2005 West Michigan
 

I know it's a couple of weeks away but I thought I'd post a message about West Michigan.

It's been two years since 862 has been to West Michigan. Since then the regional has moved to GVSU in Allendale. Just wanted to hear from someone who went last year, how was the new venue?

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

I liked it... it's so much better than the old venue (the Grand Center). At least this way, noone will be forced to put their pit table on a sloping floor... some teams had to do that the first year of the event (2001). One major downside is a lack of hotels and restaurants in the surrouding area. So, we gained some things and lost others, but I think it was a positive switch.

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

I never went to the old venue because I wasn't on 66 when it was, so I can't compare the 2 but I can say it is a very relaxed area to compete in. Fewer teams and a smaller crowd than GLR, it is really fun.

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Definitely less crowed than the Grand Center was. It's also easier to access than GR. I will admit that parking was somewhat lousy in respect to tailgating, but then again, we weren't expecting the Judges to come around the pits during lunch, which caught me off gaurd. But all in all, GVSU is a better venue than the Grand Center.

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Very nice event. I'm finding it to be a very tuff event as far as competition goes now compared to the past years at Western. This years event looks no different. I see at least 15-20 really good robots. For some reason this is the one regional our team can't seem to win, runner-up once or twice. With this years bot I think we have our best chance in a few years. Should be a blast. :ahh:

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

may the best bot win. :)

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Hello WMR teams

I just want to welcome you to our back yard! Team 85 and Zeeland are just 10 miles from GVSU.

During competition we would like to offer you whatever we can to help your team be a success. We have the knowledge to help you find supplies fast. We can help you with hotel location and directions. We can help you with computer access and some printing.

If you need some spare parts or raw material, we may just have them back at the shop (we have 10 years of stuff here :) )

Please feel free to stop by our pit and ask any member of our team or you can call my cell phone (616) 560-4356

Can't wait to see you. Drive safe.

Steve Yasick

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Matt (Fultz) and I wil be there as Field Reset crew.

I am looking forward to some exciting action and seeing some teams compete that I haven't seen so far this season.

See everyone on Friday Morning.

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

It takes most of the Holland Teams 30 to 45 minutes to get to the regional... but it's our home... and Team 141 is ready to defend our title as the West Michigan Champs! Good luck to all!

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

one day and counting... good luck teams!!!!

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

After one day of practice and one day of qualifing here are a few of my thoughts.First i am surprised by the level of competion of some of the rookie teams they are doing a great job .Second I am shocked how some very great vet teams are having a hard time winning even with there great robots.The event seems to running quickly and well organized . Good luck tommorow to everyone .What are your thoughts?


Jim Schaddelee
Team 107 Holland Christian /Metal flow

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Yes, our alliances had some bad alliance luck and a couple of our alliance penalties have been a robot hitting in the loading zone. Our team never caused it but I beg you teams if you're reading this now... let's try to go Saturday with no penalties at all! I make that a challenge to all teams... will anyone take me up on the challenge?

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

I noticed that team 67 is way down near the bottom of the standings after Friday. Can someone please explain this, as they seemed to have yet another top-notch robot at previous regionals? Did their robot break or did they have really bad luck in alliance pairing? This also applies to team 245 (who have already won two regionals) who I believe are ranked 28th after Friday's rounds. What is going on in West Michigan?

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

For the fifth time, the West Michigan regional is shaping up to be one of the best run and most competitive regionals of the year.

Competition here seems definitely up a notch from what we saw at GLR. I've been fairly busy, but it does seem like veterans and rookies alike are busy in the pits. For us, it's been some wiring and mechanical issues which have been repaired and improved. Our arm operator did a great job of using the backup jog controls on at least one match today. We're ready for tomorrow.

As for 245, they've had some bad alliance breaks, and I believe they had to do some repairs, but they were feeling quite confident late this afternoon. (They are our neighbors in the pits).

