Re: BattleCry@WPI 14 - Reg Open 2-Apr 1200
 

BattleCry is always such an amazing event!! The more we get to know the New England teams and event committees the more we love volunteering & getting to see everyone!!

Colleen, Francis, Ruth & Crew - you guys put on one heck of a show!! Francis, we had such an awesome time finally getting to do the thrift shop video!! Can't wait to see the release of the official video!

I'm hoping it won't be much longer before I can finish up the real photos, but I still have to catch up on CT State Championship photos from last week!! So I've posted a quick fun album of the Uberbots Monkey taking a full tour of BattleCry!! There are fun captions with all the photos to give you a little more story to his day, so be sure to check those out!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimsrob...th/8753934383/

I will get the real previews & full album posted as soon as I can :)

Thanks again to the committee, the volunteers, and all the teams for such a great time!

Re: BattleCry@WPI 14 - Reg Open 2-Apr 1200
 

The photographer is shot!

Re: BattleCry@WPI 14 - Reg Open 2-Apr 1200
 

For my first BattleCry, I was blown away. It is an amazing event I must say.

To the planning committee (Colleen, Ruth, Ken, Francis, others) a fantastic job on organizing and putting everything together! To my fellow volunteers, it was a pleasure to work with all of you.

Congratulations to 195, 663, and 3467 on becoming champions! You guys had some amazing matches, and the last match was something wild to watch.

Overall it was a great weekend and I'm looking forward to next year!

Re: BattleCry@WPI 14 - Reg Open 2-Apr 1200
 

Wild it was! In finals match 3 our climber started with only one pawl enganged, as we reached up to grab level 2 you can see us starting to twist and fall off of level 1. We started pulling up to level 2 just in time but we were now about 8inches off center meaning we wouldn't fit at the top. Somehow we had enough power left to pinch ourselves sideways on the bar to pop in for the 30!

Wild, crazy, and bittersweet! We face 1519 way too often! :(

Re: BattleCry@WPI 14 - Reg Open 2-Apr 1200
 

Phil's BattleCry #2 (somehow) managed to top last year's and be another incredibly awesome time. Congrats to 195, 663, and 3467 on your win, I don't think I've ever seen matches so close and exciting. Thanks to all the volunteers who made BC14 happen, you did a great job, I can't wait to see you next year (and hopefully join your ranks).

I now see you weren't kidding when you said the monkey got around... We've got to print out a bunch of these and show our physics teacher where his monkey has been (I still don't think he's noticed it's gone...)

Re: BattleCry@WPI 14 - Reg Open 2-Apr 1200
 

Thank you to the entire staff coordinating Battle Cry 14, what an awesome event! Very smooth, fun and relaxed. It was great competing with such powerful teams throughout New England.

Team 195 wants to thank our alliance partners Team 3467 The Windham Windup and Team 663 The Robonauts for an exciting Battle Cry. Loved working with both of you and hope to again in the future. 3467, your robot was so amazing! 663 you tapped into your hidden talent and played awesome defense!

Congratulations to Team 126 Gael Force, 121 Rhode Warriors, and 1519 Mechanical Mayhem for the most intense and competitive finals we have experienced. What an incredible last match! With matches so close, we virtually pull you up to the winner's podium with us.

A special shout out to our friends 181. Those on the webcast could even hear you screaming and cheering for our team. You guys are the greatest and can't wait for more good times and late nights down at the practice field next season with you guys.

125, 230, 3780 great idea putting the Gaelhawks blocker on 3780. Gave us a challenge for sure.

558, we were soooooo relieved when we saw we weren't facing you in Qual matches as you KNOW how make it hard for us.

228 and 2168, Loved being on the same side of the glass with both of you guys for the first time. Hope it happens again! 2168 congrats on your awesome offense award and 228 congrats on your "Speak Up" award

....Till we all hear the next Cry for Battle!
Team 195

Re: BattleCry@WPI 14 - Reg Open 2-Apr 1200
 

We thought you'd like that. :)

And congratulations!

Re: BattleCry@WPI 14 - Reg Open 2-Apr 1200
 

What an exhausting but amazing weekend at BattleCry! Considering we weren't even attending the event until Tuesday, and weren't aware we were competing until late Wednesday, we were thrilled with our performance. It was great seeing familiar friends and making new ones. Thanks to our alliance partners, 3326 and 3182 for some great matches, and especially to 3326 for getting their climbing arm fixed so quickly after that spectacular fall in the eighth finals.

An extra special shout-out to team 228, Gus. If it wasn't for you guys lending up a compressor, we wouldn't have even been playing on Saturday after our compressor broke from some, uh, lets say spirited defense by team 166 (who were gracious enough to come help us fix it as well) in our last match Friday. When a team you eliminated last weekend at the CT Championships steps up to lend you a compressor the next - well, that's what FIRST is really supposed to be all about, isn't it. You guys get it. You always have. And you're a real example for other teams to follow.

To the winners, especially our friends at 195 - congrats on a well-deserved and hard-earned victory. And thanks for the shout-out earlier on this thread. We'll see you in Wolcott in a few weeks :)

Finally, 2168, we were a heartbeat away from working with you guys for the first time this year. It would have been epic. But there's always Bash at the Beach! And good luck at Beantown!

Re: BattleCry@WPI 14 - Reg Open 2-Apr 1200
 

On behalf of the Aluminum Falcons, thanks to everyone who voted us in as Awesome Offense team. Luck has always been a significant part of the game. Last time at WPI, luck went our way. This time...meltdown, literally!

You deal with it, but it still hurts. The recognition from the people however, makes all the difference. Thank you all!

You may ask what happened in the last qualifier: a short in the cRIO caused a blowout in the 24 volt section of the PD board. The cRIO was OK, but the board had to be replaced.

