Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

Does anyone know if the Kettering competition is being webcasted and, if so, where to find it?

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

I believe there is no webcast.

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

Nope, no webcast. I'm here...

However, now that I'm here, has anyone else EVER seen a 5 HOUR delay due to a pair of failed arena controllers?

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

Only at a kettering kickoff. It was the same year of stack attack and the problem was that team were rolling the carts over the pressure pads the human players stood on. It wasn't 5 hours, but they did cancel matchers and proceeded to the eliminations rather than play the last handful of matches.

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

I see, one of the 2 Kettering Kickoffs that I didn't attend ^_^ Well, at least the problem looks solved. What I want to know is how they managed to rig it....

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

There was TV coverage about this event:

http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/media?id=6004929

Way to go, whoever did their homework!!

Roger

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

Same way we control auton,disable, and normal mode... a toggle switch of course. Should be back to normal tomorrow. If not... well we deal right?


Oh, and we are not webcasting but we will be HOPEFULLY posting the entire regional on the web after the fact.

And while I'm writing, I would like to say that I have been very impressed by the level of competition I am seeing. Congratulations to all the teams and hopefully we will have a nice day tomorrow.

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

Ahhh yes, KK '03 - a great day to be the DJ at a competition that wasn't competing. I completely know how the guy today felt :confused::ahh::eek::mad::p

So I was going to mention how huge of a disaster it was walking around for 5 hours with no competing, oh and by the way - it's ALL MY FAULT EVERYBODY, AND I'M SORRY. I walk through the door, and suddenly the field breaks down. It must be my magnetic personality.

But anyways, it turned out not to be such a big disaster after all. It gave the rookie teams some valuable time with some VERY experienced robot inspectors to improve their robot and make it work correctly, so by the time matches FINALLY got going around 6:30 PM, pretty much every robot was working the way it was supposed to. And it turns out that with a 10 min match time, we're only 8 matches behind. How do you like that? Tomorrow should be awesome though. Some of these rookies are outstanding.

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

Actually, Dan, we're only 3 matches behind!

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

Wow, I have to hand it to everyone involved, the ingenuity of the people involved with F.I.R.S.T. never ceases to amaze me. However, since this field is going to be at a regional that we're actually competing at (GLR), I hope that all of the bugs will have been worked out of it by then ^_^

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

I am proud of all those rookies. We were originally on a 10-minute match schedule. By 8:00 Friday we were running 6-7 minute cycles, one after the other. They did marvelously, moving where we pushed and prodded and cajoled them to go. At about 11:00 this morning, the lead que told me we only had a couple matches to go, then rerun Match 4, 5 and 6 that were spoiled Friday afternoon. "And how many rounds did we cut out?" - none, we got all the games in. These teams got 14 rounds on the field to figure out what they can do. Watch out when they start hitting Detroit, Boilermaker, West Michigan, Great Lakes, Minnesota, Canada, and a few other places.

I'm not going to post winners, because every team there was a winner. They improved so much from Friday morning practice to Friday evening matches to the end of qualifiers this morning to exciting elimination matches this afternoon.

This event couldn't have been put on without the help of many veteran teams. I'll probably miss a few, and don't feel offended, but we had students and/or mentors there from Teams 1, 33, 45, 47, 67, 70, 217, 302, 314, 322, 397, 494, 469, 830, 1025 and 1322. I also saw spectators from several other veteran teams.

Oh, it's not just Dan's fault. Beth Sweet also has to take some blame - she's sure 1504 was plugged into the station that started all the problems during the finals at Midwest.

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

Gary, you're officially on the bad list... :yikes:

Congratulations to all of the rookies! The caliber of teams I saw this weekend was wayyyyy above where I thought it would be! I would say over 75% of the rookies had autonomous/hybrids by the end of the tournament, and there were multiple machines doing lots of hurdling.

Congrats again to the rookies, as Gary said on the field, you guys sure as heck aren't acting like rookies, and in our mind, you're all vets now!

Kettering Rookie Pilot Competition
 

We held the all Rookie Pilot Competition for the last few days. It was held at Kettering University. All I can say is WOW. I was in awe. These teams have their acts together and us veterans had better watch out. We so wanted to webcast it but couldn't. Even with a few bumps in the road it was amazing. Nice job all

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

The event was a massive sucess in my view. It gave our team much needed practice. Until stuff died, (RIP). From the first practice matches to the end of the event, teams inproved so much, that it was not funny. It was kind of scarry in the finals, every team had a real sense of what needed to be done and how to do it.
I like wise won't post the winners because every team took so much away in the knowledge of this years game.



thnxs to the organizers

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

It was amazing how well designed the rookie robots were. Once they got their bugs out (after the unplanned fix-it window) they were great. We had crab, mech wheel, six wheel, four wheel, and two wheeled drives. Racing, ball lunching and claw arm robots. Robots crossing 3 and 4 line in hybrid mode. With all the help this event turned out great.

