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Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
I hope you guys write good summaries of this when you come back...in my (relatively short time) in FIRST, I can honestly say that this is one of the coolest things I've seen.
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Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
Here are a few thoughts:
Many of the Chinese teams only got their kits a week or so before the event started. They were all able to get the kit bot built and most had some form of game piece manipulator. The students and mentors from the US teams were all over the pits helping with the robots and software. Many had no software until yesterday. Many of the teams drove their robot for the first time yesterday. They all wanted to have an autonomous mode - most do now. 987 will probably help the few remaining get autonomous this morning. At least 3 teams can score a low goal in autonomous. At least 1 team can score a high goal in autonomous - 2 other can score a high goal in teleop. Some can do the truss pass. The first few matches had at least one US team. The first match with 6 Chinese teams finished with a score of 48 to 31 and no fouls - really quite good. The level of game play improved dramatically over the course of the day yesterday. It was really impressive to watch. Given that many hadn't even driven their robots until yesterday and probably had never seen an FRC match, it was really quite something to see them learn driving skills and match strategy so quickly. There were a couple of practice matches yesterday with 6 Chinese teams. To me, these seemed like the most exciting matches. Also, it seemed like we should highlight the Chinese teams at the first event in China. I made the proposal Monday night that the 4 US teams bow out of the elimination rounds and let it be an all Chinese team tournament. The other US teams and organizers agreed. We did alliance selections last night based on the rankings and there are 5 all Chinese team alliances. We'll do a round robin tournament this morning to decide the winner. The US teams will do some exhibition matches in between the elimination matches. Students from the US teams sang the US national anthem at the opening ceremonies yesterday. Hearing them sing it at a robotics tournament 8000 miles from home was really special. The field control software was written by 525's programming team. They spent an enormous amount of time this summer getting it ready. They call it RMM (Robot Match Manager.) They referees use 2 ipads and 4 ipods to enter scoring and fouls. The entire system worked flawlessly all day. (There was only 1 field fault when an ipod wasn't scoring.) The head ref and one of the other refs were 525 alumni. The other refs were Chinese. The other key positions were also a mix of both US and Chinese folks - we wanted to get as much training for the Chinese members as possible. One mentor mentioned that this was possibly the smoothest running regional that they had ever been at. I tend to agree - everything worked smoothly all day. We have workshops planned for this afternoon and all day tomorrow. |
Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
Is there a list of the teams participating in this event? I'm curious if the two teams that came to Lone Star (Houston) were there.
Thanks. |
Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
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Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
The finals are over. In the deciding match, the red alliance won with a shot in the last few seconds but after the refs deliberated the blue alliance won due to a penalty.
Everyone had a great time. The Chinese teams really liked the awards ceremony and walking the awards line. The workshop sessions have started - we're still in the arena now. Tomorrow we move to the hotel for a full day of workshop sessions. |
Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
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Here's a group photo of the 4 US teams. (That "FRC Ambassador" blue banner they gave us is pretty awesome - by far my favorite.)
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Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
I am Dick Hurban, a mentor for team 525 and a Robot Inspector and Judge at the recently concluded China Regional Challenge (CRC). This has been an awesome event; I have participated/volutnteered at FRC events since 2008 and I would have to say this was the most exciting competition I have witnessed. We had 10 new teams and 5 returning teams plus 4 American teams that Tom Ore lists in a previous post. Most new teams have only had parts for several weeks and many had not opened the kits till about a week ago. The ability of these Chinese team to build basic robots, program them, learn to drive them and then also be competitive was truly amazing. These students and mentors were able to keep machines running and there were few missed matches or non-moving robots. At first Chinese teams were reluctant to be aggressive but that quickly changed as the heat of competition built. Everyone involved gave their all to make this event a very smooth running and exciting time. We could all learn a lesson about Gracious Professionalism from our Chinese students, mentors, and volunteers, At the Awards Ceremony at the conclusion of Day 1 we had virtually every participant from China and USA dancing on or around the field and it was clear we were ALL FIRST particpants, not American or Chinese. The look as students faces as they came through the award line was inspiring and priceless. I will never forget this experience and look forward to a future FRC China Regional.
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Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
I would like to add to what Dick had to say about the event I helped coordinate and direct. I am so thankful for all of the hard work our key volunteers from 987 and 525 put into this fantastic, historic event. I am thankful for the assistance from the awesome guys from 694 and 1595 as they pitched in to help us get all of the teams up and running...and helped with some of the workshop sessions that followed the event.
What a pleasure to see all of my fellow 987 advisors/mentors and kids and all the other teams work constantly and even frantically to ensure every Chinese team had a great time. Very few teams missed even a single match. Great job 525 with their fantastic custom field management system. Our Chinese hosts have been incredible. Countless volunteers ensured a wildly successful event as Dick indicated. Lessons were learned...acrylic is not the same as polycarbonate:D , it is important to have batteries that are not prone to leakage and one must have the correct tape for carpet (especially when faced with 90% humidity). Kudos to all! |
Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
Thanks for the info, Tom. It is nice to see that both Grapefruit (5307) and Creation (5308) were able to participate. They both learned a lot and achieved "rock star" status that neither had expected. Few of them were wearing their original shirts by the end of the Lone Star Regional. We hope to see them back in Houston next year.
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Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
I also really enjoyed the chance to work closely with and socialize with the other US teams from literally all over the country. Having teams from the east coast, southwest, northwest and mid west all representing the US in China was pretty cool.
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Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
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The field is gone and everyone is packing to leave...
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Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
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I've been sorting through the pics we took in China - here's one of the pre-rookie robots.
Word is our robot passed through US customs and we'll get it back next week. |
Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
The layout is very, very well thought out. The workmanship is amazing! Not what one would expect from a pre-rookie team or most teams that has been around a few years.
What does the vertically mounted motor do? Are they using a "double choo-choo" mechanism? |
Re: New Offseason FRC Event – In China!!
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EDIT: I found a second picture. It looks like just a 4 bar linkage. If I recall correctly, their throw at the high goal was usually low - still very impressive for a pre-rookie team. |
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