2007 St. Louis Regional

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by Ryan Dognaux

Allison Babcock of 1747 won the WFA. It's very rare when a college mentor has won it, so congrats to her and their whole team....

Thanks again to everyone who made it happen.

Add my congratulations to Allison Babcock. Great teams have great mentors.

And Ryan, you were a big part of making it happen in St. Louis this year. Thanks for everything, and we hope you'll be back next year.

[hillale]

Originally Posted by GeeForce

Here's the clarification I can give; if a tube is still in contact with a robot at the end of a round, it is considered that the bot is descoring it (which uses the "if the robot were to disappear, would the tube fall" rule). Descoring a tube still leaves that tube valid for points, although it is also a 10 point penalty (edit: yeah basically what meatmanek said). As soon as the scores went up, both myself and 148's driver went up to question the call, only to be told that the refs were aware already and were working to change it.

If the "dissappearing robot rule" were in fact a rule, then a tube suspended horizontally above the spider foot at the end of a match would be considered scored.

7.2.1 Definitions:

“Hanging: A game piece is considered hanging if it’s weight is fully supported by a spider leg and it has been released by the possessing robot. A game piece is not considered hanging if it is supported by the spider foot.”

“THE POSSESSION: A game piece is considered to be in the possession of a robot if it is being fully supported by the robot, or if the robot is controlling the position and movement of the game piece... “

“SCORED: A spider leg is considered scored if one or two game pieces are hanging on it in a legal configuration… “

After review of the game definitions, it seems apparent that if the robot never left contact with the tube, it was never considered hanging because if there’s any contact at all between the robot and the game piece, the weight of the game piece is not fully supported by the spider leg and the tube is clearly still in the possession of the robot because the robot is controlling the position and movement of the game piece. In that circumstance the tube could/should not be considered scored.

[Woe]

Missouri teams, congratulations to a job well done in completing Dean's Homework.

Thanks to all of you in impressing our team of newbies.This was FIRST at its best. Parents raved about the event and commented on the impact the competition had on their kids. A+ in generating a "WOW" factor.

A special thanks to team 1706. We love you guys. Your upbeat attitude, ability to overcome adversity and your determination to succeed is a constant source of inspiration to those in St. Charles County.

Thanks to rookie team 2177 for choosing us as their alliance, and to fellow partner 830. What exciting matches! Great strategy showcased the strength of all three bots.

Hope to see you next year!

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by RoboPhantom

Don't get me wrong... I think extra matches are great. I'm just wondering if it's normal for 4 complete matches containing nothing but "surrogates" is a normal occurance at a FIRST regional. Also wondering if the teams (and the spectators) knew or should have known that these were basically practice rounds and nobody had anything to gain or lose in the last 4 matches.

Sorry, I didn't realize that everyone was a surrogate in those matches, but I just checked, and sure enough, 24 teams played nine matches, while the other 21 played eight. To play eight times, the required number of matches is 60, with no surrogates. (Check my reasoning: if you have 45 teams, and 8 matches each, that makes 360 instances of a team taking the field; since 6 teams play each match, that's 60 matches, and since that's a whole number, no surrogates are needed.) That's idiotic—it's got to be a bug.

Originally Posted by Section 9.3.2

All teams will play the same number of qualifying matches except if the number of teams in attendance is not divisible by six; in that case the scoring system will randomly select some teams to play an extra match. For purposes of seeding calculations, those teams will be designated as SURROGATES for the extra match.

Now here's what seems a little odd: the rule is based on the number of teams in attendance being divisible by 6. Since 45 ÷ 6 = 7.5, the rules call for surrogates and therefore extra matches, even if it is already possible to construct a 60-match schedule in which everyone plays eight times. How many surrogates do you need to make a (60 + n)-match schedule work? 6n. So why is n = 4? (64 matches were played.) Doesn't n = 1 work also? (Six teams play in their 9^th match, not necessarily together, and the rule requiring surrogates is satisfied.) And if they did play together, that's proof that the match is extraneous.

Whatever our qualms about the reasoning behind the match-generating algorithm, this looks like a bug, and needs to be fixed, whether or not FIRST decides to re-work the methodology of choosing which teams play one another.

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by Richard

Registration for the 2007 St. Louis Regional is Based on strong past performance, I'll go out on a limb and predict at least one Indiana team in the 2007 winning alliance.

Nice prediction!

[Hegemoni]

I think everyone did really well. I really enjoyed watching the robots compete in a good manner, and talking to members of the various teams. Everyone was extremely professional in their actions, and innovative in their robot designs.

I can honestly say that I'm perfectly happy with the silver, because 1444, 45, and 829 were a really good match up.

Not to be rambling, I'd just like to thank all of the teams who showed up, especially the rookie teams. You inspired me to stay in robotics till I graduate, and probably after that too.

And also a special thanks to 2133 and 217 , for being awesome teammates.

[DeAnnaC]

What a great competition!
Our team had a great time and the bot performed as expected. We were picked as an alliance partner and all played well together.

All of the people that came to see the competition were very impressed - impressed by the overall competition and the mechanical expertise shown by each team as they walked through the pits. Thanks to everyone who answered questions from the younger crowd, you'll never know how you influenced one of them to join their school team when they get older! Several of our Lego Team kids came by to check out Saturday and now want us to get back to Lego skill building now that Robot season is over. Sigh.

I can't wait for next year, but I need to recover from this one I think the Friday 5am tv shoot on did me in..

Best of luck to those continuing on this season, we plan to be at the IRI in July. The fish hats may be a little warm in July though..

DeAnna

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by Richard

Based on strong past performance, I'll go out on a limb and predict at least one Indiana team in the 2007 winning alliance.

Originally Posted by IndySam

Nice prediction!

