IRI 2010 Reflections

[EricH]

And the BeachBots are (mostly) back safely--three are driving back with a special box () and the rest flew back today.

It was definitely great to watch on the webcast. And the ties were, well, excruciating, as the next thing done was wait during the cooldown period...

I've got to hand it to Paul on the pointing issue. Whether or not it was intentional, he made sure that it would not happen, intentionally or otherwise, during the final match, by clearing all parties off the balcony in the area in question. I believe that the rules in question are not clear on the legality, however, I think Tristan is correct as to the reasoning of 2nd coach, outside player station; also, I would bring <T27> in and point out that a semaphore is a device for game strategy, and if it is placed outside the arena, then it communicates outside the alliance station, and it is not in the alliance station, both violations (and if it's a human semaphore, extra coach applies). I think that the explicit ban may make a return next year. At any rate, any rules violations or perceived violations were not present during the final match, which was quite clean and hard-fought, and more importantly, penalty-free.

From an observer's point of view, the webcast was good, and knowing what was going on with technical difficulties via the chat was equally good. And I'd like to thank every team there for putting on quite a show--triple hangs, proving to Car Nack that more than 30 points was possible (if DOGMA was removed), and being so evenly matched in the eliminations that it took not 1, but 4 extra matches on top of the expected 3 match elimination rounds to decide a winner.

[Chris is me]

Unfortunately, having seen it there was no question of intent. I don't really want to go into any more detail than that.

So this IRI saw some excellent performances from first timers. Had 359 ever gone before? That's an amazing first run right there. 1086 got a great alliance together as well. 3138 didn't do so bad either!

[Basel A]

Me and the rest of Team 2337 had a fantastic time as the IRI! It was our first time going, and there was a sort of anticipation from weeks ahead. Best part was that it exceeded all expectations. It truly fit the saying "IRI: So much more."

The VEX competition went great. Thank You Chrisisme for letting me drive your 'bot. What you called yelling, I call excellent drive coaching. Sorry for bending the pickup arm every single match. Also thanks to Karthik for running the event and congratulations to 1640 for wiping the floor with us, taking the win undefeated.

As most people know, 2337 has a robot made to suspend. It was great to show that off twice in one day (the second being a most Beastly suspension [I cannot get over than pun]), especially with the first elimination match suspension ever. We'd like to thank Teams 2081 and 71 for the opportunity to be epic. Also thanks to Karibou for the pics.

The eliminations were as good as they get. Being selected fourth overall at IRI was probably one of the greatest monuments to our success this season. Thank You Team 234 making that selection. Also thanks to Teams 71 and 16, who rounded out a great alliance.

I'm sure that I missed other facets of what was an excellent competitions, but there was just so much to love!

P.S. This post will most likely see some edits

[Renee Becker-Blau]

IRI was amazing as per usual!

I want to thank Carolyn Beyer for organizing the NEMO meeting! It was fantastic I learned a lot, got to network, and was able to share ideas about FIRST with other NEMs.

There was an awesome talent show, epic matches, and amazing teams this year. The finals were intense and congratulations to all the teams involved.

Volunteering was exhausting but so much fun (Of course it could have been all the dancing that made it so exhausting....) plus I got to see all my robot friends

Thank you 1625 for letting us travel with you, it was a lot of fun & sorry for all the singing on the bus to IRI >_> (we were prepping!) The sleep over and BBQ were also a lot of fun, thank you!

Renee

[Bob Bonczyk]

I want to thank everyone who helped put on IRI. It was a great time. I am so thankful we could attend. IRI is a jewel in the First program. It wasn't easy hosting 78 teams, but you guys make it look easy. Keep up the great work.

[Siri]

1640 had a blast at our first IRI! Thanks so much to 234, 45, 1024, and everyone else who worked so hard to put on this event. It was amazing to get to see so many of the best robots up close plus talk to the teams and other other people I've heard so much about. (I can believe I got to meet Andy, Mark, Ed, Karthik, and Jane, among so many others!)

This was one of the most well run competitions we've ever been to, including on-seasons, and we encountered literally no issues (except maybe a few too many repeats of Crazy Train). The pointing thing was disappointing, but Paul handled it very well, and the elims were absolutely fantastic otherwise. What a feat keeping 78 teams so close to on-schedule for so many matches, on top of organizing all the wonderful extra activities. We are definitely hooked! Though we're certainly striving to make it back as a team next year, I know several of us will probably be there either way.

[Foster]

In the four years I've been going to regional and off season events this was by far the best. From the moment we arrived to the end of the final match just before midnight it was a great time. Congratulations to the Chris and Andy and all the volunteer staff that made this happen.

We had a great Friday leaving high the rankings and with our VEX roboteer Jack winning the Swept Away event (Thanks Karthik for running it). The dinner was good, I'm impressed how well that went feeding all of us. I loved the talent show, the running commentary from the judges added to the event. "Yikes!"

Saturday was great starting off with the NEMO meeting. I'm a EMO-NEM (Engineering MentOr-Non Engineering Mentor) and I got a number of good ideas of things to do for 2010-2011.

The morning matches were great with a 5 way hang, a suspension and of course a 6V0. Paul was great as the MC keeping the crowd and the roboteers excited.

Lunch of a 5 Way Skyline Chili with Exploding Bacon is where I got a first hand introduction to the "Oink Oink Boom!"

