Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

WOW, what a fun regional. I'm exhausted. My voice is gone. The competition was amazing, and a lot of fun. We (292) didn't get picked for the elm. rounds, but we still had fun chearing for the teams there. I really had fun with my hometown hometeams there (292, 45, 1760) and then my "new" hometown teams there (85, 141, 2015) there were very few matches that I wasn't cheering.
Congradulations CyberBlue for winning the chairman's award! With our pit next to yours its very obvious that you guys are very deserving of the award!
Also congradulations to 1730,234,1555 for winning this crazy awesome regional I can't wait to see you at nationals.

There were a couple things that stood out to me. The first being that the competition was close. There were a few stand outs, but for the most part everyone was really competitive against each other. So thanks teams for making the competition interesting and fun to watch! Secondly, having the awards in the elliot music hall there at Purdue is a great thing. Not only because we have chairs with backs again, but I think it makes it feel more special. Next, the social was a perfect end of our teams day, getting to hang out with people from other teams. Lastly, Great job regional committee. At least from our angle in the stands, it looked flawless. No match restarts either that I can remember, which is pretty awesome!
Thanks guys for making another Boilermaker Regional so great! I'm so happy to be able to make the trip back to it every year. The team's ready to head to the Championships, and I'm ready to head to the next regional, all of us with much excitement! I'm going to stop writing now before I write a novel :D

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

I have to say that in comparisson to the regional in Wisconsin 1741 recently attended the Boilermaker referees allowed teams to be much much more agressive and it seemed like some of the defensive teams were driving at a near malicious level. We came out of several matches with the bottom forks of our gripper bent at inconcievable angles due to some of the rough driving. In talking with several teams at the regional we felt that activley pushing a robot when it's manipulator is in a vulnerable postion is not truely in the spirit of first and we avoided doing so. In the eliminations one team tipped two of the opposite alliances robots (completely flipping one and putting another in a situation where they would have tipped without the quick action of their third partner). The team that did this left the match without even a yellow card or a penalty. Also during the finals I spoke with a referee regarding the starting condition of a robot and how that fell within the rules, because of one rule regarding the postion of the robot controller in regard to the starting postion of the robot which says the the lights on the robot controller must be visible from three feet in front of the robot in starting condition in which the front of the robot is determined by the dimension facing out of the alliance home zone. All in all the regional was a good experience but I feel like it could have been better. I am extremely happy for 234 who is pretty much the reason for my team's existence. I love robotics and the situations mentioned above are purely observations in hopes to improve everyone's regional experience.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

First, let me post a huge disclaimer that this is not a post about whining about how the outcome was.

However, I think overall that Boilermaker was a really fun and well planned event. But, I do not agree with how game play was. I feel that the audience was really unfortunate NOT to see scoring. During the finals, no tubes were scored. However, at GLR, it was a pure offense event. In the elims, there were tons of tubes placed making the outcome totally unpredictable. I think the elims in Atlanta will be much like GLR. But as I said, the event was a lot of fun and me team enjoyed it.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

Once more, congrats to the winning teams 1730, 1555, and 234, especially 234 for the Chairmen's Award. Today was awesome. All I can say to others is Lift This!!! We (Team 1501) had an awesome time today and even lifted technically 2.5 robots!!!(In my opinion, it was 3) On of the other alliance's robots fell on our wing, yet the team 45 got on all the same without any problems. I was even surprised. One of my favorite teams that we played with today was the rookie team 1990. The defended like crazy and hoped on our wings without any second thought. My only regrets of today are that I couldn't watch many of the teams play, but from what I heard in our pits durring the time between matches, it was an incredible regional. Everyone was yelling and standing. For this being my first year, I am planning on comming to each of our regionals here in Indiana every year. Even when I am in college.

P.S. I am having trouble getting pictures up. I will try again.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

You can't control/predict strategies of other teams during finals. To me, the audience seemed very into the game play. Also, the outcome from the finals were unpredictable at BMR also, not knowing if all of 461's ramps would deploy, or if 1555 would be able to get theirs up in time and if all the robots could get up.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

I must say, this competition was wicked awesome. :D

This afternoon made me so happy to be from New England.

There's nothing quite like chanting "wicked awesome" and getting your awesome alliance partners (1189 and 931) to do the same.

