2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

Only a few more days until the 2nd Inland Empire Regional: Feb28 - Mar2

40 teams, 4 which are rookies will be there. Most are local teams but we will have visitors from Colorado and Arizona at the event.

Regional web site
www.ieregional.com

Live streaming
www.citruscircuits.org/live

Agenda
IE Agenda

Location
Grand Terrace High School
21810 Main St, Grand Terrace, CA 92313

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

1678 is thrilled to be coming down south for Inland Empire! This is the farthest we've travelled for a regional event, and we couldn't be more excited to meet some new teams in So-Cal (and see some familiar faces as well).

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to webcast the event as well. We hope to archive, parse and post the video soon afterwards so the world can watch just how fast California hits the ground running week 1!

See everyone in a few short days!

-Mike

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

Really excited to see all the teams at Inland Empire and we can't wait to compete with and against all of you guys!:)

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

Inland Empire was such a great event last year, so much fun. We were really looking forward to coming way out there again this year. Sadly since it was scheduled earlier this year, we are unable to make it. We normally setup out of state travel over the spring break if at all possible.

Good luck to everyone!

Aloha

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

Will the practice matches tomorrow be webcast? Can't wait for the first CA event to start!

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

Depends on when that fine team from Davis (aka Citrus Circuits) get their rig set up. I know it was not ready to go tonight, so at a minimum I would say no earlier than tomorrow afternoon.

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

The Inland Empire livestream is now up and running. Check it out at: citruscircuits.org/live

Live scores will not be active until qualifications start.

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

theres still no ranking game data on the FRC and TBA website. is someone on site in charge of that?

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

Qualification matches start today.
Here's the match schedule. Teams play 13 qual matches - woo-hoo! :)

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

The audio on the webcast got really funky.

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

Please fix the audio! :(

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

Is it just me or is the lower-third display a match behind?

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

That match with 399 and the clockwork oranges, very good strategy for quick 31 point cycle:

-3 assists
-score in the low goal

This is how it is done!

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

Ken, the display is a match behind.

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

Team 1678 has fixed this issue, and we apologize for the lack of perfection.
Thank you for the feedback, it is very helpful, and we will continue to do our best to fix any issues

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

Any idea when we can expect videos on TBA?

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

I'm uploading to this playlist. These will be posted to TBA also.

Q15 was a pretty good example of 30 point assists.

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in QF-1 Replay, 1678's alliance held up a DEAD BALL card and the head ref simply refused to recognize it? How is that allowed?

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

It was absurd. The match announcer even called the dead ball card out, and it was a good 40 seconds before they were allowed to take the ball. They didn't even have enough time left in the match to put the ball into play once they finally got it.

The dead ball card is not "please check our robot, and if you can't bring us back give us a new ball". The dead ball card is "Something is wrong with our robot, please give us a new ball NOW". The rules are clear as to what happens if the ball comes back out later, that should not be a consideration when deciding to honor a dead ball card.

Unfortunately...the dead ball card delay does not seem to be an uncommon occurrence.

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

Why can't they make a "dead ball button" that wires directly into the field, and simply automatically lights up the pedestal, and notifies the head ref with some sort of match sound. The dead ball condition is not one that requires referee judgement, I don't get why the head ref even thought he should inspect the robot first.

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

Why is the head ref inspecting a robot after the ball is called "dead" by the alliance anyway. If the robot is functional, and the alliance calls the ball in its possession "dead", said alliance is hurting itself, since any assist points on that ball will be nullified. There is no strategic advantage an alliance can get by pretending to have a dead robot/dead ball. Also, where in the rules does it say that it is at the refs discretion if a ball is truly dead or not after an alliance holds up the card? Refs do not have this responsibility, and they shouldn't.

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

I'm going to lay this out as clearly as I can. I was reffing at that event, so I was there on the field. (BTW, I can tell some of ya didn't see the head ref at IE clearly. Just sayin'.)

When a dead-ball card showed up, the first ref to spot it would get on the radio and call it in. (We all had headsets.) The head ref would then check that the card WAS showing and press her input panel.

