2014 - Dallas Regional

[iKenzLove]

http://youtu.be/x-U9YIILaZY

This was hands down 2950's favorite match. It was great playing with our alliance in the quarters! We all complemented each other's strategies very well. Our driver had some killer defense here, especially at the end. Shut them down.

[wireties]

I had to watch the Dallas Regional from Florida this week. The clever analysis and quick-turn engineering changes to 148's robot (from Alamo) were awesome. 148 was THE dominant presence all weekend. Once again the Robo-Wranglers give the rest of us great examples of engineering process and problem-solving to learn from.

PS - sorry for the rough-ish D in the last match and hope the robot is in good shape for your next event!

[lynca]

Originally Posted by wireties

148 was THE dominant presence all weekend.

I would not call 148 the only dominant robot at Dallas. I would say the top 5 teams at Dallas were all fairly close in skill. It all came down to pairing and teamwork in the last few matches. Dallas was a very stacked event.

Any of these 5 teams could get together and still have a shot of winning Dallas. What is interesting is that all 5 of these teams will be at FRC Championship.

1. 148
2. 359
3. 2848
4. 1817
5. 2158

[wireties]

Originally Posted by lynca

I would not call 148 the only dominant robot at Dallas. I would say the top 5 teams at Dallas were all fairly close in skill. It all came down to pairing and teamwork in the last few matches. Dallas was a very stacked event.

Any of these 5 teams could get together and still have a shot of winning Dallas. What is interesting is that all 5 of these teams will be at FRC Championship.

1. 148
2. 359
3. 2848
4. 1817
5. 2158

Numbers matter - was any other robot undefeated?

[JVN]

Originally Posted by wireties

Numbers matter - was any other robot undefeated?

This is a silly metric for comparison. You are being far, FAR too kind.
There were a number of GREAT teams at the Dallas event last weekend, including the ones Andy listed (and many more he didn't).

Our students and robot performed great, but there was nothing about our play which I would describe as "dominant".
We had a lot of things go our way, which easily could have gone the other way. We were fortunate to work with great teams all weekend, and of course had the opportunity to partner up with two AMAZING teams in the eliminations.

As they say... I'd rather be lucky than good any day (especially Saturdays).
I'm just proud that we functioned well as a team, and that our focus on iteration helped drive improvement over our Alamo robot performance.

This was one of the toughest, deepest, most talent filled regionals I've attended.
I'm excited to see how this trend continues in 2015!

[2789_B_Garcia]

On behalf of 2789, Team TEXplosion would like to thank all of our great friends at the Dallas Regional, there are way too many to name off, but first and foremost, thanks to team 4063, our pit neighbors and some of the best friends anyone could ask for in FRC…if you didn't get to see how they saran wrapped our entire pit and covered it with bunny memes, let me know and I'll find the video online…they definitely got their revenge for the prank we pulled on them at TRR last Summer, but they haven't heard the last of us

We'd also like to thank the awesome peeps on 148...as always, it was just as fun to play with you as it was to play against you! Best of luck at champs!

We'd also like to thank our 7th seed alliance partners from team 2587 and our rookie alliance captain, team 5057. We put up a good fight, and even though we knew it was an uphill battle, we didn't throw in the towel. I love working with the Discobots and I'm glad I got to meet and work with more of their awesome crew, I wish your team the best at Lone Star, and I would also like to congratulate 5057 on taking home the Rookie All-Star Award, I hope you learn as much at champs as we did last year!

There were so many other great teams at the event, and whether your season is just starting or coming to a close, thank you for doing your part to build the great sense of community that we felt at this regional, and we wish every team at the event the best!

I would also like to thank the event staff for running such a smooth event. Thanks, everyone!

[AllenGregoryIV]

All the videos are now uploaded and labeled with match number, teams, and scores in the description.

They should be on The Blue Alliance soon.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...0y0ZpCjPC5GGyO

We also have photos up on our flickr and we have pictures of a lot of the robots at the event.

[wireties]

Originally Posted by JVN

I'm just proud that we functioned well as a team, and that our focus on iteration helped drive improvement over our Alamo robot performance.

This was the thing that caught my eye - the progression from Alamo to Dallas. It was hard to catch all the matches since the feed was pitiful for so much of the weekend - no doubt that there were many great teams. I tend to watch 1296, 3310 and 148 since they are local.

See you guys in 2015!

[TheMadCADer]

I've been trying to find where the red alliance possessed the blue ball in QF 4-2, and I think I found it here.

