SCRIW (South Carolina Robotics Invitational and Workshops) 2011

[JohnFogarty]

Originally Posted by Billfred

One more got in to bring us to a nice even 18--welcome FRC 3318 (the Robodragons) to the SCRIW lineup!

86 - Team Resistance
281 - EnTech GreenVillains
342 - The Burning Magnetos
1051 - Marion County FIRST Robotics
1102 - M'Aiken Magic
1293 - D5 Robotics
1319 - Flash
1539 - Clover Blue Eagle Robotics
1553 - KC Revolutionists
1553A - KC Revolutionists B-Team
1758 - Technomancers
1902 - Exploding Bacon
2059 - The Hitchhikers
2187 - Team Volt
2751 - SPARK
2815 - Los Pollos Locos
3318 - Robodragons
3489 - Category 5

6 spots left and last call! If you're planning to come and are in stealth mode, fill out the form at http://scriw.org/team-registration-form/ ASAP!

I'm happy to say the green machine can reach a lot high than it used to.
Really looking forward to next weekend!

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by John_1102

I'm happy to say the green machine can reach a lot high than it used to.
Really looking forward to next weekend!

Join the club!

First, an update: The Robodragons have run into a conflict and can't make it...but Flash has elected to bring 3371's robot as their B-Team. As such:

86 - Team Resistance
281 - EnTech GreenVillains
342 - The Burning Magnetos
1051 - Marion County FIRST Robotics
1102 - M'Aiken Magic
1293 - D5 Robotics
1319 - Flash
1539 - Clover Blue Eagle Robotics
1553 - KC Revolutionists
1553A - KC Revolutionists B-Team
1758 - Technomancers
1902 - Exploding Bacon
2059 - The Hitchhikers
2187 - Team Volt
2751 - SPARK
2815 - Los Pollos Locos
3371 - Flash B-Team
3489 - Category 5

Our plan is to have six alliances of three in the elimination rounds; the first and second alliances will have bye rounds in the quarterfinals.

Some updates:

If you haven't paid up: DON'T send your check through the mail at this point. There are several teams that haven't sent us checks at this point, and we really need to get them in. Please make absolutely sure that you have it with you on Saturday; we REALLY don't want to turn anyone away on something like that. (If you haven't paid, you'll be getting a nudge from me separately.)

Check-in Please plan to arrive at Columbia High no later than 8:30. We will be generating the match schedule based on teams checked in at that time so we can get the first match queued up before opening ceremonies at 9:00, and we can't put that genie back in the bottle. If you can get there earlier, please do; this will give us a buffer to catch any communications issues early and make your competition day much better.

Come prepared! If your team is anything like ours, you're probably still blowing the dust off of everything. Give your robot a dry run in your home shop, and make sure you've charged up your robot and power tool batteries. Also, don't forget your bumpers!

Safety first! This also falls under "Come prepared", but it justifies its own bullet point: Just like any FRC event, closed-toe shoes and safety glasses will be required in the pit area. PLEASE bring your own; while we will have some loaners for spectators, we know we won't have 18 teams' worth of loaners. Our goal is for everyone to leave with the same number of fingers, toes, and eyeballs they arrived with in the same configuration.

Two, or three? With 18 teams, the 3v3 format means only six teams would be in the pits at any given time--six on the field, six in the queue. Even with plans for a slower match cycle, that can mean some very tight turnarounds. One idea floated to help this in qualification rounds (and only the qualification rounds) is to play them 2v2, which would give everyone more time in the pits (four more teams would not be on the field or in the queue). 2v2 is not a done deal, and we want your input. If you feel strongly either way, please contact us!

Unloading and traffic pattern See the attached graphic for a layout of the traffic and parking plans. Google Maps directions will take you to the front of the school; the event is in the gym in rear. The traffic circle by the gym will be reserved for loading and handicapped parking, with parking further down Kathleen Drive for everyone. Full-size buses and trucks with trailers can find a few particular spaces on a third driveway on Chantilly Drive. We will have people helping to guide you to the right spot, fear not!

Tables for the pit It turns out the source of tables we thought we had isn't actually available to us. We can scrounge a few, but if your pit arrangements don't require one of ours then we'd appreciate it. (Figure that you will be traveling lighter than usual.) If you DO need a table, please let us know as soon as possible so we can coordinate it.

