2012 Texas Robot Roundup

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by animenerdjohn

I would have a vote on this, unlike what the IRI staff did...it's causing a little controversy over there.

You are unfairly criticizing the IRI planning committee here.

The planning committee has always made rule changes of varying degree, and is run by some very qualified people for the job. They solicited input on chiefdelphi, they probably considered that input, and then made a decision. The fact that their decision upsets people does not mean it was made without input, nor does it mean it was an unfair decision.

[JohnSchneider]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

You are unfairly criticizing the IRI planning committee here.

The planning committee has always made rule changes of varying degree, and is run by some very qualified people for the job. They solicited input on chiefdelphi, they probably considered that input, and then made a decision. The fact that their decision upsets people does not mean it was made without input, nor does it mean it was an unfair decision.

My comment was worded a bit harshly, and incorrectly I suppose.

When IRI asked for input and took a vote, the voting went the other way of their decision. That's what got so many people riled up. I was suggesting that TRR do whatever the participants want...its just a fun off season event, plus things like the Co-op bridge may matter more to participants at TRR over that of the participants at IRI. Just a thought.

But that's my $0.02 which isn't really worth much since we aren't going to TRR ()

I however did not mean to offend if I did.

[jessjank.]

Reminder:
Registration for TRR 2012 closes after today!

The TRR planning committee met last night. I will send out an email with important information to all TRR teams this weekend and will post the details here. It will include the committee's decisions on rules changes, the TRr Skills Challenge rules, and options for additional robot entries for any remaining spots following the close of the "official" team registration period. Until then, let me know if you have any questions about registration.

[TheMadCADer]

Any news on where a webcast might be hosted? Some of us are going to be out of the country for TRR.

[jessjank.]

I just sent this email out to TRR Teams:

Texas Robot Roundup in now less than a month away! I have lots of important information for you. After reading over this email, make sure to fill out all requested forms/respond as necessary! If you have not yet, please send in your registration fee. I'm still working on getting a PayPal option available for those of you who need it. Thank you for your patience!


First, a quick request: If you have not yet responded to my previous request, please let me know if I may share your contact information with the other members of the Planning Committee. We're trying to plan something special for everyone coming in from out of the Austin area.


TTR Game Rules Changes:

1. +5 pounds allowed. Honor system unless referees question you.
2. Alliance selection is 1-8, 8-1, 8-1. Alliances select a 4th robot to play on their alliance. Use of this 4th robot is at the discretion of the alliance captain.
3. All other rules will be per the 2012 FRC Rebound Rumble game rules as interpreted by the TRR referees.

Opportunity to Register 2nd Robot:
Following the end of the Registration period, we have 4 slots available. One team dropped and all out of state teams initially expressing significant interest could not make it; we are still working with potential pre-rookies. The TRR Planning Committee has decided on the following:

• Teams are asked to fill out this form: goo.gl/A7LEv by the end of next Friday, July 7th, regarding their interest in entering a 2nd (practice, backup, etc) robot
• If no more than 4 teams already registered wish to register a 2nd robot, we will allow teams to enter 2nd robots
• If more than 4 teams wish to enter a 2nd robot, we will not allow teams to enter 2nd robots
• If the criteria above are met, interested teams will need to register their 2nd robot by Wednesday, July 11th
• Teams must pay the regular registration fee of $250 for their 2nd robot by Thursday, July 26th

Skills Challenge Rules:
See the attached document. Interested teams will be asked to sign up for a Skills Challenge time slot at registration. The Skills Challenge will occur at noon on Saturday, July 28th.


Mentors Tournament & Canned Goods Drive:
The Mentors Tournament will take place on Friday, July 27th, starting at 4:30pm. Alliance selection ran will be based on the number of canned goods donated to the host team's (ausTIN CANs, 2158) annual canned food drive by 4:00pm on Friday. Teams must select alliance partners outside the top 8. All other rules will be per the 2012 FRC Rebound Rumble game rules as interpreted by the TRR referees. The team who donates the most Canned Goods by noon on Saturday will be recognized with the Austin CAN Award.


I will continue to send additional information your way over the next few weeks. Please read them carefully! As always, let me know if you have any questions. We're looking forward to seeing you all at TRR 2012!

[jessjank.]

Originally Posted by TheMadCADer

Any news on where a webcast might be hosted? Some of us are going to be out of the country for TRR.

We're still working on this and will make sure to let everyone know as soon as we have that information available. Thank you for your patience!

[jessjank.]

Originally Posted by TheMadCADer

Any news on where a webcast might be hosted? Some of us are going to be out of the country for TRR.

Additionally, there WILL be a webcast! Representatives from the DiscoBots, team 2587, will be providing the webcast. We will post a link here and to www.robotroundup.org once we have it available so that those of you who can't make it to TRR can still enjoy the event!

[midway78224]

Jess,

Do have any idea on how many matches TRR plans to run for each team or is that still up in the air.

[Pjohn1959]

With the time allowed and 40 teams, I would think that each team could get in 8 matches pretty easily. We will be packing up tomorrow for that early trip Saturday morning.

[jessjank.]

Originally Posted by midway78224

Jess,

Do have any idea on how many matches TRR plans to run for each team or is that still up in the air.

By the estimates of our AndyMark crew, we should have at least 8, perhaps 9, matches per team!

[JaneYoung]

About to head up to Anderson High School!

Travel safe, everyone. See you later on today or early tomorrow!

Jane

[Brant Bowen]

For those of you following at home here are the TRR Alliances:
Teams are listed as Alliance Captain, 1st Pick, 2nd Pick and 3rd Pick (Backup Robot)

1 118 624 457 4332
2 1477 148 2833 4271
3 2789 1296 418 4335
4 2158 3679 57 4300
5 2587 3847 3735 653
6 647 3481 3997 3320
7 2583 1429 2936 2881
8 2468 3482 3103 3999

[Gregor]

Incredible finals match. Congratulations to the number 1 seed on their win.

[jessjank.]

For anyone who is interested, the 2012 TRR results and awards can be found at www.robotroundup.org/results

I owe a wealth of gratitude to so many people for helping make the 2nd annual Texas Robot Roundup a fantastic event. Thank you to (in alphabetical order):
- Alamo Regional Director: Patrick Felty
- AndyMark crew: Brandon Maris and Brant Bowen
- Event Manager: John Sperry
- My team (the hosts): the ausTIN CANs - 2158 members, mentors, and parents
- Planning Committee (a fabulous crew spanning across 6 central Texas teams!)
- Presenters, Panelists, and Workshop/Meeting hosts
- Sponsors & Contributors: Title Sponsor - National Instruments; Platinum Sponsor - Time Warner Cable-Connect a Million Minds; Gold Sponsor - Geekdom; and Silver Sponsor - Randolph Brooks Federal Credit Union
- Team members, mentors, and supporters of our 35 Texas teams in attendance
- Volunteers... all the referees, queuers, field crew, pit crew, check in crew, mentor awards judges, and more
- Webcast crew: Edward Morris, Paul Chaguine, and team 2587
And all other supporters who I might be neglecting due to being pretty exhausted. Thank you all so very much!

I hope everyone had a great time. I will be sending out feedback forms soon so that we can determine what we can do to continue to grow TRR into an even better event. I look forward seeing y'all again soon at some of the upcoming FIRST events in Texas this fall. Now off to go rest for a few days.

[rsisk]

Jess,
On the website you link above it says the 1477 alliance was the champs at TRR. Is that correct?