonrocks outside the arena during our mentor match. It didn't help that our drive coach wasn't tall enough to see over the two mentors in front of her driving. According to her, our operator mentor-operator "isn't a very good listener".

That was funny about what your drive coach said. I hope your team can come again. We love to see teams from outside of Michigan. We are kind of tired of playing against the same teams within Michigan at two districts and the State Championship.

Will I be the driver again at the mentors match? I guess that will depend on how well I listen to my student drive coach. We have two more engineering mentors this year instead of just me alone last year. I am really looking forward to it. It will be fun.

[MrFixIt2719]

well atleast your robots were working my robot lost communication with the field just as we were about to dump a load i am looking to redeem my self and win

[Armonious]

Would love to see 1308 there, as it would be our first off-season comp. and our robot never really had a great shot to perform its best due to drivetrain issues at our only regional. Send me an e-mail @ accshafer@gmail.com and I will forward that to our mentor.

[Steve Ketron]

Would love to see 1308 there, as it would be our first off-season comp. and our robot never really had a great shot to perform its best due to drivetrain issues at our only regional. Send me an e-mail @ accshafer@gmail.com and I will forward that to our mentor.

E-MAIL sent. Teams are starting to request info and submit registration forms.

[Armonious]

Thanks.

I'll be sure to forward it to our mentor. Sounds like a blast.

[MrFixIt2719]

i hope teams from out of the state that are interested in coming will tell other teams in there area or teams close to them

[M.Wong]

Team 503 will most likely go again.

Hopefully the trend of the gym getting cooler every year continues :p

[Steve Ketron]

Getting several inquiries from Indinana teams. Thanks 234 Looks like we might have a little interstate competition starting up. Maybe I could get some action for IRI. Anyone know somebody on the IRI committee coming to our event?

[Steve Ketron]

Team 503 will most likely go again.

Hopefully the trend of the gym getting cooler every year continues :p

Looking into portable AC units for the gym.

[GaryVoshol]

Anyone know somebody on the IRI committee coming to our event?

Oooh, can we get Andy and Stu as refs?

[Steve Ketron]

Oooh, can we get Andy and Stu as refs?

I tried that before but there is issues with spending time with the family and preparing for IRI.

[MrFixIt2719]

i hope teams from out of the state that are interested in coming will tell other teams in there area or teams close to them

i just caught word that 234 cyber blue is bringing 1024(killabytes) and 1501(team thrust) which is gonna be awsome:)

[Koko Ed]

Is there a team list yet?

[MrFixIt2719]

Is there a team list yet?

not as far as i know yet

[Steve Ketron]

Is there a team list yet?

I am waiting until after the Championship so more teams can submit their registration forms.

We have a lot of new inquiries and a couple new teams have already submitted their forms. So if the teams come back from last year, which I could very well see happen, then we could very easily hit our goal of 42 teams this year.

[MrFixIt2719]

but it would be so cool to have more then 42 teams :)

[Vikesrock]

^Reported

I've never seen a spam bot edit posts before :confused:

[Steve Ketron]

I just got back from Atlanta and have received excellent inputs about our event and teams saying that they are coming. I could very easily see our total teams reach 42. After consulting several mentors who I consider my advisory committee, I am going to keep the team total at 42 and have a waiting list if needed.

There were two major reasons for limiting it to 42.
One: I have figured out the scheduling for the event and with 42 teams I can still schedule each team for 10 qualififcation matches. I want this event to be an experience and I don't want to go under the 10 match number. BANG for your buck.
Two: Scheduling of more teams would require me to lower the number of mentor matches and I really like the idea of a full elimination schedule for the mentor matches. Us mentors like to have fun also and I really like giving the students the oppertunity to yell at the mentors and especially say' "What are you doing?" or "What were you thinking?"

I truely believe this is a fun event. Everyone who knows me has heard me say that my goal is to get this event up to 60+ teams. I really want that number, but I must consider all aspects of what we wanted to achieve with this event and put my ego to the side.

What this means to the teams:
With limiting the amount of teams to 42 there has to be some ways of picking which teams will get into the event if we go over the 42 team limit. The rules are very simple:
1.) The original 12 teams that attended the MARC in its first year are always guaranteed a spot as long as they apply and pay before the deadline.
2.) Last years winning alliance is guaranteed a spot the following year as long as they apply and pay before the deadline.
3.) First come first in : teams that apply and pay first are in.

[Steve Ketron]

Someone emailed about the mentor matches and asked since there is only 24 spots could I make it so the winning alliance teams are automatically entered in the following years matches. I think that is an excellent idea.

So 2834, 1718, and 51(47) have spots in the mentor matches as long as they register and pay before the May 30th deadline. This does not mean that they are going to be on the same alliance. Alliance selection for all teams will be done for all by the random pull a number from the hat.

This means there are 21 spots open for the mentor matches.

Thanks ED for this idea.

[Mike Schreiber]

Mentor matches? I gotta ref MENTOR MATCHES? :eek: :eek: :eek:

But if there's a pig roast involved, OK, I guess I'll put up with some whiney mentors behind the glass.

So who stands in the question box after that match?

[ExTexan]

So who stands in the question box after that match?

Not to worry! Any mentor that has been around any length of time will just whine but never go to the Question Mark with Gary! ::safety::

[pathew100]

Not to worry! Any mentor that has been around any length of time will just whine but never go to the Question Mark with Gary! ::safety::

I say let the mentors go in the question box if they want, but they have to put up another $5 charitable donation first... :)

[GaryVoshol]

I say let the mentors go in the question box if they want, but they have to put up another $5 charitable donation first... :)

Wouldn't that tend to make me want to call all kinds of controversial things, to up the ante? :ahh: :eek: It is for charity after all ... :cool:

That reminds me of the poster you see in cubicles:
Answers, $1
Intellegent answers, $5
Dumb looks, free. (I have plenty of those to go around)

[Steve Ketron]

The following is a list of teams already registered (most not paid yet) for the event: The top group of teams are the original twelve teams

