West Michigan 2010
 

I thought this event needed a thread. So what changes or improve are your teams doing for this event? I think you you will see improved performances from
teams 141,85 and 74 over there showings at TC. 2771 was tough in TC and expect the same in West Michigan.

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

I wish I could be there. 107 is one of mine and 548's favorites and I saw some clips of your bot at TC. Should be a good year for you.

And as I am partial owner of GVSU since my daughter goes there it would be a great event for me. Have to go to Wayne State and support the team however.

I'll be at States, sweeping the floor, serving punch or handing out safety glasses. See you there.

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

24 of the 41 teams at West Michigan were also at TC. However, I expect to see a very different competition. Update 16 will make every match play out more like the elimination rounds. The bugs are getting worked out of the robots. The drivers have some practice & experience, tactics & strategy will be different, and most robots will have some upgrades.

We installed the warp drive and cloaking device last night, but the transporter was going to put us over the weight limit, so we had to leave it off.

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

Did you get your hover-board functioning to the full height of 21"?

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

Team 2604 will be there! We've modified our kicker for what feels like the billionth time, however I won't comment on how well it works until I see it in action. :ahh: We had a pretty good run at Kettering and we're looking to do better at Grand Valley. (It works quite well, but we've also broken it numerous times.)

We're part of a program, USFIRSTGirls, started by team 1073, who is trying to gather more information about girls in FIRST, so everyone (guys included) please stop by the booth we'll have and fill out a survey. Purple bandannas for the first 3 girls on each team to fill one out!

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

yeah, we did that last night:p

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

1718 is at 73 Seeding points after 3 matches!!! That is crazy. Who thinks they will break 200? If they can keep that pace going, they could get 292.

q80 has the potential of being EPIC.

Now 1718 is 104 SP after 4 matches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

1718 is at 160 Seeding points after only 6 matches!

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

I'm in awe of the scores that 1718 is putting up. Have they been scoring for their opponents or are they just facing a lot of tough alliances?

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

1718 has 20 hanging points after 7 matches. Are they suspending, or how does that work?

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

They have a very effective arm-hanger that elevates them on the vertical post, and then slides down with a rubber stop on the platform.

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

But how are they getting 2.8 hanging points per match.

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

FIRST's results report hanging points as all hanging points received by alliances you've been on, not just your own hanging points. Hence the plurality of hanging points.

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

I only got to watch the last match that they were in. 1718 is doing a good job playing the game. They move 3 balls home in auto, and then slip through the tunnel to mid field. They seem to concentrate on moving balls well from the mid-field into the home row. They are also consistently hanging (so I have been told).

Besides 1718 playing well, their opponents and teammates are playing well. West Michigan is basically full of teams that played at Traverse City or one of the other districts. All the teams have stepped up their game.

This makes me very excited for the state Championship.

All that being said, averaging over 25 seeding points a maatch is really impressive.

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

The closer we get to states the more excited I get because of the competitiveness and well built machines in the State of Michigan.

Also from West Michigan 2959 has been hanging fairly consistently.

-Clinton-

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

We got our robot working and it works better than expected. After the first day we are ranked 4th! That is a big change coming from kettering where our robot only ran 2 or 3 matches. We also enhanced our ball catcher and kicker. Tomorrow we need to fix up our autonomous so we can score all the balls and add skid plates so we stop bending our ball catcher.

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

How did this district end up?

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

Winners-
3357/2054/1243

Finalist-
1896/1718/1918

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

You could look here.

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

Really? The 1718-1918 alliance was beaten. It had to be a good final cause 1718 was really lighting up that competition.

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

Yes, many of us at Detroit District were paying a lot of attention to the event. We were shocked when hearing this. Yet, great job, by the 3357/2054/1243. Both events were great, awesome action. A great day to be a Michigan team!!

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

Yes. Michigan teams are awesome this year. With the way things are shaping up, the Michigan State Championship is going to be like a mini Atlanta. Alot of good robots and good teams trying all tp win. I am very interested on how this is going to play out.

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

I would like to think of it as a concentrated Atlanta ;) MSC has been known to be much more competitive than Atlanta.

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

Agreed.. 64 teams... This will be a deep, deep, competition. I wish we could moved it to a 10 seed format =]... It could work!!!

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

On behalf of Team 3357, I'd like to thank 1243 for selecting us and 2054. It was a blast working with you guys today!

I'd also like to recognize 1718, 1918 & 1896 as an awesome alliance that made for some incredibly exciting competition!

I'd also like to thank teams 904 and 2771. Without their guidance and support, 3357 would not exist.

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

You guys played a great finals. We were amazed at the smothering defense - you definitely deserved it with 3 upsets to get there.

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

See you at State!

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

This was a great event. The level of competition and performance of the machines has really improved since week 1. Many of the teams at WM were also at Traverse City (24 of 41). At TC, the average* seeding score per team per match was 8.1. At WM, it was 12.1. (*average adjusted for 5 point winner bonus).

Congratulations to 1243, 2054, and 3357! Thank you 1718 for picking us, and thanks to 1896 for being our alliance partner.

State will kick it up another notch or 4. Hope to see you there!

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

Thanks Roger. That whole competition was absolutely wonderful. Grand Valley puts on an absolutely incredible competition - I can't say enough about the venue.

