Re: VCU Real media is working
 

i dont know, 1568 can push robots around, because of the way its built, but ill take your word for it and good luck tomorrow

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

Cool. I'm hoping to attend the Silicon Valley Regonal this year. If so, I'll see you there.

-Kevin

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

If I had some gaurantee they'd use it, I'd be willing to be the voice for that. I can do high tech female. However, I think a recorded voice might not be audible and fast enough.

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

Tommorw they will be showing VCU on NASA TV correct? They still provide NASA TV feeds right?

No cable places in the area have nasa tv :(

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

it will be webcasted

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

VCU is only on NASA TV on Saturday. Should still be webcasted both today and tommorow.

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

What time does it start this morning? :confused:

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

Is anyone else getting a "Max Headroom" Effect on the webcast when it's choppy (Actually, it's kinda cool when it's not annoying)? I assume it's because 6,403,602 people are trying to watch it at the same time.

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

That happened to me too, but I found a link from SOAP on one of the other threads for windows media player and it works awesome.

-Tom

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

The NASA webcast looks great and it isn't choppy. I’ve had the best connection with this WM source so far (I’ve tried about 10). But this is my recommendation for viewing the matches today.
http://robotics.nasa.gov/events/webc...onals_2006.php

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Are there three people announcing? One emcee, somebody introducing teams, and a game announcer (who I think is Mr. FIRST).

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Sorry if this is a repeat - haven't time to read thread

I hate to criticize, but the camera work on the web cast is not to my liking.
Maybe the camera man thinkers we want to see close ups of the bots playing rugby - but I'd rather see the wide shot - at least being able to see where shots go - hardly ever see the center goals.

PS: Better Dan? I was in a hurry out the door? No time for spall chek.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Things that have happened so far that I found funny:

A robot got under another robot (because its chassis was up very high) and they spent the rest of the match trying to untangle themselves.

Allot of robots are shooting balls into the crowd

A robot dropped its battery as if to say it didn't need it.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

VCU really rocks so far. Opening ceremonies just ended and the competition is just starting. :D just wanted to tell people to keep their eyes open for the giant silver robot, I love saying hi to CDers.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

I saw that battery out on the field too...always got to remember to zip tip those connectors together tightly! Seems like the field reset is pretty smooth and quick. Anyone know how many matches teams have at this regional? It's one of the biggest, if not the biggest I think, so it may not be as many as the other smaller regionals. It is still really early, but scores seem very low, with the exception of one match with 435 (I think it was them) who owned their center goal and their alliance scored 80ish? points. Scores should go up as teams get some matches under their belts.

-Tom

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Just got in on the webcast today, something I've noticed -

Where's the real time scoring that was on the screen yesterday?

haha, I like how the Jay Z + Linkin Park was playing during the beginning of the Aim High video. Dave should just make his video to rap/rock :]

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Wow I dont have sound but that would have been cool. Why did they play the animation again? O well. They seem to be really picky about if you can or cant see the balls before auton. Good thing we've changed the material were using for our hopper.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

So the crowd has some clue as to how the game is played. Is anyone else having problems with the webcast dying every 15 minutes or so?

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

I <3 the WM stream, because my stupid school has some odd vendetta against Realplayer!

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

I havent had any problems using windows media player.

They played the animation again because apparently there were audio problems the first time around and you couldn't hear the game description.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Im having no problems with the webcast, Im using nasa TV with WM format. Works great.

Also note the technical dificulties there having. I hope this gets sorted out and it doesn't affect everyone...

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

*plays taps* poor field...

Ya, there must be major problems with the field for them to put on a long video like this. It sucks, but you have to expect these kinds of problems at the first week regionals.

EDIT: Well at least they have the old software to rollback on. They should be back up soon.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

I know that Dan Green from Wildstang is one of the announcers. I wonder why he's in Virginia?

Okay, who had "1 Hour" on the "First Major Field Malfunction" Pool? I had 2 hours:p

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

116's animation is solid. i liked it a lot

edit: post number 279!!

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

hmm...at vcu the high score was 84 so far, i just got a call from my team at BAE high score 82, with the team, 1568 on the alliance

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

Well, it is 11:22 and I just lost the windows media player webcast due to "the server being busy". Anyone else get booted?

