2003 IRI
 

It's official!! The 2003 IRI will once again be held at Lawrence North High School. This will once again be a 2 day event with practice and a few qualifying rounds on July 18 and the event will conclude on July 19. Please stay tuned for any further details and news.


This make the 2003 IRI bigger and better than ever!!!:cool:

Awesome...at least we have a date for IRI at a resonable time this year ;)

Awsome, We'll be there

/me wants to go to IRI again this year!

Sean, you have to come! If you're not there, who else will DQ us?? ;) ;) :p

- Katie

That's great! I loved last year's IRI, and thought it was very well-run. I hope to see you all there! (gotta defend our title and all...)

sometime here in the near future i hope to have a website up for the IRI... we'll have a forum and such so that people can post with questions and such... stay tuned :]

home field advantage
 

atleast this year lawrence north will be represented, via MCC Kilabytes 1024

cant wait to win at home:D

i wish they had an animation competition:rolleyes:

My team (247) was there last year, I was at a LAN Party in Tennessee. Hopefully 470 will be going this year

/me really really REALLY wants to go to IRI again this year.

Do you guys need any help with anything? Like people to do any kinda of work?

I'd be willing to help since i have to relinquish my driving privilages post nats...


Either way i know i'll be there (pretty sure 461 will be too)

We (234 and 393 married couple) were talking on our drive to Florida today about doing something "fun" at the competition WITH THE ROBOTS during down time at the IRI. What do you all think?

We have some ideas generated, but are not ready to reveal them. Any ideas from those teams that plan/want to come??

Re: home field advantage
 

Hmmm.... That wouldn't be a half bad idea.

Who will be driving technokat's Mighty Mouse?

team 45b....lol...we haven't decided yet. i think that we'll just cross that bridge when we come to it. Maybe i'll drive both, in a match where we're against each other...i can just run back and fort between OIs and have random robot movement! lol jk :yikes:

Team #1020 has been looking forward to IRI since St. Louis was over! You can count on us being there. All of our kids are extremely excited about competing again with our favorite Indiana teams!

Also, our entire team would like to extend an offer - if you need any kind of helpers there, resetting the field or otherwise, let us know. We've got about ten or twelve kids an adults that are enthusiastic about helping make this happen!

Well.. if we start planning now, RAGE's drive team can show up just to drive the mouse :p . Anyway, unless something goes horribly wrong, I will find a way to IRI this year.

229 was thinking of coming down, if it's possible.

We're willing to make the long haul with our bot and at least most of a driveteam. We probably wouldn't be able to bring many HSers though. :(

I guess time will tell.

Just to keep everybody updated, we are working on a new website for the IRI. Once it is up and running, we will let you know :cool:

222 would love to come but now that we can go to natts we prolly couldnt afford it. I hope that if we do go to natts we can still afford to host the PARC.:confused:

OMG! I am so excited i cant wait till IRI!

just so everybody knows...the entire champoinship alliance has been to the IRI before and (i believe) is coming again. who could ask for a better way to prove your robot's worth?

*cowers in the corner*

Please don't remind me. Why does the Midwest and Indiana have all the powerhouses?! (TechnoKats, Beatty, Wildstang, etc.)

I've been meaning to get to a Midwest regional sometime...
this is sooner.