Workshops! We've been waiting to announce these for one more confirmation, and we're thrilled to announce a spectacular group of workshops that will be taking place in the cafeteria:

• 9:40-10:40: The Big Bacon Theory of Image and Branding - Wendy Austin, FRC 1902 (Exploding Bacon)
• 10:45-11:45: A Primer on Composites - Walter Everett, FRC 1758 (Technomancers)
• 12:50-1:20: Mentoring an Animation Team for Non-Animators - Kevin Thorp, FRC 3489 (Category 5) & FTC Game Animator
• 1:25-1:55: Introduction to 3ds Max - Kevin Thorp, FRC 3489 (Category 5) & FTC Game Animator
• 2:00-3:00: Motor Selection & Gearboxes - Jacob Plicque, FRC 86 (Team Resistance)

We couldn't ask for a better group of presenters, and we hope you'll take a little time-out from the competition to check them out.

Day-of Updates If you have questions or need assistance during the competition, check pit admin; they'll have a direct line to all the relevant people. (Very direct in some cases--my mother's volunteered to man pit admin!) You can also get updates and contact us on Twitter--we're @SCRIW.

Wanna volunteer? We've got a number of spots left, either for part or all of the day. Let me know if you're interested.

Appreciation We really would not be able to pull this event off without the assistance of a lot of great people and teams. We're looking forward to a great event this Saturday, and we want to thank each and every one of you for coming.

[Billfred]

It's now 12:30 AM on Friday. We've got all but one trophy together (teaser: http://campl.us/gBVg), signs are printed, and the as-yet-unnamed AndyMark truck has parked for the night at a hotel a couple of miles from the school. We set up tomorrow today (this after-midnight stuff...) after lunch, and everything should be ready to go within the next 24 hours.

To say that I'm REALLY looking forward to this event is an understatement. Can't wait to see everyone at Columbia High!

[Andy Baker]

Originally Posted by Billfred

Ias-yet-unnamed AndyMark truck has parked for the night at a hotel a couple of miles from the school. ... Can't wait to see everyone at Columbia High!

This is good news. Good luck to all at SCRIW!

Sincerely,
Andy Baker

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Billfred

To say that I'm REALLY looking forward to this event is an understatement.

This is a great feeling to have! Good luck to the event organizers and to all of the teams and their supporters.

Jane

[Josh Drake]

Packed up and ready to go....

[Billfred]

This has been a pretty crazy day, but the field has been assembled and tested using 2815's robot. (If that robot will sync to the field, yours will.)

We'll fix up a few last-minute things in the morning, then it's going to be a pretty awesome day of robots, workshops, and fun. By our esteemed FTA's mental math, we should have 6-7 qualification matches per team running on a fairly slow cycle. Assuming you're on time for the match, we probably won't have to bypass people.

Look forward to seeing everyone in the morning!

[Hallry]

Will there be a live webcast of the event tomorrow?

[Roger]

Just a heads-up to team 1102 - there is a bug in the FMS that 11.YY teams (that is, teams in the 1100s) not using the clamshell driver station may not connect to the field. We discovered this at the Mainely Spirited event, and it was proved by the field techs.

Out of curiousity, could this be tested?

Good luck with the event!

[Josh Drake]

Great event! We had a blast! A big thanks to FLASH and KC Revolutionists B Team for parterning up with us. Put us down for SCRIW 2!

[Zflash]

FLASH had a great time and it was an awesome event. To all those that did not make it to this event you really missed a great opportunity for extra play time that was regional quality at an offseason price.

Thanks to 2751 for picking us and to the KC Revolutionists B Team for being great partners.

Also thanks to 1758 for picking 3371 our "B" team. It was a great experience playing with you and 342 all the way to the finals. The alliance was great and thanks to you all our team was able to take home 2nd as well.

[Jacob Paikoff]

Great event, had a blast and I hope all the team had as much fun as I did. Can't wait till SCRIW 2.

[Billfred]

I'm doing well to even type things this morning--yesterday stretched from a 5:15 alarm (with backup) until about 12:15 when I got back home after making sure Exploding Bacon got to the train station in one piece. My brain is borderline mush, I don't have much of a voice, and I don't think I could be much happier.