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

yea me too...seems like I'm going to have to resort to RP :(

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

WM is down for me also.

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

i got disconnected as well, the real media is working, i just switched over


well WM is working now!!!

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

good rule of thumb, never use RM if you dont have to.

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

Is it just me or are they scoring off side penalties wrong? They don't seem to be charging 5 pts for the initial, just for the time.

G 26

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

the match that just happened: red bot tips over in front of their ramp, at the end team 540, for red, is trying to get up and tips backwards but another red bot supports it from the back, preventing a fall from the platform...

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

Maybe this is a wrong assumption, but when i was trying to get a feel for how a HP can throw the best, two hands was way more stable, and all the HPs i see are onyl using one hand. I feel like they're losing a lot accuracy that way. The competition is pretty good though overall.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Can anyone tell how the balls are holding up?... are they chewed up or do they have enough spares to replace the bad ones?... just curious.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

YAY RTS is back up! Lets hope it stays up today. Looks to be more accurate than yesterday too. But I wish I was there because i would like to see what truly is going on in person. The balls seem to be holding up (i haven’t seen any confetti yet :p )

Edit:
I don't know the match number but they were with the bot that looks like a dump truck (literally). But anyways, the bot was fine, it was "balanced" on the ramp but it moved a little too much and fell on its TOP. The camera looked to be smashed :( as it was in a cardboard tube. And the match before that a robot fell over and their battery just rolled around inside the bot looking like it was tearing up the electronics! :ahh: I really hope none of this is too bad of damage (pyro I know you like destruction well there you go)

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Do they have a score archive anywhere and a list of upcoming matches for this regional other than at the event in the pits? I haven't found one yet but I might not be looking hard enough.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

435 Robodogs are tearing it up! Wow, now that's a great robot, keep it up guys.

343 Metal in Motion is a fast one too.

Also, this year scoring is a lot faster than previous years because all the balls are automatically counted. This is nice, VCU is basically doing back to back matches and making up for lost time.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

That is one incredibly fast shooter!

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

1731 is looking like a pretty good rookie bot. They look like they know how to play defense and they can shoot pretty quick. Just if they would slowly drive forward as they shoot to make up for the lose of speed on the poof balls they could make them all.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

I thought there was a speed limit?????

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Are they even enforcing the exit velocity rule? If they are how?

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

I have been watching the webcast (on and off) since 9 in the morning. Three robots caught my eye. Team 435... what a fast robot, very nice shooter. Team 343, Metal in Motion, very nice machine, and the Dump truck (I am not sure about the team number of that team). Looks like a very exciting regional.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Looks like not. Some are near or over twice the speed.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

You're definitely right. I too have been watching all day and 435 has been a model of consistency. Metal in Motion has been strong too. As typical to a first week regional, scores have been all over the place. Seems though that winning scores have been somewhat one sided, but there have been a few exciting, high-scoring, closely fought matches. Shooters with shooting devices low on their robots (ie., using gravity feed with a wheel down low) have seemed to have problems scoring on the center goal. Opponents have had little trouble blocking any of their scoring attempts. I do like seeing a lot of balls on the field in most of the matches; means theres plenty to scoop up without having to rely on human players :)

-Tom

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

Does anyone know the current standings?

I just got home from school and the standings page on FIRST wont load

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

There seems to be some issues with the ranking algorithm in the scoring system. They are aware and are working the issue... more to come.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

It's the head referee's job to enforce this, I believe. However, they need to have the correct measuring devices to see this speed. Is there a ball speed measurement tool at these 1st week events?

Andy B.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Means you need a mechanism to "scoop" them up with. :(

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

I could be wrong, since I didn't try to capture video and time them.
But after putting about 5,000 rounds through ours, and clocking a bunch, I think some are way fast.

I know how hard the referee's job is. Maybe they are looking elsewhere. There's a whole lot of pushing to keep an eye on.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

supposedly, there is a set of infared sensors that are being used to measure ball speed, but i'm not sure if the are in place and/or functioning. The highest score i've seen soo far was in the 90's, something like 96. The poof balls seem to be holding up well.

