Einstein Field issues Handled correctly?

[Grim Tuesday]

Originally Posted by Tim Reddersen

Our most sincere thanks to our Alliance members 548 Robostang and 118 Robonauts.

Congratulations from one of the Newton finalists!

I am in a minority that think the issues were handled correctly, and in accordance with current FIRST policies. After the first two matches, they did exactly the right thing (and somewhat outside precedent) with replaying them. The next matches, there were scattered problems, but in accordance with what is de-facto policy, they did not replay or cancel them. They did not move to Galileo because it was already torn down. They did not crown twelve teams Champions, because to do that would be to admit defeat completely and utterly. FIRST never does that. It appeared that the issues were fixed when 4334 began working.

Sidenote: We were one of the backup bots for the Newton Division, so our drivers were back behind Einstein if anyone has an questions about what was actually going on. We all know the saying about assumptions.

In the first finals match, it didn't appear from my position in the pit next to Einstein by the VIP section that there were any field issues. It is clear that there were in the second match, but we have to think about the enormous pressure here. Was the decision deferred to the head ref? Did Dean Kamen make the call himself? Everyone is talking about how rustled they looked, and I can attest, Woody looked somewhat put out when he was reading the awards. Dean looked nervous and taut while standing next to the field. There is a human element here, and the stress and pressure of deciding a world champion is enormous.

Regardless, if the FTAs could detect no problem with the field, then they made the correct call in not replaying the match. It follows all precedent. I covered the reasoning in not declaring all teams World Champions above. That isn't to say that the field issues on Einstein were disgraceful.

The issue was not with how the problems were handled. They were with the field/control system. It means that there are quite a few things that need to be greatly looked at, and fixed before next year:

• There have been many high profile cases of very high tier teams being unable to connect to the field (118 and 1676 among others). This needs to be fixed by next year, especially the fact that some fields were able to be connected to and others not.
• Einstein needs to be tested. It is supposed to be the best field in all the land, and if there are problems on it, it becomes a massive debacle (ie, this thread). Someone suggested running a practice match on it with divisional quarterfinalists first. This would diminish the 'virginity' of the field, as well as reduce the value of "being on einstein". I suggest that the GDC brings the 6 bots they build to test the game when they're making it and run the tests that way, being careful not to scuff anything. They can do it quietly whenever they please, maybe Wednesday night.
• The idea of Einstein needs to be reexamined. It seems somewhat stupid to put all your hopes on an untested field. Why not play the finals match on the field of whichever division won last year?

I think we need to thank all the Einstein teams for remaining Gracious and Professional, role models for the whole community.