2003 IRI live on the web!!
 

With support from Kenny A. from SOAP 108 and NASA, we can now confirm that there will be a live webcast of this years IRI. We will be broadcasting at 100k and on Windows Media Player only. Addresses where you can find the webcast are both at http://nasa.sigmacat.com and http://nasa.indianafirst.org The links to these addresses likely will not work until the day of the event so don’t be alarmed if you have trouble getting to the webcast. PLEASE spread this around as much as possible so that we can get as many people as we can to watch the event.


I’d like to thank everybody making this possible and for all the hard work everybody has done with IRI planning. Lets hope everything goes off without a hitch to make this the best IRI ever!!

I'm definately telling my cousins and friends to watch it :) This is going to be awesome!

Sweet!!! I can't go so sitting glued to my computer screen is the next best thing. :)

Awesome! Now... to spread this information to the world...

Yes by noon tomorrow children in Japan will be awaiting the IRI Webcast and people all over the world will be chanting "FIRST, FIRST, FIRST!" :D

link bookmarked :D

hey i got one question on this, i know soap is going to help host a webcast, but will the webcast be archived at all, maybe on soap or the nasa page or something?
~Mike

Yes, SOAP will be there to digitize the event and it will eventually be posted on the web.

Dave thanks for the quick reply its great being there to watch it live, but its always nice also to see it on the web at a later meeting or something.
~Mike

Yay!!! way to go 108 and Nasa....


This is a very big deal, and we couldn't have done it without those guys. Now keep spreading the word around

This is excellent news, just proving that IRI is becoming a well-known, spectacular event. I hope that everyone that isn't able to come watches the live feed - this will be as exciting, if not even moreso, than a regular regional. Guaranteed.

Soap 108 is quite the amazing team...
I don't know if anyone else realises this, but now people from our whole alliance from nationals will be there, alliance 5 from Galileo (263,108,1038)

way cool....but how will i get my work done??;)

dark clouds are forming....
 

Only if we obtain a routable, static IP can the event be webcast. We are awaiting confirmation from tech support of the local high school. There's a good chance we can not webcast, but in exchange we will digitize LiVE and post scores LiVE on soap108.com.

The digital archive (and, if available, the web stream) URL is www.soap108.com/2003/movies/iri/

The scores, stats, etc... is www.soap108.com/2003/events/iri/
The Seeding page has a link to a scroller, best viewed in full-screen.

Also note, qualification matches are scheduled to start at 2:30pm Central Time on Friday and run until 8:30pm.

Q Matches resume at 8:30am on Saturday and run until 12:30pm.
Elims follow at some point....

Thanks,
KA-108 :cool:

YES - WEBCAST IS UP
 

Wahoo! Thanks NASA!


Use Real Player to see the webcast LiVE. - www.soap108.com/2003/movies/iri/


Use Windows Media Player to re-live the matches at the same URL.


Enjoy,
SOAP Team :cool:

It is REALLY hard to make out the team numbers, could somone please post matches and team numbers.....thank you

SOAP, you rock! This day went forward like clockwork once the stream began to flow. I opened a browser window containing SOAP's match data from IRI, another containing the team rank scroller, and then finally the LiVE stream of the event.

Anyway, at certain points during the day a match would end and because of some distraction I would miss the score. All I had to do was refresh the match results page and _already_ the match I missed would have its results posted.

At other points during the day I missed whole matches. Normally this would be dealt with as, "tough luck man," but not today. All I had to do was start downloading the saved version of the matches I missed, because they were already there, compressed and ready to go.

Then, an amazing match would take place, resulting in a really high QP for the winner--there were alot of them today. Eager to see how the match affected the team rankings, I normalized the real player window, and watched as the (already full screen) team rankings scroller cycled through rankings. By the time it circled around to listing the number one seed, the amazing match I had just seen was accounted for and a new seeding order was calculated. wow. Also, because the team rank scroller cycled through the rankings automatically, I didn't have to stop watching the IRI stream altogether to see the new ranks.

During the entire time I was watching the IRI stream I felt like I was really there, and it felt like I was watching something better than all the competitions I had seen this year.

All I can say now is that "I'm lovin' it!" As an avid FIRST event web cast viewer, I must say this has been _the_ best experience for me--everything was actually live. Kudos to SOAP, NASA, the IRI officials, and all the others who helped make this web cast possible--you have raised the bar!

PS: Sweet home Indiana? "Hello Hershey, Pennsylvania?" LOL. Those little interludes were really entertaining.