Look for me - the only guy on 617 with long hair - blond. If u yell Keegan, i'll look around. :D


Squirrel

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

My understanding is this...
FIRST is not requiring every robot be tested for violation of the muzzle velocity rule. On a case by case basis robots will be checked. It is done by positioning a robot at a predetermined distance from the goal. Then they will be asked to use their shooter to aim and score a ball into the center goal. The goal software has the capability of measuring the speed of the ball.

I am not a fan of FIRST's position on this because it's an important safety requirement that should be checked on every robot. I suspect a team that may be violating this rule probably doesn't even know it. By not creating a non-objective approach to testing the rule each individual regional will probably enforce the rule a different way. FIRST's method of enforcement wastes precious field time. I have on good word from the head inspector at the Boston regional teams should anticipate being checked by police style radar gun as a part of the inspection process.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Love that truck! :D

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Are you positive about this? My understanding was that the only sensors in the goal are in the exit tube that goes down to the drivers. If that's the case, then I don't understand how this could measure muzzle velocity.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Are you aware that Doppler radar will catch the ball spin. Close range means narrow beam width. If it reflects off the top of an over-spinning ball, it will add the rotation to the translation.

They should do it the way "Myth Busters" does. High speed cameras against a patterned background is the best way. Even 60 FPS would be more reliable than radar at close range.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

My information comes second hand from someone who listened to the FIRST conference calls last week. I am 90% confident that information is correct.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

any standings and such for VCU?

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

Anyone else noticing an alarming frequency of tipping so far?

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

yup, i noticed that too. Someone's battery came off in one of the matches thanks to the ramp, I think the real "wedge" in this game is that ramp

435 is doing pretty good, havn't seen 222 yet. but hopefully tommorrow.

Hey is the VCU the ONLY webcast this week

And if you look on the NASA TV Listings it says that the Arizona Regional will be held on Sat Mar. 11, 2006 at 9AM EST. can anyone explain this to me because ilast time i checked, Arizona is Pacif Standard Time, therefore, wouldn't that really mean 12PM, or are they gona show some of the Florida Regional because they are also webcasting that.


Wouldn't it be awsome if NASA TV came in HD

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

I think that's just inherent in the game design. With so much contact and defense going on, plus the ramp, teams are bound to tip. Obviously, top-heavy robots are more in danger, but even the lower COG robots are jumping a little. It makes for some interesting matches though!

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

Do we get the award ceromonies for today on the webcast?

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

yes the webcast will continue until after the award ceremony.

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

Its been brought to my attention that every robot that tries to help another robot up the ramp, gets them up but tips themselves.

And some of the robots with casters are losing control going caster side first

any thoughts?

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

Alan, any chance you can get the background music attenuated??

KA-108 :cool:

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

i too have noticed that. also i see some robots that seem to be one side heavy and start to go up the side that is not so heavy.

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

Yes. I know it is just Week 1 and it is only Friday, but I have to call 'em as I see 'em, the matches I've seen (say 10-20 throughout the day) are not as exciting as I had hoped for.

Other thoughts:

• Surprisingly low scoring.

• I was very surprised at how few teams can negotiate the ramp effectively (I would estimate less than 1 in 5 is able to do it reliably, 1 in 10 able to do it against the will of a defender)

• I like that some teams are scoring in auton -- not as many as we'd like, but it is happening (and mostly in the low goal -- some the far low goal which is cool, some nice bowlers)

• The field problems are troubling

• It is hard to know without being there, but it seems like penalties are being assigned after the match (not live). I hope that I am wrong on that count.

• I think we've had an increase in the number of robots that spend the match running in a circle due to one or other set of drive wheels dying. I thought we had licked that last year with the kitbot chassis, but teams seem to have forgotten whatever they learned last year.

• There are a lot of effective low goal scorers -- that is nice to see. Sometimes MASSIVE ball dumps are going on. Nice Job!

• The flags aren't working for me. I would rather go back to the beacons -- I was never one who was opposed to them though like so many so I am clearly biased.

• There are some pretty nice shooters out there. I am impressed with a few in particular -- a team in the 1600's (1610?) and 222 come to mind. The shooters are not being left alone to shoot, so they are not making a lot yet, but I think that they will get faster at aiming and teams will learn to protect their 3 pt shooters with picks as the season progresses. Kudos to 222 who can shoot effectively on the ramp -- with so few ramp climbers, they are freer to shoot unhindered.

