INsight: Perry Meridian

[INsight]

Walker Warren helped prove that the strategy and game-play in Indiana is pretty darn competitive. Matches 15, 31, 45, 48, and QF1-2 all ended in ties. In addition, here is how Walker Warren compared to the rest of the world in Breaches and Captures:

Qualification Round Breaches:

• Worldwide average - 63.55%
• Top Event - 86.81% (IN District - Walker Warren)
• Next Highest - 81.43% (PNW District - Mount Vernon)

Qualification Round Captures:

• Worldwide average - 5.67%
• Top Event - 25.69% (IN District - Walker Warren)
• Next Highest - 11.29% (MAR District - Springside Chestnut Hill)

Playoff Round Breaches:

• Worldwide average - 81.79%
• Top Event - 96.88% (PNW District - Central Washington)
• Next Highest - 91.67% (IN District - Walker Warren)

Playoff Round Captures:

• Worldwide average - 21.03%
• Top Event - 47.22% (IN District - Walker Warren)
• Next Highest - 41.67% (New York Tech Valley Regional)

Top Contenders:

• 135

  The Black Knights from Penn finished Tippecanoe ranked 11th with their huge wheels and high goal shooter. They’ll be looking to add a win to their resume and make it three straight years with at least one win after winning in Kokomo last year and sweeping the Indiana regionals the year before. After watching from up north, what improvements will they bring to Perry?

• 234

  Cyber Blue went into eliminations at Walker Warren as the 7th seed captain with a quality alliance, but an untimely jammed shooter and drivetrain problems in a critical third match led to their demise. Hungry for redemption; they will be looking to join 1747 as this year’s champions in their own house. Can they make the adjustments necessary to win?

• 1501

  Probably the odds on favorite to compete for the win this weekend. With a week off between their adventure down to North Carolina and their performance at Tippecanoe, what will THRUST have in store to raise the bar for the competition this weekend? With a big target of being an offensive juggernaut, will they need to adjust to stronger courtyard defense?

• 3559

  At Tippecanoe, they quietly posted the best defense busting score and lead themselves to a position as the 2nd seed alliance captain. With the breaching rate at Walker Warren, will they have to adjust their strategy with a more boulder-centric approach to stay competitive?

Third Times The Charm:

• 292

  PantherTech captained the 5th seed alliance this past weekend and were nothing if not consistent with their partners 1747 and 3947; posting elimination scores of 111, 153, 152, 150, and 150. However, their consistency was not enough, as they were eliminated by the eventual champion alliance of 1024-868-1720 in the semi-finals.

• 1024

  The Kil-A-Bytes have dominated in the state of Indiana, having won both district events so far. Their ability to lead alliances through the opponent’s defenses, attack towers high and low, and capture the tower is impeccable.

• 1741

  Red Alert, with their impressive intake/shooter arm and Sally Port manipulator, have finished 17th and 12th at Tippecanoe and Walker Warren respectively and were first round picks both times. Can they continue to improve and work their way to another solid performance and possible alliance captain position?

• 1747

  Coming off of their win on their home turf at Tippecanoe, Harrison Boiler Robotics came back down to earth by facing a variety of obstacles. Even despite the obstacles placed in their way, 1747 helped push the 5th seed to semifinals.

Hiding in the Corn (Darkhorse/Sleeper picks):

• 71

  Team Hammond ended the weekend on the 8th seeded alliance, in spite of having unfortunate and untimely code gremlins. If they can get their code to play nicely, their experienced drive team can lead them to a better finish and propel themselves back to the top of the rankings in Indiana.

• 829

  The Digital Goats have a quality robot and had strong qualification rounds at Tippy, but went un-selected despite having a top-15 OPR. Can they separate themselves from the rest of the pack at Perry and earn a spot in eliminations?

• 1720

  The PhyXT Gears were an absolute steal as the last pick during alliance selections this past weekend at Walker Warren. Their strong 2015 season has carried over and has led to their first ever victory in 2016. How will they add to their successes and climb higher within the state rankings?