Oh, in other news. Teams 308, 71, 980, and 292 really impressed me today. Team 308 for the "seamless integration" they seem to have with all of their partners; team 71 for the way they are using strategy and robot driving skill to push their way to the top--of the ranks, and also because of how quickly they "righted" themselves after being flipped in autonomous; team 980 for that autonomous mode: it is good; and finally team 292 for being the luckiest team at the event: your matches just kept on ending in your favor. wow.

If I wasn't there I'd definately be watching the webcast, and I'm glad to hear such a great remarke of it right off the bat. Cudos to SOAP and stay tuned tomorrow for more action :)

Troubles
 

Is anyone having trouble getting the live feed to work? I've tried many times and it just won't load. I'm using Real One Player and it worked yesterday, but it won't today! Suggestions would be greatly appreciated! :o)

~Jessica~

Re: Troubles
 

It's probably down for the moment.

We've been trying to get it for about the past hour or so! :(

I can't get it either, so you aren't the only one.

Yeah, I can't get it either, but I'm guessing since they havent updated matches or team seedings, that there's something wrong with thier equiptment.

Sorry about the loss of feed. We are now finishing the last few Qualifying rounds.

IT IS BACK UP.

Regards,
KA-108 :cool:

Alliance Pairings are up: http://www.soap108.com/2003/events/iri/elim.cfm

Here is my first bold attempt to predict the outcome of an entire Elimination Round.

Quarterfinals

[1] 494,33,378 vs. [8] 71,902,1038
I don't know. But the past makes me want to root for 71's alliance.

[2] 308,27,469 vs. [7] 47,343,1022
I think 47 alliances will make this match awesome, but in the end 308's alliance will move on. 308's alliance is just _that_ good.

[3] 292,25,68 vs. [6] 963,111,535
This should be another good matchup. In the end though 292 will move on. 292 has that thing called strategy _wrapped up_ and under control. Also, they have an excellent alliance--25, woo!

[4] 980,65,930 vs. [5] 222,45,67
This is a tough one. I like how both of these alliances are formed. In the end, though, I guess I am going to root for the folks on the 222 alliance (45--because, and 67--for picking us at nats). Sometimes, when in doubt, things like these make the difference :p

Semifinals

[8] 71,902,1038 vs. [5] 222, 45, 67
Another tough one. But in the end, I think 222's alliance will move on.

[2] 308,27,469 vs. [3] 292,25,68
This is the granddaddy of the elimination rounds, if it actually happens. This round will be fun to watch. 308 has 469, and 292 has 25. Who ever wins the round should win the regional--err, I mean invitational. My gut is telling me to pick 308, but prior ties leave me choosing 292's alliance to move on to the finals.

Finals

[5] 222,45,67 vs. [3] - 292,25,68
This will be an interesting round. But to comply with my statement from earlier, 292's alliance will win.

--Whew, just in the nick of time: right before the quarterfinals began.

I'm here helping out Kenny with the soap stuff and wow is it exciting, quarterfinal 4 between 111 and 25 was awesome. Remember you can get up to the minute scoring elimination scoring from the link Kenny posted above.


My pick: Alliance 2 (308, 27, 469)

SF2 results seem messed up or transposed or something.

Eliminations are over and the ruling has it that Alliance 2, Teams 308, 27, and 469 came behind beat Alliance 1. Team 33 was disabled for going outside the playing field. I can't beleive i was right. Thanks for a great IRI.

Wildstang out early...wow, i can't believe it

Alliance of 292 and 25 didn't win???how?!?! I can't believe it?!

I was very surprised with the results... interesting. Congrats though to the winning alliance.

Heh, Joel: "This will be an interesting round. But to comply with my statement from earlier, 292's alliance will win."

No it didn't :P

..and after it all.

I must say IRI was the best competition I had the pleasure of watching this year. I literally couldn't get out of my chair to do anything once the elimination rounds began. I had to see it out until the bitter end.

25: what happened? This is the second time I have seen you lose a competition because your robot died on the field. I had high hopes for you guys and you were primed to take this competition by storm.

308: My gut told me it would be you, but I just had to pick 25. Had to. I don't regret making that pick. You guys get credit for impressing me throughout this entire competition. From now on, you should use the "trump" autonomous mode. Drive back and get in position to go up the ramp, but don't go. Wait about 3 seconds, then drive forward. I can almost guarantee you will move everything to your side of the field. You are that powerful.

494,33,378: You guys get credit for systematically proving me wrong in each level of the elimination rounds.

Now for the match by match reflection (lol).