Thank you to all the teams that pitched in.

P.S. This makes the Kettering fall event a piece of cake to hold.

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

This is the same field that was at Midwest and will be a Detroit and Great Lakes:ahh: I want to compliant the fabulous rookies. I sat at the pit admin desk for the entire breakdown and only had 2 kids who were bored say something. They each played approx. 14 or 15 matches and 1 even released magic smoke!!! I was so blessed to be able to work with them... I made friends from all over and I hope we can do this again and again.:D

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

All I have to say is that none of the teams from the comp are rookies anymore. At least not in my eyes. They were amazing. They all had impressive robots.

I also have this to say. As I was helping que teams up, i noticed that a lot of the teams were already either on theirs way out of the pits, or already in line.
Aside from a few unfortunate robot accidents, it went smoothly.

The person in charge of queing was amazing, and I'm not just saying that because I know her. I have never heard of having a 4 hour delay, ending on time and completing all of the matches, and not adding on any extra time. It was amazing.

I can't wait to see how they are going to perform in the next two regional. This is turning out to be a very interesting game.

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

this competition was great and i think this is a huge step for first in the right direction....and i dont think any of the teams pit crews were complaining about the extra time for repair i know we werent

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

You have to love those red tails!!!!

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

When I see red tails I listen for that zoom you guys always did. Keep up that passion.

Best of luck to the competitors at their next competition. I saw teams that I would hate to have to play against and would like to have on an alliance. I bet some of those teams will go on the be the next generation of stunning robots out there.

I have to agree that the winner of this regional is actually every team there. They got up and showed everyone that they may be young but they can roar.

Congrats

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

The competition went great yesterday, there were some really amazing machines there. I have to say 2337's kicker was my favorite, no other robot had the crowds going that wild every time they tried to hurdle. Keep up the awesome work at your other regionals, and good luck!

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

Forgot to include Team 1506 in the list. Metal Muscle is actually Kettering's team and they helped man the food booth and machine shop. Kudos to the vets and rookies or should I now call you rookvets. You all were impressive.

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

is there any video up yet??
The event was great I am one of the Drivers for team 2620 (The village idiots) that was there and I had a great time and i know my team did the event was put on perfect even tho that break was long and we didnt have anything to work on but it gave time to talk to teams and get to know more people and become new friends

Great job to all the teams and staff at Kettering
Thanks for such a good time

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

not my team but still

ZOOM!

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

Our team enjoyed the competition and, despite not doing as well as we had hoped due to various complications, they had a great time. I, unfortunately, did not, as I was stuck here in Ohio with 15 inches of snow outside... oh, joy... It went well, we got things ironed out, such as our front caster wheels (had to replace them, they kept coming off), and we learned Fluffy can withstand being toppled onto her side. It was sickening to watch, even on video.

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

Big thanks goes to all the organizers of this event!! The competition was very intense, especially when considering that this was a rookies' competition.

Great work teams!

Lourdes Crusaders, Canada
-2609

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

I would like to check with any of the teams there to see if they would mind if I posted some pictures from the competition. If no one objects I will try to post pictures of the robots doing something cool. (2337 shooting over the players station maybe)

And in the topic of the competition, what was everyones favorite moment?

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

when will the video of the event be up?

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

its ok if u have any pictures of our robots
and i also have pictures of robots in the pits so if its ok ill post mine to

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

We had a great time, and I was very impressed by the quality of the robots and the teamwork on display. Everyone in the pit area was courteous and willing to lend a hand (or a laptop, as the case might be).

We were very pleased with our robot's performance (we had the autonomous mode to beat ;-), and we're looking forward to regionals at Ypsilanti.

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

What was such a epic moment for me during the competition was the silence after the first final round, i never heard so many people pause and wait for the final points on that board, it was a nerve recking event (driver of 2513, the spining blue and green robot) but i enjoyed it and i gotta say it was an amazing experience for all of us, i was really hyped! I hope everyone got some good practice and a taste of whats it like, now none of us are rookies :)

PS - 2337 never looked like a rookie team to me, that mario hammer was an amazing touch, i liked it :) great job guys

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

Team powersurge's robot took a thorough beating after having the wheels fall off, getting knocked over twice, and literally getting impaled through the heart by another robot's claw, but I think she did just fine. We were so surprised when we won an award, not to mention the gracious professionalism award!:D

thanks to all the teams who helped us out while we were there.

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

I definitely agree on 2337's hammerbot. That thing was a lot of fun to watch in action.

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

Here are some more pics from the Kettering Rookie event. All the photos are full resolution if you click on the medium sized photo it will open in a new window (or right click to save-as).

