Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

So, just got back from the Brunswick eruption. It was the first robot competition I've ever been to. So far, it was great, other than the fact that I really didn't get to do anything :(. I WAS going to be a shooter but then I was a mentor at one of the games. How'd you like the competition. Oh btw, guess who I was ;)

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

Congrats to 222 and the other two teams, sorry about not knowing the numbers. Also i want to thank team 25 for picking us. Your human player is amazing. Maybe ramp riot. Last thing good job henry, cliff, rabbit and your human player good job. Once again you showed me how it is done, good job. Keep up the good work.

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

BE was pretty awesome! Thanks to team 25 for letting me temporarily join their team, it was neat. I didn't get to see the end *tear* , so who won? But, from what I did see, teams 25, 222, 1257, and etc were pretty fierce in competition. It was certainly really cool matches!

-P.S. I posted some pics from the competition, check them out. :D

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

Congratulations to the winners(222 271 and 369)! This competition was mind blowing. In the morning I started out helping rookie teams like crazy, that I had no clue of what the state of our robot was, and I can hardly remember the teams I was helping(so many of them), it was fun, I am glad I could help them out.

Thanks to all the teams for coming, the competition turned out to be great with competitive teams like 25, 222, 303, 1257, 1403 etc(sorry if I missed you out, I am too sleepy).

Will post more tomorrow
Now = sleeptime;
-B

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

One thing I have to apologize for was that semi-scoring fiasco in determining the top 8 teams. Since 25 did not rent a FIRST field, we had to write our own scoring program, and it had a few bugs :-p. It calculated rankings correctly, but for a few stupid reasons, it didn't display them correctly on the TV, but we did get the correct rankings after doing a bit of math, coding, and digging through MySQL databases, so it all worked out in the end (with a bit of delay, but hey, more time to fix robots) :-).

And to all teams who competed, congratulations, you guys did a great job, especially the 2005 rookies, team 1546!

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

Thanks to all the teams who came out and competed and for waiting it out to the end of the day. We need to move those matches through faster but I see a direct correlation between the lateness in the season and the reluctance of teams to get on the field. Many of the robots had seen better days and we were doing patch ups all over the place.

It is now 1 AM and I just got home so I am putting the listing of all the winners off until tomorrow. Suffice it to say that we had some great match ups and a few surprises like a robot accidentally moving the center island across part of the field in the early part of the first final match.

I hope everyone had a good time. It sounded like you did from the pits. And I think we will get two or three new rookies from the crowds in the stands.

I go sleep now.....

WC

:cool:

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

It was definitely fun. I FINALLY got to drive the 'bot after a year of pleading, and it was great... Except for the fact that I sucked due to the fact that my only practice was driving it around a classroom for 30 seconds a week before :D

We also got annoyed at some of the judging - we lost a match by one ball that was perched on the end of a goal and had been put there by a bot. The judges wouldn't believe that an HP hadn't thrown it there. We also got DQ'd from our (because of this) final match in the finals because the judges thought that we'd intentionally tipped another bot. We even had video footage to prove our side.

But I'll stop rambling. It was still a great time.

Looneylin, thanks for those pics! I found myself (not a very good picture of me specifically) in the Stadium picture. Look at the left edge, foreground. I'm the button boy.

P.S. Hi, David. Welcome to CD. Great thread.

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

I had a great time at Brunswick Eruption yesterday. It was the last time 1257 will ever be considered a rookie team, but we ended our first year with a bang. Thanks to all of our alliances! We'll see you next season!

Christine
Head of Membership
Team 1257 - Parallel Universe
Scotch Plains, NJ

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

Im not sure what you're talking about... *only* humans can score balls. robots can't score small balls.

I fully agreed with every call the refs made, and would support their decision no matter what--their job is MUCH harder than most people give them credit for, and as always they did an excellent job (Well, Rich did give us the wrong score card, but I'd have to say that's the biggest mistake they made all day! ;))

Cory

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

Sorry I was unclear... The other team had that ball... It was put on the goal's edge by a bot but the judges had no proof of that and gave them the points and the match.

I usually agree with the judges, but I know our driver well enough to know that he would not tip another team. That disqualification cost us any chance of winning or even getting into the final finals.

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

I wasn't a ref, but as scorekeeper I worked pretty closely with them, and I know Rich (the head ref) will probably wander onto this thread soon enough and settle any questions, but I know that they did the best they could, they even skipped the fourth match to come back to it later because a team wasn't ready yet, that's something you will never find in an offical competition.

Bottom line, regardless of what your personal views on the matter are, the refs did the best job they could, and what's past is past. I assume you guys had fun, and big deal, you didn't win, you still came and put out a great effort. Also, perhaps take this experience and remember for next year, because I can't ever remember any FIRST competition, official or not, where refs have looked favorably at teams who have, or are suspected, of intentionally flipping an opponent.

Also, I was a driver myself on my old team, I know that drivers do get caught up in the moment, and unless you are the driver, no one else can ever know what his intentions were, because when you're driving a robot, you're not exactly thinking clearly. I'm not accusing him or your team of intentionally flipping, but accidents happen, and if your team was in the wrong place at the wrong time, well, tough luck, but there's not much you can do about it. I'm also fairly certain you weren't the only team DQ'd for flipping an opponent, so it wasn't an isolated incident.

