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VCU- A Wrap Up and Apology
I'm back from an exhaustive VCU/NASA regional! I can barely speak and I've meet so many people. I want to throw a big welcome and hey to my new friends at El Diablo, 346. We had so much fun at the team party. Just remember, well, never mind.
Second is what happened today. Let me tell you that I'm GLAD ZONE ZEAL IS GONE! We made it through the elimination rounds and got into 5th. We picked Oz, team 388, and Two Train, team 395, as our alliance partner. We dominated through the matches and used a unique strategy. We used the point system to our advantage and propelled up the rankings. Sparky had no problems and the biggest one was a slightly off Dead Regcogining. The second thing is an apology. I see that many of my posts, after looking back, were rude, blunt, and possibly very stupid for me to post. I have realized after these 3 days that CD isn't your typical message boards. You have a name, face, and personality here. So I apologize to all those who have a grudge against me, and I hope that you accept it and not take down Team 384 because of it. And finaly, I want to throw out a thanks to 122 and Dave for giving me a showing of your Segway, Dave for giving me his omni-wheel pendant, and the other teams who we competed and help with: 1086, 510, 1095, 346, 343, 616, and many others. |
MY wrap up......
I spent Friday afternoon & today at VCU. My team wasn't there, but I couldn't wait until next weekend to see how this all plays out!
My thoughts.... Most notable game comment: STACKS don't matter! Most surprizing: Less than half of the teams have an effective autonomous program Most notable venue comment: They always SAID it -- but this year they MEAN it......safety glasses in pits!! =) Favorite robot: 234???.....team with swinging boom that knocked over whole wall in autonomous mode without moving! Most entertaining to watch: Dancing Robodog Bulldog(435) and wild robots practicing line tracking in the corner Notable omission: maybe I missed it.....but I didn't hear that knee-slapping song - "(something)-eye-Joe"??....lol Most spirited teams: Hawaii Five-10 (510), Robodogs(435), Spiderweb team(???), and Sparky(384) Favorite uniform: Cougertrons(?) red jumpsuits Best match: #105....Blue humans made a stack of 8!....and it stood a long time...but eventually was knocked down. Score 60/160 All and all -an exciting regional and a GREAT bunch of people. =) With one notable exception....=( Adults(from a team that will remain nameless) saved 2 rows of prime seating during the elimination rounds. When local spectators and random teamless people tried to sit - they were told that "these seats are for our team".....and the team didn't sit until the closing ceremony! Soooo unFIRSTlike. *sigh* Just my opinions.....share yours! Mrs. T :) |
I watched a little of the webcast finals and saw 234's crazy stegosaurus action. Man, that was cool.
If it hadn't've been for Cotton-eyed Joe, I'd('ve) been married long time ago. Where did you come from, where did you go, where did you come from Cotton-eyed Joe? If the music system ever goes out at your local dance, I suggest to start singing this song, and everyone will be willed to grab a partner and do-ce-do. |
Best Regional I've Been To!
I just got back from VCU, and I must say that it was by far the best regional I've been to. I really don't know what it was, but it was great I had tons of fun! And The robots... Sparky, your robot rocks, I'll remember you guys forever... and Thanks to team 614 and team 422 for being our alliance partners!! I wish you all good luck into your other competitions.
I'm extremely excited that people have been talking about our robot :) Expect some footage and pictures from VCU to be posted sometime in the near future. Watch for 234's "Flailer" at the Arizona and Midwest Regionals!! Also congrats to 384, 395, and 388! :) Addition: here's a picture of 234's flailer in action @ VCU :) http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...threadid=18975 |
We were contemplating picking 234 for the arm... but we decided to go with 343 since we knew it could push the arm away in autonomous mode... guess we made the right choice :D
Oh and:  We enjoyed allying with you the last QF match, we were very tempted to choose you for our alliance partner but we figured you would decline. (and the team was split as far as alliance partners went) The choosing process took almost an hour for us, sooo much drama. |
You never know Synergy... ;)
Anyway, thanks for the kind comments to 384. You have no idea how meaningful they are to us. We had a loss in the team this year as an alumni died of heart failure and we dedicated this year to him. Also for my awards! Team with the best hand-out: Maximum Oz 388 with their triangle design with two sized philips and flat head screwdrivers in it and a tape measurer! Best Button: Synergy 975 (look at Munkaboo's sig picture and you have the button art.) Coolest Spirit Item: Hawaii 5-10 for their tiki-torches (they removed the oil and placed a flash-light and fan with paper on top) and their surf board. |
Hey I would just like to say to whoever was at the VCU Regional, all the people from the different teams that I met were all quite polite, and friendly, whenever you talked to them. I had a blast at competition, and I will have to say that some teams out there were increadable, not only in their attitude, but in their willingness to help. Deep Run High School, 1068 I believe, was a rokie team, and they were having problems. I helped them, but seeing the response from not only my team, Team 384, but from so many other teams showed me that FIRST isn't just about a competition and trying to have the best robot out there, but it's about helping others learn, and being willing to help out when others need it. I would also just like to say that Hawaii Five-10 (Team 510), ya'll had some serious spunk for your robot, and cool little lantern things. But to all that participated in the VCU event, you did an outstanding job of giving a good name to FRIST.