• 3147

  These dark-horses from Munster are powering their way into their second event and hope to improve on their scaling. At Perry, they will try to give 4103 (Roborioles from Avon) a run for their money for the title of best scaling robot in the state.

Corn-Fed Contenders
Dependable and valuable alliance members. They may not be flashy but they get the job done out on the field:

• 1529

• 3947

• 4272

• 5403

Honorable Mentions

• 45

• 3494

• 3936

• 4580

• 6012

[BoilerMentor]

Oh INsight, You're so modest.

The Walker Warren event this weekend saw 37 captures in qualification rounds. The next closest events saw only 14. Greater Toronto East only had 20. There were only 10 at Central Valley.

I can't wait for Indiana champs and to see how our entries perform at Champs.

HBR had some struggles with vision code as well as other assorted hurdles, but we'll be back this week with a functional type A defense mechanism. Thanks again for your kind words.

[carpedav000]

Originally Posted by BoilerMentor

Oh INsight, You're so modest.

The Walker Warren event this weekend saw 37 captures in qualification rounds. The next closest events saw only 14. Greater Toronto East only had 20. There were only 10 at Central Valley.

I can't wait for Indiana champs and to see how our entries perform at Champs.

HBR had some struggles with vision code as well as other assorted hurdles, but we'll be back this week with a functional type A defense mechanism. Thanks again for your kind words.

Was your type A mechanism the little arm with the awesome LED strip?

[Sasha_Nut]

Good luck to all the teams, and may success in District take you to State!

Originally Posted by INsight

• 3147

  These dark-horses from Munster are powering their way into their second event and hope to improve on their scaling. At Perry, they will try to give 4103 (Roborioles from Avon) a run for their money for the title of best scaling robot in the state.

Have fun, Munster HorsePower! It's gonna take a lot of power to climb up above us to that title!

[tindleroot]

Indiana's start of districts last year saw some elevated play from teams, but this year seems to be out of the roof. It appears that while Indiana doesn't have any teams quite as big/well-known as some other regions (FIM, Cali, Canada, etc.), we have a lot of teams that can play well. Hopefully someone this year can end Indiana's Einstein drought (was 1024 2008 really the last time Indiana saw Einstein?)

[carpedav000]

Originally Posted by tindleroot

Indiana's start of districts last year saw some elevated play from teams, but this year seems to be out of the roof. It appears that while Indiana doesn't have any teams quite as big/well-known as some other regions (FIM, Cali, Canada, etc.), we have a lot of teams that can play well. Hopefully someone this year can end Indiana's Einstein drought (was 1024 2008 really the last time Indiana saw Einstein?)

Yes, 2008 was the last time Indiana saw Einstein. I think we have a district full of potential darkhorses for worlds.

[logank013]

Originally Posted by tindleroot

Indiana's start of districts last year saw some elevated play from teams, but this year seems to be out of the roof. It appears that while Indiana doesn't have any teams quite as big/well-known as some other regions (FIM, Cali, Canada, etc.), we have a lot of teams that can play well. Hopefully someone this year can end Indiana's Einstein drought (was 1024 2008 really the last time Indiana saw Einstein?)

I can't say this any better. Indiana last year was great. I kept track of all 14 Indiana teams at worlds last year and all of them did so well. Despite having no 1114 or 2056 in Indiana, the IN teams have been amazing! I definitely won't say our top teams have the best robots in FIRST this year but our average and below average teams are amazing in comparison to the rest of the world! Our top tier teams are still really good in comparison to the rest of FRC too.

It's so tough to think that such an amazing district only has 9 spots for worlds this year. In reality, Indiana might only be sending their top 5 teams to worlds! That's so hard to believe, but Chairman's award, Engineering Inspiration, and Rookie All Star don't really require your team to have a good robot (despite being awesome awards everyone eligible should go for and be proud if they win them). The second pick or 3rd robot on the winning alliance also won't be a "top tier" team. Now especially for this game, the third robot is super important. That third robot does deserve to go to worlds however because the third robot will contribute so much to winning this year but won't necessarily be top tier.