I'd like it to be known that the replacement and rewiring of the board was done entirely by student members of the team. I'm talking 100%. The mentors left the pit completely. Shriji, Alex, Cam and Austin, you guys were inspired!

AND A SHOUT OUT TO GAEL FORCE AND GOMPEI: one number! 217!

Re: BattleCry@WPI 14 - Reg Open 2-Apr 1200
 

< quote from 558: An extra special shout-out to team 228, Gus. If it wasn't for you guys lending up a compressor, we wouldn't have even been playing on Saturday after our compressor broke from some, uh, lets say spirited defense by team 166 (who were gracious enough to come help us fix it as well) in our last match Friday. When a team you eliminated last weekend at the CT Championships steps up to lend you a compressor the next - well, that's what FIRST is really supposed to be all about, isn't it. You guys get it. You always have. And you're a real example for other teams to follow>


I totally Agree with you Gus-228 REALLY DOES get it and are amazing role models to other teams. It didn't surprise me to hear they helped you get up and running...that is what 228 does and who they are. They are always there in a time of need to ANY team. Gus- hat's off to you for the GP you continue to show year after year.

Re: BattleCry@WPI 14 - Reg Open 2-Apr 1200
 

First, big thanks to Mark, Andy and Eric for helping out with the Friday opening video. People really seemed to enjoy it, in no small part thanks to your wonderful "acting."

I would also like to thank the rest of the BC planning committee for doing a great job all around! It would be hard to do my job if Mitch, Ruth, Ken, and Colleen didn't do a great job executing their responsibilities. Also, a huge thank-you needs to go out to the rest of the volunteer staff. With something near 50 people volunteering this year, there are too many of you to name, but you all deserve a great deal of thanks for the hard work you put in through the weekend.

Finally, I want to thank all the teams for truly making the event what it was! While planning a party for me and 850 of my closest friends is fun in-and-of-itself, it would not be nearly as enjoyable if I didn't get to see everyone smiling and happy as they are getting their ice cream after a long day of competition, or wailing on the drums during a big rock ending on Rock Band, or laughing at the hijinx of Eric, Sam, Ed (especially Ed), Jess, Marc, and Jacob at Andy's game show.

If anyone was curious, you can find the answers to the FIRST trivia questions we had running throughout Saturday here.

Also, we hope to get a copy of the opening video, complete with the live elements, onto youtube this week.

Re: BattleCry@WPI 14 - Reg Open 2-Apr 1200
 

Alright, my actual BattleCry@WPI 14 Photos are posted!! (as opposed to the the Monkey meets Battlecry ones!). Sorry for the delay!!

I struggled A LOT with the insanely frequent changes in lighting (I think my ISO button is worn out now), as I absolutely hate to use Flash at FIRST events and avoid it like the plague (though had to pull it out for ice cream and some towards the finale... and probably should have used it more often). So some of my photos are not as crisp as I would have liked, but hopefully they at least do a good job of telling the "story" of BattleCry :) I do have about 100-200 more photos that need more work that I will post in the next month or so, but this was the majority that I could get processed in under 10 hours.

I spent most of Friday with my zoom getting all the teams and robots, and the majority of the rest of the event with my wide angle getting more action & fun shots. I had an absolute blast capturing the teams and hanging out with the teams & volunteers :) Thanks to everyone as always for putting up with me sticking my camera in your faces & robots!!!

Some important business though: PLEASE PROVIDE PHOTO CREDIT (and/or leave my copyright symbol). I spend the entire event taking photos, and 10-14 hours after each event working on & processing my photos and they are under my copyright. The entire reason I post them is for people & teams to reuse them... facebook profiles/slideshows/sponsor presentations/websites/press releases/etc... I post my photos in full resolution so that they can be reused, but as I may eventually build a business & reputation out of it, credits will help with that. It can be as simple as a small font at the end of your slideshow or a caption of of "photos by kimsrobot" or "Photo by Kim Eckhardt", or just leaving the copyright symbol in the lower right. The only time I ask that you ask permission to use my photos is if you are going to remove the copyright symbol off the bottom or need a photo without the copyright symbol (in which case I will request that my name or kimsrobot be listed somewhere unless there is a good reason not to). Again, I love for everyone to use these photos (it makes taking them totally worth it!!!!), but please respect the copyright :D

Hope you enjoy!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimsrob...7633776700854/

Re: BattleCry@WPI 14 - Reg Open 2-Apr 1200
 

Kim - awesome job!

And I can't echo Kim's sentiment enough.. please make sure her photos are properly credited!

For events, professional services like photography to capture the experience can be very costly. Having someone like Kim volunteer to provide such a great service is a huge benefit that we want to ensure continues. Without proper credit for the creative services, volunteers like her may not want to continue! It's really important we acknowledge and recognize their work, not unlike giving you sponsor a name on your robot in exchange for a donation, or citing another's work in your essay instead of just plagiarizing.

I'm sure many of you will want to use these great photos personally or within your team, so just make sure to leave the watermark or appropriately credit the work!

Thanks Kim and all the volunteers who go ABOVE AND BEYOND to make our events such a great success!

Re: BattleCry@WPI 14 - Reg Open 2-Apr 1200
 

Just out of curiosity, does WPI or anyone else have match videos from the past two Battlecry competitions? The only ones that I've been able to find are 2168's from 2012 and 3467's from 2013. If anyone could post any video they have it would be very appreciated!

Re: BattleCry@WPI 14 - Reg Open 2-Apr 1200
 

I'm posting a link to our playlist.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...z8HwioXGM4xh1T

Sorry for the changing quality. The videos were first recorded on my cell phone, then a borrowed flip cam from our school, and finally a HD video camera for the eliminations when the owner was able to make it out. We also have our videos from Pine Tree, Championship, and soon IRI.