2007 VCU Regional

[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.

[wdw_mkr87]

yah we had one guy throw one on in the our last match with 116 and 435 in the quaretr finals and he will def. be throwing them in las vegas and atlanta i was just wondering: do you think it is illegal to throw them on a robot to not let them score i dont know how they could catch you as cheating but i never heard a rule for it

[StephLee]

Originally Posted by wdw_mkr87

yah we had one guy throw one on in the our last match with 116 and 435 in the quaretr finals and he will def. be throwing them in las vegas and atlanta i was just wondering: do you think it is illegal to throw them on a robot to not let them score i dont know how they could catch you as cheating but i never heard a rule for it

If it was done intentionally and repeatedly, I'm fairly sure this would count as unsportsmanlike conduct; in other words, a great case for a yellow card.

[blakwyte]

Originally Posted by wdw_mkr87

yah we had one guy throw one on in the our last match with 116 and 435 in the quaretr finals and he will def. be throwing them in las vegas and atlanta i was just wondering: do you think it is illegal to throw them on a robot to not let them score i dont know how they could catch you as cheating but i never heard a rule for it

there is a rule against doing this, although there's no penalty mentioned for the offending team, it makes it basically a useless move. RTFM ya'll XD

Originally Posted by Rule <G09>

GAME PIECES may fall on to a ROBOT during the course of normal game play (e.g. a RINGER falls on a ROBOT while attempting to HANG it on a Spider Leg). In such cases, GAME PIECES that are already in the POSSESSION of the ROBOT may be played. However, the additional GAME PIECE must be removed from the ROBOT (either by the ROBOT or by an ALLIANCE partner) before it can POSSESS a new GAME PIECE. GAME PIECES may not be intentionally placed on opposing ROBOTS for the purpose of causing a violation of this rule. Any such GAME PIECE placements will not be considered in POSSESSION of the affected ROBOT, and will be ignored.

[wdw_mkr87]

Originally Posted by nukemknight

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.

do you think that would be illegal to do on purpose

[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