I feel that our team was welcomed by everyone else. We got many compliments from volunteers saying that we are one of their favorite teams... ever. It feels so nice to hear that from someone after walking into a regional of strangers.

We had people asking for our "Wicked Awesome" t-shirts. We had extras and we gave them all out. We traded shirts with alliance parters (and I am currently wearing team 1189's shirt).

If anyone notices a sudden rise in the use of the word "wicked", please tell me. This would be outstanding news after wearing "Wicked Awesome" shirts, chanting "wicked awesome" and replying with "Team 166 thinks it would be wicked awesome to play with you guys" after being selected for the elimination rounds.

Also! We don't normally get a team social. GSR doesn't have one. This has definately the best I've seen. It totally beats the Atlanta after party.

More people referred to us as "Chop Shop" than "166". So many people congratulated us and applauded us. This has been an incredible experience.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

Here's a pic after the match of 1501 lifting 45 and 1990.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

Here is the video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIWh4F_3jjk

P.S.: Sorry about the yelling you'll hear ...... it was a bit wild of a moment.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

The tipping in both of the referenced cases was due to entanglement with the rack. The bot that completely flipped tangled in the rack which lifted it's wheels and, in the refs words, "drove up" the defensive bot resulting in it's turn-over. The second case was similar. Offensive bot tangled in the rack and got pushed into a tipping position. The defensive bot did back off once they realized the offensive bot was helpless, but it did take them too long to realize it. They did receive a verbal warning from the head ref at the end of the match.

I also can't let this match go with mentioning the phenominal alliance play that got the second bot out of the rack and back into the game... wicked awesome.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

It is a fine line between "agressive play" and "overly agressive play" and tough to call. This is a reall challenge for the referees.

We got hit so hard in one match that the schock stopped the RC and we were disabled for about the last minute. No wires pulled, not lost connections - the RC just stopped. That is a brutal hit. IFI has only seen it happen 2 or 3 times.

We were havily defended, which is good because it means we were a threat for scoring and that is a part of the game. I am all for defense, pushing and shoving and blocking, but the hard hits from across the field cross the line.

Luckily, we survived the hits, but i know some other teams that were basically taken out of the competition after being crashed into by totally defensive robots and that is a bad way to have to end a season.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

Congratulations to the BMR winning alliance teams:
Cyber Blue 234, Pulse 1555 and Team Driven 1730!!

Also congratulations to the runnerup alliance teams:
Westside Boiler Invasion 461, Bedford Express 1023 and Harrison Boiler Robotics 1747!

The final rounds were exciting and competitive to the final second! It was a pleasure watching you compete!!

Stuck in 2004????
 

It is my impression that the Indiana FIRST group that puts on the Boilermaker regional still thinks the theme is "Raising the Bar". Here's my understanding of the history of this event: In 2004 the people responsible for IRI and the incredible Indiana teams figured out that "Raising the Bar" meant they should have their own regional the next year. The 2005 event was a great event, but when asked for suggestions on how to improve it the list was quite long. 2006 BMR generated a much shorter list and was a great event. Still not satisfied, the committee and all those smiling volunteers pulled off one of the smoothest FIRST events I've ever attended.

Earlier in this thead I predicted a great time. What an understatement. All of the staff bent over backwards to make sure things were done right and on time. To the helpful and patient inspectors, those visiting team pits making sure we were heading to our matches, the pit announcers, and all those behind the scenes: Thank You.

As I sat in the stands at Friday's opening ceremonies I couldn't help having doubts about the young people on the committee, doing MC, and play by play. These doubts were obviously unfonded. In fact, the play by play announcing was perhaps the best I've heard at any event. Which field will he be doing in Atlanta?

Unless they get a bigger venue, I'm really curious to see how they keep "Raising the Bar" in 2008.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

Congratulations to the winning alliance of 234, 1730, and 1555.

461 and 1747, you guys were awesome alliance partners. I don't think I could have been able to find a better match of teams to work together with. Good luck at ATL if you're going, it not...you may see 1023 at Boilermaker next year again.