I thought the rookies at GLR were amazing, but the rookies here are even more impressivel. I'm basing this more on what I see in the pits than the few matches I've seen. It was a fantastic awards showing for the Holland/Zelland area teams. One award apiece for all five area teams!

The program works, chairman's award presentation is done, the pit is set up, our wires shouldn't get stretched anymore, so I'm hoping to have more time to watch and visit with friends today.

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

67 has had a bit of slightly incompatible alliance luck. They have started winning again though, I expect to see them dominate today.

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Alliance selections:

1 - 858, 868, 494
2 - 27, 33, 245
3 - 74, 910, 47
4 - 107, 66, 93
5 - 288, 888, 85
6 - 302, 67, 904
7 - 1677, 1213, 141
8 - 573, 322, 862

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Allaince #2 scares me! :ahh:

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Alliance #1 isn't too shabby either. I believe the finals at West Michigan are going to be very intense between those two alliances.

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

We know how good 494 is personally! ;)

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Quarterfinal 1
Alliance 1 (858, 868, 494) vs. Alliance 8 (573, 322, 862)
Match 1: Alliance 8 wins: 29-48
Match 2: Alliance 1 wins: 46-6
Match 3: Alliance 1 wins: 32-18
Alliance 1 Advances to Semifinals

Quarterfinal 2
Alliance 4 (107, 66, 93) vs. Alliance 5 (288, 888, 85)
Match 1: Alliance 4 wins: 90-0
Match 2: Alliance 4 wins: 45-37
Alliance 4 Advances to Semifinals

Quarterfinal 3
Alliance 2 (27, 33, 245) vs. Alliance 7 (1677, 1213, 141)
Match 1: Alliance 2 wins: 90-25
Match 2: Alliance 2 wins: 63-18
Alliance 2 Advances to Semifinals

Quarterfinal 4
Alliance 3 (74, 910, 47) vs. Alliance 6 (302, 67, 904)
Match 1: Alliance 3 wins: 55-19
Match 2: Alliance 3 wins: 62-24
Alliance 3 Advances to Semifinals

Semifinal 1
Alliance 1 (858, 868, 494) vs. Alliance 4 (107, 66, 93)
Match 1: Alliance 1 wins: 40-25
Match 2: Alliance 4 wins: 44-48
Match 3: Alliance 4 wins: 35-45
Alliance 4 Advances to Finals

Semifinal 2
Alliance 2 (27, 33, 245) vs. Alliance 3 (74, 910, 47)
Match 1: Alliance 2 wins: 48-42
Match 2: Alliance 2 wins: 42-41
Alliance 2 Advances to Finals

Finals
Alliance 4 (107, 66, 93) vs. Alliance 2 (27, 33, 245)
Match 1: Alliance 4 wins: 44-38
Match 2: Alliance 2 wins: 48-37
Match 3: Alliance 4 wins: 45-25

Teams 107, 66, and 93 have won the 2005 West Michigan Regional

Congratulations!!!

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Does anyone have pics of 27, 47 and/or 33 this year...those are the only two that I haven't really seen this year. :confused:

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Congrats to 107, 66, and 93 for winning the West Michigan Regional. Its about time for a regional championship 93!

Also congrats to 27, 33, and 245 as finalists.

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Way to go 107, 66, and 93!!! :D

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Congratulations to three great teams! 107 totally proved they have a great machine at Midwest, and 93 was certainly a feared 'Cinderella' competitor at Boilermaker. 66 has joined the ranks of the many teams that have won two regionals! Congratulations!

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

See this thread for 33
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...threadid=35359
Since the original pics, I believe they removed the swerve drive and they have changed the end effector to be a pitchfork with an articulating center fork. They have a very nice auton where they score a tetra and knock down a hanging tetra. Didn's see them use storage on the bot at Detroit or West Michigan. I have some of 27 and 47 I will upload later tonight

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

It's to bad that my team didn't make it past the quarters but... I personally cheered for you 107 ^.^, in the end, the Holland Teams cheered you on. and that's 3 others. We'll see ya people at Nats!

