So Cal Regional!!!!
 

anyone got any vids!!!!! i mean any vids, want to see them al *cackles* today was awesome, thanks guys good game, gl tomarrow!

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

I have pictures....http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/Albu...&a=31705681&f=

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

Any standings in So. Cal yet? I don't think FIRST posted any on their site

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

696 6-1 12 Qpts
238 6-1 12
069 6-1 10
1622 6-1 7

1515 5-1-1 12

980 5-2 21
945 5-2 16
330 5-2 15
580 5-2 15
22 5-2 14

There are a few more teams with 5-2 and some 5-1 who only played 6 matches today so....we'll see what gives tomorrow.
it has been an awesome event some really exciting matches.!!!

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

i saw 1160 playng some good d, cept in the 2nd and 3rd round there were some problems but htey came back strong. last round they hit for their first penalty and unfortunately it was a 30 point one

what were they... 5-3 i think? the 2nd and third rounds really screwed them over ^.^;;

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

My favorite match today was late in the afternoon and it was won 1 to 0 (due to a variety of penalties, etc.) now this may be common... but I found it very amusing.

I'll see you all tomorrow... look for me in a volunteer shirt!

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

That match had team 1622 who was the #1 seed and the only undefeated team at that time. 1622's alliance scored 25 points while the other alliance scored a single point (a tetra under the center goal). However, 1622's alliance was assesed with 30 penalty points, leaving the final score 1-0.

It certainly shows to never give up, even if all you can do is score a single tetra.

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

Anyone want to give us an update!
Thanks
Akshay

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

I can't give you all the team numbers since I was crewing... but team 980 and 22 and (another team) put up a great fight to take second. They won the first match of finals but lost the remaining two.

I'm sorry I can't give you more info, but I'm sure it will come in a couple of hours!

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

Thanks

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

69, 330, and 634 won

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

Any news on who won what award-wise? The link on the FIRST site is not working at the moment.

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

974 won spirit. Beach Cities 294 won engineering inspiration. I believe 1515 won rookie all star. 696 did not win anything. :(

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

Sorry to hear that. What about Industrial Design, Quality, and the three finalists?

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

Finalists-980 22 968

Who won CA?

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

Oh sorry. winners: 69, 330, 634

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

Chairman's was 812. Watch out, they will be a force to reckon with at championship.

Another award: LeRoy Nelson won Woodie Flowers finalist! That made me extremely happy :D

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

who won the website award?

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

Did 188 (Woburn: the Canadian Team) win anything?

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

597 or 598... I'm not sure which, someone will have to correct me.
I believe they won sportsmanship. It was either that or the Judges' award... I was still pretty wired from when LeRoy won the WFA finalist award.

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

69 won quality
330 won industrial design
238 won creativity, yesterday
980 won control, yesterday
I don't remember who won the delphi award.


1515 won rookie all-star, 1694 won rookie inspiration and 1622 was the highest rookie seed.

1097 won the safety award.
22 won the judges award today, don't remember who won yesterday.

188 did win an award yesterday but I don't remember which one. They didn't win any today.

207 won the animation award.


4 of the 6 teams in the finals were in the finals last year (69, 330, 980, 22). 69 won for the second year in a row (and was 1st seed for the second year in a row), and 330 won for the 3rd time total.

Also, 294 and 812 swapped awards this year. Last year 812 won Engineering Inspiration and had the WFA winner while 294 won the chairmans. This year 294 won engineering inspiration and WF, while 812 won chairmans.

Hope this helps.

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

So much for my prediction for 294 winning the Chairman's Award this year.

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

Alliances:

1. 69, 330, 634
2. 980, 22, 968
3. 702, 599, 1138
4. 995, 238, 1148
5. 1622, 1452, 188
6. 207, 1515, 1047
7. 945, 696, 598, (580)
8. 1372, 294, 851

580 replaced 598 in the 7th alliance before they played any matches.

alliances 1, 2, 5, 6 won the quarterfinals
alliances 1, 2 won the semifinals
alliance 1 won the finals.

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

599 got Sportsmanship. :D

If anyone wants videos, I've got some (low-quality, sadly) ones of the autonomous modes from a couple matches (mainly taken for me to show off my autonomous programming to all my friends who couldn't be at the comp ;) )
If you want 'em, talk to me on AIM (Bugsy8715) or MSN (commissarbugsy@hotmail.com)

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

188 won the Entrepreneurship Award which they surprisingly weren't expecting.

