2016 Midwest Regional
 

I didn't see a 2016 thread yet so I figured I'd start one up. We're excited to head up to Chicago and play with a lot of teams we've never met and a few that we have!

While Trogdor focused on low goals and breaching at the St. Louis regional, we've been practicing high goal shooting and hope to be hitting multiple shots a match.

We also have a defense + hang module that can be used by us or by a partner if needed. 4329 loves Cheesecake.

Does anyone know if a stream will be provided? I'd be happy to bring the STL FIRST equipment up and set it up on Thursday. Here's an example of what the home viewer would see live. As long as the bandwidth is there we can stream & record matches at 1080 resolution.

Good luck everyone!

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

Midwest looks really strong this season! As always, we will see many of the top teams in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Turkey, as well as newcomers from Missouri and the east coast. Here's some stats:

Number of teams: 52
Teams with 2016 blue banners: 1 (2451)
Teams already qualified for champs: 4 (111, 1756, 2451, 5822)
Regional finalists: 4 (379, 1736, 1756, 4329)
Number of teams competing for the first time this season: 20
Number of regionals teams have previously attended: 9
Rookie teams: 4 (5822, 5847, 5934, 6237)
Second-year teams: 0

Top 10 OPRs:
1. 379 (48.48)
2. 1625 (45.61)
3. 1736 (41.79)
4. 4143 (38.74)
5. 2338 (38.02)
6. 2451 (36.64)
7. 2062 (34.58)
8. 1756 (32.84)
9. 375 (32.7)
10.111 (30.75)

2338 is very excited to be competing at such an exciting event! We'll see you all Thursday!

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

379 is looking forward to competing at this years Midwest Regional, Good luck to all teams this weekend!!

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

There are 2 teams from Turkey competing at the regional. There were 4 teams from Turkey at the Wisconsin Regional. I didn't think about this until it was too late. It would be a nice act of Gracious Professionalism if one of them was selected for Playoffs. Maybe a 3rd pick by the 7th or 8th Alliance?

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

You mentioned this in the Wisconsin thread too, why just the 7th or 8th alliance?

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

Because the odds are that the 7th or 8th alliance won't win it all. So, little harm by picking them.

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

You have to be joking here.. I don't agree with this at all. You cannot just expect the 7th or 8th seeded alliance to pick a team just because their odds of winning aren't "good". What entails them to give up if they are facing a strong 1st and 2nd seed to just and to throw picks and choose whoever? Every alliance has a fair and square shot. IMO, even if you are the 7th or 8th seed make the best possible alliance you can. Just because you are up against a super tough alliance doesn't mean it is impossible to win against them. Upsets will and have happened at FRC regionals.

Strategically it is of your best interest to avoid tough alliances during alliance selections, but if you find yourself with no other choice, do not give up. Make the best possible alliance you can for the best shot to upset strong alliances.

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

What's the harm in it? This wouldn't be the first time a Turkish team went to champs (3646 has a 2016 RCA, 2905 has a 2015 EI), and a lot of them are really good too. 2905, 3646, and 3390 are among the Turkish teams who have made very good robots in recent years. 3646, in particular, was a standout shooter at Midwest 2014.

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

Another harm in picking them based on this alone is that there are 50 other teams that put their hearts and souls into this competition. Regardless of your position, GP means you continue trying to do your best.

If my team is ranked in the top 24, but we don't get picked, I want to believe the eight alliances tried to come up with a winning strategy.

On the other hand, if my team gets picked for the playoffs I hope it's because we fit a winning strategy, not because we're an all-girl team or something like that.

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

Do I need to explain how wrong this statement is?

Since this is you doubling down on it I guess so...

Obvious disclaimer - teams can pick for whatever reason they want.


When building an alliance you should try to build one that can WIN. [1] Rather than pick teams cuz they are from a far away land, you should pick because you think they would contribute positively [2]. Ok, that's one.

Second, you make a couple assumptions that the teams you propose pity picking [3] will be a) not in a picking position b) not worth picking in those spots c) not wanting to actually win the event anyway.

Third, let's assume the #1 seed decides to pick one of these teams[4] what would the harm be in them having been picked if they win it all? [5]





[1] Last I checked, this was a competition... just checked again, yup still has Competition in the name.

[2] See previous comments about it being a COMPETITION

[3] My words, not yours. But the words are there under your GPness veneer.