51 Pontiac, MI Wings of Fire
70 Goodrich, MI More Martins
226 Troy, MI HammerHeads
240 Monroe,MI TEMPEST
279 Ottawa Lakes, MI Tech Fusion
503 Novi, MI Frog Force
910 Madison Heights, MI Foley Freeze
1023 Temperance, MI Bedford Express
1243 Swartz Creek, MI Dragons
1504 Okemos, MI Desperate Penguins
1528 Monroe, MI iPirates
1732 Milwaukee, WI Hilltoppers


815 Allen Park, MI Advanced Power
830 Ann Arbor, MI RatPack
2719 Monroe, MI Ketronix Trojan Robotix
245 Rochester Hills, MI Adambots
2834 Bloomfield Hills, MI Bionic Barons
2612 Waterford,MI WMD
3098 Waterford,MI The Captains
33 Auburn Hills, MI Killer Bees
280 Taylor, MI TnT
201 Rochester Hills, MI The FEDS
234 Indianapolis, IN Cyber Blue
107 Holland, MI Team R.O.B.O.T.I.C.S.
2337 GrandBlanc, MI EngiNERDs
1918 Fremont, MI NC GEARS
3147 Munster Indiana Munster High School Human Cyborg Relations
461 West Lafayette, IN Westside Boiler Invasion
302 Lake Orion, MI Dragons
494 Goodrich, MI Martians
2338 Oswego, IL Gear It Forward
1718 Armada, MI The Fighting Pi

[Dylan Gramlich]

No guarantees but 1126 is looking into it! And by that I mean me trying to convince the mentors to let me and a few others take some students because the students definitely want to go!

[Steve Ketron]

I have been trying to get your team here from day one. It would be nice to see you here at our event. Maybe KoKo Ed can help convince your powers-to-be to let you come. Go KoKo

[Koko Ed]

I have been trying to get your team here from day one. It would be nice to see you here at our event. Maybe KoKo Ed can help convince your powers-to-be to let you come. Go KoKo

I'm still trying to get my own team to come (not likely due to the event is on the same day as graduation at Wilson Magnet High School).
Maybe my going will convince some of the Sparx mentors to let the robot go and play.

[Steve Ketron]

Just added three more teams:
548 Northville, MI Robostangs
3096 Detroit, MI Finney Highlanders
1024 Indianapolis, IN Kil-A-Bytes

That gives us 35 teams already. Boy is this years competition going to be fun. KoKo don't worry if you can't get your robot here. I'm sure we can find a spot in the mentor matches for you.

[Koko Ed]

Just added three more teams:
548 Northville, MI Robostangs
3096 Detroit, MI Finney Highlanders
1024 Indianapolis, IN Kil-A-Bytes

That gives us 35 teams already. Boy is this years competition going to be fun. KoKo don't worry if you can't get your robot here. I'm sure we can find a spot in the mentor matches for you.
Unfortunately MARC is gonna be a one day event for me again this year.
I can't get Friday off so it's my travel night to make it for Saturday.

[Andrew Schreiber]

I say let the mentors go in the question box if they want, but they have to put up another $5 charitable donation first... :)

Can we prepay? Get some sort of 3 for the price of 4 deal going? :rolleyes: I guess I would be willing to challenge calls with Gary for a good charity.

This sounds like a fun competition.

EDIT: No, 3 for 4 is not a typo. Wouldn't want to get a discount on charitable donations now would we?

[GaryVoshol]

Can we prepay? Get some sort of 3 for the price of 4 deal going? :rolleyes: I guess I would be willing to challenge calls with Gary for a good charity.

This sounds like a fun competition.Sure, if you want to ask 3 questions for $20, we'll let you. :p

[BX MARK]

i have a question about the mentor matches....who is the drive coach? Because I was thinking it would be kinda cool for a team member to be the drive coach....

[MrFixIt2719]

i have a question about the mentor matches....who is the drive coach? Because I was thinking it would be kinda cool for a team member to be the drive coach....

the driver coach can be anyone you want but we like to see the students back there getting revenge at yelling at us mentors for a change in the heat of battle:cool:

[BX MARK]

haha ok cool :) I was kinda hoping on getting my revenge up close ;)

[Chris is me]

I'd love to attend if someone could get me from WI to MARC ;) I'll split a long road trip with someone... No way 1714 or 2791's going though of course, but it's the summer and I won't have anything else to do so I might as well volunteer.

[Bjenks548]

the driver coach can be anyone you want but we like to see the students back there getting revenge at yelling at us mentors for a change in the heat of battle:cool:

We have a student coach anyway. I want to see the mentors take all four spots and see how they do!

[MrFixIt2719]

We have a student coach anyway. I want to see the mentors take all four spots and see how they do!

and that is perfectly fine and allowed :)

[maverickfan138]

Team 573 decided on signing up today! We're excited to be a part of the competition!

Interesting tid-bit...My name is Marc, so it was really confusing communicating about the competition at the meeting today. I can't wait to get a shirt though!

[Lisa Perez]

Thanks to everyone who has volunteered for the event so far. I have most of the volunteer positions filled a whopping 2 months before the event!

I *am* still in need of photographers and queuers for MARC, so if you are interested, please feel free to shoot me an e-mail at lisaperez[at]gmail[dot]com.

[Bob Bonczyk]

Last year was our first year at the MARC and we loved it!!! We are signed up.

[Steve Ketron]

2010 MARC Event Schedule

24-Jun-10
10am - 2pm Pit Set-up
2pm - 8pm Field Set-up/testing


25-Jun-10
12pm -3pm Team Registration and set-up
12:30pm - 2:30 pm Practice Begins
2:30pm -2:45 pm Drivers Meeting
2:45pm - 3pm Opening Comments
3pm - 6pm Qualification Matches
6:15pm - 8:15pm Mentor Driver matches
9pm Pits Close
6pm - 10pm Team Social (PIG Roast)

26-Jun-10
8am - 8:45am Pits Open
9am - 9:30am Opening Ceremony
9:30am-1:15pm Qualifying Matches
1:15pm -1:30pm Final Alliance Selection
1:30pm - 2:30pm Lunch Break
2:30pm - 4:30pm Eliminations Matches Begin
4:45pm Awards Ceremony
5:15pm Event Ends/Field Breakdown

FINALS: Top 8 seeds w/3 partners (looking for teams input on how to run alliance selection)

[johnr]

This will probably be like blasphemy to some but i would like to see someday all the teams participate in the eliminations. I know time constraints would be one problem and how would you divide up the teams another. Maybe based just on rank with team 1 getting 9,team 2 getting 10 and so on. It could be run like wrestling were if you lose one match you drop into a second tier and can work your way back up to the top. Lose two matches and go home. Just a thought. It looks like you are having four teams on an alliance. Do they all have to play?