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

I am going to ask this question, and I hope that it doesn't sound rude, but I we were new to FIRST this year.

What is the rookie all-star award given out for?

Our robot 1677 quantum ninja had a very strong showing at the West Michigan regionals. We were seeded first after the first two rounds and ended up getting seeded 10th overall. We were able to become captain of the 7th seed alliance. We had virtually no funding, and a tiny group of about 4 students that consistitly worked on the robot. The second highest seed for rookie teams I think was around 27. No other rooke team participated in the quarater finals, yet alone captain an alliance. We were really looking forward to the chance to go to Atlanta, but were not going to get that chance now.

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

The Rookie All-Star is like Chairman's award for the Rookies since they can't enter into chairmans with the vets. If I'm wrong, someone please correct me

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

By looking at the results and SCORES of the elimination rounds, this appeared to be a FANTASTIC regional. I think there are many, very capable machines this year. I initially thought that the arms on these robots would be a weekness. Congratulations to the winning alliance, We'll see you all at Nationals. :cool:

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Congratulations to team 67 for earning the West Michigan Chairman's Award!

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

I tell you what....I showed up there this morning after waking up at 4:30 and driving 3 and a half hrs expecting it to be quite an event.

I was right.

Excellent showing all around...elimination rounds were full of almost upsets and upsets. I don't want to call the finals an upset because both alliances were very good, but I was really impressed with 107, 66, and 93 going out there and beating an experienced alliance of 27, 33, and the winner of 2 regionals this year, 245.


Awesome event, congrats to all award winners

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Congradulations team 107, 66, and 93. We had the great chance to work with 107 last weekend at Midwest. In past years we have competed against 93 and they always have a constantly exemplary machine. Always developing new technology. I wish we could have been at any of the regionals you attended.

Congrats to all teams

Budda

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Here's to wishing a big congratulations to not only the winners and the finalists, but also all of the teams out there. You guys provided some great competition.. just about the best I've seen in the three years I've been in FIRST.

Thanks to 322 and to 862 for being excellent alliance partners!

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Thank you! You have no idea how thrilled we were. Winning the Chairman's Award beats winning a regional any day. This is the first time we've won it, so we were obviously very excited. We're hoping for the best for both our robot and Chairman's submission as we go to Atlanta.

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

heres one huge congrats to 66-93-107.... yall were amazing! 66, you guys never cease to amaze me.

573 & 862, we had a nice run and we were ooooo soooo cloooose. hehe.

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

We had no problems what-so-ever with the bot, in fact, we did everything we set out to do flawlessly. Its just that we can't do everything on the field on our own... we have to rely on our partners to do at least sort of what we talk about in strategy meetings. I guess thing just didn't turn out for us very well in most of the 'random' alliance pickings.

But hey, our 'gold requiremnt' for this regional was met by our Chairmans ladies, so its all good. :rolleyes:

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

From what I saw of 67, their robot was running very nicely, the arm system (as usual) was very articulate and worked fast. The problem that I saw was than in every match on Friday, immediately an opponent came down and did nothing but hinder them for the entire match. 302 actually proved extremely effective at this in all of the matches I watched so did 322. So it left 67 with having to perfectly get to the load stations then outmaneuver the guarding robot then try and get to the goal then drop a tetra while getting pushed repeatedly. They actually managed to do it more than I would expect under those conditions with the aid of a good driver and a maneuverable swerve drive. Definitely like the robot, amazing how many people were complaining to the refs about your feelers on the front even after the refs agreed they were OK!?

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Not all the refs agreed; just the ones that matter did. ;)

I foresee a feeler-flopper war at the NATs. For example, we (1213) missed a grand opportunity (DOH!) in Detroit and West Michigan. Technically, we're a flopper too. So, something like a piece of Spectra string hanging from that golf-ball-on-a-stick would have touched the triangle every time and have saved us a few rewards.

