GRITS 2016

[Kellen Hill]

What: GRITS (Georgia Robotics Invitational & Tournament Showcase)
When: October 22, 2016
Hosted By: Georgia FIRST
Where: Riverside Military Academy, Gainesville, Georgia
Event Info: http://gafirst.org/index.php/program...218-grits-2016
Webcast: There will be a webcast. Link to be posted later

I would post cost information and link to registration info, but the event is only two weeks and is already at capacity.

Here is the posted team list. There are a few more to be added.

Team # Team Name
832 Oscar
1002 CircuitRunners
1261 Robo Lions
1648 G3 Robotics
1746 OTTO
1771 North Gwinnett Robotics
2415 WiredCats
2556 Radioactive Roaches
2974 Walton Robotics
3318 RoboDragons
3581 Thinc Tank Robotics
3694 Warbotz
3815 KOTU
4112 Eaglebots
4188 Columbus Space Program
4235 RoboRaiders
4468 Fernbank LINKS
4516 Hyperion
4910 East Cobb Robotics
4941 Team RoboBibb
5109 Gladiator Robotics
5132 Roboclovers
5219 TeknoSquad
5608 Lassiter Robotics
2017-389 Albany High Indians

[Kellen Hill]

Other interesting information about GRITS:

Rookie Experience
Rookies are an integral part of the GRITS event. New rookie teams (first year participating in FIRST) attend in order to get a better idea of the upcoming season, collaborate with veteran teams for best practices and learn from the experience of an actual event. In keeping with this objective, Georgia FIRST will launch ‘The Rookie Experience’ at GRITS 2016. The Rookie Experience will allow attending rookie team members to watch actual matches, hear from our 2016 Rookie All Star Team, drive a robot in a designated area, hear from our lead inspector and participate on an actual competing veteran team. We will not place rookies in the driver position of our competing teams this year in order to keep the competitive nature of the event high. Rookies will participate through an ‘embedded’ experience in order to learn the importance of: the pits, queuing, judging, referee calls, etc. We will be calling on a few veteran teams to serve as rookie host for the second half of the day. Help us to make ‘The Rookie Experience’ the best it can be!

Consent and Release Form
All students and adults participating in GRITS 2016 are required to sign and submit the attached consent and release form. These will be collected during team check in on Saturday morning. Please make you turn in one form per participant.

Food
You are able to bring your own food into this venue. Pleases do not plan to store food until lunch in the venue unless it can be done so in your pit. Food is not permitted to be eaten in the pits. We will have a designated area for you to ‘picnic’ with your team. Limited concessions will be offered throughout the day on Saturday, such as candy, chips, drinks. There are several fast food options in the Gainesville area, many of whom deliver. Have a food plan in place before your arrival.

Parking
Parking is FREE for this event. Parking signs will be posted upon entering the parking lot. You may leave your trailers overnight in the parking lot, however, know that you do this at your own risk. Please secure your trailer properly.

Rule Changes
The following rules are being modified for GRITS:

3.1.4 - A ROBOT has SCALED the TOWER if, at the conclusion of the MATCH, the ROBOT:
1. is in contact with a unique RUNG, and
2. is not in contact with the carpet or the batter. (i.e. it does not have to be fully above the height of the low GOALS).
G5 - DRIVE TEAMS may not climb over, step over, or walk over/across DEFENSES or PLATFORMS, with the exception that teams may carefully step on DEFENSES or PLATFORMS in order to remove the robot from the DEFENSE.
Violation: 1st time will be a verbal warning. 2nd infraction will be a YELLOW CARD.

G19-1 ROBOTS must be in compliance iwth Section 4.7 Bumper Rules throughout the Match.
Violation: FOUL. DISABLED if the ref deems the robot in a position to cause damage to other ROBOTS or the FIELD.

G38 Clarification - Driving over or getting stuck on a boulder while holding another bolder will not be a violation of G38.

Shadow a Ref Opportunity
We have done this in the past and are bringing it back! During the matches we will allow one team member to be paired with a ref to see how the game looks from the refs perspective. We will take 4 students each match. There will be a signup sheet when you arrive at the venue. Look for the SHADOW A REF SIGNUP poster (which will probably be near the refs) when you arrive. We will only do this during qualification matches.

