IRI 2010 Reflections
 

I couldn't find any threads for IRI after the fact, so i decided that i would have to start it. :D

Being this was the first year that my team went to IRI, it was a great experience. My personal favorite part of the competition is the more laid back atmosphere. No inspections (we know how long those take :D), refs didn't call any lame penalties like stepping over the lines early or during a match, which always make drivers feel guilty especially when it influences the turnout of a game. :/

It was such a great experience to see the best of the best teams up close instead of having to watch them on youtube or blue alliance, which doesn't show what goes on underneath the hood. I always enjoy understanding how other robots work. Getting the chance to talk 469 on how they designed a robot that bent the rules and expected game play strategy to the limits in the queuing line was a real pleasure. :D

Overall, I learned so much from talking to all the teams and I had loads of fun watching all the adrenaline pumped elimination matches unfold. I really hope our team will be given the chance to compete at IRI again next year. :D

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

I'm also from 2949 (notsosinister's team) and I would just like to thank whoever provided the webcast on ustream, because I couldn't make it, so that was very convienent. Overall IRI seemed very successful and looked like a lot of fun. Some of those playoff matches were pretty intense and could have been some of the best matches of the entire season. So great job to all the teams that participated and I hope we will be invited again next year :D

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

IRI was an amazing experience for me, especially being a first-timer on 1529.
After an exhausting 3 or 4 ties between 33's alliance (Sorry, I can't remember all the teams on the alliances right off my head.) and 1086's alliance, 330's win, then a tie, then 1086's win, then 330's win (much to the relief of everybody to seems), I'm left thinking about what was awesome about IRI. It's not much, but it's what I've got:

Most of the Indiana teams played host to the POWER camp from IUPUI. I really enjoyed talking with girls as far as Puerto Rico (!!!), and as close as having one of the girls being a very close friend in my school (!!!!!). It turns out that she didn't realize that the school that we both go to had a robotics team. And walking around with her, she was very enthusiastic about collecting badges from the teams. Before the camp left, she tells Taylor that she and another good friend has "officially" joined the team:D .

The NERF cannon-launcher, controlled by a ThunderChicken, was very fun, and it shows with a boy playing around with the cannon. When the cannon first moved towards him, he was very puzzled about it, but played around with it, trying to avoid the camera on top of the launcher. At one point, he just covered the camera.
And on the topic of the child, I was amazed to see many kids wandering around, looking at the robots, playing with the HEX Bug tracks, and trying out 461's scooter (actually, it was a segway that they made themselves.)

Asking Dave Lavery to sign our robot before competing for a match. Later, a college student supporting our team asked for his autograph on his shirt, and he got his wish. Thank you so much, Dave, and come to our 1529 and 829's C.A.G.E. match!!

Who could forget the eliminations? 33 and 1086's alliance were fighting it out to the very last second (Don't believe me? The matches 5 hangs... 3 times!!!). And then 330's alliance nearly had a scare when 1086 beat them 17-13. The only bad thing out of this was the kids facing the blue alliance stations were pointing the way the 469 was going to direct the balls. I won't say anything more.

For a FIRST-timer, this was like being in San Francisco or New York or whatever. You get just a completely different breath of air just by going to this competition. I hope for a great one in 2011!

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

The IRI was fantastic once again.

Thanks to Basel A of 2337 and team 1114 for their support in the Vex event. When my trip costs rocketed up at the last minute and I couldn't afford the parts I needed, 1114 happily had a box of stuff ready for me when I got there. Basel did a pretty awesome job driving the thing around and letting me yell at him. When he gets behind the wheel in FRC he'll do fantastic. The event ran beautifully, with a nice and relaxed pace that allowed teams to watch matches and kill a half hour doing a Talent Show audition. I'd love to do something like that again.

I loved the elimination matches! I didn't even notice that they took 4 hours. While there were some sore spots (the pointing thing, I was upset that the #5 alliance was knocked out, it made tipping seem like the right strategic choice), the elims were intense and varied. Every alliance there could have won a division.

Thanks to the generosity of several key people, mainly Billfred and Andrew Schreiber, as without the rides and rooms I would have had a very boring time at the airport.

See you guys next year!

