I feel that this was one of the best run regionals I have ever attended, especially taking into account the new FMS and a larger field of teams than usual for SBPLI. All of the volunteers did a a great job and I want to especially thank Bill, Mike, Brian, Mark, Bharat, Jim, the MC"s and all of the field crew for their hard work.
Part of the delay in getting scores posted had to do with the design of the scoring controller. Unless the orbit ball count was obviously correct, the scorers had to do a manual count of the balls and then correct and confirm the scrore. However, the ethernet cables for the scoring controllers were very short so we had to leave them by the corner of the field. By the time I was ready to go back to my controller to enter the score the new robots were already being brought out onto the field, making it difficult to access the controllers. So, we decided to report the corrected scores directly to the scorekeeper in order to speed up the process.
By the time elimination matches started on Saturday, we had developed a better system in which we staggered personnel entry onto the field. First the scorers did their counts and then the field reset crew and team members entered the field. This allowed everything to run more smoothly.
In the future, I think that wireless scoring controllers or a longer ethernet cable could solve these issues.
I hope to work with all of you again next year.
-"Big Joe" Official Scorer
P.S. I had to leave during the award ceremony on Friday. If anyone has a picture of the cake, I would appreciate it if you could post it. Thanks