Any insight into why this was called? Can't say I agree and it makes me wary...

[Steven Smith]

As far as I know, this was the period in which it was called (2:08-2:20). I cannot claim to be an impartial observer (3005 coach), but our team also didn't initiate any sort of request to the refs for review.

I believe the call would have been a G12, with the specific penalty being "trapping".

An ALLIANCE may not POSSESS their opponent’s BALLS. The following criteria define POSSESSION :

“trapping” (overt isolation or holding one or more BALLS against a FIELD element or ROBOT in an attempt to shield them).

The intent of G12 is to prevent an ALLIANCE from inhibiting an opponent’s ability to interact with their BALL, but accommodate accidental and inconsequential actions by way of fewer FOUL points. Actions which are perceived as consequential and extended are distinct violations, as there are scenarios where POSSESSION of an opponent’s BALL could be consequential or extended but not necessarily both.

To me, it is pretty clear that the red robot recognized the ball was cornered against the low goal, and at least once, was touching the blue ball with the blue ball pinned between the player station and low goal. I would argue it was strategic, it was consequential to the match, but it wasn't extended, as red would trap, then break off the wall to push away. There isn't a "5 second rule" on possession like there is on things like pinning another robot though.

There was a previous match where something similar was done to us, but the opponent robot never directly pinned the ball. In the previous match, they maintained a 3-5 ft buffer off the ball, and essentially screened our rookie driver away from the ball for 30 seconds. We did challenge this (because I couldn't see the 3 ft. of space from 50+ feet away), and the refs said it wasn't trapping because there was sufficient space for us to maneuver around (correct call, IMO).

We did get a little better at breaking this tactic, and the driver was instructed to essentially ride the player station wall to push red away from the ball, then deal with the ball directly.

I would also go out on a limb and say this sort of "trapping" is somewhat reasonable in the context of defense, and could be considered a 20 point foul after the latest update... whereas a robot pinning the ball against the wall for 5+ seconds might be the flagrant sort of foul where a technical would be called.

[Pjohn1959]

All of the matches that were recorded by Lockheed Martin are up. These include the team introductions and the score overlays.
The videos also include the Friday and Saturday Ceremonies, and the alliance selections.

They can be found here.

[TheMadCADer]

Originally Posted by Steven Smith

As far as I know, this was the period in which it was called (2:08-2:20). I cannot claim to be an impartial observer (3005 coach), but our team also didn't initiate any sort of request to the refs for review.

I believe the call would have been a G12, with the specific penalty being "trapping".

To me, it is pretty clear that the red robot recognized the ball was cornered against the low goal, and at least once, was touching the blue ball with the blue ball pinned between the player station and low goal. I would argue it was strategic, it was consequential to the match, but it wasn't extended, as red would trap, then break off the wall to push away. There isn't a "5 second rule" on possession like there is on things like pinning another robot though.

There was a previous match where something similar was done to us, but the opponent robot never directly pinned the ball. In the previous match, they maintained a 3-5 ft buffer off the ball, and essentially screened our rookie driver away from the ball for 30 seconds. We did challenge this (because I couldn't see the 3 ft. of space from 50+ feet away), and the refs said it wasn't trapping because there was sufficient space for us to maneuver around (correct call, IMO).

We did get a little better at breaking this tactic, and the driver was instructed to essentially ride the player station wall to push red away from the ball, then deal with the ball directly.

I would also go out on a limb and say this sort of "trapping" is somewhat reasonable in the context of defense, and could be considered a 20 point foul after the latest update... whereas a robot pinning the ball against the wall for 5+ seconds might be the flagrant sort of foul where a technical would be called.

My issue is that I wouldn't consider the ball trapped there. In your other example where there was no penalty, the reasoning was that there was space to maneuver around and get the ball. In this case where there was a penalty, there was certainly still space to go around by the driver station wall, because the blue driver did so and got to the ball. As for touching the ball and holding it against the wall, I see the red robot tap the ball once in a situation that looks like the driver just forgot which was side of the robot was forward.

Ultimately, none of this matters because the rule change would most likely make this a smaller penalty. At the time I posted I was just worried because I'd absolutely want a team to play like 3735 did here if they were in the same situation. I'm sure your driver can attest to how annoying it was. I also thought it was a bit strange that the head ref called this from across the field, not the ref right by that low goal (as you said, it's hard to see gaps from across the field). The part we can't see however is what is being said over the radio.