Inspection
Your robot will go through an inspection process with our lead robot inspector. It is not as extensive as an in-season event, however, you will be asked to show any modification you have made. Inspection will focus on allowable components, weight, size and safety.

New Defense
The Log Roll is composed of two 3.5 inch diameter logs in a 3 degree X shape that your robot must traverse. Both logs roll on independent bearings and will have a textured "bark" applied to the outside.
The Log Roll will replace the Portcullis in Category A. The other Category A defense is the Cheval de Frise.

[Harrison.Smith]

The new defense looks pretty cool. Looking forward to seeing how robots interact with it. Great job to the GRITS planning committee!

[ollien]

The log roll sounds awesome, but I think the picture is broken. I get one of these.

[roboruler]

Originally Posted by ollien

The log roll sounds awesome, but I think the picture is broken.

[ttldomination]

I don't know if there are plans already, but it would be great to see a stream of the event.

- Sunny G.

[adciv]

I really want a half hour with that log roll and our robot to see if we could program our autonomous to go over it reliably.

[Ginger Bread]

Originally Posted by Kellen Hill

Other interesting information about GRITS:
New Defense
The Log Roll is composed of two 3.5 inch diameter logs in a 3 degree X shape that your robot must traverse. Both logs roll on independent bearings and will have a textured "bark" applied to the outside.
The Log Roll will replace the Portcullis in Category A. The other Category A defense is the Cheval de Frise.

Will there be any practice matches before qualification matches to practice with the Log Roll?

[Cothron Theiss]

Originally Posted by roboruler

That's more than a little terrifying.

[Kellen Hill]

Originally Posted by Ginger Bread

Will there be any practice matches before qualification matches to practice with the Log Roll?

I don't believe there will be any practice time available on Saturday, but if the field is set up and ready to go by Friday night, there might be some time available from 4-7:30pm to allow teams to connect to the field and practice a bit.

[Ginger Bread]

Originally Posted by Kellen Hill

I don't believe there will be any practice time available on Saturday, but if the field is set up and ready to go by Friday night, there might be some time available from 4-7:30pm to allow teams to connect to the field and practice a bit.

Should be interesting to see how teams (mine included) approach the new defense without much practice. I hope it adds a new challenging element to the game and look forward to it.

[BenDSterling]

Originally Posted by Kellen Hill

Webcast: There will be a webcast. Link to be posted later

Originally Posted by ttldomination

I don't know if there are plans already, but it would be great to see a stream of the event.

The Livestream of the event will be live here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQT...93LrYzIIvNe-g/

We will be live-streaming the entire day Saturday just as we do for all the in-season competitions. We might also stream on Friday.

Originally Posted by Ginger Bread

Will there be any practice matches before qualification matches to practice with the Log Roll?

The current plan includes practice matches Friday evening, although how many practice matches we have will be dependent on how many volunteers we have to set up the field (and if we run into any issues).

Originally Posted by adciv

I really want a half hour with that log roll and our robot to see if we could program our autonomous to go over it reliably.

Originally Posted by Cothron Theiss

That's more than a little terrifying.

Originally Posted by Ginger Bread

Should be interesting to see how teams (mine included) approach the new defense without much practice. I hope it adds a new challenging element to the game and look forward to it.

I can't wait to see how teams handle the new defense. It will be much more difficult to cross than the portcullis, but the important part is that the log roll will not break as easily (or at least that's the idea).

If anyone wants more information on the Log Roll, here are the CAD files for it: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/f...zdmN0Z3VmRTMkU


-

[BenDSterling]

For anyone not able to come to GRITS but still want to see team's defeat (or get defeated by) the Log Roll you can watch the live stream here: http://youtu.be/wvNzzLyCkH8

[TDav540]

Alliances:
1. 4189 - 1771 (4941) - 4910 F
2. 1746 - 2415 - 4468 W
3. 1261 - 4188 - 2974 SF
4. 3581 - 832 - 4112 SF

1746 declined 4189

[Ginger Bread]

Did anyone else not like the pit layout? It was kind of inconvenient for pit scouting and if the alliance you were on was queued on the complete opposite side from your pit. It got a little annoying. There was also a lot of empty space between the two pit sections.