Kettering Results from Week 2

[IKE]

Kettering threads have gotten a bit fragmented so I want to start a new thread for folks to post what they thought about the event. I would appreciate it if folks took the time to add both positives and negatives that way the "right things" get continued, and the "Wrong things" get addressed. I use the word addressed, because what 1 person sees as a wrong thing, many others may not.

First off congratulations to the winners: I believe it was 245, 70, 2619. What a great alliance. You fought some tough matches and had a lot of great competition.

Congrats to the finalists: 65, 2771 and 2586 (I think). This alliances really maximized there potential and showed what strategy and execution were all about.

Thank you to our partners. 548 and 862. It was a fun run to the semis.

Thanks 314 for all the support for the event. You guys did a fantastic job.

2771 thanks for the webcast, I know many enjoyed it.

The Event Itself:
Kettering was a great event. It was a ton of fun and really cool to see the close competition. Due to getting 12 events, the bots were all driving well on Saturday, and the competition was really close. 3 of the 4 QF events went to 3 matches, and almost every match was within a Super Cell (which were very much in play). What a great competition. I talked with some out of town teams that were at Midwest, and they were impressed by the strategy level and usage.
Some cool things about the event. Starting a new job, I did not have vacation time. Due to the FiM format, I was able to help get things set up thursday night, only missed 4 matches (of 12) and NO TIME OFF OF WORK. Normal regionals, I would have missed 2 days, and for this I would have only had to miss 1.

Kettering had an interesting feel to it. Very much an IRI feel. The set-up was a cross between an off season and a typical regional, but with all the teams there, the excitement level was way up.

One thing I did not like initially but actually liked later on was the above level track was for Scouts and Videographers only. While initially annoying having to show a badge, this made it a ton easier for the scouts to do their job. By the end I was really thankful for that.

Probably the biggest drawback was the lack of seating. They really needed at least 10-20% more seating (others will say more, but running the numbers 10% would have helped a bunch). I talked to the folks running it and they explained the limitations and plans to work around this next year.

The 7 people excepting awards was another thing I thought I wouldn't like, but ended up enjoying it. Results will likely be mixed on this.

One of the coolest things I saw was that at Kettering they brought all of the WFFA nominees down on the field. Usually there is a statement about so many great applications, and then a winner anounced. At Kettering every nominee who meant so much to their team got to come down and be recognized.

Last and certainly not least:
Oh and congrats to the students of TEAM 33 for winning Chairman's. It has been one heck of a ride.

Thanks to all of the volunteers and the folks at FIRST & FiM for making it possible. What a great event.

[nikeairmancurry]

From watching the webcast (Thanks 2771 Codered Robotics) I saw the level of competition go up from where it was last weekend at Traverse City. But with all the wellknown teams doing so well at the event, I'm afraid that w have seen some of the first teams, that we will not be seeing at the State Championship. I do hope that those teams who probably aren't gonna be selected aren't dissaproving of the format, but inbrace the oppertunity that was set before them.

Ike I hear you seating issue, but I do believe the rest of the venues do have the right amount seating. West Michigan, Detriot, Cass Tech, for sure have tons of seating ready. But, the resevered level for scouts is amazing, I have been to Kettering and been on that top level, its probably the best seat in the house to see everything.

Congrats to team 70, 245 and 2619, I almost counted the martians(70) out friday, when I didn't see much scoring, but you guys really improved and showed that you guys still win, when it matters. I'm also glad that you guys didnt have to go to a back robot before elimations started. 245 yuo guys have a great bot, you following what has been the dumper dominance of this years game. Your guys robot gives our team high hopes that are robot somewhat similar is in for big things. 2619 when I looked at this weeks Looking Forward thread, they pointed you guys out for needing a big week, you did not dissapoint. On the number 1 allaince a District regional win and a good amount of state points. I wouldn't be surpised to see you guys at the state champs.

Team 65, I was really rooting for you guys, since I golf with a couple of you, your bot is so good when being able to be filled up in auton. 2586, just like I said with 2619, you guys needed a big week and you got one, best wishes for you.

Congrats to all teams!

[johnr]

I agree with what Ike said, just alittle more seating , but that screen by the tables was a nice touch. Something a team might be able to provide next year would be a shuttle service from the far parking lot. That was a long walk for grandparents in the rain. Oh,and maybe we could add a rule that you are not allowed to wear any tennis shoes that require everyone else to wear sunglasses.

[RyanCesiel]

2619 was a HUGE reason why our alliance won Kettering. Our drive team recognized their defense early and knew they'd be a great asset in the eliminations.