• The whistle that marks the periods is sort of bush league. The field PA should make the sound, shouldn't it?

• The Low Goal scoring system is pretty cool and seems like it works fine -- some sort of back lit ramp with a vision system I think from the few shots that the web cam gave. Nicely done.

• I am having to get used to the periods. It may be just a web cast thing but it is hard/impossible to keep track of who is on offense or defense. The fact that the ramp and the goals are of opposite color is confusing me but I think I will get used to this.

Finally, I am sorry that the notes are generally negative. I wish I could be more positive. Hopefully robots and drivers and autonomous and strategies will improve as the regionals continue.

Joe J.

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

Note this thread was merged with the 'VCU Real Media is Working' thread to keep all VCU discussion in one place.

Thanks!

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

Could you please elaborate?

Is the field falling apart?
Is the scoring system not working consistently?

Thanks

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Awards Friday:

Imagery Award - 843 WOW

RadioShack Award - 1541 Midlothian HS

Xerox Creativity Award - 343 Metal -In- Motion

Delphi Driving Tomorrow's Technology Award - 1086 Deep Run

Entrepreneur Award - 1002 GT/Wheeler HS

Judges Award - 1054 The Knightmares

Website Award - 623 Oakton HS

Woodie Flowers Award - Toss Cline 620

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

I don't work for NASA any more. Try PM to jlevans or Jeff Seaton.

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

I don't know what was going on but there were quite a few times where they delayed the match start while they got the field fixed, there were more aborted matches in the random few matches I've seen today than I saw all last season.

I am not sure what the problem was or whether it was a lot of different problems but there definitely were problems.

Joe J.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Can anyone at Virgina take a digital snapshot of the Qualification match assignment sheet? PLEASE!!!!

We have some holes in our data regarding who played in what match, and I dont see the FIRST website posting results yet (the links are still broken)...

THANKS!!!!

KA-108 :cool:

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Congratulations to all Friday award winners!
The action tomorrow should be even better. I can hardly wait.
Good luck to all teams everywhere in the coming weeks! :)

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Which team was DQ'd in Match 32?

Thanks.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

It was my team 1093. Our trap door was malfunctioning and didn't come back up after we dumped balls, so as we were emptying into the corner goal the door passed through the goal about 6 or so inches. That is apparently enough to be "dangerous" and also trip the scoring system, so we were DQ'd.

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

The announcer mentioned that they were having problems with the scoring systems. After resetting one of the qualifying matches 3 times, there was a break to recalibrate the scoring system which took about 30 minutes. As far as I know, there were no other errors for the rest of the day.

Re: VCU Real media is working
 

Yeah, Match #9 was played 3 times. That worked to 384's advantage. 1st time their autonomous shooter aimed too far right; the 2nd time it shot too far left. The 3rd and final one they scored a few balls.


KA-108 :cool:

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Thanks! There were some no-shows in the first few matches. Did the HP at least report to the field? The emcee didn't mention who was in the missing spot.

KA

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

I was working beside that goal - the door to dump the balls was down and most of it passed into the goal. If anything goes more than 1-2 inches into the goal you risk the chance of being DQed because then it begins to interfere with the scoring system.

The 30 minute break was to reset the field software to the previous version that was being used yesterday. FTA Mike recalibrated the scoring system on the blue side today but that didn't take any more than 5 minutes.

Some bots are able to get up the ramo easily, and some are able to push others up the ramp, but there are many more that tip than can get up easily. 345 and 122 were having problems getting on the ramp (as well as many others) because they were running over balls at the foot of the ramp and throwing themselves off balance.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

VCU is goin good, thanks for all the compliments on the 435 robodogs bot (im on 435), if any of the earlier comments on excessive muzzle velocity were directed toward us, we are within the legal limit, we were challenged by the referees twice on this matter and our calculations are exactly on, our velocity is exactly on the legal limit. we are just able to shoot repeatly but we are under the speed. to check this the reffs had us shoot a ball with our launcher at 30 deg (they had us prop up our robot on a crate and measure it to a 30 deg. angle.
)and it shot 30 feet but our launcher is fixed at a 60 deg. angle so its way different

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

I wish VCU had an underdog award, cause we might get it tomorrow, heh.
We've had a rough day today, but due to some wrenchwork, we think we'll be able to perform much better tomorrow.
If so, I really hope someone gives us a chance and at least considers us for finals.
If all goes well we will be moving the 1 pointers we've been scoring in the corner to the center.
Only time will tell....

