Re: Alamo 2012
 

My son tells me about a rather disturbing incident at Alamo.

Evidently, when 148 was called up to receive their award as finalist, there was dead silence.

Come on guys! 148 is a valient competitor and I've never seen them act in a way that doesn't display gracious professionalism. By eliminating the number 1 seed and being the only team to put together an alliance capability to triple hang, they've earned the right to be finalists.

They deserve better.

On behalf of my son, I offer my sincere apologies. 148 has been a great team and a great friend to my son's team. I look forward to seeing you do even better at the JCP Regional in Dallas.

Re: Alamo 2012
 

I was at the award ceremonies for Alamo and wouldn't in any way call it dead silence. Members of my team and most fans were cheering. In most cases the really load noise and cheering for awards is led by the team that wins them. In this case some members of 148 may have been in a slightly less than ecstatic mood after a perceived no call eliminated them from competition. 148 is an extremely important member of the Texas robotics community and everyone here loves and respects them however they have never been the most spirited team and they take pride in their professionalism (going so far as not participating in the wave or other group spirit things during events, JVN wrote a bit about that at some point). It was in no way a reflection of teams not supporting power houses and especially not a power house that will go above and beyond to help every team they possibly can. It was quieter than other team's responses but that is because 148 was quieter than other teams and there is nothing wrong with that.

Re: Alamo 2012
 

When 148 goes down to take their Awards walk, everyone in the stands should cross their arms. 148 has taken a lot of pride in using that gesture to show strength and intimidation. It would be a gesture they would understand and appreciate since they don't like to wave or cheer. I think it would be amazing to see everyone with their arms crossed.

:)

Jane

Re: Alamo 2012
 

Regarding the 148 tip... I am surprised no one has mentioned 148's very unstable drivetrain as a primary reason for this tip. If you watch the match video prior to the tip, they are rocking and swaying constantly every time they change direction. Very unstable. When the defender got under their bumper, is was because 148 had tipped up on their own just before the defender made contact. The tip-over happened very quickly as the defender was following through with their push. No way you can call it intentional or strategic. 148 has some issues to deal with regarding the stability of their pneumatic tires and wheel arrangement.

Re: Alamo 2012
 

2468 had a great time at Alamo. Thanks to 245 and 2969 for being part of our alliance in the quarterfinals. It was a great pleasure to have each of you on our alliance.

It was great to compete with all of the teams in attendance there.

I was totally shocked when the opposing alliance got the triple balance in the second match of our quarterfinals. I thought 148 was going to tip us over twice trying to get to the bridge. 245 was waiting on us at our bridge and we thought had left with enough time but to no avail. Congrats to 148, 2936 and 922 on the victory.

Defense is a underestimated part of this game than I think that many have previously thought especially in the eliminations.

Re: Alamo 2012
 

I disagree. It was pretty obvious that the opponent stopped to pause for a second when 148 was off the ground but not tipped. They then continued to follow through and finish the tip.

This happens all the time and never gets penalized though. I immediately thought to myself that it was an intentional tip, but there was no way they would get called for it.

Re: Alamo 2012
 

I would measure it as closer to 1/10th of a second. But my point was about the lack of stability being the root cause of the tip-over. This push would not have tipped over our robot or many others I have seen so far. There is no way a defender can know whether a particular robot is going to tip or just slide when pushed. That is only revealed when it happens, and it happens very quickly. If you build an unstable, top heavy robot this is a risk you take. A defender in the fender zone of this game can't be asked to back off of a pushing situation just because the other robot is one that is prone to tipping.

Re: Alamo 2012
 

Quick question: does anybody know about how long it takes for match videos to be uploaded to The Blue Alliance?

Re: Alamo 2012
 

Anywhere from two days to never. Literally. We don't even know if anyone has recorded the matches, so there's no way of telling if they'll ever make it up.

Re: Alamo 2012
 

I'll second the "never." I have sent them many matches that were needed and they were never posted. TBA ain't what it used to be.

Re: Alamo 2012
 

I'm the lead mentor for 1477 and I know with certainty that tipping 148 was not the strategy for our alliance. 457's assignment was to keep 148 from getting their easy two point layups, just as 2936 was keeping us from getting ours. While the coach for 457 may have been clapping after 148 got tipped, a camera trained on me would have shown I was also pretty ecstatic. Without 148, I knew we had most likely just won the second Final's match.

I'm glad everyone found the final's matches as exciting as I did. I would also like to thank 231 for selecting us and 457 for doing such a great defensive job. That was so much fun!

Re: Alamo 2012
 

On behalf of FRC Team 2969 we want to thank you both FRC team 2468 and
FRC Team 245 for picking us to be on your alliance it was a great honor after a not so stellar weekend. We look forward to the chance at working with you guys again in future competitions.

Re: Alamo 2012
 

For those who weren't able to see it.

22:25

http://www.alamo-first.org/component...c-webcast.html

Everyone gets their own opinion, but what matters is what the refs are taught by Dr. Aidan Browne.

Re: Alamo 2012
 

Watching this again reinforces my opinion. 148 makes an abrupt move which causes them to tip severely on their own just before the defender makes contact. 148's wheels are literally over the defender's bumper as the defender moves in. It was very bad luck and timing for 148, but you cannot expect the defender to stop their move or anticipate what was going to happen in a split second. FRC involves pushing. Sometimes if the interaction is just right (wrong), tall robots on bouncy wheels get pushed over. It happens.

Re: Alamo 2012
 

Two people look at the same video and see completely different things. In full disclosure, I obviously work at IFI, but that does not matter in this case as my opinion would be the same no matter who the two robots were.

jspatz1, I am with you except for one very crucial detail: the defending robot drove about 4 feet before 148 tipped. That is, to me, intentional tipping. I don't care how "tippy" a robot is. As a matter of fact, the red robot on the 148 alliance had several opportunities to do the exact same thing to Texas Torque when their robot's front wheels "tipped" up, but they did not. That is the difference between clean defense and not clean defense. I am certain that was not the alliance's strategy going in, but that is irrelevant as the actions are clear, to me, from the video.

Again, this are just the facts as I see them. I usually do not like speaking for others, but if this exact action happened at IRI when Andy Baker was reffing it would definitely have been a DQ. With Stu reffing I bet it will be a DQ at IRI this year.

Paul