New Jersey Regional Status

[Aignam]

To steal an idea from VCU, here's the thread for posting about the NJ Regional status. Try to keep all updates about the NJ Regional to this thread.

[ErichKeane]

Wow, ok, interesting regional for a practice day. The practice field went very well, albeit it didnt use the same carpet as the real field.

I noticed with the carpet, the competition carpet was EXTREMELY slippery in comparision to any other carpet.

The field seemed put together somewhat shoddily, nothing lined up, distances were off, the center was messed up, etc.

The process for placing us into/out of Disable/Autonomous is horrible. Never again should they count on a man with an allen wrench. There has to be a better way, absolutely has to. In each of our rounds, we lost at least 5 seconds wating for the guy to: put us into auto, take us out, make sure we werent in disable when we shouldnt be, etc.

1 team happened to destroy a gear, shattering it accross the field. anyone want to elaborate? Also, anyone else notice the big 303 FRIDGE. That bot was the most amazing one out there, and from no on, i (un)officially nickname them the FIRST Fridge.



ETA: Does anyone else think that using the portable goals to block the ball corals for the other team is the absolute CHEAPEST and most rediculous tactic? I forgot which team did it during the practice rounds, im surprised they didnt get boo'ed.

Also, i think only like 3-4 teams made it on the bar successfully, and only like 2 teams did autonomous successfully.

[Manoel]

Hey guys,

Anyone knows how our Brazilian friends from 1156 and 1382 are doing?

[Ben.V.293]

today was a very interesting day. in one match we (293) managed to grab 2 of the pvc pipes on the mobile goal and ended up pulling them out, one of them was securly in our gripper and we just took it with us as we preceded to drive up the 6" step. We then dropped the big ball which rolled into our frame and suddenly dissapered instantaniously. we then noticed the yellow blob on the carpet. then we flipped when we drove up the step, fell over frontwards, and ended up ballanced on top of a small ball. It was a quite funny site to see.

P.S.Who do u guys think was the most impressive bot there?

Ben Van Selous

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

Its very rare that a team at a regional will get online and post on here - they usually have too many other things to do.

Unless the regional is close and they go home each day like we do in LA.

[Greg Needel]

Ok a post of NJ.....so today I walked around for most of the day checking out the other robots and just getting a feel for the competition. Here are my thoughts for the practice rounds:

1) I can’t comment on the condition of the field because I was never on it but everything looked fine from the stands

2) Hanging- maybe 3 teams could hang every time but they were few and far between. I do remember specifically that team 716 could hang very well.

3) 2x ball....good luck, just like the hanging portion of the game very few teams could manipulate the balls. A few more teams could uncap the goals but in all the matches I watched I would say only 3 teams were successful in capping a goal.

4) Field reset- takes forever, much longer then any other game I have seen, most of this is because getting the balls in the drop bins is difficult because they have a tendency to bounce back out.

5) ball pushers - there were quite a few of these bots but today was pointless for them because during the practice rounds the "coach" from each team was on the field pushing balls to the human players. I am beginning to think that these bots will be the deciding factor of this year

6) Auto mode - ummmm non-existent a few teams tried and a few teams failed but the majority of the teams just sat there and blinked their team color light

7) Falling bots - it was very common to see teams topple over climbing the stairs and also getting hung up on balls

8) There was a very friendly atmosphere but way too quite to be a FIRST comp. maybe it was just practice day but not much cheering

Overall I am still very interested in seeing how this game will be played out tomorrow, I predict that most matches will be very low scoring and the team that hangs will win.

As for the Brazilian teams I saw them and the one with the little humanoid robot mascot's bot looks sweet and they seemed to perform well....

I will be around Delphi for a while so if anyone wants specifics on a team I will be glad to answer...

[petek]

Best sight: Wayne Cokeley (team 25) - we're all really glad you broke out of the hospital to join us!

Best autonomous: 1382 (Brazil) got the ball off the tee most of the time and theirs seemed to be the most reliable line-tracker.

Best ball gatherer/fridge: 303 was good at gathering and spewing 5 pointers, as well as un-capping and capping.

Best civic spirit: 1403 for collecting most of the 5 pt "cuddly land mines" as they dropped from the bin, saving the rest of us from having to wade through them.