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

So someone was pointing? >:|

I was standing on the opposite balcony and when the guy said that everyone on that balcony had to move, i was super confused, it was really hard to hear what he said. One of my team mates told me he said something about someone coaching from above. I started talking to a parent and a team member from 3138 and we were all really confused what someone could be doing, and which side they were doing it for. Too bad 469 can change the direction at the very last second which thwarts any attempt at an early warning. So whatever they thought they could accomplish was extremely small. But even then, it still leaves a very sour taste in my mouth.

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

Just to clear stuff up: I saw a guy pointing and he didn't appear to be on a team from the #2 alliance, so don't let an unfortunate incident like this take anything away from 1086, 1114, 2056, and 3138, all outstanding and fair competitors.

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

This is correct, someone, unrelated to the Blue Alliance, was pointing the direction that 469's redirector was going to go. This was an unfortunate situation but it happened and now we all know it is frowned upon.

I hope this concludes any conversation about this topic.


I would like to say that I had a blast at IRI. I finally got to meet some of the people I am always hearing about; Jane Young, Mark Leon, Andy Baker, Don Wright, and Chris Fultz. As for seeing old acquaintances again, it was great to see you guys too; Chris, Billfred, Michelle, Karthik, Anthony (Odd that we have to go to Atlanta/Indiana to talk when we are in the same county). I KNOW I am forgetting some people, please don't be offended.

Also, if anyone knows of any Kettering students who were down there this weekend please let me know, I am working on maybe doing a student life piece on our website or something. (Via PM so as to not derail this thread)

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

2337's first IRI was very eventful! I had a great time, and there was never a shortage of things to do. The talent show was fun, the silent auction was a fantastic idea, and the elimination matches were spectacular. I can see why this is one of FRC's premier events, and I hope to have the chance to go again.

The only issues I had was getting more match schedules! We had to use some for scouting, and we had several people scouting. The issue, we only got one copy! We were unable to get another printed for us, and with no internet at the competition site, we couldn't get another one ourselves. One thing that I would love to see added (if possible) for IRI is internet (so we can check the rankings, get the newest updated match schedules, see the agendas, ect. while we're at the competition site).

Overall IRI was by far my favorite event for 2010. Thank you to all the host teams, and everyone involved to make that happen.

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

Jon Crombe from team 910 - Foley Freeze was there. He is in the B section at Kettering. He is currently on his work term but is still in the area, southeast Michigan area that is :)

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

My personal opinion is that pointing intended to assist a competing team is not sportsmanlike, and should be discouraged. I applaud the action Paul took to stop it.

However, my effort to find a rule against it in the 2010 Manual (Game Rules or Tournament Rules) has been unsuccessful so far. A quick CD search turned up this post by Dave last year, which suggests that an explicit rule of this sort did not exist in 2009, but had been used in the past.

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

I really enjoyed IRI this year. It was the first IRI I've been to since 2005 (back when 65 used to go). I do agree that the laid-back atmosphere makes things less stressful and even more fun. :)

It's nice seeing people and teams that I haven't seen since Atlanta. It was a really competitive competition this year too. The semifinals were incredible with 33's alliance and 1083's alliance being just about evenly matched.

Congratulations 330, 469, 359, 399 for the win!
A special thanks to the people running IRI for another successful year. I look forward to the next time I go.

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

Back in 2003, there was an incident at Pittsburgh where a team member was directing his drive team from the second-level balcony of the arena. Instead of testing my memory, I'll just quote myself (from a 2005 thread):Under current rules, that justification would be invalid. (In fact, even under 2003 rules, it was a big stretch that probably shouldn't have been imposed.)

I'm not sure if there was any doubt about the motivation behind the gestures being used at IRI (because it was just out-of-frame in the webcast), but at least in the case of the Pittsburgh incident, it was very clear what was going on: in 2003, it was one person (who I believe was identifiable as a member of a team in the current match), standing alone at the edge of the balcony, aligned with the centreline of the field, gesturing calmly in a manner that correlated to the motion of one robot.

Specifically prohibiting strategic communications originating outside the arena would prevent good-faith mistakes (among teams that read the rules), while still giving the officials the option to penalize blatant actions, when observed. Realistically, it wouldn't even be important to actively detect violators, because teams would be crazy to try it, knowing that it's an offence that could get them penalized or disqualified. Even if not enforceable in borderline cases, it's still a net benefit.