[Chris Hibner]

Originally Posted by RyanCesiel

2619 was a HUGE reason why we won Kettering. Our drive team recognized their defense early and knew they'd be a great asset in the eliminations.

Yeah, we got SHUT DOWN in the finals. Now we know we got a bit of work to do to try and overcome that sort of thing. We'll be back better than ever in Detroit. I can't wait.

Other than the lack of seating, I thought Kettering went really well. It definitely had an IRI feel to it without the fancy lighting system and all, but I can deal without that if it means more competitions for everyone and less cost to the teams - everyone knows how important that is in this economy we're facing.

[Herodotus]

Originally Posted by RyanCesiel

2619 was a HUGE reason why our alliance won Kettering. Our drive team recognized their defense early and knew they'd be a great asset in the eliminations.

I saw this too. At first I assumed you guys would win simply because you would outscore everyone else by a wide margin, but actually the other alliances were able to keep up the scoring fairly well. 2619's defense was absolutely amazing. Several times they kept teams from scoring the whole match, and definitely won a few matches with that defense.

Congratulations to 70, 245, and 2619. You were an amazing alliance and definitely deserving of the win. Congrats to 65, 2771, and 2586 on being finalists as well. You put up a great fight. Congrats to 2771 especially, you guys are an amazing rookie team, and I think you will have many good years ahead of you.

Thank you to 1504 and 1025 for being great alliance partners. There were some tough alliances on that field, but I think we managed to put up a pretty good fight, and only fell short by a little bit. This was a much better start to our year than we usually have, so hopefully things will only get better.

Thank you to all of the volunteers and referees this weekend. There were very few problems, and I think the whole competition was run quite well. They only major issues were the problems at the start of the eliminations and the seating problem.

[RyanCesiel]

Just finished uploading pictures we took. We also have HD video we will be uploading along with every single match video of the whole competition (no sound do to lack of audio feed).

OUR PICTURES

[JackN]

Wow what a great competition. First off, I would like to say thank you to 910 and 1025, you guys were great partners in eliminations, we were so thankful to get a chance to work with your two amazing teams. Second, I would like to thank Eric Y. from 33 for all his help this weekend. I would like to congratulate 245, 70, and 2619 for winning the event (I graduate and 70 wins, of course), and 2586, 2771, and 65 for pulling some crazy upsets off. Also congrats to team 33 for winning the Chairman's Award, it could not have gone to a better group of people. I agree with IKE that they need to do something to the stands, either add more or to get bigger ones, but all in all a great competition.

[Analog]

Originally Posted by RyanCesiel

2619 was a HUGE reason why our alliance won Kettering. Our drive team recognized their defense early and knew they'd be a great asset in the eliminations.

We were very fortunate to be the last team picked in the finals by 245 - so thanks for choosing us. As a 1982 graduate of Adams, I was so proud to be once again part of my old high school in some way! Your robot is both difficult to catch and can really dump a payload!

I tip my hat to the runner's up alliance - teams 2771 (great job on the video feed - had some friends watching at home), 65 and 2586.

Great job team 33 on the Chairman's award.

[Tom Line]

Things I liked about the regional:

The volunteers and staff there were personable, and very fun to work with. I asked for a trailer on the practice field and had one in 5 minutes. I can't say enough about the couple ladies running the field (I wish I knew their names).

The access to the field was great - both before and after each day's activities we were able to go out onto the field, get measurements, see how stuff worked. It was nice taking the non-drive guys out to see that, along with some of the mentors.

The Webcast was awesome (Code Red really outdid themselves at this regional!)

The cooperation between teams was great to see. It was also nice to have judges that were slightly more knowledgable about First Robots this year. We were able to have great conversations with them about the robots and even discuss what they'd done in past years. HUGE ++++. Having Joe Johnson come to our pits to discuss control systems was awesome too.

Things I did not like about the regional (and please forgive a bit of my emotion):

The seating needs to be improved. The people who could not find seats ended up standing in front of the people who had seats on the bleachers. Later, one of the (great) volunteers brought chairs over and MADE them sit down. It was nice to finally be able to see again.

The electrical situation was borderline ridiculous. This was the first district for many people. We arrived on time on Thursday, only to find out that the central sections of the pits did not have power. That situation continued for a full hour after the pits opened. After they finally got power up, the electrician came around and told us that we were not allowed to use any plug-in power tools, because extension cords were powering that portion of the pits (and this had evidently been the plan from the beginning of the event???). To top it off, the teams along the outside walls of the venue WERE allowed to use theirs. This was extremely frustrating.