NOTE: Selecting on "all" photos takes a long time to load because only the "favorites" are cached.

DTW Eliminations Day: Favorites (284) All (968)

-J

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

Great job Indy girls.

Tell Ollie I see him hiding behind the robot.

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

not gonna lie, i had fun, met some cool people from 2619, 2645 and 2431 had a lot of fun talkin with them and hangin out. looking foward to regionals. btw, did our team win any awards, we all left early because were rebels

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

Video will be available in a few days. This is being compiled from the Kettering Video Department, who did a great job of capturing the whole event.

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

From what i've been hearing, im starting to get nervious for GLR. Now all of these non-rookies are going to outshine some of the older teams! Great job guys and cant wait for GLR :)

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

Ditto for West Michigan. I wish I could have made it over to see all of the fun.

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

Bullet Bill was awesome to watch! We were so impressed by all the rookie bots, and being the only Canadian team there, felt very welcomed by our American friends. Thanks rookie (and now not-so-rookie) teams!! That event prepped us big time for our actual regional and despite the technical glitch, was very well run. Everyone on the team had an amazing time.

Antoine
Mentor - Team 2609

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

im gettin some video and picture off my camera, so if any of you want me to check and see if i got something of your team let me know and ill get it to you

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

carter i need our pictures so we can get them in for the yearbook

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

Had a great time at the Rookie Competition. Here's the story of the competition from my perspective:

The Super-Rookie

2337's robot was head and shoulders above everyone else. Beautiful mechanum drive that was speedy and expertly driven. They were a launcher that could shoot stationary or on the fly. Their "Mario Hammer" launcher mechanism was a plastic sledgehammer that started vertical-up, and swung 270 degrees and literally punted the ball over the overpass. Plenty of lift, plenty of distance, super-efficient, fast reset. Beautiful! The only thing stopping them from being a world-class hurdler is their ball pickup, which they struggled with a lot early on. Like 25, they depend on pushing the ball up against the wall of the field, but unlike 25, they had to maneuvre an arm in place to get under the ball to do it. Improving pick-up will be key, and will push them from a 1-3 hurdle/match robot to a 3-5. That's enough to captain and carry an alliance at a lot of regionals, IF they can improve pick-up.

I normally don't single out teams like this, but the potential behind this machine certainly deserves recognition.

Next Week's Darkhorse

2668 came out of nowhere in the eliminations and attempted a ton of hurdles. I didn't see anything resembling a hurdle from them in the qualifications, so when they perfectly shot one over for the first time, my jaw dropped. Some hurdle attempts hit the front crossbar of the overpass (robot too close to overpass), and a few hit 2668 on the way down as the trackball fell (driver drove full blast under the overpass as it shot). Both looked to be easy fixes, and this robot will probably be good for 2-3 hurdles next time around. That's 1st round pick potential in my books.

Rookie Underdogs

2513 was ranked 2nd last after qualifications. They had a speedy, well-driven, low-profile, small foot-print robot. It had no arms or claws, but it was arguably the competition's best herder - when it had a chance to herd. Early in the competition, trackballs in play were hard to come by. With no mechanism to knock them down from the overpass, 2513 was pretty much relegated to being a pure lap-bot. Even when a trackball was knocked down, the fasionable thing to do was hurdle, so other robots would gain possession of it immediately, leaving 2513 to do laps again. The double jeopardy was that many end-games were decided by knocking down your opponent's trackballs to prevent the 12 point bonus. 2513 was powerless to do this, and as a result lost most of their qualification matches. Their upside was outstanding, but I wasn't sure they were going to get picked for the eliminations. Despite their near dead-last ranking, given the right strategy, I felt they had the 4th highest scoring potential of any robot at Kettering. But would any teams see the same thing?

The Evolution of the Game

Four distinct strategies emerged at Kettering. In order they were:

1) Chaos: Alliances would try desperately to knock off their own trackballs to put them into play. They often wouldn't achieve this until very late in the match, leaving no time to herd, hurdle, or replace them on the overpass. The other alliance would be wholly unsuccessful in knocking their trackballs off, despite their best efforts. By failing to put their trackballs into play, they secured the 24 points in bonuses, winning the match. The irony of the crowds cheering their alliances knocking off their own trackballs late in the game was mostly lost.

2) Cheapshot: Of course there's nothing cheap about it! Alliances would focus on knocking off their opponent's trackballs to prevent them from gaining the 24 points in bonuses. In the meantime, they would collectively race around the track as many times as possible, leaving their own balls on the overpass. As this strategy evolved, alliances would postpone knocking their opponent's trackballs off until as late as possible. The good arm bots like 2591, 2603, and 2609, countered by being able to place the trackballs back on immediately after being knocked off.