1189, no hard feelings. My team mates and I decided early on in the regional that if we were in a position to pick, that we would take full advantage of it. Sorry again though.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

On behalf of Warren Robotics 829, a BIG congratulations to Cyber Blue 234 for winning the Chairman's award!! You are a class act and well deserving.

It has been an honor and privilege to be associated with you. Good luck at Long Island and see you in Atlanta!!

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

I think the Boilermaker Planning Committee and all of the teams encourage and really welcome teams from around the country (and world) to come to this event! We really think it adds to the excitement and flavor of the event to have so many "non-local" teams. Some regionals (intentionally or unintentionally) don't create such a welcome atmosphere and it really makes a difference.

Hope to see you at the Indiana Robotics Invitational in July and the Boilermaker Regional in 2008!

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

Congratulation to the BMR planning committee!

As usual it is a fun event. It's great not having to walk a long distance between the pits and the playing field.

I look forward to returning to Purdue every chance I get and the BMR is no exception! Having the awards in the Elliott Hall of Music and bringing the Purdue Mini Special on stage was a great addition to the event!
I was hoping to hear "Hail Purdue":D

It was a great event and I am already looking forward to 2008!

Go Boilers!!

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

The Boilermaker regional was awesome, and I had a great time watching the matches.

I think one of the most awesome things that happened that I saw though was our team helping out our alliance partner during the quarterfinals. We managed to right them and keep them from falling over... great teamwork there.

BMR Panorama
 

I got this idea from somebody who made one for the 2004 GTR regional (on Wikipedia).

http://www.technokats.org/gallery2/m...serialNumber=2

It's a panorama of the Armory during competition, hastily photographed and then hastily assembled at home. There are pieces missing, but the overall view is there.

The original panorama is something like 33MP.

Find the original in the TechnoKats gallery.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

Very nice. I like the way it shows everything

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

I will hopefully have video up in the next couple days on SOAP. I recorded all friday and saturday minus maybe 2/3 matches when record didn't initialize.

-Mike

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

http://picasaweb.google.com/cgbagne/Boilermaker
Here are some pictures of 573 falling and being righted by 141. When the weight of the robot was being supported by the partially extended arm I was almost sure that it would need lots of repairs but fortunately there was no visible damage.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

No damages, no way! Thanks for the good news Curt Gofrank Bagne! Anyway Boilermaker was a pretty good regional and 573 had a blast, hope to see you all at the Championships!

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

This regional was so much fun. Everyone was so enthusiastic and welcoming towards our team (NH 166) and it was so exciting to be out there with you guys. I want to give a shoutout to our alliance partners, 1189 and 931. It was so great to be with you guys out on the field, and we put up a great fight. (this is the 166 human player btw)

Wicked awesome, guys! Hope to see you again soon!

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

No problem, you obviously made a good choice.

I'd like to thank 931, 166, & 1990 for their assistance in the tournement. This was our first time as an alliance captain and you guys made it easy on us; thanks, it was 'wicked awesome'. Sorry we had to bow out in the semis... here's why:




Who can say 4140 Rc40?

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

That was on a drive wheel, right? What kinda of setup were you using. We used aluminum shafts and keys, but we just used 1 CIM and an AndyMark (similar to 2006 KOP) transmission. We also then reduced it by 1/3 and used a belt drive system.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

Yeah it was a center drive wheel... anything else and we probably could have pulled the chain and continued.

Our drivetrain was 6x6 - 2 CIMS a side into AM servo shifters buried in our rails. With the additional reduction from sprockets we were running ratios of 10.0 in high and 25.6 in low. All the components are (were) aluminum... 5/8 igus shafting and IFI sprockets with hubs welded on.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

I agree it looked like a great event , sadly I was sitting in my office watching it on my computer. Still looked like a blast and did a lot of yelling at my monitor.
Only disappointment I had was not seeing the awards ceremony ... maybe something could be set up not year for that (hint hint).
Congrats to all there for putting on such an awesome event! :D

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

Is anyone working on getting the video feed uploaded onto SOAP or TBA?

There are a couple matches I'd like to watch. :cool:

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

A huge shout out and thanks go to our alliance partners 1730 for picking us, and 1555 for being one of greatest defensive/lifters we could have asked for. You guys helped a dream come true.

Thanks to 461, 1023, and 1747 for some exhilerating finals. That last match came so close to a tie I almost lost it for a second. You were all very classy and you gave us a very close finals.