On behalf of my team I would like to congratulate 69, 330, and 634 on winning. I would also like to thank very much teams 980 and 968 for being in a great alliance with us. Sorry 980 we tried to bring another win home but I guess we didn't. It was great seeing the same 4 robots that were in finals last year in the finals again this year with 2 more great robots.

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

:ahh: :)
Its not over till its over!!!!
Team 634 dramatic story (regional winner)

Our team built a strong robot this year and had high hopes. We built a second identical robot for the students to practice drive with. However in the seeding rounds we had some terrible mishaps. In our second round we were turned off because our arm was accidently left up two inches at starting time so we couldn't compete(they wouldn't let us tether and lower it). We were a little flustered and actually forgot to turn our power on for round 3(compounding errors). So we started out loosing 2 out of three rounds. Our drivers were practiced and fast and could cap 5 or 6 tetras which got the attention of team 69 who chose us as their second choice for the semifinals. The beachbots were their other choice which is a regional leading team. We plowed our way through the semifinals but had dramatic finals rounds. In the finals we lost the first round and won the second and third rounds. The last round I believe was won by 3 points.
So remember in beginning when it looks bleak....Its not over until its over.

We would like to thank team 69 for picking us as a partner and must say they have one of the most awsome teams in the country. They must have brought several hundred people from the East Coast as team members or supporters.

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

Congrats to all teams on a great competition! I've updated the gallery with new pictures. http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/Albu...&a=31705681&f= Feel free to PM me if you want a full sized version (1600x1200) for your team's use.

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

Can someone please explain to me why there is no information on this regional whatsoever on the FIRST site? I mean it's obvious there were people there wasn't anyone keeping notes? :rolleyes:

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

It's weird that SoCal is the only regional with no information available...

But I wanted to update my winners lists on the Website post... so does anyone know who won the website award?

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

I just want to say thanks so much to our wonderful alliance partners 69 and 634! It was awesome to be able to play with such a great alliance and my team was so honored to be picked by the first seeded alliance!

Also congrats to 980, 22 and 968 for being the finalists and giving us some exciting finals matches! All of you guys have incredible teams that I would love to compete with some day.

And congrats to 812 on winning the Chairman's Award! You have an amazing team! Keep up the good work!

team 294: You guys have an incredible program and truly are an inspiration to all the teams around you. Also congrats to your Woodie Flowers Award winner!

Thanks to all the judges, volunteers and referees also!

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

I believe team 597, the wolverines, won the website award.

On behalf of team 812, we would like to thank everyone along with the judges for seeing us as a strong team and coalition with Team San Diego. Chairman's competition was definitely tough at Southern California as it is every year. We hope to represent Southern California well at the Championships. Thanks to DanielBCR (294) for his kind words. 294 definitely provided tough competition and they could have easily won Southern California or a lot of other regional Chairman's.

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

goo woburn!! =D congrats for making the semi finals, and for winning the entrepreneurship award! you guys probably put up a mighty fight. congrats and can't wait to see you guys back in canada!

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

Overall, I'd say the LA regional was better this year than last. The change of venue was good. While very overpriced, the concessions were open and stocked and there was even a guy in the stands selling stuff.

However, there is still something about the LA regional (and I just can't put my finger on it) that feel just not quite as good as Phoenix or SVR. Some sort of energy is lacking. Or maybe it is a combination of several things.

Positive things for LA this year:

-Mark Leon - his presence almost single handedly made the event awesome
-Woodie Flowers - ditto
-Dave Lavery - yet another ditto on that

Nice job to the planning comittee on getting these all-stars to make it to So Cal this year.

-Big, bright, focused video screen: much better than last year
-Two video screens on the pit side of the curtain, one of the match and another with standings. Again, much better than last year when I believe there was nothing.
-Queing, I don't beleive they ever had to yell for anyone to get on the field and also we never had to wait long.

Still some improvements to be made:

-Announcer was good but needs to give his own accounts of scoring and soforth, not those given to him by the scoring table. On more than a few occassions there was an error on the screen for penalties, wins, etc and but when the announcer said it too (like "red alliance wins" when really blue did), the specators were just even more confused.