Now on the other hand, it's not specifically against the current rules. Should we care when people direct their alliance from outside the arena? You hear stories about baseball teams stealing signs using strategically-placed observers (or cameras) and signalling devices—it's sometimes considered objectionable, and sometimes considered brilliant, but isn't against the rules. By choosing not to rule against it, FIRST could steer us in that direction, if desired. Of course, for every measure, there's a countermeasure—teams might employ distractions (like making noise and waving things at a free-throw shooter in basketball) to confuse opposing drivers. All that stuff already exists as part of other sporting traditions, and it wouldn't be a stretch to see it in FRC.

We in the FIRST community can say what we think about these strategies, but relying on peer pressure to govern behaviour isn't going to settle the issue. With a new rulebook every year, FIRST has ample opportunity to address this as they see fit, and thereby shape the community's norms.

:p

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

I had a great time at IRI, and I know my entire team had a ton of fun too!!

A HUGE thank you goes out to team #51, Wings of Fire: Thank you guys SOO much for lending us a wireless router! Without that, we wouldn't have been able to compete. Not only do we appreciate your gracious professionalism, we think you guys are an awesome team. :)

Also, a thank you to our friends on team #1625, Winnovation for parts to fix our kicker. We always enjoy seeing everyone on your team!

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

I'll second that about Wings of Fire. Only at IRI would they be chosen as a backup bot :eek: . They stepped in and played superbly in our semi finals matches against the 1086 / 1114 / 399 / (I can't remember the other team) alliance when we lost our martian twin to a kicker cable breaking.

Thanks to the Martian bot, Killer Bees, and Wings of Fire. It was truly a great alliance to be a part of. After all, how many other 20/20 ties have you seen this year?

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

We had an awesome time at IRI! Setting a world record of 38 points with 469 and 107 was a season highlight for sure (especially when they couldn't break it with a 6 v 0 try later ;) The playoffs were insane - WAY better than championships - WAY BETTER!

As far as the pointing thing, maybe it wasn't intentional even? My wife told me about it this morning and pointed out that I was against the rail in the corner by our team and I always talk with my hands and maybe I pointed at the field while I was talking, or others did the same thing too? I thought about it and she was right! I distinctly remember talking to a fellow mentor during many of the 469 matches and pointing at the field (not the switch on 469) and saying things like, "Look at those 3 balls there! They should go get those" or "They should pin 148 over there so the balls can run their cycle on the other side" I have no doubt I was pointing while I was talking, but never even considering the possibility that my gestures could be seen as somehow directing the blue alliance where to go. In fact, if they did follow my guestures, I'm sure they would have been wrong because I wasn't watching the switch! Still it could have looked like it. How many of the dozens of others behind the rail did similar things? Don't we all point at the field when we're talking? I'd like to thing it was a misunderstanding. Don't know, but I hope so.

In any case, it was an amazing event. We didn't get in till close to 3am, and I understand that the Beachbots missed their flight by less than 5 minutes, but like me, they said it was all worth it!

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

And the BeachBots are (mostly) back safely--three are driving back with a special box (;)) and the rest flew back today.

It was definitely great to watch on the webcast. And the ties were, well, excruciating, as the next thing done was wait during the cooldown period...

I've got to hand it to Paul on the pointing issue. Whether or not it was intentional, he made sure that it would not happen, intentionally or otherwise, during the final match, by clearing all parties off the balcony in the area in question. I believe that the rules in question are not clear on the legality, however, I think Tristan is correct as to the reasoning of 2nd coach, outside player station; also, I would bring <T27> in and point out that a semaphore is a device for game strategy, and if it is placed outside the arena, then it communicates outside the alliance station, and it is not in the alliance station, both violations (and if it's a human semaphore, extra coach applies). I think that the explicit ban may make a return next year. At any rate, any rules violations or perceived violations were not present during the final match, which was quite clean and hard-fought, and more importantly, penalty-free.

From an observer's point of view, the webcast was good, and knowing what was going on with technical difficulties via the chat was equally good. And I'd like to thank every team there for putting on quite a show--triple hangs, proving to Car Nack that more than 30 points was possible (if DOGMA was removed), and being so evenly matched in the eliminations that it took not 1, but 4 extra matches on top of the expected 3 match elimination rounds to decide a winner.