Boilermaker Panorama
 

Another version of the Boilermaker panorama, this time manually blended. There should be less decapitated people in this one.

http://www.technokats.org/gallery2/m...g2_itemId=3840

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

I would like to say thanks to 1555 and 1730 for being such great alliance partners.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

I am wicked happy that our team (166) picked Indiana to go to this year. It was a lot of fun. I'd like to thank teams 1189 and 931 for picking us in finals! We had a lot of fun and I hope to see your teams again.

We would also like to invite your teams to our minicomp. We have not picked a date yet, but when we have space in the school booked we'll let you know. It was a lot of fun working with you and I think seeing your teams again up here would be wicked awesome.

~Tiffany George~
~Co-pilot~Co-Captain~

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

I am working on video right now. Should be ready Tuesday. I haven't access to soap yet but it will atleast be on my server when it it done.


http://video.team2015robotics.com/

It will likely take some time downloading because my upload speed isn't as fast as I would like it. If nothing comes up please PM me or just wait 1/2 hour. I have a new harddrive I need to install for all these new files and archives I have.

-Mike

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

LOST AND FOUND:

If you think you might have lost something at BMR, please let us know. We have a box of stuff.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

CLOSING CEREMONY VIDEO:

If anyone took some decent video of the awards ceremonies in Elliott Hall (Friday/Saturday/both), please let me know. Ideally would be of the entire ceremonies, not just a particular team. If so, would like to discuss getting a copy.
Thanks,

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

We lost a couple of matches that we would like to have back... are they in the box?

:)

AB

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

Were they safety matches, or the strike-anywhere kind? :rolleyes:

Congratulation to the TechnoKats for a very strong showing at Boilermaker. It was a very well run event, and the play was fiercely competitive. And that's a good thing. From where I sat it appeared that your team was just one or two tough breaks away from a second regional final, and very possibly a second regional win.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

We lost our dancing partner, see them around anywhere?

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

I am getting video uploaded to my server slowly but surely. I will first get low quality 320X240 loaded, then once that is all ready I will upload higher quality. Sorry for the slow download speed but its all I've got.

http://video.team2015robotics.com/

-Mike

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

I was just watching the first finals match and noticed that 1555 lifted their bumpers with their robot!

Better fix that before Atlanta guys.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

Hey everybody!

I just wanted to say on behalf of 1319, thank you all for such a fantastic regional!! Once again, Purdue held one kicking tournament with great competition and great people!

I would like to personally thank team 1737 and 1985, our alliance partners, for their great performance during quarterfinals and semifinals! Y'all were awesome and I hope we meet again one day!

The entire regional was a blast and definitely worth the 13 hour bus-ride :ahh:

I hope all of you had as great a time as me and if YOU ever feel like travelling 13 hours it would be awesome to see y'all at the Palmetto Regional in SC next year.

Thanks for everything and good luck!

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

Please send me a list of what you found and I will see if i want any of it to be mine....

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

I don't think they took you seriously Amy :D :rolleyes: .

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

I think a nice idea would be to make a torrent for each regional, then advertise it to all the teams that went to that regional. It'd save you a lot of bandwidth.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

member of team 1555...our whole robot goes into the air all that touches the ground are 4 legs

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

Yup and when the bumpers on your robot go over 8" they are illegal. You need to remove them.

Just an FYI.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

If they lift their bumpers over the bumper zone, they have to include the bumpers in the weight of the robot, otherwise it's ok to lift the bumpers over the bumper zone so long as they include them in the weight of the robot.

That was one of our questions to the GDC. Link

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

Thanks, good point. If they are outside the starting size would they be legal?

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

Yes. Non standard bumpers are subject to the same weight/size regulation of regular robots. I'm surprised no one caught onto this....I sure didnt :(

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

Thanks so much to you guys and 1555. Our drive team was very impressed with your scouting data and I thought you all did an amazing job working together in the elimination matches. Everyone was so great to work with.

You know, a bunch of our team was really worried about coming up to the boilermaker regional knowing how tough the competition would be. But I think that regardless of the outcome they would certainly agree that the boildermaker is one of the best regionals going. The people are so great and the everything runs so smooth.