Wetzel
~~~~~~
/me plots

I'd like to be there. If my team doesn't come, I'll come and watch, but I think you can probably expect another appearance from the FEDS.

Hey, I've got some questions about this cuz I dont think our team has ever been to a post season comp aside from the west michigan invitational when it was still and invitational. What's the cost? Our team is not exactly doing very well money wise.

I think that I'll bring this up to our leaders...

I was talking to a mentor (Bob Stafford as I recall) from Team 190 about Battlecry @ WPI and he told me that they limit the competition to 36 teams and then have 12 teams picking so all the teams go into the elimination rounds. Also they were looking at making the eliminations the best 2 out of 3 matches.

Any idea on how many teams go to IRI?

Will the format change?

Team RUSH 27 can't wait to be there!! We had a blast last year!! You folks in Indiana know how to put on an awesome show!!:cool:

This is all unofficial and I'm just basing on what I've heard and what happened last year. A few people on our team have said that we hope to shoot for around 40 teams this year. Last year, the cost was (I think) 300 dollars for entry fees, but once again this is all from memory. I have no idea how the competition will go finals wise, but qualifying rounds will be the same no doubt. We're also looking for ideas to do some stuff besides the actual competition.

No doubt David will keep everyone posted if any official information is decided on :)

wow, 300 dollars might not be too much for our team....that would be sooo cool.

details, details, details... we're working on them. As i keep saying this but, stay tuned for more information and a new website for the IRI. :)

We have not even talked about the cost this year per team! Last year, we just barely broke even after covering all of our costs and I'm sure we will keep costs low again this year!

Once we have some meetings and discuss all of these issues, David will post the info and keep everyone updated.

Coooool. I need to plot my road trip. Sounds like a fun competition to be at, so I will make the trek, even if I must do it by myself. :)

Sounds like I'll be road-tripping it too!
13 or so hours from Potsdam... woohooo!

It sounds like IRI is gonna be THE PLACE TO BE this summer.

I'm going to try to be there, but I have NO idea about my team. Even if they do go, as a senior I've moved over (voluntarily) into the not-allowed-to-touch-the-bot-or-controls-because-I'm-not-a-high-school-student-anymore category. Therefore, if you guys need help with anything, let me know and I'd be more than happy to oblige. Also, that will be between my jobs this summer, so I could even come down a few days early if you need help setting up. Just let me know (PM/IM/email, etc).

--Rob

We still haven't decided what we are going to do for a driver... I dont yet completely want to relinquish my title of Operator, *Sigh*.

What are other teams doing? Who is driving for the Technokats? I know that in the past other teams have had seniors drive after the season was over.

I know if we go, we'll probably have our seniors drive, still (we did last year). It's a kind of "last hurrah" for the graduated seniors.

Rob, Josh,

By all means, Seniors can drive. This is up to your particular team.

Some teams use this as an opportunity to get new students involved. Also, some teams take this opportunity to rotate other active students into their drive team.

It's really up to your team.

As for the TechnoKats, whoever will be driving will be up to the kids.

Andy B.

Jeff and Andy Thanks for the advice.

Thats basicly what we were thinking...having our drivers from the season do it as a last hurah, and then also give some other kids a chance in quals and practice:)

Should be interesting.

I hope Team 48 can go.
 

Delphi E.L.I.T.E. hasn't been there since 2000. I'd personally love to go, as it would be my first IRI ever (I started in 2001).

I know our kids really want to attend (especially our senior robot driver), so I'll try to rustle up some support from our other engineers and teachers.

I hope Team 48 can make it, because this year's IRI sounds like it's going to be a blast!

Team WildBeast is looking forward to this year's IRI as well. We still have some items to discuss before we can commit, but to my knowledge, the whole team is excited about fixing up the last couple of problems on the robot and showing everyone what we are truly made of. One way or another, however, I'll be there for the greatest event of the summer in a heartbeat. If the team is unable to go, count me in for any help you guys need!

See everyone there,

Kev

I know that seniors can drive, and if it were up to my team they'd probably let me do it, too. However, I'm going to voluntarily step down to let some of the juniors get some experience as well as get more people involved with the team as a whole.

Hopefully, I'll manage to convince enogh people to take the time off work to go. :D

Cooney-Quest will be making their 2nd appearance there as well, anyone for a tailgate? :-p

I know people are questioning fun things that could be done at IRI between matches. I had a couple ideas... but then again, I know whatever 45, 234, and 393 come up with will be a blast!

Here's an idea for you - all the 'Beatty spawned' teams against one another - 461 (kinda), 1000, 1020, and 1064 (well, I'm partial to this idea. :) )

Even better - and probably more popular - a 'Powerhouses of the Midwest' match, with teams like 45, 71, 111, 234, 393, etc. I think that would go over well...