Word up! Make something that flops off the front of your bot to touch the loading zones. :cool:

Or not! More wrt/ this HERE

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

[quote=Will Hanashiro

573 & 862, we had a nice run and we were ooooo soooo cloooose. hehe.[/QUOTE]

No kidding! Thanks 573 and 322 for a great time. Even though we felt we were doing good, our ranking didn't show it. Glad someone was scouting to find us!!!

Just getting picked was one of the most exciting moments in our teams history!

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

I think that BECAUSE 67 had an amazing robot, they had so much trouble. Our after watching a few matches at GLR, we KNEW someone had to go run interference with 67 if we were to have a chance. It's like double teaming Michael Jordan. And this year was one year I am glad we are a relatively unknown team. No one bothered us, no one came to block us (for the most part), and let us score about 5-6 tetras a match. Most good teams can't score 5-6 tetras when they are getting pounded all match.

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Was it ever a hard elimination round and WM yesterday.Congrats to 27, 33, and 245 for one heck of a round of finals. Thank-you to 107 for picking us, and 66 for competing with us. FINALLY Team 93 has won a regional. Can't wait till Nats see you there.

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

You hit the nail on the head with that one. It seemed every match we were with inexpirenced teams/drivers and against powerhouse teams... that matches we were with 'good' teams we did sweet. Oh well, you cant expect to have the best of luck at every event....

I guess in the end, the robot took the brunt of the bad luck and left nothing but good luck for our Chairmans chances! :D

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Whoa Mini-D! A little graciousness please? I can't imagine your loosing partners warming up to your assesment of them; nor can I see the rest of your team supporting the idea that you might not do sweet without 'good' partners.

FYI, we (1213) were never alligned with 66, 67, 245, nor 494; yet we faced all of them - twice each! - twice paired against us. We won many; and, I can point to a tactical or temporal error on our part as the reason for not winning the rest.
Many thanks to all the partners who went up against this year's champions with us.

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

1213 you did have a great bot, we were very impressed with it from the start. It is a shame that quarterfinals didn't go as smoothly as we had hoped. It was still a lot of fun to get there.

thanks to our partners on our team
141 and 1213

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

1213 was awesome. Talk about eligant design. That arm-string combo really worked great. And FAST!

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

I think you misinterpeted my message... the last thing I'm trying to be is ungracious/critical of the partners assigner to us in the Q matches.

What I was trying to say was that it always seem that were with new, less expirenced teams in everymatch. I'm not trying to knock them or anything, I know that at one time my team was just like them.

I dont know, maybe its just that I was getting a little frustrated or that I haven't beenable to get much sleep lately or that Nationals is just around the corner...

Sorry if that last post offened anyone...

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Thanks to 573 and 322 both of you were great alliance partners. It was a lot of fun to be picked and compete with you. Good job to teams 868, 858, 494 you played really well in all three quarter final matches. Congrats to teams 66, 93, 107 you all had great robots.

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

I completely understand what you mean. Sometimes, the "random" pairings of allinaces do not work out in your favor. That's just part of the way this game is designed. You may have an amazing robot, but one amazing robot cannot win against 2 or 3 good robots. If it just so happens that you are continually facing good alliances, you will not win on your own. You may think it is ungracious to say this, but all robots are not created equal. If your allinace of 3 robots is not up to par with their alliance of 3 robots, you will almost always lose.

From what I saw at the West Michigan Regional, it looks like this is what happened to 67. It's just the luck of the draw. They faced some very tough opponents under tough conditions, and in some cases they didn't have much help. Every semi-experienced team out there knows what this is like. Sometimes you just have bad luck like that.

I know someone will probably go out of their way to be offended by this post. Please understand that I am not criticizing any team or individual. This is just the way things are.