[4] Presumably for reasons that make sense like, idk, actually contributing to the alliance.

[5] There's a slight implication here I don't think you meant that you don't want them winning.

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

Is anyone interested in teaming up for scouting. PM me if interested.

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

From the FIRST website

rich2202 is not a Gracious Professional.

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

Out of curiosity, where do out-of-town teams stay? UIC isn't exactly a tourist-friendly area, but the west suburbs would be a haul through morning Ike traffic.

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

The hotels by Midway Airport seem like the best route to go, it's around 20 minutes (sans traffic) from UIC.

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

I would like to remind everyone that this is the Midwest Regional Twentieth Anniversary. Midwest was the first regional outside of Manchester. We have a lot of historical items that will be presented all weekend. It looks to be a great event.
The Midwest Regional (and now Central Illinois) has been a 'home' regional for Turkish teams in the past. There is a Turkish Consulate in Chicago. Oh, and they bring some nice candy as well.
See you all there in just a few hours.

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

Al,

I am planning on coming , The Midwest Regional was my first event I ever attended and hold a special place in my heart. That event was the seed that still drives Team 107 20 years later. The competition was crazy and the people I met I still consider friends. Are their any special events planned?


jim

Team 107 R.O.B.O.T.I.C.S.

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

See you soon, Jim. Will you bring your dad?

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

I will try

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

Anyone willing to help upload robot pictures for the teams ?

https://www.thebluealliance.com/event/2016ilch

All of these pictures will appear on the TBA android app and make scouting easier.

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

I'm super excited!

Watch the 20th anniversary Midwest Regional on the FIRST Illinois website here. We updated our streaming equipment, so hopefully it will look great for those watching at home!

For those of you who want to share stories and photos from the event on social media, our official event hashtag is #MWR20.

FIRST Illinois is also getting some alumni together for an alumni social. All FIRST alumni in the area are welcome to join us (even if you didn't compete on an Illinois team). Our meetup will be Friday night at 7 pm at Wise Owl Drinkery and Cookhouse, just a few blocks away from the Pavilion. All ages are welcome and we hope to see you there!

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

After watching nearly every match, I have some lighthearted predictions based on today's rankings

1736-111-171 W
4143-2451-3695 F
3061-1756-4329 SF
2062-379-5822
2338-1625-101 SF
5847-4655-931
2151-375-4061
2781-1781-4241

2338 rejects 3061

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

I am confused about quarterfinal match that alliance 5 just lost.

Why did Winovation's (1625) scale not count?

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

I believe their bumpers were not entirely above the line

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

Congratulations everyone on an incredible Midwest regional! I was blown away by how strong this event was this year, the field was deeper here than it has been in years! Congrats to 1736, 2451, and 3352 on the win, you guys put together a great alliance. A few shout-outs:

-111 and 4241: It was amazing to work with such an excellent pair of teams. We did everything we could :) and a special congrats to 4241 on their first-ever trip to champs!
-379: You guys definitely made the best of a terrible situation throughout all of quals. Please don't let the bad schedules skew your perspective on this event, I'd love to see you guys come back! Congratulations on winning Engineering Inspiration, and on having a great robot.
-5847: It has been a pleasure working with you throughout this season. You are, without a doubt, the most organized, most knowledgeable, and most promising rookie team I have ever seen. There is no doubt in my mind that you will continue your success in years to come.
-5934: Being able to see you guys learn and grow throughout this event was astounding. I hope our alums were helpful to you, and I'm excited to see you all next season!
-3695 and 101: two teams who were extremely under-appreciated. I was shocked to see the leaps and bounds of improvements both of these teams have made since 2015. 3695's high goal shot was beautiful, and their vision code was excellent, and 101's driver was a beast. I was genuinely surprised to see neither of these teams get picked for eliminations, they absolutely deserved a spot on the field this afternoon.

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

I had not been to the Midwest Regional since 2004 when I was a high school student on 234. Even after all these years, the Midwest Regional still knows how to put on one heck of a show. Congratulations on 20 years!

4329 had quite the event. Thursday and Friday we spent most of our time attempting to diagnose drive train problems. If you walked by our pit, you may have seen our drive sides off a couple of times - replacing CIM motors, replacing Talons, replacing 40 amp breakers. After finally finding a glitch in our software, our robot ran on 4 CIM's for the first time this year. Apparently we only ran on 2 CIM's during our entire 1st regional.

