Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

Maybe there's already a thread on this, but I didn't see one. I don't know how many people have been monitoring the Silicon Valley regional, but the scores are insane right now! Last I checked, the Cheesy Poofs had a qualification average of 204! Thoughts?

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

254 looks like they've improved a lot. I'd say they've made it to 1114's level.

They did coop themselves, grabbed that extra RC themselves in teleop, and still had time to make 4 six stacks.
After their coop, they made a stack from the landfill and grabbed an RC (they added some hooks).
The other 3 were done from the human player station. They now have a tethered ramp (kind of visible in the image).
12-13 seconds for a six stack in the landfill. In the human player zone, they can stack 6 totes in about 8 seconds
Had some smooth RC handling / noodling too.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

Anyone have match footage?

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

254 has found another gear for sure.

I think just as impressive though, if not moreso is the scores at the Pacific Northwest District Championship.

A 100 point average through 9 matches in the PNW Championship is only good for 51st place out of 64.

It's worth pointing out that a 100 QAS is good for 9th right now at SVR out of 57 teams after 7 matches.

I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that you'll need a 200+ average at champs to be picking on your division.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

That makes me wonder if there were only 4 divisions if Einstein would see perfect matches. Probably more likely at IRI.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

Indiana State Championships are turning out to be SUPER impressive. The top two seeds currently hold 4th and 5th highest averages worldwide for week 6, with 234 Cyber Blue at 165.6 and 135 Penn Robotics at 163.2. Also, the top 28 of 31 teams hold averages over 100, with the lowest seed at about 96.

Considering the Indy district in week one had 75 average for #1 seed, and Kokomo and Purdue had about 110 and 130 average for #1 seed. EVERY team has improved since their district events, with at least 10 teams able to produce a 6 stack topped or better. Today I am proud to be able to say I am on an Indiana FIRST team!

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

I think it is fitting that 254's alliance put up 254 points in Qual 53 at SVR.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

I was also pretty impressed with how great everyone is doing, i think we (not 4982 in particular but all the teams at the event) had a couple matches over 200 in the first round of qualifications today and many that got close (high 190s)

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

http://new.livestream.com/accounts/1...events/3938197

some matches

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

I am uploading the match videos of 254 from today to my youtube channel. The videos are 4k and they should be done uploading in a couple of hours.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

I thought 1114 had the fastest tote pickup, and then RoboStang 548. Looks like 254 gets thrown in the mix.
With Week 6 showing off some high scores at various regionals, looks like Champs is going to much much better than I thought.........by a mile.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

I can't wait to see what MSC will be like!

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

Thanks for the videos. What an awesome machine!

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

It's unfair to 254 to say that the scores are also high at PNW.

The scores aren't even as high as 254 at PNW. Furthermore, they're higher than previous weeks because it's a DCMP with selection going into the event (you see the same thing in Indianna right now).

254 is doing a 20 point auto, and often 4 stacks. That's more than entire alliances at PNW (evidenced by 254's solo score, not their QA, is higher than the QA of any team at PNW). Their partners are helping some, but really 254 is solely responsible for their insane QA.

They're just really darn good, nothing else to it.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

man.... Einstein will be the most exciting part of the entire season, but I think it will largely be won in the first 1s of the match, and that's going to make the rest of the match kind of anti-climactic to watch.

EDIT: man. my home internet connection at 30Mbps still can't touch streaming a 4K video... not that I have a 4K screen to display it on.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

Yeah, 254 is just on a different level today. http://i.imgur.com/9ETrLFB.jpg

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

A new top combined score of 464 at Silicon Valley Qualification 88. 60 pts higher in total than the next top combined score.

Red - 220pts- 971, 846, 1678
Blue- 244pts- 5677, 254, 3256

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

Too bad they didn't get a extra 20 points for a 6 stack CO OP. Good job!

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

Love that stacking from the landfill, turn around can steal, as it heads off to place the stack, then back for the same stolen can to build another stack from the ramp. That is cheescaked to the absolute max now 254! Added the best elements of original 254, 1114 w/ the tethered ramp, and many others all into 1 supremely cheesecaked super performer. That 200+ QPA was earned. As will the usual CheesyPoofs position be at the top of the heap.

Things are definitely "Heating Up" across the board in Week #6! Can't wait for those Championships to begin.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

Not on the topic of high scores, but the match reset time seems tons better than it was last year at SVR. I'm pleasantly surprised, especially given how much more complicated the reset is this year compared to last year.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

The interesting thing here is that these penultimate teams now have a greater likelihood of going against each other than with each other with the additional 4 divisions. After seeing 1114 in action first hand, I was positive that no one could beat the robot/driver combo, now I'm not so sure. With the one seed usually picking the two seed there's enough very good teams to make for a great playoffs at both the divisions and Einstein. I can't wait. I didn't think this year was going to be too exciting...and, I was wrong again.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

I am not sure but I believe 254 scored 254 at least two times at SVR. thier average qualifier was 200. Next highest was ~150 by 1678. Difference was a 6 stack vs a 5 stack. Ended up 1 and 2 vs 3 and 4, and camps and finalists were pretty much as expected. It still was exciting. I think at least one finals match had six bin capped stacks. Champion alliance 254, 1678, 5027. Finalists 2085, 971, 649.