-When we arrived Thursday morning it was very unclear and unorganized as to where we should be. Our bus was left sitting in the middle of the street because the event staff did not know to open the gate to let us in. When we got in the gate and were finally directed to the loading ramp, we took all our stuff off the bus and hauled it down the ramp. Then they said everyone could go in. Then they said only 3 people. Then they said we had to haul all our stuff back up this really long really steep ramp. We said no, and then they said oh yeah, you just wait here. But anyhow, teams were left holding heavy, overpiled carts full of equipment on this steel ramp for 45 minutes. Thursday morning arrival needed more organization, everyone was quite confused.

-Entering the arena was very dangerous Thursday morning. The 3 team members (from several teams) to uncrate couldn't take everything in, so some team menmbers carried bags, toolboxes, signs, etc in at 8:30. Well, they had everyone go down the narrow arena isle with steep stairs all the way down to the pit floor. When we got almost to the pit floor (about 10 ft above still) the only way to get down was from a 3' wide slapped-together staircase that seemed very unstable/unsafe. Each stair was not even of equal proportions to the next. Remember, hundreds of people are coming in, all this way. I'm surprised nobody fell flat on their face.

-And that brings me to the issue of stands access. From the stands to the pit floor there were only two of the aformentioned unsafe staircases for access. One on each end of the stands. These staircases were so narrow that two small people stil could not pass. To get to your section in the stands, you had to go up one of these little staircases, then all the way to the upper level of the arena, cut across, and then go back down where you isle was. Most people got so tired from walking up and down that they tried to cut across through any empty rows they could find. With people scattered about the seats, this was unsafe to. Slipping on trash, climbing over specators, etc. Give a couple more wider staircases, and section off two rows (toward the front) just for traffic (no seating)

-Food pricing and quality. While the availability was much better than the Sports arena, $3.50 for a bottle of water and $8.50 for a cheeseburger is just rediculous. Maybe some day it will be realized that they can make the same amount of money at our event by lowering prices and increasing quality, and then people will buy more of it.

-Security. While I was glad that the event staff at the door allowed things like cases of water to be brought in, I wasn't too happy about the fact that it seemed that you could bring anything in. While I never had a specific security related problem, there were no searches or stopping of people going in the door at all. They weren't even really watching. I'm glad nothing happened, but given the lack of any security we should all be surprised that there weren't any incidents.

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

How many of the teams that attended this regional had attended earlier regionals? I had already attended two (one solely as an inspector) and have been dog tired for a number of reasons. How many others are in a similar position?

Aren't the scores from the scoring table *official*? Even if there are errors that need to be corrected, I believe that the ones coming from the scoring table are the ones that ought to be given. Not ones based off of one person's memory.

Wasn't there an email sent out about where to unload? Also, the people that were down in that tunnel directing things were from the Forum, not FIRST.

*Lots of stuff about the arena deleted*

I would suggest joining the Organizing Committee to work on changing the items you mention. Of course, you must keep in mind that much of it was based on the location itself. Therefore, think of some other location that we could use for a similar cost and suggest it.

indieFan

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

Would it help to list all the awards together, until FIRST gets around to posting them? I have a hard time remembering team numbers, so I took notes on the awards. This list is complete as far as I know, but I don't guarantee its accuracy:

Awards Presented Friday:
Imagery: 945 The Hulk
Radio Shack Innovation and Control: 980 Thunderbots
Xerox Creativity: 238 The Crusaders
Delphi Driving Tomorrow’s Technology: 207 Metalcrafters
KPCB Entrepreneurship: 188 Blizzard
Judges: 697 Panda Robotics
Website: 597 The Wolverines
Autodesk Visualization: 207 Metalcrafters
Volunteer of the Year: Prof. Tarik Shrobody (not sure of spelling—they didn’t display his name on the screen)