[Steve Ketron]

I am still looking into that. You should have received an e-mail and I am waiting on those replies. I am currently favoring 4 team alliances and every team has to play at least one match. Not one match per round like last year.

The selection of 1-9, 2-10, 3-11, 4-12, 5-13, 6-14, 7-15, 8-16 and then captain selections 1-8, 8-1 might be a possibility also.

[Koko Ed]

What's the current team list?

[Andrew Schreiber]

I am still looking into that. You should have received an e-mail and I am waiting on those replies. I am currently favoring 4 team alliances and every team has to play at least one match. Not one match per round like last year.

The selection of 1-9, 2-10, 3-11, 4-12, 5-13, 6-14, 7-15, 8-16 and then captain selections 1-8, 8-1 might be a possibility also.

In as far as I recall something similar was tried several years ago in FIRST (I want to say 2001 but I can't recall exactly) perhaps reading up on the pros and cons of that would be beneficial.

[XaulZan11]

I would like having a 4 team alliance with every team having to play once. I only suggest the alliance selections go 1-8, 8-1, 1-8. I'm not sure it is that fair to force the top seed to play the 32nd best team at the event, while giving them 24th and 25th team gives them a lot of flexibility in strategy (and tough decisions).

If you haven't recieved offical word yet, it is looking good that 1732 will be returning to MARC after missing last year.

[Mr.G]

We are planning on attending and I must say i am excited about the mentor matches.

I was thinking about how to format the mentor matches and nothing I could think of really made it clean and easy. Was wondering how you were going to match the mentor teams up?

[Steve Ketron]

We are planning on attending and I must say i am excited about the mentor matches.

I was thinking about how to format the mentor matches and nothing I could think of really made it clean and easy. Was wondering how you were going to match the mentor teams up?

There are only 24 spots with a waiting list available if something goes wrong. The teams that pay first (with exception to last years winners) are in. As far as format, it is the same as eliminations rounds go except when the team arrives/pays they will pull a number out of a hat and they fill that spot in the brackets. Double eliminations.

[Steve Ketron]

What's the current team list?

1 51 Pontiac, MI Wings of Fire
2 70 Goodrich, MI More Martins
3 226 Troy, MI HammerHeads
4 240 Monroe,MI TEMPEST
5 279 Ottawa Lakes, MI Tech Fusion
6 503 Novi, MI Frog Force
7 910 Madison Heights, MI Foley Freeze
8 1023 Temperance, MI Bedford Express
9 1243 Swartz Creek, MI Dragons
10 1504 Okemos, MI Desperate Penguins
11 1528 Monroe, MI iPirates
12 1732 Milwaukee, WI Hilltoppers
13 815 Allen Park, MI Advanced Power
14 830 Ann Arbor, MI RatPack
15 2719 Monroe, MI Ketronix Trojan Robotix
16 245 Rochester Hills, MI Adambots
17 2834 Bloomfield Hills, MI Bionic Barons
18 2612 Waterford,MI WMD
19 3098 Waterford,MI The Captains
20 33 Auburn Hills, MI Killer Bees
21 280 Taylor, MI TnT
22 201 Rochester Hills, MI The FEDS
23 234 Indianapolis, IN Cyber Blue
24 107 Holland, MI Team R.O.B.O.T.I.C.S.
25 2337 GrandBlanc, MI EngiNERDs
26 1918 Fremont, MI NC GEARS
27 3147 Munster Indiana
28 461 West Lafayette, IN Westside Boiler Invasion
29 302 Lake Orion, MI Dragons
30 494 Goodrich, MI Martians
31 2338 Oswego, IL Gear It Forward
32 1718 Armada, MI The Fighting Pi
33 548 Northville, MI Robostangs
34 3096 Detroit, MI Finney Highlanders
35 1024 Indianapolis, IN Kil-A-Bytes
36 469 Bloomfield Hills, MI Las Guerrillas
37 1741 Greenwood, IN Red Alert Robotics
38 3322 Ann Arbor, MI Skyline Robotics Team
39 326 Romulus, MI Extreme Eagles

I haven't heard anything from 1504 but they are guarrenteed a spot up to the registration deadline.

[GaryVoshol]

This will probably be like blasphemy to some but i would like to see someday all the teams participate in the eliminations. I know time constraints would be one problem and how would you divide up the teams another. Maybe based just on rank with team 1 getting 9,team 2 getting 10 and so on. It could be run like wrestling were if you lose one match you drop into a second tier and can work your way back up to the top. Lose two matches and go home. Just a thought. It looks like you are having four teams on an alliance. Do they all have to play?You could have everyone play - with 3 teams per alliance that's 14 alliances. Alliance 1 & 2 get a bye in the first round (pre-quarters). But it nearly doubles the length of the elims - I really don't want a 4.5 hour elimination round!

If you want "almost" everyone to play, you can create 4-team alliances and have an Alliance 7 vs 10 and 8 vs 9 "play-in" round.

I am still looking into that. You should have received an e-mail and I am waiting on those replies. I am currently favoring 4 team alliances and every team has to play at least one match. Not one match per round like last year.

The selection of 1-9, 2-10, 3-11, 4-12, 5-13, 6-14, 7-15, 8-16 and then captain selections 1-8, 8-1 might be a possibility also.Forcing 1-9 etc. could cause teams to look at the standings and manipulate their final matches. For example, suppose the number 1 team doesn't think they can work well with #9, but would with #10. Why not try to get yourself into 2nd place?