Help support Team #1132!

We've only got 2 QM's left, and we'd like to win 'em :)

I do thank everyone for a great year at VCU so far, and hope that everyone has a great time tomorrow :)

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

I think the scoring system is screwed up. On match #53 today. As the match finished i'm pretty sure the screen flashed a score of 32 Red and 28 blue. Then they have to subtract penalties and add points for robots on the ramps.. after all was added together. There were no penalties given. and Red had one bot on and blue had 2 bots on. Making the score 37 to 38. Blue team wins. but final score showed something like 37 to 19. How'd that happen?

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

The scoring was turned off on the main screen when an error occured. That should account for most of the errors that appear to those watching.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

The joys of VCU. Nothing like that kareoke and crowd surfing with 1002. Too bad we didn't get to sing the Eye of the Tiger. Besides the one or two issues we had with the field early on, the matches have been moving along very quickly.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

New rankings for VCU this morning!!!

1 - 384
2 - 1222
3 - 1610
4 - 1731
5 - 1541
6 - 975
7 - 414
8 - 1054
9 - 116
10 - 1137

Other teams of interest:

11 - 510
22 - 435
25 - 343
32 - 401
34 - 222
40 - 122

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Webcast working fine for me; just wanted to mention that the feed is also available on NASA TV, available on DirecTv channel 376. Tell your friends and family!

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

any ideas why the webcast is not running anymore?

/it's back

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

It is working for me and I am at the competition in the pits watching it!

LOL

http://www.virginiafirst.org/webcast.shtml

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

so far, the scoring system has messed up for us at least twice that we know of. We have won more than the matches that the scoring system says we have (2-6) and should have won the last one but the red bot in 79 was ruled ot be on the ramp and the driver of 1095 and i saw that it had at least one wheel on the ground. the ref's disagreed (head ref would not go back and look at it anyways, grr). go figure.

Anyways, good job to all. And good luck in the Finals.

Squirrel

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

NASA / VCU Regional Top eight seeds:

1. 1731
2. 414
3. 1222
4. 1541
5. 384
6. 1137
7. 1610
8. 510


Tournament Alliances

1. 1731, 414, 401
2. 1222, 1086, 1002
3. 1541, 975, 539
4. 384, 435, 1522
5. 1137, 222, 122
6. 1610, 343, 1598
7. 510, 540, 587
8. 928, 1908, 1793

Next 8 highest seeded teams:

1. 1907
2. 1054
3. 611
4. 116
5. 1885
6. 405
7. 1095
8. 339


Good Luck Everyone!

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional! No broadcast Sat.
 

Anyone know what's up? NASA TV was not showing any competition here on the west coast, and I can't get to any NASA web sites, including www.nasa.gov.

Did FRC crash the NASA web? That would be funny, especially since I don't work for NASA anymore.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Way to go team 1731...rookie #1 seed!

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

wow. I was watching alliance selection and i just can't believe that Epsilon Delta (116) wasn't picked.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

I like 1,4,5,6 to go far in this regional.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

I couldn't get on the NASA webcast site this morning but the Virginia FIRST site has the webcasts running.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

I like 2 and 5 to make it deep into the regional. I wouldn't be suprised if number one alliance lost in the first round.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Speaking of which, did 343 get picked!? That alliance with 435 is going to work up a storm.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

6. 1610, 343, 1598

I was also impresed with thier bot.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

I couldn't believe the number of double picks/higher alliance captain picks the team reps were making.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

exactly what i just posted, that's probably what happened to 116, they get thrown down the list and not picked because a few alliance captains were fumbling their lists. Bad thing to happen to 116. Good luck at next competition.

Re: 2006 NASA/VCU Regional!
 

Hi.. it seems you have been paying attention. If you have the 8 alliances written down, then can you make a post here listing them? I missed some bits here and there.