3) The Cream: As eliminations came around, and more capable robots teamed up in the top alliances, standard strategies emerged. Alliances would put their own trackballs into play as quickly as possible, and try to hurdle them. At the end, they would knock the opponent's balls down to prevent the bonuses. During eliminations though, matches with hurdling had 1-2 hurdles per alliance. Scores were breaking 40, but rarely 50.

4) The Clear: This is why it was hard to believe these guys were rookies. Take an alliance with robots that COULD hurdle 1-2 hurdles per match. Have them do the math, and figure out that you could consistently break 50 points by triple-team herding. Get them to swallow their pride to give up hurdling, and make it a team effort to do laps. While lapping, whenever a ball was in front of you, push it forward. With all three robots doing this, the balls would get around the track nicely on their own. No robot would feel tempted to go backwards and risk a G22 penalty to herd a lost ball, because they knew their alliance partners close behind would cover.

Wrap-up

The two top ranked alliances met in the final. #1 ranked 2604, 2337, and 2627 ran their side of the tree using "The Cream" with some extremely impressive displays of hurdling on 2337's part. The #2 ranked 2619, 2609 and 2513 ran "The Clear" the entire way through, despite having robots that could've hurdled.

When the two teams met in the finals, isn't wasn't clear if 2.5 * hurdles > herds.

Finals 1-1 was won by the #2 alliance, as 2337's Mario Hammer was damaged in the semi's, and after repairing it, their hurdle attempts drifted wide.

Finals 1-2 was a different story. 2337 was hurdling as well as they had all competition, and hurdled at least 2. They held a ~10 point lead in the dying seconds of the match, with no trackballs on any overpass. The #2 alliance couldn't make up the difference by herding the remaining balls. With only seconds remaining, 2609 smartly grabbed the trackball they were herding, elevated it, and barely beat the buzzer, releasing the ball over the overpass, and having it settle nicely on top.

Think Reggie Miller, launching up his patented ugly two-handed turnaround desperation three at the buzzer. The one that you have no doubt is going in...

It was a vet move, using gutsy strategy, which brought a win over an alliance which I thought had superior robots.

I have the feeling that many at Kettering wondered what was so great about the winning #2 alliance. Their wins were very under the radar, and I doubt any would have said their robots where the best there. I'm sure after some of their wins, many asked "How did they win that match? It didn't look like they did much."

But really, that's why they were so impressive.

-Shawn T. Lim...

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

Good to see all these rookie teams getting out, and I can relate to you being the only Canadian team there, 2609. We were the only Canadian team at the Kettering Kickoff (held at the same facility in October, playing 2007's game) this year. Maybe 2609 and 1075 will meet up and be a force from the North (well, actually east, but who's counting) at Kettering Kickoff 2008.

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

As one of the Head Mentors for Team 2337, I am astonished to see the kind comments you all have been leaving - THANK YOU!! The team worked really hard this season, and the students worked VERY hard on the Robot. We made many new friends at the Kettering Rookie Competition - so thank you all for your support!

We look forward to seeing you all at Detroit and West Michigan Regionals!

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

hows the video coming

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

Please download video of the Kettering Rookie Pilot competition at the following site -


March 7:
http://video.kettering.edu:8080/ramg...-1-MAR-2008.rm
http://video.kettering.edu:8080/ramg...-2-MAR-2008.rm
http://video.kettering.edu:8080/ramg...-3-MAR-2008.rm

March 8:
http://video.kettering.edu:8080/ramg...-4-MAR-2008.rm
http://video.kettering.edu:8080/ramg...-5-MAR-2008.rm
http://video.kettering.edu:8080/ramg...-6-MAR-2008.rm
http://video.kettering.edu:8080/ramg...-7-MAR-2008.rm

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

Yea, The Kettering U. Rookie event was a blast. We did have some bugs to work out on when to fire, but all in all it was a very good learning event. Can't wait untill the Drexel/Philly regional.

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

the video links arnt working for me...is anyone else having this problem

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

theyll only work in realtime -.- bad quality too

Re: Kettering University Rookie Competition
 

The following files should be available for download:

http://bbcms.kettering.edu/OTHER/ROO...-1-MAR-2008.rm
http://bbcms.kettering.edu/OTHER/ROO...-2-MAR-2008.rm
http://bbcms.kettering.edu/OTHER/ROO...-3-MAR-2008.rm
http://bbcms.kettering.edu/OTHER/ROO...-4-MAR-2008.rm
http://bbcms.kettering.edu/OTHER/ROO...-5-MAR-2008.rm
http://bbcms.kettering.edu/OTHER/ROO...-6-MAR-2008.rm
http://bbcms.kettering.edu/OTHER/ROO...-7-MAR-2008.rm