OK, so make that two Indiana teams.

[Mr.D]

Warren Robotics "Digital Goats" arrived back at Warren Central HS/Walker Career Center in Indianapolis at 2 AM. Everyone was tired but very happy.

Many thanks to everyone involved with organizing the St. Louis Regional.

Congratulations to alliance team members:
Lightning Lancers #1444 and
TechnoKats #45.
Thank you for picking us!!
It was an honor to compete with you.

We are now looking for ways to finance a trip to Atlanta. Next stop for us is the Boilermaker Regional.

See you next year.

[kortlan]

i would like to thank everyone who helped out with the 2007 st louis regionals. i know yall put a lot of hard work into it and im really glad. i thanked alot of voulenteers but i couldnt get to all of them. (mainly because there was over 200). but it was a super fun regional and i think it went great.

i would also like to congradulate teams 1444, 45, and 829 for their victory. they all 3 had great robots and used each ones capabilities to the max.

i would also like to thank teams 217 and 2133 for all their help. they were great teammates. 2133's defense was extreamly good and 217's scoring capability was awesome. i hope 217's arm damage is not too bad off.

it was a super fun regionals and i think it demostrated gracious professionalism to the extreame.

[Andy Baker]

Wow, what a regional at St. Louis! Here are some random notes...

Thank you to teams 1444 for choosing us as a partner and 829 for completing a great alliance. It was an honor and pleasure to work with both of your drive teams and impressive to see you handle your well-built and durable robots. It was an honor to get to know the 1444 team from St. Louis, work with their knowledgeable drive team, and see how their students designed their own shifter gearboxes.

I am very proud to be a TechnoKat. This was definitely a TEAM accomplishment, to be a part of the St. Louis regional winning alliance. Our scouting team, pit crew, drive team support crew, and drive team all pulled their weight to help make this effort a winning one. Also, winning the Motorola Quality Award for only the 2nd time in TechnoKats history is quite an accomplishment. Way to go all of you! I was reminded just how special our drive team and pit crew is when all I was doing in the finals was fetching tools.

The quality of teams and the people in the St. Louis region is outstanding. I am not sure I've been to a regional that had more volunteers running it. There was an abundance of judges, inspectors, que-ers, and people all around to help make this competition enjoyable. Our team parents (and grandparents) who volunteered agreed that this was one of the best regionals they have attended. Kudos to the St. Louis Regional planning committee. I would recommend this regional to any team wishing to attend.

As for qualification matches, it was not fun going against 148 5 out of the 9 matches we were in. However, it was good practice for our drivers to play against the heavy defense that JVN would send after us in the form of 148's alliance partners. I was happy to see that our drivers scored at least 2 or more tubes in each match under this pressure.

Ramps are important, but time will tell if 2 tube scorers and a defender can beat 2 tube scorers and a ramp. The final round went to the 2 scorers and the ramp (1444, 45, and 829), but it was close. If 148 would have scored one last ringer in the first match, the would have one that match. That was the same match that 217 was hung up on the rack ... however, at the same time, 1444 was tipped over and inoperable for most of the match. Our strategy was to scatter the rack with tubes, play defense on their tube scorers, breaking up the opportunity for large rows, and get both robots on the ramp at the end. Thankfully, it worked.

It is especially great to see team 829 finally find success on the FIRST playing field. These guys from Warren Central HS and Walker Career Center in Indianapolis have a great team and work hard to make a well-designed robot each year. This year, their ramp-bot is a definite winner. Here's to lead teacher Randy Decker and the rest of the Digital Goats for a great win.

This game is fun... the end game makes it great. Ramps are the key to the excitement.

It's gonna be a good year for FIRST.

Andy B.

[Shayna]

I would like to thank team 148 for picking us. Your robot is amazing and I really enjoying working with you guys.

I would also like to thank 2133 for playing some killer defense. GO ROOKIES!


Congrats to 1444, 45 and 829. See you in atlanta!

[Mr.D]

Originally Posted by kortlan

i would like to thank everyone who helped out with the 2007 st louis regionals. i know yall put a lot of hard work into it and im really glad. i thanked alot of voulenteers but i couldnt get to all of them. (mainly because there was over 200). but it was a super fun regional and i think it went great.

i would also like to congradulate teams 1444, 45, and 829 for their victory. they all 3 had great robots and used each ones capabilities to the max.

i would also like to thank teams 217 and 2133 for all their help. they were great teammates. 2133's defense was extreamly good and 217's scoring capability was awesome. i hope 217's arm damage is not too bad off.

it was a super fun regionals and i think it demostrated gracious professionalism to the extreame.

I want to congratulate teams 148, 217 and 2133 for a hard fought final matches. Your bots are awesome and for a while I thought we might have a 3rd match. Congratulations team 148 on your #1 ranking and your performance throughout the qualification rounds. Your bot was fun to watch.

On behalf of Warren Robotics Team #829 "Digital Goats" I wish all of you good luck throughout the 2006-07 FIRST competition season!!

[kortlan]

Originally Posted by Mr.D

for a while I thought we might have a 3rd match.

i thought so too. but after 217's fall and their arm trouble. it looked bad. then in the middle of the 2nd match our intake claw got bent up and we couldnt even grab a tube. and we had used our timeout already after the first match to fix a pneumatic problem. so even if we would of made it to the 3rd match. we would of been extreamly banged up with no time for repairs lol

Originally Posted by Shayna

I would like to thank team 148 for picking us. Your robot is amazing and I really enjoying working with you guys.

and i realy enjoyed working with yall too. yalls robot was quite awesome. i hope its up to par for atlanta

[Adama]

How did team 888 do? they have been very helpful to us
(2199) in our rookie year and we are curious how they did.