[Steve Ketron]

Ideas are flowing. Keep them coming.

[johnr]

I like the ten alliance play-in plan but you would have to cut registration off at 40. I'm sure some teams would gladly fill in during qualifying rounds. You would be looking at 6 extra matches barring ties. Now to really mess with everything-first round pick order- 1,10,2,9,3,8,4,7,5,6- repeat till done. OK, maybe that is going to far.

[Josh Murphy]

Forcing 1-9 etc. could cause teams to look at the standings and manipulate their final matches. For example, suppose the number 1 team doesn't think they can work well with #9, but would with #10. Why not try to get yourself into 2nd place?

Exactly. The ranking system already has the manipulation in it and we've already seen the 6v0's this year. I would like to see it stay the way it is and let the team that ranks 1st pick 1-8, 1-8, 1-8 as they have earned it. I personally don't like the "partners by rank" system.:) Maybe make the finals be 3 out of 5.

[johnr]

OR HOW ABOUT, keep everything just like the regular season but just don't post a running rank. Keep it unknown till the top 8 are called out. A bit of suspence for everyone. Don't know what that would do to peoples pick lists, scouting or qualifying game play. I guess everyone would play to win. Just throwing ideas out there.

[Steve Ketron]

OR HOW ABOUT, keep everything just like the regular season but just don't post a running rank. Keep it unknown till the top 8 are called out. A bit of suspence for everyone. Don't know what that would do to peoples pick lists, scouting or qualifying game play. I guess everyone would play to win. Just throwing ideas out there.

How about we do this but post the top 8 throughout the qual rounds (in no particular order). That would really get people excited about making the top 8.

[nikeairmancurry]

OR HOW ABOUT, keep everything just like the regular season but just don't post a running rank. Keep it unknown till the top 8 are called out. A bit of suspence for everyone. Don't know what that would do to peoples pick lists, scouting or qualifying game play. I guess everyone would play to win. Just throwing ideas out there.

Hmm... Very interesting.. I think this would be nice, but to many teams might complain. And I doubt this would stop the 6v0 stragey. So why not just go to wins and loses!!! Play to win!!

[Mr.G]

OR HOW ABOUT, keep everything just like the regular season but just don't post a running rank. Keep it unknown till the top 8 are called out. A bit of suspence for everyone. Don't know what that would do to peoples pick lists, scouting or qualifying game play. I guess everyone would play to win. Just throwing ideas out there.

I like this idea. We always have a much better event when the rankings aren't shown. It sucks how the teams that are doing good just get attacked the whole event just because they are ranked high.

My vote for no rankings being shown.

[Collin Fultz]

How about we do this but post the top 8 throughout the qual rounds (in no particular order). That would really get people excited about making the top 8.

This is a great idea. Maybe every 8 qualification matches, a white board is erased and updated with the current top 10 in team # order. I say top 10 so that if you are #9 all day and blow up on your last match, you arent' suprised to move into the Top 8 right before eliminations.

[Chris is me]

I like this idea. We always have a much better event when the rankings aren't shown. It sucks how the teams that are doing good just get attacked the whole event just because they are ranked high.

My vote for no rankings being shown.

I think people are going to attack the good teams regardless of ranking. I mean, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the teams that are the biggest scoring threats are 217, 469, etc. and if you play defense you should play it on these teams.

[XaulZan11]

I think people are going to attack the good teams regardless of ranking. I mean, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the teams that are the biggest scoring threats are 217, 469, etc. and if you play defense you should play it on these teams.

Agreed, if a team is scoring 10 balls a match, I'm going to attack/play defense on them if they are 1st or last. Similarly, I'm not going to worry about a team that scores 1 ball a match, even if they are 1st place. I'm just worrying winning/maximizing my seeding points. We rarely know where teams are seeded when formulating our qualification match strategy.

I actually think withholding the seedings is a really fun idea. The suspense of announcing the top 8 seeds should add another fun wrinkle in the game.

[Chris is me]

I actually think withholding the seedings is a really fun idea. The suspense of announcing the top 8 seeds should add another fun wrinkle in the game.

It also removes the "first seed advantage" of getting more time to work on their second pick, since they can't go to their first partner in advance. Interesting idea...

[johnr]

Now to add rules into this. Does anyone really care if a ball is stuck under or on a robot? That penalty could just go away. I would also think about the rule on possessing more then one ball. Just trying to make it easier on the refs.

[Jack Jones]

I like this idea. We always have a much better event when the rankings aren't shown. It sucks how the teams that are doing good just get attacked the whole event just because they are ranked high.

My vote for no rankings being shown.

Anyone can keep track of the scores with a spreadsheet that's programed to rank teams. How does not telling them what they already know make for a better event?

Exactly. The ranking system already has the manipulation in it and we've already seen the 6v0's this year. I would like to see it stay the way it is and let the team that ranks 1st pick 1-8, 1-8, 1-8 as they have earned it. I personally don't like the "partners by rank" system.

It's not exactly like manipulation doesn't occur with the alliance selection process. How many times do we see a high seed select teams they know won't accept in order to keep them from accepting from someone else? How often do strong teams that have had weak alliances and seed low suddenly break out the tools and work on their robot in order to get picked by a high seed who's been informed that they're playing possum? How often do you hear of a team that needs a win to seed first telling one of their opponents in that critical match that they'll pick them in the second round? ... ?

I've come to enjoy seeing the strategies and tactics used to seed high. At IGVC next month, I will enjoy seeing the strategies and tactics used to seed in a particular position. :cool:

[Chris is me]

How often do you hear of a team that needs a win to seed first telling one of their opponents in that critical match that they'll pick them in the second round?

Never actually heard of that one... (Sounds pretty evil if you ask me)

Isn't the goal of a ranking system to manipulate your rank higher? What else are you supposed to do with it?

[johnr]

Two more things then i should go do something. One- keep rules the same as regular season but add a red soccer ball worth 5 points. Place it in center of field at start of match. You would need someone to keep track of it and if a certain team gets it into their loop-ouch. The other thing is to follow the regular season rules exactly because what if something great happens,say a double suspension. People wouldn't be able to shrug it off as just an off-season event. When 910 got a double hang in 07 that event followed regular season rules and it made it that more sweet.