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

YEAH TOAST! (theme of the weekend)

107 & 93: Huge thanks! 107, thanks for leading the alliance prayer, it makes the victory that much sweeter. :cool:

67: 2 regionals and chairmans. :eek: I wonder what you guys are going to do next. :rolleyes: :D

Last but not least, this was a GREAT regional. Very competitive, very unpredictable, and a TREMENDOUS difference from what was seen @ GLR. Fantastic job and very very great thanks to all who participated.

(I cease to not be shocked)

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

I wish I could put things so eloquently, thanks for speaking my mind more clearly;)

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Way to go 107...you guys deserve something reall good!

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Over all West Michigan was a good regional. I was dissipointed about getting hit twice with tetras over the drivers stations and small penalties being thrown for them, the second time being in the quarter finals causing us to lose. Congrats to our alliance partner 67 for winning the chairmans award. We really didnt have a chance at the awards seeing as not 1 judge talked to our team. They didnt even enter our pit area. Its a good regional to attend.

Thanks to teams 67 and 904 for being great alliance partners.

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

I had the fortunate opportunity of taking the 6 hour drive to watch this regional, and what a regional it was! I was overly impressed with the performances of the teams. This definitely has to be one of the best regionals that I have seen yet! There were some teams that really stuck out in my mind that I would make sure that I pay attention to if you happen to encounter them at any other competition:

868: What a great strategy of having the human player stack four tetras and than depositing them for a 12 point play. I was also impressed on how study those tetra's stayed on your "tray". A lot of teams tried to bash the heck out of you and rarely did you drop the stack.

67: I really think that you guys had a lot of bad luck and penalties in the qualifying matches; you guys have a suburb machine, very consistent and very fluent.

1213: You guys were my favorite! The robot followed the KISS principle and had the ability to be one of the fastest cappers I have seen.

33: Very sturdy and consistent bot with a great autonomous mode, you guys have always been a powerhouse and you still are. Overall I believe that you were the best bot at the regional.

To the winning alliance:
107: It was an honor to work with you guys when I was a driver last year, and an human player the two previous years and I am sure it was no less for the operators this year. You guys not only have had great robots every year that I have known about FIRST, but you are the nicest, courteous and friendly team that I have ever met. Thanks for picking my old team, you guys are great.

66: You guys had a great robot. Very compact, agile and fast to cap, you made a great alliance partner!

93: I cannot describe how proud I am of you guys. You guys made one heck of a robot. Very robust (not mechanically breaking down once) and consistent in each match. Not to mention one heck of a drive team. You have broken the team roller coaster that we have been on forever. I look forward to seeing you guys succeed at nationals and I foresee great things for team 93 in the future.

Congratulations to all teams, you certainly made WMR on of the best regionals in FIRST.

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Thanks 573 and 862, you guys were awesome. I thought we had it when we won the first match bigtime. 494 is a great defensive bot and I new what their strategy would be, defense and more defense. Our bot took a beat'n playing defense, it was a fun role we hadn't had to play before. Hopefully we'll see some of ya at Atlanta.

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

I just have to add - None of the penalties were on our team ;) Thanks though :D

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

First I would like to say thank you to all the people who have posted and called to congratulate our team and alliance partners .This really means alot . Also I would say how nice it was to see Al and Dotty form team 111 at the regional ,they are such great people. They are what inspire me ,When I got involved with FIRST in 1997 I thought it was about robots, After 8 year I have finally figured it out .First is about people .For me its the relationships you build with your team , mentors ,students,teachers and other teams .The robot from Our first year has long been destroyed , but friends are still around like Andy Baker from team 45 and Z from team 108 and Darryl from team 71 just to name a few .
The second reason for this post was a request for any pictures you or your team might have from the event .

Thank you .

Jim Schaddelee
Team 107

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

I put the one of your robot first in picture list HERE

Enjoy,

Jack

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

You really have to make due with poor alliance pairings~~ it's all about strategy and a clear understanding of that strategy~well and a little luck :rolleyes:

Re: 2005 West Michigan
 

Exactly... Hopefully we'll be more lucky with our partners at Nats...