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

Unfortunately, having seen it there was no question of intent. I don't really want to go into any more detail than that.

So this IRI saw some excellent performances from first timers. Had 359 ever gone before? That's an amazing first run right there. 1086 got a great alliance together as well. 3138 didn't do so bad either!

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

Me and the rest of Team 2337 had a fantastic time as the IRI! It was our first time going, and there was a sort of anticipation from weeks ahead. Best part was that it exceeded all expectations. It truly fit the saying "IRI: So much more."

The VEX competition went great. Thank You Chrisisme for letting me drive your 'bot. What you called yelling, I call excellent drive coaching. Sorry for bending the pickup arm every single match. :p Also thanks to Karthik for running the event and congratulations to 1640 for wiping the floor with us, taking the win undefeated.

As most people know, 2337 has a robot made to suspend. It was great to show that off twice in one day (the second being a most Beastly suspension [I cannot get over than pun]), especially with the first elimination match suspension ever. We'd like to thank Teams 2081 and 71 for the opportunity to be epic. Also thanks to Karibou for the pics.

The eliminations were as good as they get. Being selected fourth overall at IRI was probably one of the greatest monuments to our success this season. Thank You Team 234 making that selection. Also thanks to Teams 71 and 16, who rounded out a great alliance.

I'm sure that I missed other facets of what was an excellent competitions, but there was just so much to love!

P.S. This post will most likely see some edits

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

IRI was amazing as per usual!

I want to thank Carolyn Beyer for organizing the NEMO meeting! It was fantastic I learned a lot, got to network, and was able to share ideas about FIRST with other NEMs.

There was an awesome talent show, epic matches, and amazing teams this year. The finals were intense and congratulations to all the teams involved.

Volunteering was exhausting but so much fun (Of course it could have been all the dancing that made it so exhausting....) plus I got to see all my robot friends :)

Thank you 1625 for letting us travel with you, it was a lot of fun & sorry for all the singing on the bus to IRI >_> (we were prepping!) The sleep over and BBQ were also a lot of fun, thank you!

Renee

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

I want to thank everyone who helped put on IRI. It was a great time. I am so thankful we could attend. IRI is a jewel in the First program. It wasn't easy hosting 78 teams, but you guys make it look easy. Keep up the great work.

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

1640 had a blast at our first IRI! Thanks so much to 234, 45, 1024, and everyone else who worked so hard to put on this event. It was amazing to get to see so many of the best robots up close plus talk to the teams and other other people I've heard so much about. (I can believe I got to meet Andy, Mark, Ed, Karthik, and Jane, among so many others!)

This was one of the most well run competitions we've ever been to, including on-seasons, and we encountered literally no issues (except maybe a few too many repeats of Crazy Train:P). The pointing thing was disappointing, but Paul handled it very well, and the elims were absolutely fantastic otherwise. What a feat keeping 78 teams so close to on-schedule for so many matches, on top of organizing all the wonderful extra activities. We are definitely hooked! Though we're certainly striving to make it back as a team next year, I know several of us will probably be there either way.

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

In the four years I've been going to regional and off season events this was by far the best. From the moment we arrived to the end of the final match just before midnight :rolleyes: it was a great time. Congratulations to the Chris and Andy and all the volunteer staff that made this happen.

We had a great Friday leaving high the rankings and with our VEX roboteer Jack winning the Swept Away event (Thanks Karthik for running it). The dinner was good, I'm impressed how well that went feeding all of us. I loved the talent show, the running commentary from the judges added to the event. "Yikes!"

Saturday was great starting off with the NEMO meeting. I'm a EMO-NEM (Engineering MentOr-Non Engineering Mentor) and I got a number of good ideas of things to do for 2010-2011.

The morning matches were great with a 5 way hang, a suspension and of course a 6V0. Paul was great as the MC keeping the crowd and the roboteers excited.

Lunch of a 5 Way Skyline Chili with Exploding Bacon is where I got a first hand introduction to the "Oink Oink Boom!"

I got to play in the Mentor Match against some pretty tough competition thanks to the other mentors that played.

The matches during the afternoon were amazing. Multiple 5 way hangs, suspensions and the final match. The level of play was amazing. The skills of the drive teams and the agility of the robots was huge.