All are Nationals qualified. 5027 was modified to be a bin grabber for the last semifinal and 2 final matches. They got two in the semi, at 1 in the first final, but even though they lost a tug of war with 971, that 'bin got stuck on 971's arm, and slowed them up for the rest of the match.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

254 is so good they can score 254 points at will.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

254 scored 254 twice, once in quals, once in elims (both with 1678, maybe we can score 1678 points at CMP?). Also our average was 170 just fyi. 5 vs 6 wasn't the difference in average, the difference was that 254 grabs a can off the step in teleop, we don't so we just run out of cans after 3 stacks. The ~30 point difference is about the value of one stack.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

They also did so in the final match of the day for the WINNER Blue Banner! Very fitting indeed.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

We need to petition the Snack Bars at the Edward Jones Dome to sell "Cheesecake by the slice for a super reasonable price!"

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

They didn't seem to throw any litter, so it seemed like they were gunning for the 254 score. Poetic.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

My question is what are the rollers on the ramp and how does the ramp not slide very much during the match or bounce when it is tipped over. Does anyone have a good picture of it?

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

In one match they just stopped at 254 points and sat waiting for the clock to run down.

254's ramp looked like it used ball bearing rollers. I would have been more impressed if they hadn't totally ignored rule T6. They just had one guy carrying the ramp separately. I guess if the rule doesn't have a penalty it doesn't exist. There was one time that the ramp ended up with its outer end back at the wall. I didn't see if it fell wrong or got pushed. 254 didn't even try to get the totes off it, they just mined the landfill.

Another thing I wondered about was the stack(s) the tether was touching at the end of the match. You can't really see it in the videos. The refs weren't checking if the tether was supporting the totes. Judging from the blue box in the game manual the stack(s) should have been de-scored. They definitely weren't doing that. If they did, it could really hurt 254, as it is tough to control such a long tether.

Still, the Poofs were way ahead of of everyone else. 1678 couldn't do as many stacks and probably messed up more often. 971 had a jamming problem getting totes from the human player. 368 had a lot of trouble with their 3 tote autonomous, although they seemed to get it working in the later matches. They also had problems with mis-fed totes. 846's ramp tended to jam and they had a lot of problems with stacks falling over.

Our own robot (670) amazed me with its reliability. We improved more since the CVR than 254 did, with about 3x the scoring. The only real blemish was when the drive team decided to try to do a six stack with bin instead of our usual five stack in the semifinals and it fell over because it was too heavy. They really should have tried that on the practice field first... We were only fighting over 3rd vs. 4th place anyway. We were too slow to make it into the finals.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

Because we didn't want to risk knocking over any stacks just for another 12 points. With 6 full stacks and 15 seconds left on the clock going for another 6 totes when the landfill and HP stations are both almost empty is just asking for trouble.

The blue box on T6 clarifies this quite well, they put the ramp inside the robot when no one was carrying it so it definitely fit in transport config. Several other teams also transported their robots pre-assembled. Refs have been told to encourage teams to do this to speed up field reset times.

A stack is scored if it is supported completely by only the scoring platform, if their tether was supporting the stack it wouldn't be scored, but it would be pretty apparent when their tether was under it as the stack would get knocked over when they tried to drive away from it. I trust the refs that they were well aware of this.

No need to put down others when applauding your own accomplishments. 254 went from 2 stacks at CVR to hitting 4 stacks plus co-op with time left over at the end of every match reliably; bumping their qual average from 104 to 200 since CVR. If that's not impressive improvement I don't know what is.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

They do use bearings for their ramp, either 0.500 or 0.625 OD mounted via 3/16 pop rivets. The frame is a carbon fiber tube with aluminum ribs and aluminum tubing.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

Thanks for assuming we were cheating, but if you had asked you would have found out the inspectors and refs decided teams should demonstrate that they can establish a compliant transportation configuration, but in the interests of saving time during setup should bring the robot on in it's starting configuration.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

Steven- if you are indeed a mentor of your team, I implore you to read your post as if you were a student on your team (or another team for that matter). What kind of message are you sending by trying to point out tiny nuances of other teams (who are obviously remarkably skilled)?

Quite honestly, its pathetic. Sorry for being so blunt, but your post really rubs me in a bad way.