[Jason Law]

Two more things then i should go do something. One- keep rules the same as regular season but add a red soccer ball worth 5 points. Place it in center of field at start of match. You would need someone to keep track of it and if a certain team gets it into their loop-ouch. The other thing is to follow the regular season rules exactly because what if something great happens,say a double suspension. People wouldn't be able to shrug it off as just an off-season event. When 910 got a double hang in 07 that event followed regular season rules and it made it that more sweet.

A different point value soccer ball... Now that is amazing. I would definitely love to see that happen. Although maybe not 5 points? Because it would seem a little TOO important and may take away from the smaller scoring... (huge defense/hordes of robots in the midfield all fighting for the ball). Just a thought. But I would definitely like that idea.

Autonomous extra points maybe?

[nikeairmancurry]

A different point value soccer ball... Now that is amazing. I would definitely love to see that happen. Although maybe not 5 points? Because it would seem a little TOO important and may take away from the smaller scoring... (huge defense/hordes of robots in the midfield all fighting for the ball). Just a thought. But I would definitely like that idea.

Autonomous extra points maybe?

Autonomous extra points would be nice... We should reward those teams who put a lot of time into autonomous like in 08! Still I suggust that the rankings are done on a win-lose system.. And ranking points second... If you want to see play for the win, then thats the way to go... 6v0 will be gone.

[Jack Jones]

I'd like to see extra points for hanging up side down and backwards, and or an air time bonus when traversing a bump at full speed, or a penetration award for going deep into the goal. :rolleyes:

Steve - Will you be publishing a manual? I can hardly wait to see Update #'s 4, 5, and 6.

[Chris is me]

Autonomous extra points would be nice... We should reward those teams who put a lot of time into autonomous like in 08!

I really don't get why people don't think having a good autonomous wasn't important this year. In my mind, it was second to ball possession. Maybe it's not clearly spelled out with bonus points but autonomous advantage is important

[GaryVoshol]

Please continue rule change suggestions here: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85719

[Steve Ketron]

Please continue rule change suggestions here: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85719

Gary excellent guidelines for making rule changes. To all that would like to recommend changes, please refer to Gary's posting for you inputs to be considered. For I have given him (HEAD REF) the responsibility for making any changes to the game rules.

As far as the alliance selections, I am tacking responsibility for this so please make your suggestions on this post.

[BX MARK]

I think wating untill the elims to announce the top 8 seeds is a great idea!

[MrFixIt2719]

i totally agree with showing the top ten teams but not putting them at there ranked spot until after qaulification rounds and i think it would be cool to award hanging teams more points because not many teams do it and it would be like in 07 and 08 when in 07 if you could up someones ramps or elevated 12 inches you got thirty points and in 08 if you placed a ball at the end you got 12 points and even in 09 with the super cells it took some skill to be able to run an empty cell to an end zone to get the super cell in the last twenty then get it in a trailer and thats why they awarded it with 15 bonus points so i say there should be extra points for hanging robots

[BX MARK]

since hardly any one can do it...what if getting your robot on the platform was worth like 5 or 6 points? just a thought...

[Jack Jones]

since hardly any one can do it...what if getting your robot on the platform was worth like 5 or 6 points? just a thought...

Why should anyone who optimized their robot to play under one set of scoring rules want to come to an event where others were given an advantage for not doing likewise?

[BX MARK]

Why should anyone who optimized their robot to play under one set of scoring rules want to come to an event where others were given an advantage for not doing likewise?

you could say the same thing twards rasing the points for hanging, or any rule change for that matter...i just thought it would be kinda cool to have more people try it....:)

[Jack Jones]

you could say the same thing twards rasing the points for hanging, or any rule change for that matter...i just thought it would be kinda cool to have more people try it....:)

I have the freeling that a certain pair of teams will try it irrespective of the points awarded.

What I do not think is right is to suddenly award more points for one type of scoring and thereby disadvantage teams who decided not to do certain tasks during the regular season - for what ever reason.

Should strong shooters get 3 points for scoring from the far zone, or 2 from midfield? Should a squat-bot get a point each time they go through the tunnel? Loopers are more rare than hangers - should they get 2 points for each redirected shot? I don't think so! Neither do I think hangers are special.

[BX MARK]

i see your point...it was just an idea :)

[Steve Ketron]

I have the freeling that a certain pair of teams will try it irrespective of the points awarded.

What I do not think is right is to suddenly award more points for one type of scoring and thereby disadvantage teams who decided not to do certain tasks during the regular season - for what ever reason.

Should strong shooters get 3 points for scoring from the far zone, or 2 from midfield? Should a squat-bot get a point each time they go through the tunnel? Loopers are more rare than hangers - should they get 2 points for each redirected shot? I don't think so! Neither do I think hangers are special.


JACK, this is why I value your inputs. Nicely said.

[Craig Roys]

JACK, this is why I value your inputs. Nicely said.

I also agree. The only reason changes to the game itself should happen is if there is a rule that most teams consistently had problems with during the season (i.e. crossing back over the line in 2008). The game itself is fine and making drastic changes is unfair to those who designed their robots for the original set of rules.

As far as seeding and draft order - I don't have too much problem with playing around with that; however, keep in mind that there should be some reward for playing consistently well througout qualification and seeding high and the draft selection process should reflect that. At the very least, the first round of selections should run 1-8.

[MrFixIt2719]

I also agree. As far as seeding and draft order - I don't have too much problem with playing around with that; however, keep in mind that there should be some reward for playing consistently well througout qualification and seeding high and the draft selection process should reflect that. At the very least, the first round of selections should run 1-8.

i totally agree with you craig i think the picking order should atleast start with normmal selection 1-8 but but as seeding and drat order go i think it would be cool to do something different like people have posted like putting the top ten teams up not in ranked order or i think it would be cool to have a process of determining how selections will go like a pin wheel that the number one team will spin after qaulifications to determine how seeding will go and the choices could be, normal selctions, top 8 can't pick each other, only top 4 can't can't pick each other and on and on

[Steve Ketron]

With the numbers that I received from the teams, I scheduled the pig roast with the PitMaster. We are all set for Friday night. I'm getting food for 600 people. Hopefully this is enough.