~Mr. Ivey |
EVERY TEAM WAS AWESOME
I have to agree with my teamates and say every team did a good job and IT WAS AWESOME and also want to thank every team that cheered for us!
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douse anyone who was at the vcu regionals think that team 620 was was shafted during the finale round alliance picking when
1st officials said on intercom you could decline a offer from a team ahead of you but still accept a offer from another team latter, but if you didn't accept you would be eliminated. 2nd team 620 has an offer from the team ranked 2nd or 3rd (cant remember) and decline btw(they decline b/c already had made arrangements with the oakton team) 3rd when team 620 has an offer from oakton we accept 4th totally incompetent field manager run over after we had already gone over to team oakton and talks to the guy running it then comes back and says you can do that and so we take are place back in 8th pance and choose are partners, they don't even give us the chance to accept the other teams offer. 5th we talk to head ref and they say that we were are allowed to accept oaktons offer 6th we have to go in the finals without any change b/c "it's too late" |
hehe another reply from 384, yes i agree with everything that was said by the 384 crew in this post.... it was fun! i loved every bit of these 3 days... our plan was just to have fun, and guess what, everyone enjoyed everything and had loads of fun! i want to thank everyone for cheering us on and yelling with us even with some voices dead.. hehe :-) thanks to everyone congratulating us, the comments were all awesome and i just want to thank everyone for making this all possible... this was my first year at those competitions and i didnt expect such a big crowd like there was and it was one of the best moments.. i've met some great people from other teams and ive gotten a lot closer to my team as well.. :-) hopefully i will see some familiar faces in next year's competitions!
GOOD JOB EVERYONE! THANK YOU TEAM 395, and 388! YOU WERE AWESOME!!! |
I, as I member of team 623 (Ohm Boyz, ranked 4th entering QF matches) was very pissed off that Madison couldn't accept our offer because we generated our highest score(and I think it was there's too) with them of 230. That game was perfect, and our robots complimented each other nicely. Madison's autonomous mode complimented us nicely and im my opinion would have beat out Sparky(not to start a war) to the top. Not the fastest, but would have won a pushing contest had both got to the top. In addition to that our bot had plenty of weight (129.5) to push around anything we wanted to and our driver was good. That was the big reason why we got to the top, we knew how to play the game. I'm not going to say we should have won this or that, but I was pissed that we couldn't work with Madison(620) in the quarter final matches.
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Sparky, Congratulations! You guys were great! So many people said going into this that we shouldn't expect much from caster bots. Obviously that was not true! You guys had some great power. I saw 587 push some strong robots back, but when they went head to head with you guys, you shoved them off of the top of the ramp.
Your alliance (384, 977 and 388) was phenomenal in ability and in personality. I was happy to see the some of the nicest people at the competetion win the crown! I enjoyed meeting you guys. I wish you well in nationals! Eric |
madison, 620, rules, and misinterpretations
I too am from team 623. First off, lemme congratulate all the teams for a job well done. I had the best time in my entire life and it was truly a pleasure.
But I still have my quibbles with the announcements. It was to my understanding that a team couldn't only decline once. The Second time the team would be dq'd. Also, the judges and refs should be absolutely sure about something before they make an announcement. When our team beat the blue alliance for the 2nd game, they said we were moving on. But we didn't. And we didn't find out till we queued up again. I mean, that was a downer. But once again, good job everybody. Especially to (395?) the team from the bronx. Them. Awesome job. |
When your team is offered an alliance you may either accept or decline. If you decline, then you may not be asked by any other team. If you decline an alliance in the first round you might be allowed to accept another offer in the second round, but I don't think so. If you are already in the top 8 or are moved there by picking within the top eight seeds, you may form an alliance even if you have already declined an alliance.
