2007 VCU Regional

[VanMan]

Originally Posted by Nuttyman54

There are also plenty of teams whose robots either don't work quite how they intended, or who find that they're much more valuable as defense (eg. 1281 at Waterloo last year).

That is exactly why we tried to pick something simple for our rookie year. We wanted defense and ramps that any team could get on.

[LordTalps]

Originally Posted by VanMan

That is exactly why we tried to pick something simple for our rookie year. We wanted defense and ramps that any team could get on.

The only thing I DON'T like about that, is it's not ambitious. An ambitious rookie team (as far as what I know and have heard says) can make an excellent impression on judges. Our team worked a high-goal shooter last year that was quite complex. It was a turret with vertical and horizontal motion, such that the camera could determine where it needed to be from any given spot on the field (if we could make the shot). Suffice to say the entire robot was slow and didn't work extremely well, but we did two things:

1- Learned a LOT. We learned the mad pace, among so much technologically, that you're going to need next year to keep your track record of success. I was ready for a horrible last week, and spent 74 amazing hours working at Robotics in the last 7 days. We had learned all sorts of ways to use and manipulate the camera, which we applied this year to autonomous (even though we never turned it on at competition), and expanded upon with other sensors. Learning a lot is important, cause you're not able to get the rookie awards anymore. You're now in the full running with the rest of us -- and oh boy will you have catching up to do.

2- Impressed the judges. Now of course, I can't speak for the judges all by myself, but we did win the Rookie All-Star award at the World Championships....

[blakwyte]

Originally Posted by LordTalps

We learned the mad pace, among so much technologically, that you're going to need next year to keep your track record of success. I was ready for a horrible last week, and spent 74 amazing hours working at Robotics in the last 7 days.

the huge amount of experience that my team had in the first year was really helpful to me when i joined up with the program this year. they were also a really ambitious rookie team and learned everything about programming the camera's, building an effective drive-train ... using a band saw i was really glad that i we didn't have to start with a completely blank slate, and we did manage to equal the school record this year making the semi-finals, thanks largely to the things the team learned and was able to build upon.

in other news i hear that we might be riding the same bus down to atlanta with you guys from 1885 ... all i can say is be prepared

[LordTalps]

Originally Posted by blakwyte

the huge amount of experience that my team had in the first year was really helpful to me when i joined up with the program this year. they were also a really ambitious rookie team and learned everything about programming the camera's, building an effective drive-train ... using a band saw i was really glad that i we didn't have to start with a completely blank slate, and we did manage to equal the school record this year making the semi-finals, thanks largely to the things the team learned and was able to build upon.

in other news i hear that we might be riding the same bus down to atlanta with you guys from 1885 ... all i can say is be prepared

Whoa whoa whao dude YOU'VE GOT FREAKING PMs

[mrmummert]

If anyone took a very close look at our robot you might have noticed the 30X30 extruded aluminium frame...in the corners there had been posts which we cut off. these were to be for our ramps...which due to time and weight we
did'nt do this year...but almost did.

Our first year (2005 triple play)we tried to use and do everything...
not only were we the top rookies, but also rookie allstars...which got us
to Atlanta.

During the alliance selections...we had been approched by 116, but when we were selected by 928 we went with them. And the rest is now FIRST VCU
history...In a way we were kinda glad we did'nt go to Atlanta..(not that, thats a bad thing)...its just that..ok we had been twice in two years and have never been able to have more time to build the team...so hopefully not going will make us a stronger team next year. Lord knows we came close though.

[Metalhugginman]

VCU was fun and Metalinmotion - Team 343 - was very honored to recieve the GM Quality Award. Unfortunately, we lost a laptop computer during the competition. If anyone found a laptop computer in a case and is unsure who it belongs to, we sure would like to hear from you. My boss is not happy....... Anyway, any leads would be appreciated. Use the contact information on our webpage at www.metalinmotion.com.

[cziggy343]

Originally Posted by Gil Huggins

VCU was fun and Metalinmotion - Team 343 - was very honored to recieve the GM Quality Award. Unfortunately, we lost a laptop computer during the competition. If anyone found a laptop computer in a case and is unsure who it belongs to, we sure would like to hear from you. My boss is not happy....... Anyway, any leads would be appreciated. Use the contact information on our webpage at www.metalinmotion.com.

yeah gil, i heard a couple of people wern't happy about that.

[wdw_mkr87]

does anyone know how many people were able to actually throw ringers on during the matches? our team is trying to work strategy for Las Vegas and Atlanta and we would really like to know if it is even possible to get a technique down like we had for scoring with the balls from last year competition.

[StephLee]

That's one thing I didn't keep accurate count of when I took stats for VCU (it was kind of hard to tell by the webcam), but I think the number was around 6 or 7 if I had to guess. It's a whole lot of luck, but if you've got an excellent thrower I suppose you could make it worth your while.

[blakwyte]

i'd say it was even fewer than that ... though i was in the pits or queing up alot and didn't see some of the matches ... definitely don't count on it. people were getting better at it near the end which resulted in maybe one ringer every few matches, which definitely doesn't make up for the huge amount of clutter you have to deal with.

[StephLee]

Originally Posted by blakwyte

i'd say it was even fewer than that ... though i was in the pits or queing up alot and didn't see some of the matches ... definitely don't count on it. people were getting better at it near the end which resulted in maybe one ringer every few matches, which definitely doesn't make up for the huge amount of clutter you have to deal with.

Not to mention the potential for ringing a robot, rendering it incapable of picking up another tube unless it can get that one off itself. I'd imagine that could be highly annoying, and potentially a strategy-killer.

[kjohnson]

Originally Posted by StephLee

Not to mention the potential for ringing a robot, rendering it incapable of picking up another tube unless it can get that one off itself. I'd imagine that could be highly annoying, and potentially a strategy-killer.

1610 was capped by a ringer thrown by a HP in one of their practice matches, and the refs were slow to notice, and to tell the drivers. Their drivers were able to hang 2 ringers while capped, which ended up not counting.

[blakwyte]

Originally Posted by StephLee

Not to mention the potential for ringing a robot, rendering it incapable of picking up another tube unless it can get that one off itself. I'd imagine that could be highly annoying, and potentially a strategy-killer.

yep ... we had that exact thing happen to one of our alliance mates (1086) in the semi-finals ... i'd say it was definitely one of the biggest reasons we didn't make it to the finals ... imo, tossing rings out there quickly and haphazardly isn't the way to go

[Gene F]

Originally Posted by wdw_mkr87

does anyone know how many people were able to actually throw ringers on during the matches? our team is trying to work strategy for Las Vegas and Atlanta and we would really like to know if it is even possible to get a technique down like we had for scoring with the balls from last year competition.

The Ref's at VCU stated that any team that landed a ringer on one of the green lights would be DQ'd for obstructing the target. Make sure your human players understand the risks!

[cziggy343]

Originally Posted by VanMan

That is exactly why we tried to pick something simple for our rookie year. We wanted defense and ramps that any team could get on.

yeah, in 2000 (which seems like a lifetime ago) was our rookie year. we were ambitious and wanted to do everything. we did and succeded pretty well. we apparently impressed the judges b/c we won the rookie all-star award (i remember this even though i was seven, isnt that amazing?). but if the resources are there, be ambitious, even if it is your first year.