I got to play in the Mentor Match against some pretty tough competition thanks to the other mentors that played.

The matches during the afternoon were amazing. Multiple 5 way hangs, suspensions and the final match. The level of play was amazing. The skills of the drive teams and the agility of the robots was huge.

I was also able to meet a number of people that I had planned on, but I was hugely impressed by all the roboteers in the pits. Every pit that I visited I was impressed by how much the students knew and could explain how everthing worked. I have a notebook full of ideas for both robots and pit setups.

Conversation on the way home was about planning to come next year!

Thanks again for a great event!

[Josh Drake]

Along with all that has been said, I'd like to give a big thanks to our senior driver of 2 years, Cziggy. For a lot of the drivers this was their last hurrah as they prepare to go to college and some will hopefully come back as mentors for their teams or seek out other FRC teams as they go. I know for us this pretty much marks the end of the 2010 season, so I'm glad we ended with a bang at an elite off-season event.
Again thanks Chris for knowing a lot about the games, networking with other drivers, and being able to drive it like you stole it.

[IKE]

I would second the consideration of moving the Mentor Match to Friday if possible. this give teams time to repair their machines just in case the mentors are rough on the bots.

All in all, great job and keep it up.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by IKE

I would second the consideration of moving the Mentor Match to Friday if possible. this give teams time to repair their machines just in case the mentors are rough on the bots.

All in all, great job and keep it up.

Maybe it would help if the mentors all drove time machines that only went backward and blew bubbles.

Just a thought, trying to help...

Jane

[Karibou]

Originally Posted by EricH

proving to Car Nack that more than 30 points was possible (if DOGMA was removed), and being so evenly matched in the eliminations that it took not 1, but 4 extra matches on top of the expected 3 match elimination rounds to decide a winner.

I can't speak for the red alliances (I was manual scoring blue), but even if we were playing with DOGMA penalties, I do not think that there would have been many. The human players were superb in returning the balls quickly (even with those matches when 469 was able to make the most of their redirection system)

Thank you to all of the students, mentors, parents, volunteers, airlines, busses, cars, and the IRI planning committee for contributing to putting on such a spectacular event. The competition was amazing: really, Breakaway at it's finest (outside of Einstein, perhaps). I had such a great time at my first IRI, and I really hope to be back in the future! (so did my mom, who was also a first-time IRI-goer - thank you Winnovation for letting her sit with you! She had a lot of fun talking with your mentors!)

I also got to meet a lot of people who I have wanted to meet for a long time. It's really a wonderful thing to finally be able to say that I've met the names and faces who I have seen on my computer and phone screens for a long time.

Thanks all for such a great weekend!

[ShaneP]

The BeachBots had an awesome time at IRI 2010. This was a fantastic event and we were glad to be a part of it. Thank you to everyone who volunteered and gave so much effort to put this event together.

Thanks to 469, 359, and 399 for being great alliance partners. It was tremendous fun playing with you.

A huge thanks to 910 Folly Freeze, and others for helping us pack in a rush. We almost made our flight!

If I had any feedback to give (on, IMO, a nearly perfect event), I would explore the possibility of moving the mentor match (next year I'd like to enter this) to Friday to allow more time for teams that would be flying out Saturday night. Although it would seem the main factor for us missing our flight were the many ties due to the nature of this year's game, additional time on Saturday evening would be a help to teams looking to fly out the day competition ends. However, this means Friday would be packed with the team dinner, talent show, etc.

[Mike Rizzo]

WOW! IRI was much more then I expected. I am so happy that I was able to be a part of it as a Referee. Working under the experienced head Ref Stu was great, as well as working with the entire ref crew.

The entire event was amazing, from the start to the 4 hour finale. From the mentor meet and great, to the matches, the demos, the dinner, talent show, and even the mentor match. All of it was great. I have been volunteering for 8 years now and it felt so go to be part of the mentor match, standing on the other side of the play station line made so much of a difference, even though I probably had the worst driving there.

Being from the east coast I really enjoyed meeting all of the teams that were there and a large number of the mentors and others involved with FIRST. I cannot wait to come back with my team next year.

If this was IRI I cannot wait to see Championships…

Originally Posted by Tom Line

…Thanks to the Martian bot, Killer Bees, and Wings of Fire. It was truly a great alliance to be a part of. After all, how many other 20/20 ties have you seen this year?

I have a picture of that score and others that I will post on my team’s site later on, after I get home from work.

[turkbot]

Team 2481 (The Roboteers) competed this year for the first time at IRI and would like to thank all of the organizers and volunteers who made the event possible. It was a pleasure to work with so many great teams and compete both with and against the best of the best robots from the 2010 season. It was a great learning experience (especially for our younger team members) and we hope to have a chance to come back next year to compete again.

A huge special thank you to the team mentors from 234 and 461 who graciously allowed us to borrow some of their freshly charged batteries when our battery chargers were not working properly.

[Lisa Perez]

830 had a blast at IRI. A huge thanks to the following people/teams:

• All of the volunteers who helped to put together the event
• 217, 1538, and 2826 for being a great alliance to work with
• 829 and 71 for their help getting us ready for our next match when one of our motors went bad
• 469 for offering their workspace to us pre-IRI when we lost ours.

Thank you!