People are calling me crazy for doing this. But a 600 people pig roast social. This is going to be fun.

[Jason Law]

With the numbers that I received from the teams, I scheduled the pir roast with the PitMaster. We are all set for Friday night. I'm getting food for 600 people. Hopefully this is enough.

People are calling me crazy for doing this. But a 600 people pig roast social. This is going to be fun.

Wow that is a lot of people... Sounds fun :)

Thanks again for organizing the event.

Jason Law

[KTorak]

Man, it's amazing how this event has grown from the first season we held it.

[johnr]

Any chance of a web cast this year?

[Steve Ketron]

Any chance of a web cast this year?

My boss actually had a meeting with our school technology people and I just got word that they will open the ports that we needed to do a webcast. Now, all it takes is for my students to get it up and running.

[johnr]

That's good news about the webcast. I would hate to miss the first double suspension (no pressure 2337) and that cast would put you up one on a certain other off season event.

[Koko Ed]

What are the awards given out at MARC?

[Steve Ketron]

Awards:
Mentor Recognition
Planner's Volunteer of the Year
Tenneco Engineering Inspiration
Humanitarian
Spirit
Animation
Fianlist
Champions

Mentor Match Champions

[MasterChief1732]

Anyone have the results from MARC 2010? also on the awards?

[nikeairmancurry]

Winners-
team 33
team 326
team 1548
team 1718

design award-
team 910

mentor award-
Kevin Gay team 326

volunteer award-
Jack jones
animation award-
team 1548
mentor match winners-
team 1718
team 1918
team 573 (there you go =]) double fail

All I can remember...

[Chas_G]

573 was another winner of the mentor matches =D

[nikeairmancurry]

573 was another winner of the mentor matches =D

I thought so... Lol wasn't sure.... Edited on my last post...

[Jim Zondag]

The 2010 MARC was a great Event.
This is important to say, because without such a great group of volunteers, it might have been a disaster. Despite System Crashes, Data Losses, Power Interuptions, and Router Failures, they kept everything working and solved all of the problems. Dan Kimura, Keith Jones, Rob Jenkins, Steve Ketron, and a number of others worked tirelessly to keep this event running the whole weekend. Great Job!!!

Thanks to 1718 for picking us! It was great to win one with you. Awesome Robot.
Thanks to 1528 for hosting and for playing with us. Rebounds were the key to our victory.
Thanks to 326 for saving our butts in the Semis. Congrats Kevin for the Mentor Award, it was well deserved!

[Chas_G]

Winners-
team 574 (there you go =])

All I can remember...

There is no 574 :)

[GaryVoshol]

Top rankings: 1718, 1243, 469, 33, 2834, 234, 548, 2704, 910, 2832, 1741

Alliances (drafted 1-8, 8-1, 1-8):
1 - 1718, 33, 326, 1528
2 - 1243, 469, 3115, 830
3 - 2834, 2337, 1732, 503
4 - 234, 910, 494, 3322
5 - 548, 2612, 1024, 1023
6 - 2704, 107, 51, 2338
7 - 2832, 573, 1918, 226
8 - 1741, 70, 1504, 461

QF:
1 - 8 (1, 1)
4 - 5 (4, 4)
2 - 7 (2, 7, 2)
3 - 6 (Tie, field failure, 3, 3)

SF:
1 - 4 (Tie, 1, 4, 1)
3 - 2 (3, 3)

(breaker blows at this point, causing a delay while the field is completely reset)

F:
1 - 3 (1, 1)

The finals took nearly 4 hours to complete - and we didn't even have any timeouts. Part of that was due to the great competitiveness of the teams causing ties and 3-match decisions. Awards were presented between the QF and SF and between the SF and F, because there's a bit of a delay there anyway while schedules are regenerated. I must commend all the teams for paying attention to my timing and getting the robots back onto the floor without any excessive delays. Despite being extremely hot and tired, everyone behaved admirably.

I too extend my thanks to the great technical personnel we have in MI. And to the event organizers for their great treatment of us volunteers!

[Craig Roys]

I would also like to thank Steve and Team 1528 for hosting the event. This event keeps getting better each year. Also thanks to all the volunteers for their work keeping things going dispite the difficulties. I thought the reffing was very well done - thanks Gary for your patience as we tried to get our robot back up and running...of course we then had the field issues that caused the big delay - it was definitely a hurry up and wait scenario for us.

From the mentor matches:
Thanks (I think :ahh: ) to 573 for loaning us the skirts - they'll make for some good embarrasing photos. I think we have a bunch up on facebook already.
Thanks to 1918 - It was good to win one with you guys.
It may have only been mentor matches, but believe me when I say everyone was out there to win and they were some very competitive matches as evidenced by a 14-11 final match.

From the real tournament:
Thanks to 33. We love working with you guys - the double hangs are fun. It took until the offseason, but both of us have finally been able to get a win!
Thanks to 1528 for your rebounding. As Jim said, it was a key to us being able to win.
Thanks to 326 for saving us in the semis - we were doomed without you. It's too bad we weren't able to have you in there more.

Lastly, I need to thank my pit crew for rebuilding one of our toughbox transmissions during eliminations - and we only missed one match w/out using a timeout! Thanks to Jack Jones and 2612 for having the spare toughbox parts available. Oh yeah, at the same time we had to do some patchwork on a weld the broke loose so we could continue to hang - thanks Isaac for your help on that. It seems when you get to 100+ matches things start to wear down - go figure. We definitely have some work to do to get our robot ready for IRI, but we'll be ready.

[kenavt]

Personally, I have to say MARC was probably my favorite competition yet this year. It was great to run around between the air-conditioned pits and the gym watching matches, and meet people. The guys from 503 rapping the FIRST rap was amazing during eliminations, :) and we made an awesome run to the finals, where we lost to 33, 1718, 1528, and 326.