I was also able to meet a number of people that I had planned on, but I was hugely impressed by all the roboteers in the pits. Every pit that I visited I was impressed by how much the students knew and could explain how everthing worked. I have a notebook full of ideas for both robots and pit setups.

Conversation on the way home was about planning to come next year!

Thanks again for a great event!

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

Along with all that has been said, I'd like to give a big thanks to our senior driver of 2 years, Cziggy. For a lot of the drivers this was their last hurrah as they prepare to go to college and some will hopefully come back as mentors for their teams or seek out other FRC teams as they go. I know for us this pretty much marks the end of the 2010 season, so I'm glad we ended with a bang at an elite off-season event.
Again thanks Chris for knowing a lot about the games, networking with other drivers, and being able to drive it like you stole it.:D

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

I would second the consideration of moving the Mentor Match to Friday if possible. this give teams time to repair their machines just in case the mentors are rough on the bots.

All in all, great job and keep it up.

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

Maybe it would help if the mentors all drove time machines that only went backward and blew bubbles.

Just a thought, trying to help...

Jane :)

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

I can't speak for the red alliances (I was manual scoring blue), but even if we were playing with DOGMA penalties, I do not think that there would have been many. The human players were superb in returning the balls quickly (even with those matches when 469 was able to make the most of their redirection system)

Thank you to all of the students, mentors, parents, volunteers, airlines, busses, cars, and the IRI planning committee for contributing to putting on such a spectacular event. The competition was amazing: really, Breakaway at it's finest (outside of Einstein, perhaps). I had such a great time at my first IRI, and I really hope to be back in the future! (so did my mom, who was also a first-time IRI-goer - thank you Winnovation for letting her sit with you! She had a lot of fun talking with your mentors!)

I also got to meet a lot of people who I have wanted to meet for a long time. It's really a wonderful thing to finally be able to say that I've met the names and faces who I have seen on my computer and phone screens for a long time.

Thanks all for such a great weekend! :]

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

The BeachBots had an awesome time at IRI 2010. This was a fantastic event and we were glad to be a part of it. Thank you to everyone who volunteered and gave so much effort to put this event together.

Thanks to 469, 359, and 399 for being great alliance partners. It was tremendous fun playing with you.

A huge thanks to 910 Folly Freeze, and others for helping us pack in a rush. We almost made our flight!

If I had any feedback to give (on, IMO, a nearly perfect event), I would explore the possibility of moving the mentor match (next year I'd like to enter this) to Friday to allow more time for teams that would be flying out Saturday night. Although it would seem the main factor for us missing our flight were the many ties due to the nature of this year's game, additional time on Saturday evening would be a help to teams looking to fly out the day competition ends. However, this means Friday would be packed with the team dinner, talent show, etc.

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

WOW! IRI was much more then I expected. I am so happy that I was able to be a part of it as a Referee. Working under the experienced head Ref Stu was great, as well as working with the entire ref crew.

The entire event was amazing, from the start to the 4 hour finale. From the mentor meet and great, to the matches, the demos, the dinner, talent show, and even the mentor match. All of it was great. I have been volunteering for 8 years now and it felt so go to be part of the mentor match, standing on the other side of the play station line made so much of a difference, even though I probably had the worst driving there.

Being from the east coast I really enjoyed meeting all of the teams that were there and a large number of the mentors and others involved with FIRST. I cannot wait to come back with my team next year.

If this was IRI I cannot wait to see Championships…

I have a picture of that score and others that I will post on my team’s site later on, after I get home from work.

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

Team 2481 (The Roboteers) competed this year for the first time at IRI and would like to thank all of the organizers and volunteers who made the event possible. It was a pleasure to work with so many great teams and compete both with and against the best of the best robots from the 2010 season. It was a great learning experience (especially for our younger team members) and we hope to have a chance to come back next year to compete again.

A huge special thank you to the team mentors from 234 and 461 who graciously allowed us to borrow some of their freshly charged batteries when our battery chargers were not working properly.

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

830 had a blast at IRI. A huge thanks to the following people/teams:

• All of the volunteers who helped to put together the event
• 217, 1538, and 2826 for being a great alliance to work with
• 829 and 71 for their help getting us ready for our next match when one of our motors went bad
• 469 for offering their workspace to us pre-IRI when we lost ours.

Thank you!

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

I am guessing our coach is going to reply to this eventually, but I would like to put in my two cents on my experiences...