Wooo i wanna match with us and 1064 vs 1020 and 1000!

That would be sweet:)

Wee

I am looking forward to a match were we can have alliances with numbers like 45 and 68 instead of oponents with numbers like that:)

Of course i'd love a chance to see if 469 and us could actualy win with better luck and more experience (after our loss in the first round of cleveland).

There are alot of teams i'd love to compete with again... maybe have a rematch with 1038 if they come!

I so want to go. IRI appears to be where the competition is the stiffest. Hopefully we can get some students to go. At least a drive team and some engineers. I would like to see if we could partner up with 469 again. I will never forget our 2002 alliance at Nationals. We were so close. But im sure there will be so many good matchups. Too many to talk about. I have never been to an IRI event but hopefully this will be my first.

I like the idea :) Maybe a mini-match of veteran teams, and maybe a mini-match of new rookie teams :) Now that would be cool.

Besides the robot competition, I was thinking maybe we could do a Photo of the Day Contest, or even a "Best Hair Award". I got the best hair award idea from a team @ Nationals (sorry I can't remember the number) that gave it to our own Sam Harding (pictured to the right of me in my picture). I dunno, speak your ideas :)

Wee hair competition...now thats my kinda game:)

Ph333r the mohawk!

IRI Update
 

We've got some news on the happenings on this years IRI.

The entry fee this year will be between $300-$350. Included in this fee is the 2 day event and a catered dinner, aka hog roast, similar to last year. The event will be open to 40 teams this year. Some teams have expressed interest in bringing 2 robots to compete in this event. In order to get a wider variety of teams, there will be a lottery system for teams that would like to have 2 bots. If we have under 40 teams, that will not take into effect. Registration is set to open on May 12 at 6:00 pm on a website soon to be determined.

On a final note, we are going to change the finals a little bit. They are going to be "best 2 of 3."




Stay tuned for any additional updates. :]

Re: IRI Update
 

I suppose this means I should start working on changing the code...

Re: IRI Update
 

That will definitely be interesting....

Re: IRI Update
 

To quote montey python "And there was much rejoicing! YAY!"

Re: IRI Update
 

Yea! IRI is going to be so much fun. we're also working on lots of awards for lots of different things so keep up the documentation of the community outreach!

I think that best two out of three will make the finals more interesting and much more competitive (while still eliminating collusion and all that stuff).

IRI will be the elite off season competition this year - you can bet on that!

Truck Town and Lady Thunder
 

Expect to see the twin bots' this year. Hopefully i can regain some dignity for our guys' team by actually beating the girls team this year. Can't wait to see all of you at IRI.

BTW,

Good Luck Lady Thunder!

68 Twins
 

Being a twin, it's always interesting to see 2 robots (I guess I'm weird like that).



Hopefully there will be two 68 robots again. And there will definelty be Mighty Auk and Mighty Mouse there in full force.

:)

What other ideas do you guys have for different things to do w/ the robot? or just new ideas for the IRI in general??

I think 3 on 3 match would be pretty cool... put the extra robot directly back against the wall from the ramp... heh it would be one huge crash at the top of the ramp :D

Re: 68 Twins
 

[quote]Originally posted by Clark Gilbert
[b] (I guess I'm weird like that).

that's a nice way of putting it :p

That sounds like a GREAT idea!
The field is probably big enough this year to get some 3 on 3 action going.

3v3 for finals with 4 robots per alliance

Collin,

That would be really cool to see... however,

I am just familiar enough with the hardware setup of the IFI electronics to say that 3 vs 3 is no do-able unless some MAJOR re-working of the field control system.

Yikes!

And then we have the software changes for 3 vs 3 to deal with.

Double yikes!

I'd be willing to be that the IRI will be 2 vs 2 this year. But hey, what do I know? I'm just a ref. :)

Andy B.

Andy...very true. I would hate to give any programmer unneccessary headaches. What about plugging in the controller for the third robot...or would that mess up the autonomous mode and all that jazz? I really don't know.

What controller?

The driver controller. When we go to demos and stuff...we just plug in the driver station with a 6v chord and we can drive without tethering. Again I say...I really don't know what I'm talking about...just brainstorming.

Well, 3v3 is theoretically possible. You would, however, need at least 6 (12 would be preferable) Arena Controllers and radio channels to do so. 2v2 requires only 4 controllers and 4 channels. Now, a standard FIRST regional uses 8 controllers and 8 channels, but at IRI last year, I believe only 4 controllers and channels were used (probably for cost reasons). So, it's possible, but the organizers would need to rent more equipment to do so.

Of course, this is just from the controller standpoint. You would also have to account for an extra place to put the third alliance's controls, a place to start their robot from, and the scoring system. All in all, it just seems like a whole lot of work.

IF it wasn't for the large amount of work that would be required to accomplish these modifications to the game they would definately be fun to try out....

Maybe someone can come up with an alternate set of rules that would acurately incorperate 3 partners instead of 2

