Re: 2015 Rumble in the Roads
 

900 had a great time! Special thanks to our alliance partners 1629 and 3389. Just 7 points away from the finals!

It was a great opportunity for some of our new members and they learned a lot... I hope. We have our debrief tonight so we'll find out.

Thank you to Nate and Matt for running a great event and for convincing us we needed to come back!

Re: 2015 Rumble in the Roads
 

Glad it went well. We had an FLL tournament this weekend and I don't know what secret monkey paw y'all rub to host an FRC offseason without your soul leaving your body because I'm still tired from setup and teardown.

Re: 2015 Rumble in the Roads
 

Is there appetite for another off season event in VA, Will?

Re: 2015 Rumble in the Roads
 

I don't know. We didn't do any this year because we couldn't justify an aggressive and expensive rebuild for a game we didn't like and a robot that's not worth retrofitting into a demo bot. We found value in running an intramural arduino robot challenge and regrouping the organization this fall so I could focus on school and work in the fall and take a light load in the winter.

I've thought about going around and petitioning some current programs in the metro area to bring a summer event to Richmond (and even looked at another high school to start a team and run an offseason at their place), but people vastly overestimate our mentor depth chart and school support (I guess it was pretty evident when a few minor changes to my availability in 2015 led the team to put out the worst overall product since I joined the team in the fall of 2008, but I digress).

Myself and other alums alongside mentors and students on 422 have had ideas on how to approach the FRC product from a different angle than the conventional methods but I myself am pretty gassed by May at best. I sorta cycle through making a priority/wish list at the end of every season and usually get hung up trying to remedy priorities before I ever get to wishes. There's always a chance windows close and doors open in my time in FIRST, but I don't see that window opening for a long time unless a lot of dominoes fall that are outside of my control.

--

I also wanna say that it's cool that the two teams that won, won. There are a lot of things that motivate me and the rest of the crew in green and black, but seeing some re-emergence of grizzled veterans is a big positive motivation in my well-documented sea of negatives and a feather in the cap of all teams in the region.

Re: 2015 Rumble in the Roads
 

Pain killers and caffeine in high doses.

Re: 2015 Rumble in the Roads
 

Is there any match footage available?

Re: 2015 Rumble in the Roads
 

The event stream recording can be found here. Triple Helix will be posting match by match videos using the footage we took at the event.

Congratulations all of our award recipients:

Event Winners: Team 122 - NASA Knights and Team 346 - RoboHawks
Event Finalists: Team 1389 - The Body Electric, Team 1262 - STAGS, and Team 5546 - A.R.T.

USS Monitor Award Sponsored by Canon :Team 2363 - Triple Helix
Shipbuilder Award sponsored by Newport News Shipbuilding: Team 122 - NASA Knights
Ironclad Award sponsored by InSource: Team 1137 - Rocket Sauce
Christopher Newport University Captain Award: Team 339 - Kilroy

Re: 2015 Rumble in the Roads
 

Celebrating machine robustness in concept and fabrication, the Ironclad Award sponsored by InSource is presented to a team whose robot has shown true resilience in combat. While their robot may come away from this event with battle scars, this team has built their robot to stay afloat. Whether it was an H-frame design, 6 omni-directional wheels for stability, or the ability to quickly lift the robot off the chassis for repair of the control board, this team has the secret sauce for successful competition. Congratulations to Team 1137, Rocket Sauce!

The Shipbuilder Award sponsored by Newport News Shipbuilding celebrates form and function in an efficiently designed machine that effectively achieves the game challenge. This team demonstrates a clear understanding of the rules of the game and their robot has been designed to effectively complete tasks with consistency and accuracy. This team has a simple but efficient design, solid mastery of the game challenge, and their robot performed efficiently in matches. The Shipbuilder Award goes to Team 122, the NASA Knights!

The USS Monitor presented a new concept in ship design and employed a variety of new innovations in ship building that caught the attention of the world. The USS Monitor Award sponsored by Canon celebrates innovation in robot components, design, or strategy of play. This team’s unique ideas stretch beyond the norm and reflect creative thinking to effectively achieve their goals on the field of battle. The judges selected a team that provided an innovative approach to both a barrel-topping and container-stacking strategy and design. Their design allows for their team to perform at the highest level in competition. Their design incorporated a unique arm and grasping device that allows for secure control of their barrel, as well as a unique pneumatics in arranging and stacking containers. It is the unanimous decision of our judges that the USS Monitor Award is awarded to Team 2363 – Triple Helix.

The Captain Award sponsored by Christopher Newport University is presented to a team whose members gain the pride and respect of not only their school and sponsors, but also their competitors. This team truly inspires others with their teamwork, leadership, and gracious professionalism on and off the field. With a 50/50 ratio between male to female members, there is no adversity because you got diversity. Team 339, congratulations on winning the Captain Award!

Re: 2015 Rumble in the Roads
 

Here's a great NNPS-TV segment on the competition!