-Brando

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

On the topic of high scores, I have watched several regionals and I believe Finals match 1 is the closest I have seen to utilizing all of the cans. If not for the can war mishap that gave 971 such problems during that match, I believe that would have been the high score of the season (excluding co-op because I really want to believe my conjectures to be true. XD). It also seems to be the first time an alliance's scoring ability was hindered by the result of a can war and lack of cans.

I'd like to think this match demonstrates that stealing cans REALLY well might actually be a possible method of defense. I know it has been hypothesized before, but this is the first time I have seen any real world effect.

Of course, if anyone can tell me of a match where there actually HAS maxed out can usage, I would love to admire it.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

And that has been happening since the first week when they found out that trying to follow the rule slowed down the competition schedule too much. All of the other competitions have has the starting configuration set up since.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

And 1678 scored 220 and 210 in quals matches, albeit also with very strong alliance members (971 & 846; 2085) that made those scores possible. The max for a team running on its own appears to be about 190.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

BTW, the PNW districts had an amazing average score of 123. SVR was at 72; Lone Star at 84.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

Finals match 1 at the Oklahoma regional used all the recycling cans (as I'm sure a couple other top matches have). Here is a picture of the stacks:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/41853

If either of the alliances had been able to get even 3 of the middle bins instead of 2 they would have been much more likely to win.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

While 670 made a tremendous improvement this year, which you should be quite proud of, implying that you went past 971, 368, 846 (and you didn't even mention the best historic improver, 2085) would be disinenguous. Be happy about your accomplishments, but don't rest on your laurels.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

I'm sure there are quite a few. I remember this one from Waterloo:
http://www.thebluealliance.com/match/2015onwa_f1m1

edit- oops, scrap that, bad memory. There's one dropped can on the floor at the end. Close though!

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

The robot inspection process was complete as every other regional, weight, BOM, transport configuration, etc..

The event ruling was if the starting configuration fit within the area of your robot cart then it was acceptable to transport to the field assembled.

We were using a simple hand truck for moving our robot around. If we orientated our robot so that our pickup system and lift prongs were not protruding, we could stay assembled.

This did truly speed up the match turn around times. And did not create any unsafe transportation conditions at the event that I was aware of.

It was our first time at SVR and would love to come back again. Thanks to everyone that made the regional a pleasant experience. Was great to see and work with the many high level teams showing how it can be done. Amazing!

Good luck to everyone heading off to champs!

Aloha!


Shout out to Devin, thanks for taking time out to "talk story" with us and helping with ideas for the future. Mahalo!

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

PNW had so many good teams that our #6 alliance had a Semi Finals average of 201.33 and STILL missed making the finals by 2/3 of a point. Does anyone know if any other competitions had 200+ SF averages that didn't make finals? This was teams 3663, 4450 and 4911.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

It was my pleasure! I had a fantastic time at SVR meeting teams and making new friends. Working and talking with 3880, 5026, 5027, 254, 2035, 2135, 115, and 5728 was a blast! My only regret was not having enough time to get to know more teams. It seems my contacts list grows a few teams every event Citrus Circuits attends.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

Actually not accurate to state all other competitions have had the starting configuration set up allowed prior to reaching the field. At the LVR, we could NOT do so as the head referee decided to adhere to the letter of the rule...though as a member of the planning committee I tried to talk him into the "relaxation" of the rule since so many events had reported doing so in prior weeks. It was decided that we would wait and see if we were having trouble maintaining a reasonable cycle time. As it turned out we managed to stay on time and stayed within the rule. The question now is what will the practice be at Champs? It would be nice if FIRST would address this issue and all of us enter the event with the same expectations.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

Agreed,

At the Hawaii Regional the transport configuration was required. Our team learned to quickly install and tear down our lift arms.

A few quiet verbal warnings might have been given. Well more like mentions on the loud speaker letting the audience know what the teams were up to before and after each match to comply with the transport rules.

Every team managed to comply without penalties.

Although after going to a much larger event I saw how much time was saved.

At the champs with so many variations and possible factory bots, I hope they do require the transport configuration. It was part of the design process that kept many elaborate designs shelved.

Looking forward to the championships!

Aloha

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

Same, at Utah we were required to enter the field in transport configuration, then after the match, go back into transport on the field, or sometimes in a rush you were allowed to do so immediately off the field. At Lone Star we weren't required to go into transport if it was safe to configure in the queue.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

So, it appears that two standards of enforcement have been allowed to take place this season regarding T6. At least some of us will be well prepared if T6 is in fact enforced to the letter at Champs...I would sure hate to see a team disabled for failure to set up in time :D

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

Too soon.

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

Devin is our GP god! :)

Re: Astronomically High Scores at Silicon Valley
 

Haha our electrical lead knows everybody. If I want to contact another team In just ask him and he'll connect me to somebody who knows somebody on that team. Citrus was definitely cool to check out and talk to.