Our team was very proud to have made the finals, and playing against you guys was beyond exciting. Our alliance partners were top notch. 1896 came over and asked why they had been chosen (because they never had before). Hopefully folks will realize what top notch defenders they are - I expect to see them back again =)

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

Tom, congrats on the Chairman's award.

I would also like to thank team 1711 for their tenacious defense, we couldn't have made it to the semis without you guys shutting down the opponents scoring. I must also say thanks to our friends on 703, 2 times we have worked together this year and both times were a blast.

To 1718, 1918, and 1896, those were some hard matches. 1918, you guys sure did a number on our frame (even with bumpers the frame got dinged up pretty bad). Thank you for some fun matches. It was a blast.

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

Thanks Andrew. You're alliance put up a heck of a fight and made it tough on us. It was fun competing against you - only in FIRST can you have two competing alliances next to each other joking around between matches in the elimination rounds. That's one of things I love about FIRST.

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

First, I would like to reiterate what most experienced teams already know. Scouting and Strategy is an absolute!

We seeded #12 -again, and figured that we’d either get snatched or that most teams would sequentially draft and put us as a #7 or #8 alliance captain. We ended up #7. We also picked in seq. not because 3357 was #13, but because team 3357 complimented our abilities by being a strong and flexible mid-zone player. Further, we figured that all of the hangers would probably be gone leaving the #3 robot the key. For that 2054, ranked #33 was in our opinion the "sleeper" team with designed-in excellent defense that we needed to work the far end.

So, playing to each of our strengths, as an alliance we moved the balls forward as best as we could in auton. hoped for a few points, then out-maneuvered the defender, or drew them to the opposite side for the middle robot who could keep us fed, score from to the opposite side- or jump over & help clean-up the near zone while we neutralized the defender (Awesome teamwork 3357!) This while the opposite side was tied up with an exceptionally good D. Great work 2054! (Love those Viking Hats!! :) )

Our alliance had some interesting parallels to our Win in 2004.

* 1243 Alliance Captain

* A Rookie Team #3357 – who also Won Highest Rookie Seed & Rookie Inspiration as we did at West MI in 2004.

* #3357 started build late in the season due to lack of resources & students- like we did in 2004

* #3 robot #2054 was a lower ranked but complimentary team to our alliance as 1024 was in 2004.

* #3 robot was extremely energized by their selection and played their hearts out as 1024 did in 2004.

* No fancy last-minute finals strategy- play the best of what you designed the robot to do during build.

* Facing the #1 alliance was simply approached as fun. In 2004, our alliance of 141 & 1024 was facing 67,494, 858. This year 1718, 1918, 1896 were AWESOME with intimidating machines & teams as well. After a clean 1st round Finals Win, everyone realized it was within reach and became even more energized & motivated.

As was mentioned in an earlier post, everyone stepped up their performance or stretched their capabilities making it an exciting event and a good way to have completed the 2010 regular season. Only a handful of teams from WM are yet to have their 2nd event this weekend and are sure to take a lot of positive lessons from this event! Good-Luck to all, and let’s look forward to more challenge and fun at the MI Championship!

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

I know that 3357 - The COMETS - had a blast with you guys. On Friday, we were ranked in last place on several occasions, and it was amazing on Saturday when we finished ranked in 13th. A true "Cinderella story".

It was interesting though, because we always had the same strategy as we did in the eliminations - flood our end of the field with balls, but for some reason our alliances usually didn't complement this strategy.

Since we're a rookie team, we didn't have a scouting team. So when we realized (Saturday afternoon) that we'd probably be picking, we made up a short list of who to pick. 2054 was in the top 3, because we too thought that it was the "sleeper" bot at GVSU. When our driver saw that you also had them on your short list, he was ecstatic.

What really allowed us to "steamroll" the competition in the elimination rounds (I think we only lost our initial match of the first round) was our alliance's ability to work together. We everyone understood each others' strengths/weaknesses, and made sure that we had the other guy's back. Great job guys!

Our entire team had an unforgettable time, and I know that this event/team will live in infamy among our team for years to come. Thank you once again, and we'll hopefully see you at state!

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

They're just lucky I didn't run over and tie their wheels together like I threatened to :D

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

Yup, it really is the best part. At least now you guys know that you are supposed to bring spare parts for us too. ;)

I was under the impression that IRI type pranks were frowned upon during build season ;) Maybe I should deliver the construction barrel I have to your pit after I saran wrap it to a bench. (For anyone who doesn't get this, a couple years ago 1024 built Alfred, it was a construction barrel that had a horn. It ran around beeping at people. My younger brother was involved in using the large saran wrap type stuff to secure it to a bench. I am NOT referring to the other more serious and less humorous pranks also committed, I would never intentionally damage anyone else's robot.)

Re: West Michigan 2010
 

No joke. It's a good feeling to know that in the last two events, we have 3 robots that wouldn't have been on the field without our programming and electrical team, and another 4 that were running on our spare parts.

Of course, I always yell at the programming team when one of the robots they helped with beats us, but it's a price I'll happily pay to get more teams out there having a good time. I know that any team at the competition would do the same for us...

In fact, on that note, I'd like to thank 1504 The Desparate Penguins for loaning our alliance partner their batteries for the elimination matches. Boy is FIRST cool.