Lessons learned for Week 2 Regionals?

[robodude03]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

What I'm wondering is - would this topic be a good workshop or even Championship Conference level presentation to develop? I think there's a lot of information/training opportunity for what it takes to be valuable to an alliance here.

Just a thought,
Jane

Showcasing your robot in an alliance...hmmm I like the sound of that. It would definitely be beneficial to teams that are new to FIRST and would go hand-in-hand with alliance strategy.

[Karthik]

Originally Posted by jblay

I don't think this is a very smart thing to do. Just because a team is out of it in terms of getting into the top 8 and thinks it is important to showcase their skills doesn't mean you shouldn't think about picking them. A team that does this just wants to play in the elimination matches and win, so how does that make them a worse pick for the elimination matches. It isn't like they will do this during the eliminations so why take them off of your list?

We've found that teams who are not willing to listen to a smart strategy during qualification matches are very likely to not listen during the elimination rounds. Simply put, these are teams we don't feel comfortable working with.

[jblay]

Originally Posted by Karthik

We've found that teams who are not willing to listen to a smart strategy during qualification matches are very likely to not listen during the elimination rounds. Simply put, these are teams we don't feel comfortable working with.

I guess I can see where you are coming from on that now. But in my opinion, that doesn't mean that a team is not willing to listen to a smart strategy its just a team that is willing to take a risk in the hopes that they will make eliminations, but thats my opinion. In my experience I don't think I have ever had a team that didn't cooperate with our strategy if we were alliance captains. For us it wouldn't change our pick list in either direction but I could understand why it would change yours and you can't argue with your results.

[pfreivald]

Originally Posted by Karthik

We've found that teams who are not willing to listen to a smart strategy during qualification matches are very likely to not listen during the elimination rounds. Simply put, these are teams we don't feel comfortable working with.

This might mean something coming from a team that wins something once in a while. But from you guys? Pshaw.*







*Note: The above post is swimming in irony. Just swimming.

[thefro526]

Originally Posted by HarveyAce

out of curiosity, how does throwing a match in any way help your team, let alone the alliance? all it does is add a losss to your record. and if you are throwing a match, thats not very GP like!

*NOTE* In no way, shape, or form do I condone throwing matches, nor have we ever done it. This post is written in purely hypothetical terms, so that those who do not understand throwing matches can understand. */NOTE*

Hypothetically, Under certain situations, throwing a match can be advantageous.

Let's say you're shaping up to be the #7 seed, but you have no desire to be the number #7 seed. Lose a match and you drop out of the top 8.

Or, a team is looking at picking you, and you know the pick is almost guaranteed. You sandbag your last few matches of qualifications to appear to be broken, worse than your were before, etc - with the hope that you will be over looked during alliance selections until the team who is "supposed" to pick you, picks you.

You're on an alliance with the current #1, #2, or #3 seed, and a team that is close with you is seeded one behind your partner. By playing at a less than maximum capacity, you lose the match. The partner who is a higher seed will drop in seeding, allowing the team that is close to you to move up.

I'm sure there are other reasons for throwing matches, but those are the most common ones that I've heard of.

Before you think of throwing matches, remember this: If most teams hear that you threw a match to change the seeding, then you'll instantly get black listed on their pick list. I've had teams request that we throw a match, or tell us before hand that they weren't going to play at their full potential, and it's sickening, and I've also had close friends have perfect records ruined by a team that decided they were going to throw a match. It's really not something you want to do, or have your team name associated with.

[Kims Robot]

Originally Posted by Andy Baker

5.4. Get some sharpie markers if the number stickers don't work for you.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't use sharpie!! Buy or borrow some white fabric paint!! Its IMPOSSIBLE to read black on blue from the stands, and often hard to read black on red.

I can't tell you how many times our scouters had to pull out binoculars or cameras with zooms in order to figure out what the team number is. The whole concept of "a contrasting color" and the ability to tell teams by their bumpers is lost with black on blue.

OK fine if you have silver sharpie or something that will show up, but white fabric paint is cheap & just as easy!

[JaneYoung]

I saw some bright pink paint being used but didn't see the final product to see if there was enough contrast, this weekend. Maybe outlined in black?

Also, if you buy spray paint and stencils to paint the numbers on, please don't paint inside the venue and be aware of where the paint is spraying beyond the the bumpers. In other words, don't leave you mark permanently on venue property.

Jane

[RoboMom]

Have a back up plan. Stuff happens.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...threadid=93435

[TD912]

Originally Posted by Kims Robot

Its IMPOSSIBLE to read black on blue from the stands, and often hard to read black on red.

I also agree with this. Although it may look visible when viewing up close, it is usually quite difficult to see from the stands. A black permanent marker may work as a quick fix, but try to use contrasting colors for better visibility.

[Kimmeh]

Originally Posted by TD912

I also agree with this. Although it may look visible when viewing up close, it is usually quite difficult to see from the stands. A black permanent marker may work as a quick fix, but try to use contrasting colors for better visibility.

We've typically found that white works very well.

[MagiChau]

Probably would help if they outline their black numbers with a silver sharpie or something so they don't have to entirely redo their bumper cover numbers.

[jcbc]

Originally Posted by pfreivald

For us, this was a matter of sensor calibration. In order to follow the lines under FLR lighting conditions, we had to turn the gain on the line finders all the way up -- but because the center of the Y is also the center of the field, and the black tape they use to tape the carpet together is somewhat reflective, the sensors would then read the black tape *after* the Y, and thus keep on driving straight.

We verified this by putting our sensors right over the black tape during the practice day -- sure enough, it was triggering them!

Our autonomous worked fine on the practice field (which did not have the black tape), and fine at home, but would not work on the field itself.

Just another heads-up that that black tape is certainly an issue when programming for branching. I have attached a screen grab from the Chesapeake Regional Webcast which shows the black tape at the Y.