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

Ya-i agree, drivers do get caught in the moment. Twice yesterday there were some very close calls we were involved in, and i know i almost blew a gasket out there. But you have to get it out of you, and allow yourself to move on right away.

And sometimes refs do have to make tough calls, and if you are on the wrong end of it, its life, just problems happen all the time. I understand when i got Dq'd for flipping 222, it was because it was a close call, and showed possible intent. I know myself it wasnt on purpose, but the fans dont know, and the refs have to make the on the spot decision, which for the most part is right. You just need to move on, and go out and win the rest of the competitions.

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

I completely agree, Ian. I didn't mean for this to turn into something big and I don't want to argue with refs/scorekeepers/anyone anymore. I was just mentioning an annoyance that probably happens a lot more often than I realize and am completely ready to move on.
If I make it to being a driver, I'll understand better. Thanks for responding, though. It was still a great time.

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughts and comments.
 

you know- this sounds like the kind of thing the FIRST Drivers Union might deal with. Maybe the group should discuss elsewhere what is considered blocking, pushing, pinning and intentional damage/tipping. I always think- could the other guy break off the engagement and get out of the way? Or do we have them at our mercy and take advantage anyway? Then next season the group could come up with guidelines for rough play conduct amongst themselves and clarify with FIRST officials for all of us.

The refs did the best job they could. I witnessed the call. It was valid. Like in sports, once the call is made, good or bad, it is a done deal. We've been DQ'ed at times - including rounds that would have high significance. It happens and you move on.

Hopefully all can remember the good times they had in the games and get past the bad. And, of course, save the competitive spirit for BE4 next year.


WC

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

Anyone have any pics yet? Only 4 up so far.

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

Well, the only times we didn't win (A.K.A losing or tieing) was because of technical problems (and of course sidney not doing well X_x). What's done is done, it was great, even for a n00bie like me (though still I rarley did anything but chase the jester down).

Still, I want to see myself in one of the pictures :(. I know I was taken a picture and stuff but I dunno which team took the photo. They were in purpilish-white shirts and I didn't see their numbers. I think it was team 25 but I dunno. Still, it was pretty fun and all ^_^.

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

Today, Team 555 had a post mortem on our experiences at the Brunswick Eruption. My coach and fellow team members were concerned with the negative connotation my comments may have had about referees and referee decisions. In hindsight I agree with the other posters and my team mates, and regret participating in a thread that might be embarrasing to them. I was reminded of the FIRST ethic of "gracious professionalism" and appologize for any comments that may have been out of order. All in all the Brunswick Eruption was a great experience and I am proud to be a part of a great team and a part of the FIRST experience. I look forward to many more exciting competitions over my remianing years in Montclair High School.

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

I'm sorry folks. I don't mean to post a big biography about me like that. Mostly what Iw as trying to say was that I'm very sorry and stuff about the comment I made about my team memeber. I'm a noob and all and I'm trying to learn. It won't happen again, I'll tell ya :)

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

Wrong score card (actually a blank one)- once in 40 matches- and I had the right one in my pocket :). You guys did a great job with the scoring software. Thanks for coming down.

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

wow good your not tramatized, this means i got a head ref for next year too? :p

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

Hey, any chance I get to hang out with Mike Wade, Wayne C, Paul K, and you (cough) - I'm in. Free lunch doesn't hurt either. Actually, there was no trauma at all. Working as head ref was an easy job because the rest of the crew was so experienced, energetic, and helped me communicate to teams all day long. In my life I've now coached and officiated youth and high school basketball, baseball, and now FIRST. FIRST, by far, is the most fun AND the most difficult officiating I could ever imagine. The rules change every year and even with five or more officials there is so much to watch for. Every time I've been a competition official, I've come away with a new appreciation for those who wear striped shirts and I learn more about how coaches/team members should interact with them.

The teams at BE were very easy and fun to work with and extremely respectful of the job of the officiating crew. Teams care a great deal about what they do, so naturally there will be a few questions. The longer the day goes on, the more important the matches become, the more questions the head ref will get. It all comes with the territory.

As the new "Senior Mentor" for Eastern PA, I will assist in procuring event volunteers for 2005. If you have FIRST experience and plan on attending regionals your team isn't competing in, I'd suggest volunteering to be a referee. It's a great way to get a different perspective, work with lots of teams, and have a lot of fun.

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

just wanted to say thanks for the refereeing, I thought that all of the refs did a good job in their calls and they were also willing to explain some of the calls that they did make.

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

Haha, you gave us a bit of a scare with that blank score card, we thought that there was another 0 - 0 match, but figured that couldn't be, almost too rare to happen even once :-p.

Thanks, and you did a great job yourself, you guys had the tough job ;-).

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

Rich- you know we always love to have you and that I will remember this e-mail when the next season rolls around. Only next time bring that new team you are forming and we'll get them in the loop too.

WC

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

On another note, from 1546 I learnt that pre-2004 season controls work with the field system, with no noticable problems. A couple of pre-2004 bots 1546 and 714?? I think were at Brunswick Eruption.

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

yeah, 714 had a 2002 zone zeal goal grabbing bot :) . Slow and strong.

Re: Brunswick Eruption thoughs and comments.
 

1257 had a great time. Getting 2nd seed was great. Thanks to all our partners, especially 1048 who helped us beat 25 in a qualifying match.

We've got pictures up on our site.