The problem was, somewhere in the system, the signal was lost. She could have pressed the button 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 times--and the pedestal would NEVER have lit, if it didn't light after the first time. She was NOT happy about THAT! (The odds of the pedestal lighting the first time were about 50-50, as I recall, maybe lower.)

The result of the non-lighting pedestal was a scramble for either the FTA or, more often, the Head Ref down to the end of the field to TELL the alliance that they could remove the ball from the pedestal--which some HPs were pretty slow to figure out that when the Head Ref says to do something, just DO IT! (Hint to all HPs reading this: If the Head Ref says something, it means that you almost certainly WON'T be penalized for doing what the Head Ref says.) Once the alliance is told, then there's whatever delay the HP puts in by being slow.



Oh, and I can tell you why they don't give the alliances a dead-ball button. In addition to the normal interface issues with any new sensor (at 2/field, plus a spare/field), you'd have to rig something in code or hardware so that it could only be hit--and register--once, but still be reset for the next match.

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

Does anyone remember the lyrics to "do you wanna build a robot?" that the janksters sang?

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

Great regional, I am glad I got a chance to see the action in person on Saturday. It was extremely crowded, but most everyone was good natured about it.

Lots of great teams were there. Congrats to the awards winners and 4139, 294 and 599 the finalists. They did a great job. The winners 399, 4161, and 1678 should and I am sure are proud of their achievement. Everyone going up against 1678 should watch out, they are wickedly fast, great shots and the bot is well driven.

Good job to volunteers establishing this regional in its second year!

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

We are already looking for solutions to the crowding problem. Originally the pits were going to be in the cafeteria, but that ended up not working out at the last minute. Good thing considering we got hit with monsoons on Friday and Saturday.

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

Anyone got any elims videos?

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

Finals Match 1 and 2 are on our Match Archive Channel. We will have the rest up within the week.

Match 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLsOE2nufoU
Match 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhY_p3qhSkY

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

Those F2 catches were the bomb diggity... Great a job 1678 and 399, you guys really really tore it up out there.

I can't wait to play with you guys at Davis! After seeing your huge iterations last year, I can't wait to see what awesome features you come up with for SAC, SVR and CMP.

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

4161 was key to making us swing those high scores. They were so smooth getting each cycle going and then shutting down the other teams. They would have been the no. 1 bot on several of the other alliances. We were so happy to get them. We had the highest 6 scores in the elimination rounds.

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

On behalf of team 1678, I would like to thank the organizers of the Inland Empire regional for putting on a great event. The atmosphere in the arena was intense and exciting but this was balanced by an overall relaxed attitude in the inspection process, practice field, queueing and pit management. I really felt that everyone was there to support the teams and help them achieve their best.

Congratulations to team 399 for achieving the trifecta of Chairman's, Woody Flowers, and the regional win. You guys, along with 4161 were awesome alliance partners and allowed us to rock those 60-point cycles.

Kudos to 294, 599 and 4139 for making it to the finals with some great strategic game play and some tough matches against our friends from Nor Cal, 701 and their alliance partners 1828 and 2839.

Also, congratulations to team 4499 for winning the Engineering Inspiration award and to team 5012 for being the highest rookie seed and winning the rookie all star award.

Looking forward to seeing some of you at Davis and SVR.

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

Thanks, I'll pass this along to the planning committee. We all love the FIRST program and what you guys to have the best experience possible.

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

Just because the GA made the call doesn't mean it was right. I can say that because I was the announcer that made that call.

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

I can get that, though there are 4 versions... (it was a long drive from Bay Area to IE)

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

I would like to throw in my thoughts on the regional.

Volunteers
We could not have asked for a greater set of volunteers than we had at the Inland Empire Regional. Everyone that I interacted with was so nice and gracious and was able to answer questions even in the mist of all the confusion and chaos of the events. Special praise goes to the inspectors, who I saw go out of their way to make sure all the teams made it to the field. Another two people that I would like to recognize is Richard and Cory who helped in the queue line. They also went out of their way to help teams make sure they made it to their matches on time, even to the extent to find them in the pits and “gently nudge” them that it was time to get in line for their matches. This was extremely helpful when the teams are under pressure to get their robot repairs completed and keep the event on time. GREAT JOB by all the volunteers.