In Blue Cheese's first time at IRI, we had few of our members (as did many other teams I met) due to seniors at college, work, or family vacation. Because of this the members that were able to come along had their hands full, running around doing jobs they normally dont have to do. It is because of this that many of us were given the oppertunity to converse with many of the teams attending that we had not met before, such as Simbotics, HOT, Las Guerillas, Metal in Motion, Killer Bees...

...And also catch up with new friends such as Exploding Bacon, Delphi ELITE, ThunderChickens, Mechanical Mayhem, OP...

I also want to say how well run I thought that IRI was run, match transition was smooth, organization was amazing, and the webcast allowed fans, family, and followers of all FIRST teams to watch this amazing event. The volunteers, organizers, and sponsors deserve a big THANK YOU!

I would like also to congradulate the champions: 330, 469, 359, and 399. They were great competition, and after finals that intense they certainly deserved it.

Apologies from my team (and the rest of our brilliant alliance partners) to Andy Baker and the janitorial staff of Lawrence North High School are another thing that needs to be made. We had some fierce, fierce competition (33, 1718, 70, and 51) in the semi-finals, resulting in a couple of intense and time consuming ties:p

Simbotics deserves a thanks. Their team, their whole team, deserves credit for many great feats (including insane scouting and a slick robot). In my opinion 1114 is undoubtedly one of the best teams in the world.

OP. A supremely competitive team that we first ran into at Galelio. At IRI, even with brand new drivers, they proved to be the team that we met in Atlanta. 2056 is a team that no doubt deserves a huge thanks from Blue Cheese.

1086 also played 3138 in the Galelio finals this year. As with their partners 2056, they also showed that they deserve the title of IRI Finalists. Without them we would not have made it to the finals, as we had to sit out match 2 of our semi-finals.

Blue Cheese had a blast and will be hoping to be invited again!
Sincerely,
Petrie

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

One of the matches that I remember had the automode holy grail of the year: a 6-ball autonomous.

It was memorable because the alliance that got it lost the match due to one of their robots dying...

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

Code Red had a great time at IRI, and really appreciates those who put the work in to make it happen.

It certainly was a team-friendly event that ran very smoothly. IRI was packed with very accomplished teams of all shapes and sizes, and it was good for our team members, mentors and coaches to rub shoulders with so many of you.

We camped out in tents for three nights and had a blast doing that, even after Thursday's big rainstorm! Hobo pies, s'mores and mosquito bites, campfires and Robotics - you can't beat that! It made for some good good team-building. Thanks for the tip on that, Team 107.

To be honest, our team had planned to cut out early from the talent show because we had a late Thursday night drying out our gear. The talent show was so much fun, we couldn't leave! Who can walk out on ball-boy or Exploding Bacon?

Thanks to all the teams, students, mentors and volunteers who helped make IRI something special.

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

I'm still recovering from this IRI trip--it's been the travel story from hell, involving five airports (CAE-IAD-IND-ORD-DCA-CAE). As such, I have to give a few folks my sincere thanks:

Tom Heller (better known as yodameister here) for the initial lift from the airport, even after my 10 PM flight became a midnight flight

Sarah Plemmons for the hotel-venue runs

Andrew Schreiber for getting Chris Picone and me to the airport to pick up my rental car for Saturday night into Sunday

Everybody who tweeted or Facebooked me Sunday after my car was involved in a lovely four-car accident in Speedway. (That's the stands in the background.) When in horribly unfamiliar circumstances (first accident as a driver, first rental car, only me traveling), it's great to have some encouragement. Particularly after that first call to my mother...

Kelli Van Antwerp for putting me up on her couch for the night when United blew my connection. (Nothing is worse than being on the ground in Chicago and stuck waiting for a gate, causing you to miss the connection.)

My travel maladies aside, IRI was a great time. I always love catching up with folks from all over, and finals were nothing short of amazing. I already can't wait for next year...but from here on out, I'm driving!

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

You can ride with us next year!!! :yikes:

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

Andy, Chris, and the many other volunteers for this event:
thanks for putting on a great event that our team finally had a chance to experience. It certainly lived up to the hype!
What made this event better/different from Championships is that we were all in one division. This certainly allowed members of our team a chance to speak with the many great peoples in FIRST a much longer period of time, instead of the one second passby we get at CMP.

