Predictions Week 4: Playing in Traffic

[EricH]

All right, Looking Forward, here's your results from L.A.

330+1717=on the other alliances. They grabbed 980 (who when with 330 gets a similar reaction) as last pick and went 6-0 in the elims. 100+ scores in each match from them, including a 142-0 match. (Penalties on the other side.)

1726 and 842 made it to the semis before falling.

2102 was picked, but I don't think they made it past the quarters.

702--finalist
2659--seventh seed and finalist

[SWAT1806]

Originally Posted by Looking Forward

Two of the winning teams from Kansas City are venturing here, 1806 and 476. Both should have solid outings in Oklahoma as well, but will take some luck to add another banner.

I just read this and I was stunned by seeing the word luck thrown in there.

[robro2102]

Originally Posted by EricH

2102 was picked, but I don't think they made it past the quarters.

We actually made it to the third round in semi finals.

[Stephi Rae]

In Seattle...

1983 finished up ranked 3rd. 1778 (hurdler) was first, took 948. 1318 (small, lapper bot) ranked second, gets 488 after inviting 1983 who respectfully declined. 1983 (hurdler) gets 2046 (hurdler). 949, who had one of the best and consistent hybrid setup and very good, quick lapper and defensive bot of the competition doesn't get picked until 1983 picks them up on the way back.
1983, 2046 and 949 go 6-0 in the elims to take the win. A few close matches along the way...

488 semifinalists

1778 and 948 finalists

1346 quarter finalists

as mentioned in the predictions, very few hurdlers to go around, and as predicted, it was the alliance with two proficient hurdlers that took the win. 488 had a very nice showing, but had a few problems with falling over. They're addition for ball handling made their bot even better than in Oregon, though. 488 went home with the Chairman's Award, though, and we are very happy for them! Congrats guys! We'll see you, 2046 and 949 in Atlanta!

[=Martin=Taylor=]

Originally Posted by Stephi Rae

They're addition for ball handling made their bot even better than in Oregon, though.

What exactly did they add?

[AndyH]

Originally Posted by Looking Forward

OKLAHOMA CITY:

Two of the winning teams from Kansas City are venturing here, 1806 and 476. Both should have solid outings in Oklahoma as well, but will take some luck to add another banner.
1098 has one of the coolest looking "racecars" around... it even looks like a car! The only won 2 matches in St. Louis though, but they did manage to secure a spot on the short-lived #7 alliance. I expect this racecar to have an edge over many in Oklahoma (most are kitbots), and should be one of the first non-hurdling machines selected.
1742, Shockwave, will likely be one of the better hurdling machines, but given the amount of defense likely, they'll have issues with consistency and likely will need aid if they want to add a regional victory to their resume.

Team 1098 thought it was SO much fun to be mentioned in the predictions! We looked at them from the hotel on Wednesday night, and it was a great way to kick off the weekend and energize after a 10 hour drive!

We had a great time in OKC. We were really impressed by lots of the teams. Shockwave was amazing! They did it all, and were a really great group of people. We got to form an alliance with Teams 476 and 2388, and that was exciting. Team 476 is full of kind people who truly go out of their way to make FIRST fun and accessible for all. After meeting them and working with them, it's easy to see that they are definitely worthy recipients of the Chairman's Award. We can't wait to see how they do at Championships. We'll be rooting for them!

There were lots of other great teams and volunteers, and it was well worth the drive to attend, but we'll talk about them on the 2008 Oklahoma City Regional thread.

[Stephi Rae]

Originally Posted by Hachiban VIII

What exactly did they add?

488 added a bar like appendage to secure the ball on their fork from above. It reminded me slightly of the top part of 368's ball handler, except that it doesn't fold up. i don't believe there is a roller or anything, just simply another point of contact to prevent other teams from knocking the ball off their fork. I'm sure someone from 488 could elaborate more...

[Madison]

Originally Posted by Hachiban VIII

What exactly did they add?

Originally Posted by Stephi Rae

488 added a bar like appendage to secure the ball on their fork from above. It reminded me slightly of the top part of 368's ball handler, except that it doesn't fold up. i don't believe there is a roller or anything, just simply another point of contact to prevent other teams from knocking the ball off their fork. I'm sure someone from 488 could elaborate more...

We added two protrusions that, when our forks lift, traps the ball and prevents it from rolling out when or falling out sideways. It's very effective.

Unfortunately, as a consequence of the change, the new protrusions tapped the ball in hybrid mode before our elevator hit it to knock it down and that made our hybrid mode less reliable. We tried throughout Friday and Saturday to tweak the protrusions and make hybrid reliable once again. It got better, but it's not where it was just yet. We tipped twice after the new protrusions were improperly adjusted or installed and got caught in the rack.

Part of these additions were improvised on the spot this weekend. We'll have something were well-considered with us for Atlanta that will allow us to easily adjust for overpasses of varying height.

[Otaku]

Originally Posted by CraigHickman

Yeah, but to the rest of the US, they seem to have this idea that Davis and Sac-town are the same place...

Sort of like the perception from Europeans that if you're in LA for the weekend, you can drive up to have dinner in San Francisco for the night... We're bigger than people think we are.

I talked to a friend from kentucky who thought I lived near LA when I said I was 50mi north of SF or so


Also, Europe's stuff is a lot closer. In the time it takes somebody to go from the northern border of the US to the southern, you could cross many country lines in europe. I don't blame them for thinking everything is so small, really.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Otaku

I talked to a friend from kentucky who thought I lived near LA when I said I was 50mi north of SF or so


Also, Europe's stuff is a lot closer. In the time it takes somebody to go from the northern border of the US to the southern, you could cross many country lines in europe. I don't blame them for thinking everything is so small, really.

You could go through 3 or 4 countries in Europe in the time it would take you to drive through CA.

[Justin Ridley]

Originally Posted by Pavan Dave

Sorry, but you make it sound like the Robonauts are lacking their competitive spirit on the field... In the last 5 regional competitions attended (Before Lone Star 2008) -- 2005 Denver, 2005 LSR, 2006 LSR, 2007 Bayou, 2007 LSR -- we were winners in 3 of those events and finalists in the other two.

I think I understand the point Looking Forward was making... we just haven’t always met expectations in the past, and this weekend was another example. Part of it was some major robot failures in the elims (we actually put the robot on the field with three wheels in the last match, which was kinda fun) and the other part was some strong play by our opponents. I congratulate 1477, 1429, and 57 for a hard fought win. The regional was once again a lot of fun with some great teams.

We're looking forward to making some repairs and seeing some more strong teams next week at Bayou.

[BornaE]

When are the week 5 pridictions coming out

Can't wait.............