Thanks again, and see you in Atlanta

Jim Nazworthy
Sponsor: Team Driven #1730

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

Thank you to all who have congratulated team 1730 on our success. It was a great regional to compete in.It was a very tough regional. It was an honor to compete in the winning alliance with teams 234 and 1555. Best of luck to you guys in Atlanta. We'll be looking forward to seeing you there.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

Here is a link to another thread that has two matches from Boilermaker and a bulid season movie. Team 85 movies

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

that's great! I'm glad there wasn't tons of damage done to your teams bot.

Thanks for the pics too =D They're pretty cool.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

So let me get this straight.... team 1555 could have been

A) Over the weight limit depending on the weight of their bumpers and robot
B) Over the dimensions with the same stipulations as above
C) Should not have had their bumpers on during competition.

Not that it would have really offset their win, it just bothers me that no one caught that until now. I hope they either run with out bumpers from now on, or change how their bumpers mount to the frame....

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

I'm also kinda surprised that no one caught on considering this:

Our robot is about 36 inches long and our ramps are this wide. Therefore we have 2 extra inches, in which part of our arm sticks out in the front, and barely in the back. Just about every other match I got brought back to the field by a ref where they told me the arm couldn't hang out and that we couldn't compete like that. And every time I told them the situation and then they measured it every time as well...

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

you can see the bumper issue here...

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/27887?

I agree that this issue is a bit unsettling considering the winners of a regional are supposed to represent the best that competed within the rules. However, as long as we can learn from this and look for similar infractions at future competitions, i don't really see it as that big of a deal.

court

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

I've actually missed this <R37> infraction on two (or more) robots so far. There was a robot at St. Louis (yes, I recall the team and no, I won't mention them here) that had the same standard bumper height infraction while lifting; they have since corrected their design to comply with the rule. All inspectors and referees missed the infraction during Friday qualifying. On Saturday morning a pit neighbor spotted the problem and brought it to the team's attention. They were aware of the rule but had not seen the GDC Q&A response confirming that the rule applies even when lifting. Once they saw the problem they were very gracious about correcting it before playing Saturday. I am sure that 1555 will be equally gracious before their next event.

The reason that Boilermaker officials didn't catch the problem right away is probably the same as the reason the St. Louis officials didn't catch it: we were too busy staring at the awesome lifter and saying, "wow, that is cool!" :)

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

Hail all. I am from 1555, and I am sorry that was never caught. That was something we never thought of, or I guess some one never noticed. There was a person who was supposed to make sure the bumpers were complying with the rules, but I guess it slipped by. And we lifted many times and no one said anything. Although I currently don't understand the why that is a problem, we will still follow it. From now on we will be going without the bumpers. I sorry if this upset anyone, it was just something that slipped by. We are a small team so to make sure every rule is in compliance can be hard at times. Thanks for pointing that out to us. If someone had pointed this out to us earlier we would have gladly removed them.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

As one of the inspectors and referees, I feel bad that we missed this. I respectively disagree that we missed this because we were marveling at their lift.
As the ref, it was one of the last things on my mind. As an inspector, we probably should see how teams use certain mechanisms to make sure they're not inadvertently breaking certain rules and to make sure this doesn't happen again.
I would suggest adding a step to the inspection process (although a few teams already have a hard enough time getting through inspection). Maybe have the inspector accompany each robot over to the practice field and have the team demonstrate the functions of the robot to make sure it's capabilities comply with rules. I don't know how useful this step would be in future years, but maybe it would help prevent these small (and hopefully) unintentional infractions from occurring.
In addition, I would hope that if someone sees a robot breaking a rule and the refs/inspectors missed it, that they first bring it up to the team in a gracious manner. If the team were to continue to ignore the advise of their peers, which hopefully wouldn't happen, you can always mention it to the head ref or inspector.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

No worries. It didn't really affect the outcome and you didn't do it on purpose. Things like this happen.

I was a coach in the number 8 alliance and I missed it when we played against you (and when we played with you during qualifications.)

It’s as much our fault for not pointing it out to you earlier.

Re: 2007 Boilermaker Regional!!!
 

Is anyone working on getting the videos up onto SOAP?

Just wondering because there are a couple matches I'd like to see.