Quarterfinals

[1] 494,33,378 vs. [8] 71,902,1038
I don't know. But the past makes me want to root for 71's alliance.

I was incorrect. I had never expected that kind of power from the 33 machine. They, along with any of their other two alliance partners, simply powered through QF1. Good job.

[2] 308,27,469 vs. [7] 47,343,1022
I think 47's alliances will make this match awesome, but in the end 308's alliance will move on. 308's alliance is just _that_ good.

I was correct. 47's alliance came out in this round and made it really awesome. They had me going after the first match and partway into the second match: I thought I would be proven wrong twice in a row. 47, your alliance gave it an excellent try.

But, who could ever doubt the power of 308's alliance in this round? In my opinion 308 had the best luck when choosing partners. How could they have gotten 27 and 469? It was just meant to be for you all today.

[3] 292,25,68 vs. [6] 963,111,535
This should be another good matchup. In the end though 292 will move on. 292 has that thing called strategy _wrapped up_ and under control. Also, they have an excellent alliance--25, woo!

I was correct. 963's alliance came out fighting in their first match, but 292's alliance had their stuff together.

Match 1:
292 expertly dabbled around on the opponent's side of the field, clearing out boxes, while 25--being the speedy robot they are--mixed it up with 111 and then drove around the field wreaking havoc like a finely tuned destroyer.

Then came the ramp battle. I was impressed with the way 292 and 25 double teamed 111: it was like 111 wasn't even there. Also, I was impressed with how 25 waited until the last minute (that honestly didn't look like a lucky move) to push 111 off when they raised their wedges. That was.. genious!

Match 2:
I don't understand why 111 was sitout for this match. If they were in the match, their alliance would've had more than a fighting chance of coming back to push this round to 3.

[4] 980,65,930 vs. [5] 222,45,67
This is a tough one. I like how both of these alliances are formed. In the end, though, I guess I am going to root for the folks on the 222 alliance (45--because, and 67--for picking us at nats). Sometimes, when in doubt, things like these make the difference :p

I was correct. I honestly had no idea how this round would turn out, but team 222's alliance stepped up to the plate and hit a home run.

I have never seen 45 operate as well as they did in this round throughout the entire season. And 222, you were the dark horse in my mind, because in the end your's abilities surprised me: never expected that you would be _that_ together. 67, as always you came out fighting. You, time after time, "embrac[ed] the stack" and held on to it until the bitter end.

Semifinals

[8] 71,902,1038 vs. [5] 222, 45, 67
Another tough one. But in the end, I think 222's alliance will move on.

The 71,902,1038 alliance didn't make it to this round; rather, the 222,45,67 alliance did.

I was incorrect. This was another round in which the 494,33,378 alliance proved me wrong. They kicked up their level of competition a notch, and as much as I hate to say it, totally dominated their semifinal round. Good job to them, but also to the 222,45,67 alliance for giving it their best shot.

[2] 308,27,469 vs. [3] 292,25,68
This is the granddaddy of the elimination rounds, if it actually happens. This round will be fun to watch. 308 has 469, and 292 has 25. Who ever wins the round should win the regional--err, I mean invitational. My gut is telling me to pick 308, but prior ties leave me choosing 292's alliance to move on to the finals.

My gut was correct, but my pick was incorrect. I do, however, give myself partial credit for saying that whomever won this round would go on to win the competition.

308's alliance came out in match one and fought their way to an impressive win; the match was really good. In match two, it seemed as though 292's alliance would come back as 25 dominated the autonomous period of play, but 25 soon died, and the match ended with the 308,27,469 alliance winning and moving on to the finals.

I still want to know what happened to 25 in this round.

Finals

[5] 222,45,67 vs. [3] - 292,25,68
This will be an interesting round. But to comply with my statement from earlier, 292's alliance will win.

The 222,45,67 alliance didn't make it to this round; rather, the 494,33,378 alliance did. The 292,25,68 alliance didn't make it to this round; rather, the 308,27,469 alliance did.

I was incorrect. Neither of my picks for the finals made it :(. However, the final rounds were fun to watch. 308's alliance seemed to be down in all of their matches, but they consistently came back close to the end. At the end of the first match, it seemed as though the 494,33,378 alliance would prove me wrong again. But 308's alliance came back in matches two and three and settled their title as 2003 IRI Champions.

Why?

I did all of this to try and start a trend of posting competition summaries on ChiefDelphi. I don't like writing for extended periods of time, so my comments aren't as detailed as I would like others to be, but its the idea I am attempting to put across. If, after every regional, someone would post the highlights of both the qualification and elimination rounds, then all the people that couldn't attend would be in the "know." Also, a nice and detailed record of that regional would be saved for those wanting to know in future years. Sounds like a plan?