This year was very much a learning curve, as anyone who was in the gym at 8:00 or so can attest to. We seemed to battle back nicely, which seems to be the overarching theme of this year's event. From a 2815 student putting in an all-new sound system for the event (and helping Columbia High identify some improvements in the gym's house system) to Jerry helping reprogram robots to run after the FMS was shut down to help us get some TV coverage (success!), this event could not have happened without the assistance of a lot of great people.

The mandatory housekeeping notes:

-If you think you lost something, we might've gotten it when we cleaned up. Contact me.
-We really want to hear your thoughts on how to improve the event. (Afterward, I sat down with Matt Hedden on 1293 and Exploding Bacon--between those two conversations, the list is already 40 or so items long.) Team contacts should have a proper survey by email this week...but if you've got something specific, please let us know.

And now some thank-yous:

First, thank you AndyMark. Had we just gotten a field from Manchester, we would've had a 27-by-54-foot paperweight. Sending Jerry and Brandon to lead the field's operations was essential to this event's success.

On a related note, thank you Mark Kirlough and all of Columbia High School. When our original plans fell through, we burned through two or three more schools and nearly had to drop everything when I made a call to Coach Kirlough. He was game for just about everything, and his assistance was just as instrumental in our event's successes. We couldn't think of a more fitting recipient of the inaugural SCRIWDriver award.

I also want to give thanks to our workshop presenters, Wendy Austin, Kevin Thorpe, Jacob Plicque, and Walter Everett for putting on an amazing roster of workshops. If we got a lineup half as nice next year, it'd still be good! (If I weren't busy on the field, you can bet I'd have attended them all.)

A thank-you to Jacob Plicque Paikoff for jumping in when Palmetto head ref Terrell Burch was out for the morning with an FLL scheduling conflict across town. He led a crew of refereeing newbies (including FRC alumni Brandon Dean, Hector Mireles, and Ryan Brown) through an event that went without any real mayhem for those in stripes. (Perhaps it helped that none of them wore stripes. We'll fix that next year.)

A few team-specific thank-yous:
-to Flash for dusting off 3371's robot on less than a week's notice in an attempt to get us to 18 teams and six even alliances
-to The Hitchhikers for being gracious in not being picked when one team no-showed and forced us to five alliances. (The other unpicked team was the host team, 1293, that was falling victim to frequent issues.)
-to Exploding Bacon for undertaking one of the craziest travel plans I've seen in a while--their team took Amtrak overnight Friday, arrived in Columbia at 4:00 in the morning Saturday, traveled to the school in a rental car and their chase van, competed all day, and hopped on a train last night back home to Florida. All for a rookie one-day off-season event.

The awards, to the best of my recollection (alliances may not be in draft order):

Champions: 2751 (SPARK) 1319 (Flash), 1554 (KC Revolutionists B-Team)
Finalists: 1758 (Technomancers), 3371 (Flash B-Team), 342 (Burning Magnetos)
Champions' Choice*: 342 (Burning Magnetos)
SCRIWDriver Award** Mark Kirlough (Columbia High School)

*Quite literally, the favorite team of the winning drive teams--we asked them after Finals 1 to pick their favorite that wasn't themselves, their B-teams, or the host teams.

**The SCRIWDriver award is presented to the individual or group that is most essential in putting together the SCRIW competition.

I'm sure there are people and teams I'm forgetting, but thank you all for making the first-ever off-season in South Carolina a great success. We look forward to announcing SCRIW II once we have the relevant details!

[mandrews281]

On behalf of Entech281, I'd just like to thank everyone involved in getting SCRIW put together. We had a GREAT time and it was worth all the effort to get our robot working again (it took a beating when we demoed at Freedom Weekend Aloft). It's always great to show the new kids a small sampling of what a FIRST competition looks like.

[Jacob Paikoff]

Originally Posted by Billfred

A thank-you to Jacob Paikoff for jumping in when Palmetto head ref Terrell Burch was out for the morning with an FLL scheduling conflict across town. He led a crew of refereeing newbies (including FRC alumni Brandon Dean, Hector Mireles, and Ryan Brown) through an event that went without any real mayhem for those in stripes. (Perhaps it helped that none of them wore stripes. We'll fix that next year.)

Paikoff

You must have gotten me confused with the other Jacob, which is fine since as you said your brain is mush right now.