Let's say that you are the #10 seed. You have noticed that the #1 and #3 seeds and the #2 and #5 seeds have been hanging around together, so you figure you're going to wind up #8 if not higher. If #1 should suprise you and make an offer, you may turn them down. But if you do forget any plans for an alliance with #6. Since you turned down one alliance, you will not be allowed to form another one with a lower ranked team. (Assuming the officials understand the rules) If, after turning down #1, things turn out as you originally expected then you will be allowed to compete in the elimination matches. But you will compete as the leader of the #8 alliance, not as part of an alliance other than the one that made the first offer. The two reasons to decline are a non-functional robot that cannot be repaired in time for the Finals or you are close enough to the top that you think you can lead an alliance of your own. The first is GP, the second may be hubris. I'd cite the rule but the link to HyperRules doesn't seem to be working and I can't remember what I did with my rules CD. It's way out of date anyway. Things have been this way since the second year we had alliances, due to there being so much "deal making" going on that an eighth seeded team couldn't get anybody to accept an alliance the first year. Well they did get somebody, but only after four or five other teams declined. I was kind of embarassed for them. Don't just Read the Rules, Know the Rules BTW Stacks do matter, you guys just haven't figured out that wanton distruction of them is a BAD THING. I saw a whole lot of matches in Sacramento where the winner would have been much better off to leave the losers stacks alone. If you don't understand why, then I suggest that you go read the rules until you do. |
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I don't recall seeing anything about the Sacramento match being broadcast or webcast. Did you drive up to Sacramento? Did the Cheezy Poofs pull off another win? See you in Phoenix. |
Yeah, I do agree with Chris, Stacks DO matter, it's whether or not you can defend them and keep them up throughout the match that matters. From what I've seen, it was very difficult for ANYONE to even TRY and protect their stacks, because if it wasn't the opposing robot that knocked down the stack, it would've been the defending robot's mistake, or by flying and tossed boxes that may knock over the stacks. A lot of the caster bots completely kicked butt at the VCU Regional, and a lot of the teams had some ingenious ideas for their robots. Good Job everyone, and good luck to everyone going to Annapolis.
~Chris Poon |
Stacks matter, but actually stacking boxes using your bot is impractical.
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Yeah, you're right, I remember how the Springer's robot had wings so that they could grasp the towers, but it really didn't help them in the long run, because it didn't move up or down, so they had to just drop the tower, and in the end, the tower would just fall to pieces in all the commotion anyway.
~Chris Poon |
Reply about Alliance Rules
To ChrisH:
We know about that rule, but since Madison was in the top 8 already they were still able to form an alliance. I think that might have been the key ambiguity - by being able to form an alliance, we took it to mean they could still join another team, but supposedly they could only pick teams to join them, not join any other team. Either way, a judge told them later that they could have accepted the offer from our team. I would also like to say about stacks - they do matter. But not in the context of forming them. Almost no teams formed any stacks successfully. Most that tried ended up not getting it because their system failed, or they knocked dow the very stack they were trying to build. In all honesty, it just takes too long in a hectic match to sit there and get a well defined stack. I think what might still be viable is to have your robot be able to pick up a box one high so that if you find that you don't have a stack, it can just drop it on top of a box on your side. |
Hey guys it's Ives again. I would like to say that the regionals for me held more than just a fun time, some other things developed from them, hehehe. JosephM, and others from my team know what I mean. But thanks to all of those who cheered for Sparky, and in my opinion all those who cheered for Sparky won right along with us, without the cheering our driver would have never been as good as he was. Hearing somebody cheer you on has a profound effect on a person, and Scott did over a 100% better at the controls with all of ya'lls support. Also everyone that competed with a good attitude was a winner in my opinion. I would just like to offer my thanks as a member of Team 384 to all of those who joined in and gave a shout for SPAR - KEY!!!
I would like to take a moment and say that Brandon Smith will be remembered for his dedacation to Team 384. Mr. Ivey |
I think we all at Team 384 owe a big thanks to Mr. David Cook, for helping us with all the code. THANKS MR.COOK!!
And of course, Mr. Clarke. :rolleyes: :D |
You are forgetting Igor. Joe, Igor, and I were there every Saturday at before 10 AM to code the bot. So we can not forget Igor. Nor the other mentors, such as Mr. Matt and Mr. Griffith, and all the others that helped us so much.
Mr. Ivey |
Calm down guys. Take it off CD and into e-mail or PM.
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lol.. its ok.. theyre just happy!! :-) yea i posted some pictures... but will show sometime soon...
...one thing i remember about this weekend.. was the guy saying something about sparky like "can it do the macarena?" and sparky started dancing and stuff....hehe.. it was my little highlight of this weekend.... |
There were a few times where the judges' calls were kind of iffy.... one of the times including our team, but I'm not going to go into it, because overall, the regional was great!