Our alliance:
Team 2834 - Thanks for picking us, and putting away the mess everyone else would leave in the near zone!
Team 1732 - Thanks for playing D and having our backs when 2834 and our bot were completely ignoring you in the mid and near zones!
Team 503 - Thanks for winning the quarterfinals for us. Without you guys, we would have never made it to the semifinals, and then to the finals.

And thanks to Steve Ketron and his army... er... group of volunteers who managed the FMS extraordinarily well AND passed out popsicles at the end!

[JackN]

What another amazing event. It has grown so much from the 12 teams that originally participated. The competitiveness for this offseason event is not really rivaled by anything.

I would like to thank teams 2834, 1918 and 2612 for giving us sprockets and bolts after we shattered not one but two over the course of an hour. It is teams like yours that make FIRST what it is.

Also a big thanks to 1741, 70 and 461 for forming a great alliance with us. We played the #1 alliance extremely well, but it was not to be. Congrats to 33, 1718, 1528 and 326, you guys had a great alliance and all really played well this weekend.

Steve and the rest of the volunteers continue to put on an amazing event, I can't wait to be back here next year.

[Steve Ketron]

Congrats and thank you to all that came to this event. It was great to see everyone not only compete but also socialize at the same time. I think we all made some new friends.

The event has grown to 42 teams and I think this is the right number for our event and I will keep it there for good. The excellent group of volunteers we have made this an outstanding event and I would like to commend all of them for thier hard work in making MARC such a success. MARC would be nothing without your professionalism and drive. THANK YOU ALL.

People that desrve special Thanks:
Lisa Perez- You again did an oustanding job in organizing the volunteers and selecting the right people for the right job. Who would have been able to predict the field issues? But I think you knew something when you got us three FTA's. You make my planning so much easier. THANK YOU SO MUCH

Gary Voshol- I have heard nothing but great compliments on the reffing that your team did. With the field issues happening, your team constantly kept your cool and was thinking of the event participants. Excellent job and hope you all can come back.

FTA's: (Keith Jones, Dan Kimura, Alex Fera): This trio did an excellent job in maintaining the field with some really wierd problems happening. Thank you for your hard work and dedication. The communication between you and the head ref was awesome. Freat Job guys.

Maria Perez: Thank you so much for everything. We had some serious issues happen and you were right there taking charge. Awesome job and again thank you. I am sure a few parents would also like to thank you. By the way that student is doing great. He was out by 2:30.

Ed (KoKo) Patterson: our event has grown every year and you have been there leading the way in queing. This is a very difficult job and you have made it look easy while also helping come up with ways to make it run smoother. Thank you for everything.

Congratulations to the following award receipients:
Mentor Recognition: Kevin Gay (team 326)
Planners Volunteer of the Year: Jack (the Drill Sergant) Jones (team 2612)
Tenneco Engineering Inspiration: 910
Humanitarian Award: 1741
Spitit Award: 2337
Animation Award: 1528
Finalist: 2834,2337,1732,503
Champions: 1718,33,326,1528
Mentor Champions: 573,1718,1918

The events was awesome. I enjoyed being able to socialize with everyone and hope to see you all again next year.

[mcb]

This was my first time going to MARC and I have to say that it was a great experience. With our now-sophomore students taking up the roles of the seniors leaving the team (including the driveteam) everyone from 1732 really learned a lot and had a fun time at the tournament.

Congrats to 1718, 33, 1528, and 326 - you all made an alliance that was really a force to be reckoned with. It was great playing you in the finals.

2834 - thanks for choosing us for your alliance. You were really amazing in the near zone and a great team all around.
2337 - your strategist did a great job in helping our alliance to get as far as we did. Great job in the middle zone; the ball-redirecting capability your robot had was definitely key!
503 - you did a great job in that last finals match. The red alliance was certainly a tough one, especially for our alliance's robot in the third zone, and we couldn't have done it without you.

Thanks to 1528 and everyone who made MARC possible. I hope to come back again!

[johnr]

Thanks for the webcast. I know that there wasn't many of us watching but it was appreciated. If you do it again next year maybe you can get one camera for the entire field. Thanks again.

[XaulZan11]

I would like to thank 503 and 2337 for being our partners in the mentor matches. I know I am shocked, embarrassed and disappointed that our students could get further than we could ;).

Big thanks to everyone who worked on making MARC such a successful offseason competition. It is a little crazy to think how fast it has grown since the first year.

[apalrd]

The MARC was awesome.
It was my first time driving in competition, since our normal driver was on vacation, and it was awesome to drive and win.
Thanks to our partners who were all awesome, and all of the teams who we beat, since you guys were all tough competition.

It was also cool watching some of the mentors play. Woody and Jim and Isaac (mentor drive team), you guys did great.

[fuzzwaz]

MARC was a blast! We still have no idea what is wrong with our robot. Lets just say everything broke down... Drive train, electrical, and even our kicker got messed up and we still dont know why...

-To our alliance members we thank you dearly. Thanks for seeing that even though we were 42nd out of 42 teams we had potential.

2337- We love you guys! And we were with you guys for the mentor matches aswell :D. We are truely sorry about what happend during the finals but we want to say congrats for going so far in elims!

2834- You guys have an amazing robot and can score in ways we cant even attempt... lol. Thanks again for giving us a shot and we hope to see alot more from you guys at IRI

1732- You guys got taken out during that last match and to watch our robot enter "epic fail" mode as I like to call it must have been rlly tough :(. Just remember that you guys were truely deserving of the finalist role and we are thankful for your support.

910- FTW! lol :D We love you guys

573- One day we will be on the same alliance... one day...

Thanks again everyone and I hope to see you all at IRI and in the future!!!

[Wayne TenBrink]

The NC GEars had a great time at MARC 2010. It was a lot of fun and a great chance for some of our younger members to take the lead. Winning the mentor matches with 1718 and 573 was a riot (even if they did coerce us into wearing those skirts), and now we can pretend like we know what we are doing when we offer advice to the real drivers!

Thanks to 2832 for picking us and 573 and 226 for playing so strong in the playoffs.

