2007 Indiana Robotics Invitational

[Cynette]

Originally Posted by Andy Baker

Heavens...

We're fixin' to change some things at IRI. Ol' man Fultz is workin' up the details and rustlin' up a plan that will make Keepers a bit more important, stronger alliances across the board, and more teams corralled for the finals.

Stay tuned for the official release. Be ready to pull your twine tight and hold the can to your ear.

Andy B.

And while I think y'all are milkin' this thread a little too much, y'all have to agri- culture in Indiana makes IRI sound like a heap o'fun!

[Travis Hoffman]

moooooooooooooo-vin' right along....*anvil drops from heavens*.....OUCH! OK, now that that's out of our system.......

Expanded finals? Keepers worth more? Hmm....

"Stronger alliances across the board" - Algorithm massaging? New drafting method? Can't wait to hear about the new tweaks.

[Rich Ross]

One of my favorite things about the IRI is that its the game that was supposed to be played.

That being said, I'd love to see a few changes, but i'd also like to know about them ASAP.

Hopefully we get these details soon.

Maybe the more teams/stronger alliances implies some sort of 4 team alliance (with switching robots or maybe maybe 4v4 on the field simultaneously).

Looking forward to IRI,
Rich

[Steve Wherry]

I cannot believe that a group of people had a discussion about Indiana's agriculture, cows, and fields without Scott Ritchie involved. He probably would have given away cows as door prizes in order to be part of that conversation.

[John Wanninger]

Originally Posted by Andy Baker

Heavens...

We're fixin' to change some things at IRI. Ol' man Fultz is workin' up the details and rustlin' up a plan that will make Keepers a bit more important, stronger alliances across the board, and more teams corralled for the finals.

Stay tuned for the official release. Be ready to pull your twine tight and hold the can to your ear.

Andy B.

No a fence, but could you shed some light on how you’ll implement these harrowing changes that’ve cropped up? From what I glean, it could be a field day for the more manure vable robots. ....

[Andy Baker]

Originally Posted by Rich Ross

One of my favorite things about the IRI is that its the game that was supposed to be played.

That being said, I'd love to see a few changes, but i'd also like to know about them ASAP. Hopefully we get these details soon.

Maybe the more teams/stronger alliances implies some sort of 4 team alliance (with switching robots or maybe maybe 4v4 on the field simultaneously).
Looking forward to IRI,
Rich

Rich... you are close, but a bit off...

Originally Posted by John Wanninger

No a fence, but could you shed some light on how you’ll implement these harrowing changes that’ve cropped up? From what I glean, it could be a field day for the more manure vable robots. ....

Without further adieu... See this link for the 2007 IRI pdf, posted by Chris Fultz.

The key highlights are these*:

1. Scored Keepers will be worth a 15 bonus points.

2. A more random match generation algorithm is being requested and developed. All teams will be considered equal in ability, and the only limit to pure randomness will be a 2-3 match buffer between a team's matches.

3. For the elimination rounds, alliance picking will be 1-8, 1-8. Serpentine draft is eliminated. While this may be good for some events, it's not at IRI.

4. Alliances will pick their own backup robot. There will be a 3rd round of alliance selection, 1-8. Each elimination alliance will consist of four robots, not three. Three robots will play on the field (just like normal) and one robot will sit for each match. Which robot sits can change from match to match. This gets more teams active in the finals, brings another dimension to strategy, makes everyone's pick list 8 teams longer, and gives each alliance captain the ability to choose the correct backup robot for their alliance. There will be a fair declaration process in claiming who will play in each of the finals matches. (we will probably alternate who has to declare first) Essentially, alliances are 4 teams deep, and the alliance captain chooses their best 3 to play in each match.

Combine 3 and 4, and you see there will be 3 rounds of picking, with 32 teams active in the finals. The matches on the field will play the same, and the winning alliance will have 4 teams.

There you have it.

Andy B.