Loudest noise: Tie between teams 25 and 102, when ramming the moveable goals into the opposing players station. It really was uncannily quiet most of the time, otherwise. Must be because they outlawed Moe-sticks! Or maybe because everyone was so deep in thought, trying to figure out how to make their robot work.

[ErichKeane]

I believe the Fridge will be the ultimate teammate this year. They, and the "net" team that captured the balls as they fell will be the first 1 or 2 choices for the playoffs. I would choose 303 only because they rocked the house with the 2x, and had the ability to store 2 2x balls at a time.

My team (219), had an interesting time trying to climb to the chinup bar. It was quite fun actually. Our main problem was that our driver was too busy complaining about my autonomous code (hey, it worked... in THEORY, as well as on the prac field).

My team is the one with the single thin tube car antenna extender, and the winch pull up. Out of the 4 times we tried to hang, 1 we didnt make it up the stairs due to a nut loose behind the wheel, once we didnt hang because our winch cable wasnt reset, and the other 2 we were successful.

May i mention, the Brazil teams were extremely nice and well designing, i believe they did VERY well in overall design, if not as in the practice (didnt see much)

I would like to pose this question: does anyone else think that team 25 and 102's moveable goal ramming would be considered ungracious/unprofessional?

[mikew]

Originally Posted by ErichKeane

ETA: Does anyone else think that using the portable goals to block the ball corals for the other team is the absolute CHEAPEST and most rediculous tactic? I forgot which team did it during the practice rounds, im surprised they didnt get boo'ed.

Yeah, we did that. To ourselves. Our driver was trying to knock the multiplier ball out of the mobile goal and accidentally blocked our own ball corral.

[Madison]

Originally Posted by ErichKeane

ETA: Does anyone else think that using the portable goals to block the ball corals for the other team is the absolute CHEAPEST and most rediculous tactic? I forgot which team did it during the practice rounds, im surprised they didnt get boo'ed.

We don't boo in FIRST.

[LauraN]

Originally Posted by Ben.V.293

P.S.Who do u guys think was the most impressive bot there?

I'm going to have to go with the general consensus and say that Team 303 was most impressive. A teammate and I were taking notes on what to question other teams about (we're looking ahead to next year, when we'll be...erm...slightly...pressed...for mechanical experience, so we're trying to get a feel for basic concepts).

Team 303- everything. Great robot.

293- telescoping arm

219- loved the drive system

1382 had amazing autonomous

I also thought that 571 was very good with manipulating the multiplier balls and 1302 had a cool design for hanging (see, scissor lifts DO work!)

I also have to give my own team (30) some credit for going crazy in autonomous mode and attacking the ball rack. =)

Those were just my observations for the day.

-Laura
Team 30
HTHS's FURY

[ErichKeane]

Originally Posted by M. Krass

We don't boo in FIRST.

Id have to say, for an absolute violation of GP, as well as fair sportsmanship, integrity, and fair play, we could make an exception. We dont boo because of performance or design, but we should boo for blatent disreguard for honor and integrity, the basis of the competition. I still would like to see a ruling put down on that one.

On another note:
Laura, i have to agree mostly with your picks, although i would put the CyberKnights for the best drive system. Their pivoting treads were an amazing idea IMHO. The only thing about 1302 i have to worry about, and FYI, this is mostly me being picky, not putting down the team (who btw, did an excelent job overall, esp for a rookie team), is the fact that it takes SO long to get up, and starting it early could disable your ability to get up the stairs. But a team that wants a mate for a free 50, you are the guys... er girls...

[Venkatesh]

Could somebody post a picture (or a few) of 303? I want to see this magical fridge creation.

[ErichKeane]

I dont think we have a picture, but we were in the pit next door to 303, and our first reaction was... where do the Coke's come out! They are an amazing bot, and i would easily pick them for #1 this regional, as they are bounds ahead of everyone else. If they dont end up making it high, i would bet to hell they are the 1st choice for teammates.

[Combat Chuck]

My opinion on the entire blocking the ball chutes with the mobile goals matter is let them. I don't feel that it violates any rules, or is in bad taste. It is simply a strategy. Just like any other strategy, it has drawbacks, such as lowering opponents score, thereby reducing Ranking Points. Also, all a team must do to render this ineffective is have a goal grabber and remove the goals, or simply move balls to the other chute.