Referees
OK, you have read all the information on CD so I am not going to rehash that information. I officiate high school and college football and interact with NFL officials, the football officiating community has a philosophy in our penalty calling. “Does it have an effect on the play and is it at the point of attack?” So, for example, a human player in the box loses a little situational awareness and steps out of the box and the ball is nowhere near them. Let it go. A player steps out of the box in an attempt to catch the ball, call it. When asked a question about making some calls the head official (WHO DID AN AWESOME JOB), she said we focus on student safety first. One cannot argue with that philosophy. When accommodations had to be made for a student in a wheelchair and their alliance partners, it was great cooperation with the referees, field volunteers, and other teams to make sure that he could participate equally. Just Outstanding! I am going to say that I think they did the best job possible with all the duties they were assigned this year. IF they are consistent, good teams will adjust to the “strike zone” they are calling, not complain, and move on. Having the referees do the score keeping along with the officiating will have to evolve and change over regional weeks and into championships. Maybe have a scoring spotter help the official?

Teams
I am always amazed by the students and mentors of the teams. What a great group of people to be with during the event. It did not matter what type of robot the students brought to the competition, you could see the pride in the students, mentors, and parents of their robot and that they were there to have fun. When you are with the veteran teams, we will use your robot and drivers to the limits to help the whole alliance. When the pit announcer asked for a part for a team, I saw no less than two teams jump to help them out each time. When our wheel shaft broke in eliminations, we asked 294 for a few parts and they did not hesitate to see what else we needed even though we were very likely to meet up in finals. They helped us improve our pneumatic system. Talk about a class act of a team, I really enjoyed talking with Andrew and Dave about game strategy and how to play the game. Both of our qualification match losses were against them. Dave of 294 told me “Leave it all out on the field, and we can be friends again after the match”.

Alliance Partners
In almost all our qualification matches, we worked really well with our alliance partners. Everyone on the alliance was willing to put in their strategy inputs and listen to other opinions. GDC created a game that will make it hard for one team to go solo and really forced us to work together. Like football, only one ball on the field and not everyone can carry it. You have to have those linemen who open the holes and willing to do work in the trenches. My observations while watching teams develop strategy, the teams who had the attitude “We built the robot to do this, and we are darn well going to do it, heck with the rest of you” will not cut it this year. Or if during a match, they change strategy without communication, chaos started and the match went to pieces. This game is very dynamic and strategies WILL have to change, communication between teams is one element to winning the game. So advice is to be realistic about your robot strengths and weaknesses and put the team ego on the back burner to help the alliance be successful. A good strategy is fun for all to watch.

I really liked working with the coaches from 1678, Citrus Circuits, and 4161, T-Bird Tech. [Note back in 2012, 4161’s alliance beat our alliance for the San Diego Regional Championship]. When the alliance selections were done, 1678 and 399 crews went to 4161 to develop strategy. Suggestions were made to help 4161 fill the alliance role that 1678 developed. I could tell that the mentors and students were hesitant about some added features, but when talking with a mentor he said if the students are OK, then we are good to go. The students asked good questions about the strategy to make sure it was a good thing to do and gave the go ahead for the change. The key role they played in being the in-bounder and then helping to shut down the scoring for the opponent was amazing. 1678 and 399 were VERY lucky (more than most people know, as I was told after the competition) to have them available as the last pick.

A real special thanks go out to the judges who honored our team with the Chairman’s Award. You also volunteer your time and it is greatly appreciated. The award is a great honor and we hope to represent the Inland Empire at championships.

Good Luck to all the teams if you have another competition. If you are a team that this was your last competition, be proud of what you accomplished these last two months, write down the lessons learned and pass them on to the next team. Remember, we are not just building robots, we are building our future leaders. So, look forward to your future and good luck.

Thank you for a great regional.

Re: 2014 Inland Empire Regional
 

And most deserved congratulations to David, the WFFA winner for IE!

- Mr. Van
Coach, Robodox