LOL, I know. Oh, and DJ Fluck: I guess the string of National Champions getting second and not first place at IRI has ended.

I think the problem with 25 if I heard right was that they were teetering on the edge of the ramp in just the right way that none of the wheels were able to get enough traction.


Eric

Oh wow. All they needed, then, was a little nudge from their partner. That explains 27 blocking 68 from getting up the ramp. [edit: No wait, it was common practice for 27 to block robots at the bottom of the ramp.]

Hmm.. I wonder how much the drivers affected the outcome? Of the 'high ranked' teams from this year, how many actually used their '03 drivers? or were in the process of training?

Great show, thanks to SOAP, NASA, and all at IRI for the broadcast.

Cyber Blue used about six or seven different drivers during the practice and qualifying rounds. One of the drivers was our 2003 driver but for most of the others it was their first time driving. Many of them did pretty well, but I also think that drivers may have changed the outcome of a few matches.

I don't know about the rest of the teams, but I know that our team was using IRI for driving practice because all of our '03 drivers were seniors (probably not the best idea...) so we have to train all new ones this year.

Joel,

First off, good luck at Clarkson. I shook hands with you and exchanged words after you guys beat us in the 3rd match of the 2-out-of-3 for the 2002 Championship at EPCOT (at least, I'm pretty sure that was you, but it all moved so fast that I might be wrong). That was an exciting elimination. You seemed very nice so good luck to you.

As someone stated previously, 25 was teetering. We sat ourselves out of that match but I was standing behind the tape behind our drivers station. It appeared that 469 started to move toward 25 to block them when we both realized that they were stuck there. Just to be sure, I yelled to our alliance to be sure not to touch them and to keep 68 from helping them out. 27 did a GREAT job of blocking 68 at the bottom of the ramp. Our entire alliance strategy (and 308's team strategy since the beginning of the year) was to block teams at the bottom of the ramp.

As for our autonomous: we have a guidance system on board that helps to keep us on track. In the 3rd match of the finals agains the Martians, they spun us coming over the top, but we spun back around and got most of the bins to our side. That helped a lot.

As for the delay thing in auto mode - that is our autonomous mode shifting gears. We have impact detection in autonomous mode. If our guidance system senses an impact, we shift into low gear and then start back on course. It usually takes us about a second to recognize the impact and then another second to shift gears - then we start moving again and we're generally able to push through anyone else in autonomous mode (it worked for us a few times in the eliminations at the IRI).

As for picking alliance members - it was more good scouting and relationship rather than luck. 469 had problems all day so no one else seemed to want to pick them. We know them very well, so we asked them that once they fixed their machine, they should come near our pit and bang their robot around to demonstrate that it would be okay. They did that to our satisfaction so we picked them. When our 2nd pick came around and they were still available, I was overjoyed. I said out loud, "this is going to be GREAT". A couple of notable FIRST mentors looked at me and asked, "who are you going to pick"? I said, "469". They looked at me like, "what in God's name are you thinking?" The crowed also appeared surprised when we picked them. Oh well, it was our gain.

-Chris

Yeah, we ended up getting stuck at the top of the ramp, teetering in just the right way so no wheels touched. We warned our alliance that this was one of our weaknesses when we had a strategy meeting and said it very rarely happened, so lo and behold we jinxed ourselves and it happened. The opposing alliance did an excellent job at blocking our partner and not going near us. Good job and congrats to the winning alliance and all the other great alliances.

Ah, its all clear now. Thanks for the explanation. Good luck to 308 in the future.

why couldn't i be there???? man... good job to everyone.

::sigh::
::sits depressed because i missed iri and have only one week here:: :(

Wildstang used rookie drivers because our regular drive team graduated and we wanted to get potential drivers for next year some practice & experience driving in a real competition. Since they weren't as polished as Allen & Dan, our regular drivers, they made some mistakes and they weren't as good at defending the ramp. Because of the inexperience and a little bad luck we were actually in last place right before our 2nd to last match, but most of us didn't care, we were just enjoying the competition. All that being said, our new drivers did a wonderful job and made noticable improvements from their first to last match.

Same way for us (G-Force 535), we had a new driver and a human player that had never even seen a match before....and besides the facts that our robot hadnt been touched in weeks before the competetion, we had no autonomous mode (no programmer), and we were missing some parts. Major problems, if you ask me...