Thanks to 330, 469, and 399 for a great run at IRI. It wasnt pretty sometimes, nor was it ever easy at any given point. But we gave it our best against the best to squeeze it out at the end.

Paul, you are one crazy guy! But the perfect MC for any event......and maybe Dave should consider putting you in the GDC. ;)

Great seeing members from 148, 1114, 294, 71, 16, 343, 1538, 118 and the many others we saw during the course of the season.

See you folks next season!
East Coast-2011!

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

Blue Cheese is home and already working on the 2011 season. IRI was incredible, over the top, beyond my expectations. Champs are over whelming by the sheer number teams and students but IRI really was the best of the best. Blue Cheese hopes to be a part of this incredible event next year.

Team 1086 and I would like to thank Andy Baker – Chris Fultz & Families, Mark Koors, IRI volunteers, Team 234 - 1024 - 45, Paul & Mike Copioli, Ken & Noel –Mechanical Mayhem, Travis Hoffman
THANKS
Old friends: ThunderChickens, Exploding Bacon, Delphi Elite, Mechanical Mayhem
New friends: Jim Zondag – Killer Bees, Jane Young – IRI queuing, KOKO ED – IRI queuing, Glenn – Hawaiian Kids and team HOT

Special thanks to: Karthik – Simbotics, Tyler – OP and team 3138 Innovators, we gave the # 1 seed a run for the money but those last couple of balls after the match ended made all the difference. It truly was an honor running with you guys, hopefully Blue Cheese is allowed to cross the border for a chance to play again with our new Canadian friends or maybe the state of Ohio and the innovators can welcome us.

We appreciate all the support we got from all the teams at IRI. Next year we hope to do IRI right with a larger team. Team 1086 learned a lot and hopes that the lessons we learned from HOT and Simbotics, will carry Blue Cheese to a new level of success.
Thanks Again
From THE BIG CHEESE

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

IRI was once again another amazing event. The intensity of the elimination rounds was unparalleled. Where else do you see three Einstein teams picked outside the first round? Looking back at the matches from Saturday afternoon, I quite certain with just a couple different bounces of the chains any of the top 6 alliances could have ended up in the winner's circle.

Special thanks to our elimination alliance partners. It was an honour to be picked by 1086, a team we had heard a lot about this year. They totally lived up to the expectations created by their two regional wins and division finals appearance. I'd also like to thank them for accepting our input into strategic decisions. This team was a blast to work with and I expect to see them continue to bring home big awards in the future. As for Team 2056, this was their first ever event that didn't have the same drive team that they had used from 2007 to Atlanta this past year. This rookie drive team kept improving all weekend long, fully hitting stride with an amazing performance in the elimination rounds. (Also, thanks for the amazing #8 hat. I'm wearing it with pride right now.) Finally, Team 3138. I have no idea how we got a team as good as these guys as our 4th robot. They were the ultimate professionals, always ready to play at the drop of the hat. It's hard to top a rookie year that includes a trip to Einstein and the IRI finals, but after seeing the determination of this team, I expect nothing else.

I could go on and congratulate a multitude of teams on amazing performances this past weekend, but I want to draw special attention to one team. Often within the FIRST community and especially on this forum we lose sight of greatness. Too much time is spent extending sticky sweet platitudes and making sure everyone feels like a winner, we sometimes fail to stop and appreciate true excellence. I'd like to take a moment to recognize the dominance of Team 469 this year. In my mind they were easily the best robot in FIRST this year, and possibly the most dominant robot since Beatty in 2001. Two different games were being played this year, traditional Breakaway when 469 wasn't on the field and "469 Breakaway" when they were. With 469 on the field, every team had to adapt their strategies and play this new game. It was a sight to behold. I'm still amazed that 469 had the courage to undertake such a risky design strategy and the engineering prowess to execute it flawlessly. On top of all this, they had to deal with an obscene amount of "hate" just because they were that dang good. Despite all the negative attitude displayed towards their team this year they were unfazed, always moving forward in the most professional way. I was already a huge 469 fan before this season, but this year they earned my highest level of respect. In sports we talk about and glorify great teams like the '27 Yankees, '85 Bears and the '96 Bulls. In terms of FIRST history every discussion of greatness should include the 2010 Las Guerrillas. ¹

1. Other teams to consider in this discussion, 47 in '98, 71 in '01 & '02

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

One of my favorite moments was when 469 was pulling into queue behind the alliance station and the mentor/coach quipped, "Just once I'd like to play in an end zone!" :rolleyes:

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

Haha, and they did too! I think in their first or second match! :)

I agree with Karthik! 469 is an amazing team and the hatred/flak they accumulated this year is completely uncalled for!