3 on 3 huh
 

That sounds very interisting. I would expect to see lots of ganging up on other teams though. The competition will be fierce anyways, and throwing another robot element into the big picture....i can see this folks, and all i see is ugly. broken bots are no fun. but if we all play nice, this wont happen. but who needs to play nice huh? we'll play rough and like it!

All of the scoring code aside, I have a feeling James at FIRST really wouldn't like us playing around with his PLC code to get three teams to work...not to mention with the setup this year, you wouldn't have a third set of mats...

National finals rematch
 

Team 494 The Martians have never been to the IRI competition, it sure sounds like a great time. If the national champs all attend, I wonder if they would be interested in a rematch with the finalist teams 343,25, and 494. We would love to have another shot at the champs. I don't know if 343 and 25 are planning to attend but I'll bet we could talk them into it.

Re: National finals rematch
 

I would love to see a rematch between these awesome teams.

Re: National finals rematch
 

A little birdy told me that 25 was seriously considering making the trip to Indianapolis in July ;)

Re: Re: National finals rematch
 

what birdy is this?? usually the birdy comes to me first and tells me.. hehe

Re: Re: Re: National finals rematch
 

Can I lend a hand to get this all together
 

David,

This is Luke Ward from 45. Need any help with graphics, banners, or T-shirt designs?

Think you'll pull a truck again? ;)

Question
 

Team 519 is looking to try to come to IRI. It would be our first time there. We have some questions...

When is the registration fee due?

What city is IRI held in?

Re: Question
 

Just to update everyone...


The new website for the IRI and IRI registration is now under construction. it will be located at http://www.indianafirst.org. The site that you see there is not what it will look like, its just a temp page :) The site will have forums and such, so that all IRI questions and answers can be found there.

Registration is tentatively set to open at 6:00 pm on May 12. That depends on a lot of things though. Including, the site being up and running... Once again, IRI registration will only cost $300 for this fun filled 2 event on July 18 and 19 in Indianapolis, IN. Keep checking this thread for updates, and once the site is complete, everybody will be informed. :]

My team, 648, is thinking of going to IRI this year. Are there still any spots left? We have our best bot this year and we want to show it off as much as we can.


Jeremiah
AKA: Budda648

There's room for anyone now since no one has signed up (since you can't), but be ready to sign up right when registration opens because I'm sure IRI will fill fast this year. :D

I want to try to come up there, just to get to go. Not with our team, but just as a spectator. Is anyone from Florida going up there? We can setup a roadtrip. Also, IRI isn't going to mind if I come up and just spectate right? Or will I have to pay admission or something?

Great!
 

IRI won't mind if anyone comes to be a spectator! We encourage it and admission is free for all spectators. Teams that are participating will pay the entrance fee which will cover their team, but that's it. Last year we even had a ref from California (Sean Roberts).

:)

Alright, that's awesome then. Is there any plans IRI is doing where your doing like group packages for hotel rooms to make them cheaper or anything? Is anyone else individually going out there that would want to share a room to split the cost? Send me a PM if you want to. Thanks.

Hotel Packages: I think there will be hotel packages..think being the keyword. I'm sure more information will be realeased about this when registration opens.

Yes there will be hotel packages. I havent been able to make many updates recently because of the end of the semester and finals next week, so thanks Clark for your help.


I get too many emails concerning IRI... hehe, not a bad thing though :]

So what exactly are the rules going to be for entering 2 robots?

I think i rember reading something about a raffle. Will 2 robots cost us 2 times as much or will it be less for the second one?

As of right now, the unofficial, tentative idea is that teams wishing to enter 2 robots will be able to do so after a raffle (we want to to be sure that there won't be any teams unable to come if one team has 2 bots). Each robot will count as its own "team," so the entry fee will be 300 dollars for each. again, this is unofficial, david or clark can give the official ruling...

As for the two robots opportunity...

I will bet anyone a case of Coca-Cola (I don't like Dew) that there will be 40 separate FIRST teams registered for IRI. Heck, I bet that there will even be a waiting list!

With this in mind, there will be no FIRST team with two robot entries at IRI.

Don't get me wrong, it would be nice to see Lady Truck Town take on Truck Town Thunder or the Mighty Mouse beat up on the Mighty Auk (again). However, we are getting just too much interest in new teams attending the IRI.

Think of this:

There are 16 Indiana FIRST teams. 9 of these attended the IRI last year, along with 18 other FIRST teams. IF those 18 from last year attend, along with the 16 total Indiana FIRST teams, that makes 34... leaving only 6 spots for teams who are not from Indiana or did not play last year.

The Indiana teams have already been invited to the IRI and they have first shot to get these spots. So far, many teams from out of state have shown interest in attending the IRI who have never attended before.