Great big thanks to Steve Ketron and all the volunteers who put the event together and brought it off so smoothly. You set a high standard for off season events!

Oh, yeah - and the pig roast was wonderful.

Hope to see you at the WMRI on October 9 in Zeeland!

[maverickfan138]

This was 573's first year at MARC and we all had a blast. It was one of the most fun competitions yet this year. Our only complaint was the hot gym, but we didn't let that stop the fun. Thank you to all the people who made the event possible.

1718 - It was great to play with you guys in the mentor matches. You guys have an astounding robot this year and I enjoyed socializing with you guys. We look forward to seeing you at IRI.

1918 - Once again, we enjoyed playing with you guys in the mentor matches, and we also enjoyed playing with you guys in the regular elimination matches. It felt great to be paired up with state champions and good people. We'll see you guys on the field next year.

226 - I couldn't believe that you guys weren't picked before we had the chance to pick you. You guys played two great matches and were essential to our alliance.

2832 - Thank you so much for picking us. You all have a lot of heart and pride, and we could see that in you guys by how excited you all were when you found out that you were picking. You are also one of the most selfless, gracious teams we have ever met by choosing to pull yourselves, the alliance captain, in the quarterfinals. Doing that is compelling and sends a powerful message. We can't thank you guys enough.

If anybody wants to see my pictures from MARC 2010, they can be found here. They are mostly of 573, but there are a few of other teams as well:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=54268238299&ref=search#!/album.php?aid=240465&id=657583153

[Ed Law]

The Bionic Barons had a great time at MARC. Thanks to Steve and all the volunteers who made it possible. The refs were great and calls were consistent. We made some small improvements to our robot and was glad to be able to try them out at a competition. This was our last Breakaway competition for us and our robot deserves a break after 90+ matches.

I was particularly proud of our students. We are one of the few teams that when it is time for urgent repair in a very tight time frame, the students work together and rose to the challenge and did an amazing job. They built the robot and they know how to fix every part of it and they can do it very fast. It happened at Tardec Invitational and it happened again at the QF at MARC.

Congrats to 1718, 33, 1528, and 326. You guys were great. We just couldn't keep up in the finals.

To all teams who partnered with us and won the matches - Thank you for feeding us the balls. We are just a supporting robot to finish putting the balls into the goals. You made us look good.

Team 33 - Thank you to Isaac for making the lexan ball roller guide for us during the QF matches when our ball holder broke. The students kept talking afterwards about how fast and accurate you made the replacement part for us. Thank you Jim for the green signal lights. They looked cool on our robot.

Team 2337 - Thank you for your help in alliance selections. You helped us picked the two best robots that compliment our two robots. Thank you for working hard scouting teams even in the off season. We did very serious and intense scouting during the season and decided to take a break for the off season.

Team 1732 - You did an amazing job in our far zone defending and clearing balls. You even came all the way to help in the near zone when we needed you. Your ability to kick all 3 balls in the autonomous mode was exactly what we were looking for. We had fun partnering with you guys. I hope you will come to MARC again next year.

Team 503 - Thanks for your help in winning the QF with us. You can also kicked all 3 balls in the autonomous mode in the far zone to us which is great. Thank you for letting us use your practice field during the season. It really helped our driver to improve his driving and for us to program the autonomous mode. We did not take 1732 out at the last finals match. They suggested that you guys can do a better job against the #1 alliance because of your speed.

[MishraArtificer]

Someone on either Team 280 or Team 1024 was wanting to trade one of their team shirts for a vintage 2005 Team 240 t-shirt. I brought it on Saturday after work and I couldn't find you. Saw some of the matches Friday and Saturday, and it looked like some serious fun was had by most, if not all.

Also, WAAAAAAAHHH!!!!! I MISSED THE PIG ROAST!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BrandonD-1528]

Well... I have to say, through all that, I had a pretty good time despite the issues we had back at the scoring table, especially with the FMS failure (I'll get into that in a bit) and the MARCStats failure (Still working on that.....). Also, sorry about the 9 parts the webcast recording was in, along with the missing matches (15-24 didn't record).

Our only complaint was the hot gym, but we didn't let that stop the fun.
Yeah... that's been an issue for the past few years. We're working on getting some type of cooling solutions, and any suggestions would be great :D

Top rankings: ....
Do you happen to have a valid match list? It looks like some of the results in my list from matches 1-43 may be incorrect

And thanks to Steve Ketron and his army... er... group of volunteers who managed the FMS extraordinarily well AND passed out popsicles at the end!
We are indeed his army. I was one of the folks who helped repair FMS on Saturday, but I wish I could have fixed my own system (MARCStats)

Thanks for the webcast. I know that there wasn't many of us watching but it was appreciated. If you do it again next year maybe you can get one camera for the entire field. Thanks again.
Not entirely sure what you mean, but we'll definitely try to steady the camera and use stable equipment next year. The webcast recordings are still available through the uStream site.

[johnr]

One fixed view of the entire field. Somewhere up in the stands so you wouldn't have to swivel the camera. I think most webcast viewers would rather see the entire field of play at one time then a close-up. I imagine it might be difficult to find the right location for the camera and could require setting up a scaffold.

[kenavt]

We are indeed his army. I was one of the folks who helped repair FMS on Saturday, but I wish I could have fixed my own system (MARCStats)

Yah, I know. I was busy being excited telling everyone on my team about it... and then we never used it :(

But, on the more serious side, Mr. Ketron had Dan from 469, Jack Jones, and at least twenty more people in red shirts by the scorer's table THE WHOLE TIME! There were so many of you guys!

[Steve Ketron]

But, on the more serious side, Mr. Ketron had Dan from 469, Jack Jones, and at least twenty more people in red shirts by the scorer's table THE WHOLE TIME! There were so many of you guys!

Mr. Ketron had nothing to do with this. This is what the experts (FTA's) do and why they are in the position that they are in. They are why Michigan events are awesome. I am thankful for everyone that had a part in that problem. By the way my only part was to ask them what do they want to do?

[BrandonD-1528]

Mr. Ketron is speaking in third person now?