SCRIW VI (South Carolina Robotics Invitational & Workshops 2016)

[Kevin Thorp]

Does anyone know the results? I didn't get to see the final matches.

Also - Thank you to the SCRIW crew for hosting this event.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by ctt956

Any webcast?

Good luck to all of the teams!

Webcast? Eh heh...

It turns out that our host facility had added extra security to their wifi over the summer. That security attempts to DDoS everything that isn't their own network...and guess what isn't their own network? The field. We spent the first hour of the qualification schedule essentially tearing down the entire school network to kill power to all the access points. The net result was a functioning field, but no hope of a webcast. Thankfully, once we got past the delays we were able to hold cycle times pretty well and play the full schedule for 8 matches per team.

(Side note: This network discovery also made 2815 realize what was going on with their robot in testing...they thought it was their own hardware at fault!)

From the last time I posted the lineup, we did have one change for posterity: 4083 dropped out with their school closed all week from Hurricane Matthew, while 4533 fielded a second robot at the last minute.

Between the schedule and the game just beating the snot out of these machines, we elected to do four four-team alliances. Here was the draft order, no declines:

1) 281/4451/2640/4901
2) 3490/343/1398/2815
3) 283/6366/1553/5180
4) 3489/2059/4533/1758

Semifinals:
1 d. 4 in two matches
2 d. 3 in two matches

Finals:
2 d. 1 in two matches

So congratulations to our SCRIW VI champions, 3490 Viper Drive, 343 Metal In Motion, 1398 Keenan Robo-Raiders, and 2815 Blue Devil Mechanics! Both matches were decided by 10 or less, and they were a thrill to watch.

The SCRIWDriver Award was presented to John Lindower, who has been running SCRIW's food operations for the past five years and is retiring from the crew. His son is an alumnus of 1293, the Pandamaniacs, and he was literally the first person we pulled in to make this event happen. I don't think it would be as successful or as sustainable without his efforts, and I wish him the best in whatever he decides to do next with his free time.

Thank you to the four participants in the SCRIW Mentor Match: 3490, 281, 1758, and 2059. The funds raised towards hurricane relief efforts are much appreciated. If we can quit having natural disasters the week before SCRIW, that would be even more appreciated!

Thank you to our workshop presenters, Richard Coutant from 2059 and John Fogarty from 4901. We really think these workshops are important for teams, since SCRIW is one of the precious few opportunities in South Carolina to get teams together.

Thank you to FIRST North Carolina for renting us the field, which was much more cost-effective compared to trucking one from Indiana. Speaking of Indiana, I have to thank the powers that be at AndyMark for agreeing to fly down Daniel Bravo for our FTA and myself as announcer and whatever other hats I might wear in the moment. Yes, SCRIW pays for the FTA--but I don't think I'm spilling trade secrets to say they aren't making gobs of money flying two people 600 miles away on company time and paying for a rental car/gas/food/etc. They really do this because they believe in these events.

I'm going to double-thank Daniel Bravo here. Once again, we managed to finagle veteran head referee Terrell Burch to head ref SCRIW. However, at the last minute he needed to visit his doctor around lunch...and then he needed to get a referral for something, which (fortunately for us, unfortunately for him) couldn't come the same day. So for several qualification matches, Bravo was being our FTA, our CSA, and our head referee. Which is absolutely ridiculous. Both of these guys went way above and beyond here, and we're lucky as hell to have them.

And finally, thank you, teams! If teams didn't think this was an important thing, it would not have lasted six years. The teams I saw on Saturday all got it, and I see them all working to make FIRST better in the Carolinas. We are all stronger when we get together and work to expand access and opportunities to participate in this state, and I hope we can keep this momentum growing.

I look forward to seeing you all at SCRIW VII!

[D.Allred]

Thanks to the SCRIW team for putting on another great event! Our new team members gained a lot of experience. Plus, twelve matches for a few hundred dollars is hard to beat.

Congratulations to 3490, 343, 1398, and 2815 for the win. I believe that is three SCRIW titles for 3490 and the second time the 3490 / 343 pair won together.

Thanks to our alliance captain 281, 2640, and 4901 for being great partners. So close...

Our pre-rookie team 6366 was honored to be selected by the number 3 alliance captained by 283. That was a great start for our rookies. Thanks.

See you at SCRIW VII (and at Palmetto of course.)

David

P.S. I'll bet we pulled off the only e-stop shot of the season. It was a bit of a blur, but as I recall we got bumped while shooting at the batter. The ball arced over the alliance station wall and fell on the e-stop. How can such an epic shot be a field fault? That's great defense!

[suemim343]

Metal in Motion would also like to thank all of those putting on SCRIW again this year. We had a great time! A big thanks to 3490, 1398 and 2815 for being great alliance partners.
Attending SCRIW each year is very helpful to us in introducing new team members to what competition is like and giving possible new drive team members a chance to try out their driving, operating, and human playing skills in a competition atmosphere.
We also think that 4451 definitely had the shot of the season with their e-stop shot. They should definitely get style points for that shot.

[howellroy]

Thank you to all those who setup and tore down the field and to the entire SCRIW team for putting together this event. It is great for our rookies to get a taste of what a competition is like on a small scale to prepare them for Regional and hopefully world championship this year. This even has been a great opportunity for our team. I believe this is the 4th year we have attended and we really need it for our all new drive team. The drive team did a fantastic job of putting us in a great position to will out 3rd screw. It is all for the students to learn to setup, operate and trouble shoot the robot before it comes to regionals. The next closest one is somewhere is Georgia and a 4 hour drive for us.

I would also like to thank our alliance members 383, 1398 and 2815 for a great team work and being graceious competitors. I would also like to thank Team 3489 for developing the scouting app. We are looking forward to the new scouting app for SteamWorks.

We will see you all in Myrtle Beach.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by howellroy

It is great for our rookies to get a taste of what a competition is like on a small scale to prepare them for Regional and hopefully world championship this year.

If Viper Drive keeps its current trajectory, I don't think much hope will be needed.