* - how these things exactly happen depend on how the scoring system is tweaked. We have time to make these changes and try it out, we believe.

[Aren_Hill]

at first i saw the 4 bot alliance thing and though 4 BOTS EACH TEAM 4VS4 ALL ON THE FIELD end game would be ridiculous. plus the field would be a little crowde, then i read on

[Andy Baker]

Originally Posted by Gear

i saw the 4 bot alliance thing and though 4 BOTS EACH TEAM 4VS4 ALL ON THE FIELD end game would be ridiculous. plus the field would be a little crowded

That is not the case, please re-read my last post. Only 3 robots will be on the field for each alliance.

Andy B.

[Rich Ross]

This is likely the most important question i can ask:

Can we see the T-shirt design?

and

What color are said T shirts?

[Chris Fultz]

This is likely the most important question i can ask:

Can we see the T-shirt design?

and

What color are said T shirts?

t-shirts are always unveiled at the event. they are promised to be sweet and a significant change from the last two years.

color - not sure, but not periblue (2006 color that i have been abused over...)

[Mike Ross]

Wow, lots of positive changes here. Thank you IRI!

IMHO, the match algorithm and serpentine draft should have been done away with from the start of the season. And I love the keeper bonus, as auton this year was a bit lacking (especially compared to last year).

The added pick/backup team is a very interesting idea and I think will add a good deal more strategy to the elims, as well as keeping more teams involved. Alliances will find themselves asking, "Should we go with 3 scorers to fight the defense/ramp oriented alliance, or should we sub in our D-bot to shut down their great scorer?" This probably wouldn't work out well in at a number of smaller competitions, but with IRI's stacked field, we're sure to see some amazing play!

Andy didn't mention it, but THANK YOU for the "tube supporting the lifted robot" clarification. I never thought FIRST's ruling was quite right.

Argggg! I can't believe IRI is almost three months away. I'm excited now!

[Dave Flowerday]

Originally Posted by Andy Baker

4. Alliances will pick their own backup robot. There will be a 3rd round of alliance selection, 1-8. Each elimination alliance will consist of four robots, not three. Three robots will play on the field (just like normal) and one robot will sit for each match. Which robot sits can change from match to match.

Am I correct in my understanding of the rules posted that there are no limitations on which robots can play in any particular elimination match (unlike it used to be in FIRST when it was 2-on-2 with 3 team alliances, and each of the 3 were required to play at least once per elim round)?

[Duke_of_Hazard]

Originally Posted by Andy Baker

1. Scored Keepers will be worth a 15 bonus points.

2. A more random match generation algorithm is being requested and developed. All teams will be considered equal in ability, and the only limit to pure randomness will be a 2-3 match buffer between a team's matches.

3. For the elimination rounds, alliance picking will be 1-8, 1-8. Serpentine draft is eliminated. While this may be good for some events, it's not at IRI.

4. Alliances will pick their own backup robot. There will be a 3rd round of alliance selection, 1-8. Each elimination alliance will consist of four robots, not three. Three robots will play on the field (just like normal) and one robot will sit for each match. Which robot sits can change from match to match. This gets more teams active in the finals, brings another dimension to strategy, makes everyone's pick list 8 teams longer, and gives each alliance captain the ability to choose the correct backup robot for their alliance. There will be a fair declaration process in claiming who will play in each of the finals matches. (we will probably alternate who has to declare first) Essentially, alliances are 4 teams deep, and the alliance captain chooses their best 3 to play in each match.

*Hugs his monitor, then stands up and begins clapping at his computer*

[Chris]

Those rule changes are all awesome,

Congrats to the IRI committee...

If we make it in i hope our programmers are willing to put some time in.

This should be an amazing event to watch, and hopefully participate in.

[Sean Schuff]

Pre-Rookie Exhibition Challenge Matches?? What a farm-tastic way to cultivate the seeds planted in new forming teams. If we're selected to attend IRI you can definitely count on us to provide our robot!

Sounds like another great IRI event!

Sean