NYC Regional- Give me the good, bad, or ugly...

[Elgin Clock]

Originally posted by Ed Crammond
yeah i thought it was good.

One thing that could have been improved was the traffic of people and robots between the pits and the arena. It seemed wherever you wanted to get through, you were blocked by one of the "traffic cop" volunteers. This was particularly bad on the first day, though things got better later on.

Perhaps there should have been two separate routes going to and from the arena and the pits, that would have prevented the constant blockages in that narrow doorway.

Apart from that it was a great few days. A big thanks to you Rich, Randy Sheaffer, Deborah Rose and of course Mama Dickson as well as all the other volunteers for a great regional.

Speaking of traffic flow.. I failed to understand why you had to go the "long way around" on your way to the field when you are more likely rushing to get there and then on the way back, when you are less conscious about time you chose to use the short route.. <me>still puzzled</me>
But.. I thought the traffic flow was way better than last year at Columbia.. can you say "annoyingly narrow hallways"?? lol

Also, a lesson learned in NYC regional this year was to have the refs notice immediately the position of the human stacks at the beginning of the match before autonomous kicks in.. Do we remember the Finals match with the bin under the bot??? lol
They stole my idea to begin with, but as soon as I saw that happen I knew they were going to be DQ'ed anyways!! It was a great strategy though.. if it had been legal!
Oh well, you live you learn..

[Eric Reed]

481 used the machine shop. I found the driver and the two machinists very nice and very helpful.

One of the machininsts even took me on a tour of the plant while I waited. Do you know they run the huge pump motors partially using reclaimed methane from the waste water? Cooool.

Overall we really enjoyed the regional, and had a BLAST! If I had a complaint...and I'm digging deep here...it's that the printed schedule of matches was not followed. We were caught a bit off guard when lunch was moved (our bad for not hearing the announcement in the morning).

We're reconsidering our 'policy' of going to different regionals each year. New York may be a keeper.

Eric
481

[Rich Wong]

Your team was the one that stay at the AYH.

How was the acommondations?
Was it difficult to reserve the beds?
How do you guys rate the AYH?
Do you recommend the place to other teams?
How was your team getting around the city?
Bus, subway, or other means?

Thanks for any input.

[Eric Reed]

The hostel was great. Never a problem getting a shower...the staff was friendly...the rooms were clean. You can come and go anytime you please.

The rate was okay at $32 per night/per person. About the same as four in a cheap hotel, BUT...we didn't have to worry about getting four people in each room, and didn't have to worry about how many boys / girls were in each room. Also, noone had to share a bed or sleep on the floor. We had the rooms all to ourselves, but they did warn us that they would fill up the empty beds if the rest of the hostel filled up.

We took the subway everywhere. The 1 and 9 stop a safe block from the hostel, and the A and C(?) are about three blocks away (those three blocks were a little questionable at night, though). The M60 stops about four blocks away, and we took that to from the airport.

Lots of good food on Broadway.

Overall, a great time and a great value.

Eric

[Dante Sparda]

Was Team 395 there? I hope they did okay if they were.......

[Eric Reed]

395 was there. They were a powerhouse...I'm really surprised they didn't end up on top. Also a very nice team, with true spirit.

Eric.

[Rich Wong]

395 Ranked # 2 on Saturday.

They also won the Engineering Inspiration Award. (Very cool)

They were in the quarter-final alliance (395,348, 237)
against the UNbeatable 522,694,421 alliance.

395 did amazingly well for a team that had to replace
the whole robot chassis because the lexan skin
fell apart and the lefting arm was totally removed.
Their whole game plan had to be reworked too.

Hopefully they will be at the Nationals.

[Elgin Clock]

woot!! 395!! lol

The funniest thing that happened in NYC was one of the chants during the finals..

We chanted all our alliance members team numbers.
When we got to Team 395, the group started chanting, "Three Five Nine, Three Five Nine, Three Five Nine"

"Noooo Stooopp"!!!

Then one of the guys actually looked at a 395 team member's jump suit and said, "See it's 395, not 359!"

So then we resumed the chant with the right number.

Over heard in the crowd during that whole ordeal... "Never let the dyslexic team member start the chant..."

[ChewyMasterFlex]

Originally posted by Elgin Clock
woot!! 395!! lol

The funniest thing that happened in NYC was one of the chants during the finals..

We chanted all our alliance members team numbers.
When we got to Team 395, the group started chanting, "Three Five Nine, Three Five Nine, Three Five Nine"

"Noooo Stooopp"!!!

Then one of the guys actually looked at a 395 team member's jump suit and said, "See it's 395, not 359!"

So then we resumed the chant with the right number.

Over heard in the crowd during that whole ordeal... "Never let the dyslexic team member start the chant..."

LoL. I too thought it was 359 (until I strated profiling), I guess your chant spread to others....