A big, big thanks to Nick Coussens and PWNAGE 2451 for letting us use 2 of their 3/8" Hex Bore Steel 14 tooth gears. In our final match on Friday, we sheered all of the teeth off our aluminum 14 tooth gears on one side of the drive. Without those gears we would have been dead in the water. Steel on aluminum for life now.

Coming out Saturday morning for our first match, the difference was astounding. After 4 solid qualification matches we went from 32nd to 9th. We've never had a more dramatic turnaround in ranking.

A huge thank you to our alliance partners 4096 and 171. We knew we would have an uphill battle against the #3 alliance and decided to focus on capturing the tower with low goals first. 4096's stellar defense slowed 1756 and 4143 enough to allow us and 171 to get more balls in the tower quicker. The same strategy didn't pan out against the #2 alliance, but I'm still very proud of what we were able to do with defense, a lot of low goals, a couple of high goals and a solid autonomous mode. Thanks for helping us have an amazing finish to a weekend that a day before had looked pretty grim for us.

We are on the wait list for Champs and will play at the Missouri Robotics State Championship in May with even more improvements to Trogdor.

Thanks to all of the teams and volunteers that made this event a complete joy to attend. We'd love to come back again.

Lastly - did anyone happen to record or capture the match videos from the stream? If anyone needs help breaking that video up and getting it onto The Blue Alliance, feel free to PM me.

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

We really enjoyed watching the webcast. We especially liked the trivia questions, flashbacks to old matches and all of the personal tributes from past participants that were shown between matches. Great job by the Regional Planning Committee and all the volunteers that made that happen.

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

Team 2781 RoboPride wants to congratulate 1736, 2451 and 3352 on their great performance.

We also want to thank 2151 Monty Pythons for selecting us for eliminations and 2039 Rockford Robotics for being a great teammate. Both of our teams are on the rise after a few years striving for a playoff spot. I felt satisfied that our team and the whole alliance really did our best to put up a fight against the number 1 alliance.

Can't wait to see the qualifiers at champs and everyone at R2OC!

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

Team 379 would like to thank 3061, our alliance captain, for selecting us to compete with them and 4645 in the playoffs at the Midwest regional.

Congratulations to the winning alliance of 1736, 2451, and 3352.

We really enjoyed playing with so many teams that we've never met before:

2451 - We really enjoyed watching your robot play the game, for being a tall robot, you made the defenses look easy, your shooting was on target, and your hang was icing on the cake, especially with the 20pt end game.

111 - You may have been the best cycling robot at the event and I'm pretty sure you didn't miss a shot in auto from the spybot position

2338 - Congratulations on winning the Regional Chairman's Award and being Regional Finalists!! We spent alot of time together on the practice field fine tuning our shooters, Good luck at worlds, you also have a great robot!

4241 - Congrats on being Regional Finalists and earning a Championship Wildcard!!

To teams 111, 1625, 4143, 2451, and 2062, and all the CSA's at this regional. I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting someone, but I have to thank you for all the help you gave my team when it came to fixing our vision tracking issues. This was something that haunted us since week 3 at the Buckeye regional, and we were able to solve our problem with all your help. By our first match on saturday, we had everything working perfectly.

Also, this was our first trip to Midwest, a regional with a long history, 20yrs! My students went in thinking that we would be treated like outsiders, but it was the complete opposite and I thank you for this. They definitely enjoyed their visit, and are eager to return in the near future.

See you in St. Louis!!!

Re: 2016 Midwest Regional
 

1! We missed 1!!! Gah! I couldn't believe it. But I digress..

WildStang had a great time at the regional. Peoria was a tough one for us, with a number of small but impacting issues. But we addressed them all for Midwest and got the robot performing as we had hoped. That along with a lot more time for driver practice over the last two weeks saw us do very well indeed.

Thanks to our alliance partners 2338 and 4241 - we all played our role well every match, and we even put up the event high score! You were great to work with, and calm under pressure.

Congratulations to 1736, 2451 and 3352. You guys were always going to be hard to beat. Shout out to 3352 for some tough defense!

Thanks to all the other teams we played with as well. Every match, our alliances worked well to use our strengths to get the best match outcome we could.

Now, onwards and upwards to champs!