The rules. I don't mean to sound sour-grapes-ish. -See later posts for clarification of what was here-

Other than that, I'd say the District went off very well. Good job done by all, and it was very fun to compete against all the other teams.

[JNelson]

Code Red (2771) thanks our alliance partners, 65 and 2586. Your guys worked very hard and smart as our alliance climbed its way to the finals. It certainly was exciting, and we enjoyed every minute of working with such amazing teams. 2771 is also grateful for your help in getting our robot match-ready, after taking a beating in the intense qualifying rounds.

All the teams at Kettering were very supportive and encouraging to our team in the midst of the fierce competition. Our students and mentors are pretty well spent after two weeks of back-to-back events, and are grateful to all the teams at Kettering for the support. It was an honor to be at a competition with so many strong teams there.

We give hearty congratulations to 245, 70, and 2619 for becoming District Champions. You guys set pretty high standards both on and off the field. We are thrilled for our friends at 2619, who have a great 'bot and a great team.

Thanks for the cheers and the high-fives, 107 and 49. It means a lot to our students to get encouragement like that.

Killer Bees, congratulations on winning the Chairman's Award. We dream of some day being half as good as you are!

Our next step is the West Michigan District at GVSU, so we'll see many of you there.

Good luck everyone!

[Tom Line]

As a follow up to my first post:

On the practice field, there was a single 110 extension cord and no splitter. So only one team could use the field at a time (no DS power) until we supplied our own 4 way splitter for people to use. Might want to consider a powerstrip there fastened to the extension cord so people can utilize the field a bit more.

[R3P0]

Originally Posted by Tom Line

As a follow up to my first post:

On the practice field, there was a single 110 extension cord and no splitter. So only one team could use the field at a time (no DS power) until we supplied our own 4 way splitter for people to use. Might want to consider a powerstrip there fastened to the extension cord so people can utilize the field a bit more.

We are going to fix that by bringing our test battery and an inverter with our robot cart.

Also the Allen Bradley yellow light does not allow spectators to know which color (side red or blue) the robots are on. VERy hard to keep them straight when viewing. Even worse trying to sort it out on the webcast.

Props to the Safety glasses people. #1 best effort ever I have seen in First in % years of going to competitions. Should be a model for all other first competitions.

Props to teams 1025 and 910 great alliance partners

noise in arena areas=.failCurrent Path: /

- by the end of friday the music, announcer, and pit announcer were very loud and made communication very difficult in pits. ( SAFETY hazard).
- speakers for pits should be on stands on ground, with treble normalized for surroundings This allows the voice to travel over the heads of people in pits. Teh sound was bouncing off floor and cieling and back further making hearing in pits almost impossibe. To note is as volume rises so do peoples voices etc further leading to louder everything.

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by R3P0

Also the Allen Bradley yellow light does not allow spectators to know which color (side red or blue) the robots are on. VERy hard to keep them straight when viewing. Even worse trying to sort it out on the webcast.

Slightly off-topic, but that's what the trailer is for. Look at the color of the bumpers on the trailer to identify which alliance a robot is on.

[Jack Jones]

Originally Posted by Tom Line

Things I liked about the regional:

...
The rules. I don't mean to sound sour-grapes-ish. But the rules need to be applied evenly between all teams. If one team has a DS fault in the eliminations rounds and is told they must replace it in 3 minutes, then the other team in the same match with DS issues shouldn't be given another 10 minutes to fix their problems (with no timeout taken). Especially when the result is the team that fixed their issue in the alloted time goes out with a mostly non-functioning robot due to wires they didn't have "time" to connect. I can easily chalk this up to the new event, new controls, etc. However, for FIM to be taken seriously, rules have to be applied evenly and fairly.

Other than that, I'd say the District went off very well. Good job done by all, and it was very fun to compete against all the other teams.

The RED alliance was not given more time than BLUE to get the DS problems fixed. (gotta love that DS :-/

The situation was that BLUE's DS went bad first - before the first elimination match began, the problem was diagnosed and the FTAs brought out the spare and helped them replace it. As soon as it was fixed, the RED blinker came on
because one of theirs went out. Same as for BLUE, the RED DS was replaced by a spare, only to find that it had not been flashed. The so called extra time was charged to the field (their bad for not having the second one already flashed) Turned out that both sides had the same amount of extra time to connect/reconnect their electronics. How was that unfair?