And hey to all those people who met/took pictures of "The guy with really tall spiked blue hair" aka Sam on team 234. What'd ya think? I think he has a fan club now since so many people have taken pictures of him.. lol.:D |
I think the the regional overall was great but I wish that the officials would would take the time to know and understand the rules. And that they would get rid of there sarcastic remark "it's too late" whenever they decide not to redo a match or alliance partner ect.
by the way i really wish that i would have gotten another chance to have oakton as an alliance partner, your robot was great and it really did complement ours. (i was the driver for madison) i hope next year we can we can work together again. ps we may set up are ramp again this year so as to give a chance to those who weren't able to go to Richmound a chance to see what we were able to do this year with are robot. I would also like to make an apologize to any team the while in competition that we inadvertently damaged, i took a few rounds till i realized are robot could do serious damage. :) team 620 620 620 |
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hahahaha so there are rumors now?!? LoL this is hillarious. No, according to Sam, he does not use superglue at all. It's a process that takes an hour, and involves hair spray and hair gel...
But a superglue rumor.. I could see that happening, it was the first question off of everyone's mind lol. So remember, if you would like to join the Sam fan club, head on over to www.cyberblue234.com ! And for those of you who have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, I'll try to get a picture posted within the next few days... |
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I will definately pass that message along :) LOL I feel so special, I was one of those other members to go up to you robodogs to discuss strategy lol
I think I'm going to go on the Cyber Blue forums and make a thread about Sam "The Guy with really tall spikey blue hair", so check it out if you want to. Look for Sam( ha and me :p and the rest of Cyber Blue) at Arizona and possibly the Midwest Regional! |
yeah ostrich...blue hair is fun especially when it stains a hotel bathtub!:D good job to all the teams there..congrats to all the winners. the ice fights and the dancing on stage were pretty fun i have to say. and remember...must get gumby.
GO ROBODOGS!!! |
I'm just glad no one saw me trip on the ramp...
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2nd: As soon as you declined the offer from the 3rd seed team, Rule T-7 kicks in. The motivation for declining the offer doesn't matter. 3rd: Rule T-7. You can't do that. 4th: The "totally incompetant field manager" was doing exactly what he was supposed to do. He caught a rule violation that was missed by the M.C. (me) and he did his job. Your needless insult and insinuation is inappropriate and undeserved. Go check your attitude at the door. 5th: The ref was mistaken. They are human, and make mistakes too. That is why there are people like the field managers who can refer to the rule books to double-check items like this. When Rule T-7 was pointed out to the ref in question, he agreed with the field manager. 6th: You were the ones to decline the first offer, because you wanted a "better deal" with a different team. The fact that your better deal resulted in a rules violation is your fault, not the refs, not the field managers, not FIRSTs, nor anyone else's. You don't get to re-set the whole scenario just because you violated the rules. 7th: As my dearly departed grandmother used to say "QUIT YER BELLY-ACHING!!" Enjoy the fact that you got to the finals!! There are a lot of other teams that didn't get that far. Your team made a great showing with a good robot and capable skills. Have fun with how much you did! Don't demean your own accomplishments by spluttering about a minor pimple on the complexion of the entire competition. If it has been said once, it has been said a thousand times: FIRST has almost nothing to do with the competition - it has to do with what you do before the competition, what you go through to get there, and what you do with the experience afterwards. If you are focused on how well you do in the competition standings, you are focused on the wrong thing, and you are going to miss the real value and payoff of the program. A year from now, heck - three months from now - no one is going to care whether you placed first or tenth or sixty-third at the FIRST Richmond Regional Competition. What they will care about A LOT is what you did with the experience. Are you using new skills and knowledge that you gained during the process? Did you consider a new career path that had never been an option before? Did it lead you to a new understanding of engineering that you never had before? Did you get excited about designing and inventing things as a result? Did you put something into practice that you learned from the competition? Did you take ANY of the values that you hopefully documented in your Chairman's Award submission, and find a way to spin them back to your school or community or family or friends? Are you a better person as a result, or have you met and befriended better people? Have you found a way that you can improve the capabilities or society or culture of the country or the world, even in a small way? If you can answer "yes" to ANY of these questions, then how well you team did or did not do at the competition is insignificant in comparison. FIRST: get with the program. -dave |
Well said dave.
Question: What other regionals are you going to be at? |
Dave, you're awesome. :)
- Katie |
It was awesome
Dave - You were great, it was fun being next to you guys! I still didn't get my beef though... ;) Sam's hair was very cool, looked difficult, it probably should have one an engineering excellence award, lol :D (My hair was blue and silver, but it didn't stand out nearly that much) 435 - Stacking 6 boxes was one of the coolest things I saw the entire competition, that was incredible! 234 - Also one of the coolest ideas, so many of us thought about arms, then decided not to do it, you actually did it, awesome! Everyone seemed to like our Knight Krawler/Segway/Begway, probably more of you remember that than our robot, hehe, oh well. Watch Philly, we'll be better! 384 - You guys were awesome to watch (and listen to when that wheelie bar caught the ramp!) 388 - Congratulations, and thanks for the Flashlight and rockin' Triangle Tool Thingy! Sorry if I forgot anyone! |
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