My hope is that many top tier Indiana teams will be waitlisted and win Chairman's and EI so we can truly send the best teams from IN. Can't wait for DCMPS and good luck to all the teams this week. Can't wait to see you all at our school.

[Peyton Yeung]

Originally Posted by logank013

The second pick or 3rd robot on the winning alliance also won't be a "top tier" team. Now especially for this game, the third robot is super important. That third robot does deserve to go to worlds however because the third robot will contribute so much to winning this year but won't necessarily be top tier.

This year is slightly different than previous years because the 3rd robot of the winning alliance at both events were steals for being the last pick of the tournament. That's the scary part.

[tindleroot]

Originally Posted by logank013

I can't say this any better. Indiana last year was great. I kept track of all 14 Indiana teams at worlds last year and all of them did so well. Despite having no 1114 or 2056 in Indiana, the IN teams have been amazing! I definitely won't say our top teams have the best robots in FIRST this year but our average and below average teams are amazing in comparison to the rest of the world! Our top tier teams are still really good in comparison to the rest of FRC too.

It's so tough to think that such an amazing district only has 9 spots for worlds this year. In reality, Indiana might only be sending their top 5 teams to worlds! That's so hard to believe, but Chairman's award, Engineering Inspiration, and Rookie All Star don't really require your team to have a good robot (despite being awesome awards everyone eligible should go for and be proud if they win them). The second pick or 3rd robot on the winning alliance also won't be a "top tier" team. Now especially for this game, the third robot is super important. That third robot does deserve to go to worlds however because the third robot will contribute so much to winning this year but won't necessarily be top tier.

My hope is that many top tier Indiana teams will be waitlisted and win Chairman's and EI so we can truly send the best teams from IN. Can't wait for DCMPS and good luck to all the teams this week. Can't wait to see you all at our school.

That being said, both of our Chairman's winners currently have a dominant district win as well, so it is pretty likely that the state Chairman's winner will also have a great robot.

[logank013]

Originally Posted by Peyton Yeung

This year is slightly different than previous years because the 3rd robot of the winning alliance at both events were steals for being the last pick of the tournament. That's the scary part.

For sure. It seems like these last picks are dark horses. Somehow, they become instantly better in the elims. But most likely, these last pick teams won't be top 9 in IN though .

[carpedav000]

Now that our robot can see and (hopefully) won't break as much, I cannot wait for Perry Meridian!

[logank013]

Originally Posted by carpedav000

Now that our robot can see and (hopefully) won't break as much, I cannot wait for Perry Meridian!

Shall we expect more high goal shots? I remember a few attempts (like 4 or 5) but only remember 1 going in. Good luck to you all.

[carpedav000]

Originally Posted by logank013

Shall we expect more high goal shots? I remember a few attempts (like 4 or 5) but only remember 1 going in. Good luck to you all.

You should expect more high goal shots. We made a couple (2 or 3) in a few matches, but now we hope to get 5+ cycles a match. Combine that with the killer class C arm, and we are looking to be a contender

[logank013]

Originally Posted by carpedav000

You should expect more high goal shots. We made a couple (2 or 3) in a few matches, but now we hope to get 5+ cycles a match. Combine that with the killer class C arm, and we are looking to be a contender

That arm will be a good advantage. Assuming you have some good presets on that arm that put it in the same spot, that extra height should hopefully add some extra accuracy that low release teams like 4982 don't have. Either way, good luck at Perry. IN competition is intense.

[carpedav000]

Originally Posted by logank013

That arm will be a good advantage. Assuming you have some good presets on that arm that put it in the same spot, that extra height should hopefully add some extra accuracy that low release teams like 4982 don't have. Either way, good luck at Perry. IN competition is intense.

Thanks and same to you! From what I heard we are using tracking for right/left alignment and a photon cannon for angle.