Predictions Week 2: Slamming on the Brakes

[AdamHeard]

1138, 1538, and 1572 did well.

330, 968, 987, and 1717 did amazing.

Also, erick, 294 proved being a bruiser works once again

but really, great job to the #1 seed, we love you guys!

[Guy Davidson]

I'm looking at the scores from the San Diego eliminations, and I can't wait to see the finals. The scores make it seem like those were some of the best matches of the year so far.

[Lions for First]

in AZ several rookie teams were in the top 8 (3 i think) including us (6th seed) and 39 sitting at 5th seed they were selected so we were bumped up to 5th seed and we made it to the semi-finals so there may be some young talent that may come to be very comeptitive in the next few years (i know im biased) this means you 2449 thats my 0.02 cents

[pafwl]

Originally Posted by Optimizer

Perhaps it's worth mentioning that the high score @FLR Friday was 118, in Q57. This involved #0067 and #0068.

272 was part of the alliance in match 57, the high score of the day, at FLR scoring 12 points in hybrid mode, 5 hurdles and 6 laps.

[benbrown197]

Originally Posted by Looking Forward

1730 is my current favorite to win the event. These guys and gals were solid last year, and their website shows off a competitive-looking bot. Their "mortar" will likely launch their bot over the rest of the competition.

First off, thank you very much for the vote of confidence. Although we did not place first, during the qualifying matches we went 6-1 and went into elimination in 3rd. Our alliance partners of 935 and 1710 preformed excellently, but unfortunately, the mortar suffered some damage right before the elimination rounds. But when the mortar worked, it worked. We have all the problems worked out at are ready to preform great in Milwaukee later this week.
Here is a link to a match that really showed the mortar at its finest.

mms:\\streaming.more.net\robo2008archive\match48.a sf

[benbrown197]

for some reason the link above won't come out right. there should be no space between the .a and sf

[mrmummert]

Well it kinda did and did'nt go as planned for us...We did very good for a while
(# 1 on Friday, # 6 later..) Things went down hill on Saturday. We had a decent showing and ended up # 16. Oddly we did'nt get picked (and a last
place team did) Go fiqure.

[JoshD]

Originally Posted by mrmummert

Well it kinda did and did'nt go as planned for us...We did very good for a while
(# 1 on Friday, # 6 later..) Things went down hill on Saturday. We had a decent showing and ended up # 16. Oddly we did'nt get picked (and a last
place team did) Go fiqure.

That's unfortunate for you guys, but we talked with 2021 and they had shown interest in us during competition. But our qualifying position was based on many factors that we had not foreseen. We were definitely expecting better.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by mrmummert

Well it kinda did and did'nt go as planned for us...We did very good for a while
(# 1 on Friday, # 6 later..) Things went down hill on Saturday. We had a decent showing and ended up # 16. Oddly we did'nt get picked (and a last
place team did) Go fiqure.

Last place team doesn't mean bad; In recent years, a 3rd pick with a great drive is often the best bet. Look at team 4 in 06, 07 at LA and 294 just yesterday at SD.

[mrmummert]

I know how it can go....We were 54th last year and got picked for finals
because most teams knew it was'nt us but the weird alliance system they
used last year...we made it to the finals and lost by 8 in the third match

[kjohnson]

Originally Posted by JoshD

That's unfortunate for you guys, but we talked with 2021 and they had shown interest in us during competition. But our qualifying position was based on many factors that we had not foreseen. We were definitely expecting better.

I was on the field at VCU and watched nearly every match from practice all the way to the finals. 975 did not deserve the 64th place ranking. Although I wouldn't call 975 reliable this year, they were well ahead of the majority of teams at VCU and could actually place the trackball on the overpass for bonus points (384 and 1086 couldn't do that!). Bonus points were the reason 975 was picked over some of the other teams that were available.

[65_Xero_Huskie]

Originally Posted by pafwl

272 was part of the alliance in match 57, the high score of the day, at FLR scoring 12 points in hybrid mode, 5 hurdles and 6 laps.

I was told that this was one of the reasons HOT picked 272
I guess good scores give off a good reputation.

[65_Xero_Huskie]

Originally Posted by mrmummert

Well it kinda did and did'nt go as planned for us...We did very good for a while
(# 1 on Friday, # 6 later..) Things went down hill on Saturday. We had a decent showing and ended up # 16. Oddly we did'nt get picked (and a last
place team did) Go fiqure.

This is what happens when u have a game that has main components that factor into a 3 team alliance. For the 06 and 07 season, whenever we were out of the top 8, we were always picked by the 8th seed as a second pick. In 06 we had a decent robot and a good auton. Which is what made us a good 3rd pick. In 07 we didnt have ramps but were a good arm bot, so we got picked by 8th seed after they got their ramp.
Its just the way the game is played.

[Adam Freeman]

Originally Posted by 65_Xero_Huskie

I was told that this was one of the reasons HOT picked 272
I guess good scores give off a good reputation.

There were multiple reasons why we picked 272 over some of the other amazing robots at FLR (20, 1126, 365, etc..).

1. 272 was capable of scoring with anyone, as proven by the 5 hurdles they had when we played with them.

2. I did not notice any major reliability issues they during qualifying matches.

3. With the schedule change, and only having one qualifying match to evaluate on Saturday, 272 was the only elite robot (including 67) that really performed well.

4. We played with Team 20 in a previous match, and we were concerned about two arm bots getting in each others way while trying to hurdle. It seemed like an arm bot/shooter combo would be easier to coordinate.

From what I have seen from videos of week1 and the FLR regional, week2 was on par with week1 in terms of elite machines on display. It will be interesting to see videos of some of the other regionals from week2.

[pafwl]

The game is like previous years, you never know. We were very happy to get picked up early in the pick. We had problems in the beginning on Friday for many reasons including sick drivers, sick software and just getting the bugs out.

In the semis we broke a crucial wire in one round and the IR board fried in the other causing our autonomous to fail. All unfortunate but it was a great match. Hopefully going to Philly we will have all this worked out.

Just a note of caution. Everyone keeps throwing around the word elite. It really does not help. Team 67 treated us with respect and GP, not dictating. There is nothing elite about them. They are just a good team with a good robot.

Good Luck...