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

If I could continue the sports metaphor, I consider 469's performance this season tantamount to the '07 Patriots.

This was my first event as my team's operator, and holy carp. You always hear about some awesome teams using a rookie drive team at IRI, I know 2056 and 217 are some examples. It's a little different when your team is a first-timer at IRI and people called the robot "that stupid little Oregon Trail wagon."

I'm incredibly surprised at our results at IRI. The fact that we even got in was an accomplishment in itself. I'm sitting here a week later still in awe that our team was actually an alliance captain. Go NH for being home to a quarter of the alliance captains.

After alliance selection, our teams met up, and for our incredibly difficult match-up for the quarter finals, we had a ton of outside support. Our team likes to think we are good with strategy, and we generally are, but the incredible way our alliance partners 910, 343, and 111 came together for the match took me by surprise. Raul of 111 is definitely a master in his game. We had great help from an anonymous member of 2041, who just showed up out of no where. Our biggest help in hind sight came from 1519, who gave us some 469 info that combined with strategy from Raul led to the events of QF1.2.

In the end, I left this competition with positive memories. I really hope to return next year.

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

From an outsider's viewpoint who had never seen it before, 910 drew a lot of strategy discussions around them while waiting in the queue. It was neat to observe. That will be how I remember them, along with their very loud group of supporters in the stands. Fun.

Jane

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

Team 3138 would also like to send a thanks out to our alliance partners at IRI. Thanks to 1086 for picking us; we were sitting on the edge of our seats during those last few picks and it was a huge relief to know we would get to compete in elimination rounds. But a special thanks has to go out to both 2056 and 1114. Starting with 2056, our season wouldn't be complete with out them. We truly couldn't have had a better rookie year and a large part of that is thanks to the great experiences we had playing with 2056 and 1625 throughout eliminations in Atlanta, specifically on eistien. We learned a lot about how to conduct ourselves as a team and how to strategize, two very valuable skills in FIRST. Although we didn't get to know 1114 as well as we did 2056, we have been impressed with both their team dynamics and the engineering of their robot since pittsburgh, and we would not have been as prepared or proffessional at IRI without the experience of competing at pittsburgh with 1114 or watching them on eistien.

Many other teams have also helped us throughout our rookie year. It would be nearly impossible to thank all of them, but our success has to also be attributed to the help of mentor teams 48,1038 and also 379 who allowed us to use their robot as a pre-rookie team at IRI 2009.

As a side note, 3138 would like to follow the rest of FRC in congragulating 469 on their success and amazing design. Our goals for next year include striving to think outside of the box and create an efficient and effective design just as 469 did this year.

Re: IRI 2010 Reflections
 

The Goats had a great time as usual at IRI. Even though we had a bad draw (seams to be our fate at IRI) it was a successful event for the team.

We were able to let some new people experience the fun of being behind the glass and even had one of our students with zero wiring experience help wire half the field with one of our mentors.

But I will have to say the best moment of the weekend for me was our last match of the day.

Our button monkey Nick and I were in the pit discussing strategies to use against 469 (something involving grabbing onto their mechanism with our hanger and pulling, all in jest mind you, we love that machine.)

Up walks Megan and she starts explaining the rule of the ranking system to us. She was so cute, I had to stifle a big smile and patiently listened. We told her we understood and we would do whatever the other two teams wanted because we had zero hope of being in the finals. I also had a good idea where this strategy came from :)

I was observing from the balcony as our robot was placed in the far zone (we always start in the front zone.) A couple of knowledgeable people on the floor looked up at me and smiled, they new instantly what the plan was.

After auton we turned and scored 5 balls in the other alliance goal and headed down to our zone to block our goal. The combined looks of shock, applause and booing from the crowd made my day.

The team left the field with big smiles and great memories.

Once again a huge round of thanks to all who work hard to make this event so wonderful for all of us who participate.