With all of that in mind, I am pretty confident that we will get 40 teams. I hope so.

Now... on the other hand... there are some people talking about having exhibition events in the parking lot (or something like that), where we could have a tractor pull, and obstacle race, or other goofy exhibitions. This is just talk for now. These backup robots could compete in these events, if they happen.

Andy B.

ROBOT DANCE CONTEST!!!!


I can see where your coming from... i guesse we can just concentrate on getting Rowdy4 ready before we stackattack-ify rowdy 3 so that its a box with wheels and wings...instead of a box with wheels and goal grabers:)


Its great to see IRI growing so much!

I dunno Andy... I might have to take you up on that bet. I'm really hoping to see Lady Truck take over Truck this year.

Then again, I realize how popular IRI is becoming and how the teams in the state of indiana have grown. I suppose we shall see, eh?

p.s. - I can't wait to see indianaFIRST.org. ... A wonderful idea and one of the best things for the state. If you need help with content or anything else, get a hold of me!

Will there be any rules about alternating robots? Just 1 team but with the ability to change bots for each match? Just a thought, could make it a little more interesting..

Also..are you guys getting a FIRST field?

lol anyone thinking what I'm thinking..?

Dance Dance Revolution @ IRI? :D that would be so cool...

We don't know quite yet. FIRST is still finishing the details on field rental. They have said that we need to get our own carpet (it will be new), and buy/get our own totes.

Our current stand is that we don't want to use the "old TechnoKat" perimeter that we've used for the past 3 years, and we do want to use a FIRST field perimeter. We will probably use the ramp and platform that we built for the Kokomo kickoff. It is to spec, except that the frame is wooden instead of metal.

If it's really easy to get a FIRST ramp with the field, then we may just get the whole thing... we shall see.

Andy B.

NO! AHhhhhhhh /me runs

Cool on the field.....And what about the alternating robots? We we're thinking of bringing SANDOR from this year and Jari from '01...and I think it will fill up with 40 teams (so I won't take the bet :P but you can see my sig Andy) so the ability for teams to alternate bots would be cool, as long as they use both and just choose one for the finals.

But i was starting to get attached to this carpet!
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/pi...&quiet=verbose

You mean we aren't going to see the return of this carpet again this year?

New idea for downtime at the IRI
 

We are preparing a mini version of the Stack Attack Game..(1/2 scale approximately) that we are using to take to Elementary schools and Middle Schools and for general demo at the school.
It only requires hacking up an RC vehicle (9.6 volt). and just letting them play basically as little bulldozers and knocking down stacks and getting on the top of the ramp.

We could challenge all the teams to bring a mini-robot to the competition and have some fun at this ancillary competition...
I haven't figured out the rules yet...( IE the robot, the competition field, the times...) but does this sound interesting to anyone?

Stu Bloom had the idea to bring it to IRI...
We have already built a half-scale ramp that is made to be portable...

anyone think this might be fun?
We could challenge the freshmen/sophomores to build these little robots...and have them compete...

just asking

Bob Steele 1018 RoboDevils

EduBot Bin Stacker here i come!

That would be fun! I know 447 already has an edubot made that they could enter...

You could easily do it with EDUBOT instead of RC CArs, since if i remeber correctly everyone got an edubot didn't they?

Heh... I remember that picture. It was from one of the finals matches last year... a rather controversial one, as I recall. If you look really close, you can see my robot all the way on the left :D

I think after last year's abuse, that carpet's probably seen much better days. There were so many "damaging the carpet" DQs (including that particular match in the picture) that I think it's best that it be retired, if it hasn't been, already. Then there's the whole color issue...

The carpet color issue is going to be a huge head ache for us. We are not sure how to make that happen yet.


Just so we are all on the same page. If you are relaying information about IRI or are getting your information from this thread remember that only the ideas posted by Andy Baker, David Kelly (most of the time), Libby Ritchie and myself are things you should relay. We just don't want you to think we promised something and then we did't do it. There are a lot of great ideas out there and I am sure many of them are going to be talked about at our next planning meeting but we have not decided on exactly what will happen. Just to get your creative juices flowing there will probably be a robot dress-up competition that 393 is planning for Friday night during meal time.

Things that will happen

2 day Robot competition
Meal on Friday night
Great trophies and awards
40 team max.
Every thing else is yet to be decided

We love reading your ideas.

As Andy said before the number of teams asking to come is unbelievable and we hope to have a great event.

Watch for the web-site to register

Stencil
 

If we just buy plain grey colored carpet an easy thing to do would be to stencil "RED" and "BLUE" on the scoring areas in big letters (with the corresponding color). Just an idea.