Awards Presented Saturday:
Woodie Flowers: 294 LeRoy Nelson
General Motors Industrial Design: 330 Beach Bots
Motorola Quality: 69 Team Hyper
Johnson & Johnson Sportsmanship: 599 Duct Tape (Robodocs)
Daimler-Chrysler Team Spirit: 974 Nautae
Judges: 22 Double Deuce (Homer)
Rookie Inspiration: 1692 Cougar Bots
Rookie All Star: 1515 Beverly Hills Teenbot
Rookie Seed: 1622 Spyder
Safety: 1079 Chaparral Robotic Engineers & Techno Explorers
Engineering Inspiration: 294 Beach Cities Robotics
Regional Chairman’s: 812 Midnight Mechanics

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

I have had the priviledge of being mentored unofficially and then officially for the last five years by Prof. Tarek Shraibati. I wouldn't trade it for anything!

indieFan

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

A correction to Chris's list (first, thanks for posting it!):

J & J Sportsmanship Award went to 599, the RoboDox from Granada Hills.

While the announcer had the right team number, they confused the team name with 598, Team Duct Tape.

Congrats to all! It was a great event.

-Mr. Van
Coach, RoboDox 599

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

A correction to Chris's list (first, thanks for posting it!):

J & J Sportsmanship Award went to 599, the RoboDox from Granada Hills.

While the announcer had the right team number, they confused the team name with 598, Team Duct Tape.

Congrats to all! It was a great event.

-Mr. Van
Coach, RoboDox 599

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

I had lots of fun at the regional this year. The only thing that bothered me was that our alliance thought we won our 2nd playoff match, when we actually lost, so we had to move off the field. Great regional FIRST!

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

From what I have heard, the regional was moved from the Sports Arena to the Forum for a variety of reasons, one of them being cost. However, in my talking with FIRST people, they said that due to the Forum being a union venue, the cost was very similar to the Sports Arena. (This may or may not be correct as I have seen nothing on paper, but this is what I have heard.)

I am waiting for the 2007 LA regional though. USC is building a new arena which will open in the summer of 2006 and according to the project website: http://www.usc.edu/neighborhoods/galencenter/ community groups will be able to rent the venue at cost or for free depending on the event.

Re: So Cal Regional!!!!
 

Wow! We really enjoyed the S. Calif. Regional. Great venue and great company.

Our team was making some modifications on Thurs. and lost our first and third qualifying matches. It seemed like we weren't going to be leading an alliance, so we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves 2nd at the end of day 2.

Congratulations to Team 69 for repeating their win in S. California. Interestingly, last year, we won with 69 against an alliance that included Teams 330 and 22. This year 69 won with an alliance that included 330 and 634 against our alliance with 22 and 968. I guess its Team 22's turn to win S. Calif. next year. :-) Of course Team 22 just came off a victory with us and Team 254 in Silicon Valley, so I don't imagine that they are feeling any pain.

In our first two matches in the finals, we tried some defence but didn't have much luck. Team 69 and their partners outscored us especially in the second match. It is only because of a penalty in the first match that we were still in the game. In the last match, we played offensively and it was an excellent match -- very close. We discovered later that Team 980 had gone to straighten a tetra that didn't need to be straightened as it had been bumped partly off by opponents, so we wasted some time there.

Battery management also became an issue. Two of our teams had batteries that went low in the final match, and 980 couldn't lift a tetra for the last 20 seconds or so. Live and learn. Last year, we borrowed batteries from other teams for the elimination rounds. For some reason, we forgot to do that this year. Time for us to make a team manual I guess.

In any case thanks to Teams 22 and 968 for being great partners. It was a great run--we almost made it all the way. And thanks to Teams 69, 330 and 634 and all our opponents! You can only have a great competition with great opponents, and we definitely had a great S. Calif. Regional this year!

Lastly thanks to Dean, Woodie, Dave Lavery, all the judges, referees, FIRSTers and the game design crew. You did it again! This year's game is once again a work of art. As I posted last year, I consider FIRST to be a higher art form because, as opposed to movies, we get to be participants who can influence the outcome of the "show". And every robot is a unique creation, and as such, is an art form. In fact a few years ago, we entered our robot in an actual art show at one of our schools with a price tag of $20,000. (No it didn't sell. I have it outside my front door to welcome guests. It's my watch-dog robot.)

For all the S. Calif. Regional teams, hope to compete with you again in sunny S. Calif. again next year. (By the way, Team 188, I am a Canadian also, although somehow I wound up living in Hollywood. Hope to see you back next year.) For those going to Atlanta, see you soon.