More Mid-Altantic Results

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Posted by Jerry Fischer.

Engineer on team #56, RobbeXtreme, from Bound Brook High School and Ethicon, Inc. (J&J).

Posted on 3/19/2000 8:38 AM MST



The Mid-Atlantic Regional was the a very competitive and exciting event. There was lots of high scoring and offense in the Qualifying Rounds, then the tide turned toward brutal defense in the Elimination Rounds. The large number of excellent teams made for plenty of close matches and big upsets. The final two alliances were the number 5 and 7 seeds - and the 7th seed won.

The Champions were 293 (Morehouse Engineering), 175 (UTC - Hamilton Space), 25 ( Bristol Meyers)

2nd Place went to 303 (Bihler), 95 (Lebanon), 340 Nortol)


The Semifinalist were:
Teams 47, 191, 41
Teams 11,75,102

The other Alliances in the Elimination's were
Teams 113,213,176
Teams 56, 37, 121
Teams 153, 103,211
Teams 371, 88, 380

The top qualifiers were:

47 - 50 Q.P. Ave
153 - 49
191 - 49
11 - 45
103 - 42
56 - 40
303 - 39
75 -36

I can't wait until we play again in Philly next week.

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Posted by Raul.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Engineer on team #111, Wildstang, from Rolling Meadows & Wheeling HS and Motorola.

Posted on 3/19/2000 10:56 AM MST


In Reply to: More Mid-Altantic Results posted by Jerry Fischer on 3/19/2000 8:38 AM MST:



These are very interesting results. The champion alliance did not have a top 8 seeded team! And the 2nd place alliance was the 7th seed and last of the original top 8 to pick. And, 3 alliances with 2 top 8 teams did not make it to the finals.

This just further supports the notion that the qualifying phase (with its unique scoring system)does not necessarily produce the teams best suited to win in the elimination phase. The two phases are so different.

I was not at Rutgers; so I can only speculate how the results came about. Here are my thought on it:

It still comes down to the alliance that can execute a winning strategy. Like any other year, a good performing robot will be near the top. But, more so than in previous years, it takes a lot more than a good robot to do well and win.

Also, more so than last year, a single great robot cannot carry an alliance. They need a good alliance partner, a good understanding of the opponents strenghts and weaknesses, and a good executed strategy to win. And of course, there is also the luck factor.

I like to believe this is true. Otherwise, it is scary to think that there are several robots out there that are better than Chief Delphi's.

Raul

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Posted by colleen.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Other on team #246, a FIRST-aholic, from John D. O'Byrant High School/Boston Latin Academy and NSTAR/Boston University/Wentworth Institute of Technology/MassPEP.

Posted on 3/19/2000 12:30 PM MST


In Reply to: Mid-Altantic Results - Wow! posted by Raul on 3/19/2000 10:56 AM MST:



'It still comes down to the alliance that can execute a winning strategy....(needed)a good understanding of the opponents strenghts and weaknesses, and a good executed strategy to win. And of course, there is also the luck factor'

I totally agree. We competed at the Jersey regional and were totally impressed by the teams there. We had a lot of mechanical difficulties and stuck through, and in the end- doing well against the working teams with the impressive robots was only a matter of have a working partner and a decent strategy. Every team is beatable, from the top-seeded to the last... it's all in how you do it.. Delphi is a formidable opponent, but they like any other team have weak spots and in the end, I think the best teams did win because the had the best combination of robots, strategy, and will it make it work.

Just wanted to say congrats to all the teams at Jersey - we had a blast!! And thanks to everyone who gave us a helping hand through the competition and all those who cheered for us along the way (especially in match #84, we needed all the help we could get!!!).. We look forward to seeing all the great competitors at Nationals!

colleen
Team 246 - MAR Winners: Outstanding Defense Award

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Posted by Jason Panila.

Student on team #102, Dexterious Gearheads, from Somerville High School, Somerville, New Jersey.

Posted on 3/19/2000 5:47 PM MST


In Reply to: Re: Mid-Altantic Results - Wow! posted by colleen on 3/19/2000 12:30 PM MST:



I'm not a fan of the qualifying rounds either. With the scoring system, nearly losing is rewarded greatly. Also, weak machines could make it far if they have a good teamate every round. Many good machines slipped through the cracks due to unfair alliances. For example, our machine was possibly one of the best, but we had weak teamates 3 times, no teamates 3 times, and a malfunction once. We were in the bottom five in the ranking until the last 2 matches, when we finally got running, worthy teamates. In one match, we took on the first and second place seeds by ourselves, and barely lost in a last minute squeeker. How did a robot in 39th place (out of forty) nearly take out the two top robots singlehandily? And how did we end up in third place in the finals? Well, my opinion is that the matching system was too random and the qualifying round results did not properly portray the abilities of the robots(except delphi and some others).

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Posted by Mike Kulibaba.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Student on team #88, TJ², from Bridgewater-Raynham Regional and Johnson and Johnson.

Posted on 3/19/2000 10:13 PM MST


In Reply to: Re: Mid-Altantic Results - Wow! posted by Jason Panila on 3/19/2000 5:47 PM MST:



I'd like to start by saying to Jason and his team that his team (102) had a tremendous robot and should of ranked much higher, after delphi they would of been my 2nd favorite team to have as an alliance partner even though they finished lower in the rankings then other teams. to move on to the competition, I saw way too many 2 on 1 matches in Michigan and Jersey. On a 2-1 not only does the team with 2 have to score for themselves they have to score for their partner.and in your a below average team then it might be tough to score for both teams. Especially if you can only hang on the bar. When lower ranked teams win in the finals it's because of stratergy. I've seen a few teams that I didn't think were the best robots that made the top 8 and seen teams that were alot better and they were ranked in the mid 20's. But Luck is a big part of all games. I enjoy how you triple your opponents score. I like close games, I like how a team like Delphi could pour 25 points into their basket then go put in another 20 into there opponets and win 25-20. Closer matches make the game more exciting. I've also see some teams get greeding and try to only win by 2 points and then have their alliance get pushed off the ramp and loose by 3. I think First did a good thing by doing the score system this way. No one wants to see a team win 50-5 massacre, they want to see 30-25 match where an alliance could still win if their opponents can't get off the ground or if they fall off the ramp. Everyone loves close matches it's get the blood pumping! I want to thank everyone for a great time in Jersey, I had a blast and so did my team

Kuli Team 88

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Posted by Andy Grady.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Coach on team #42, P.A.R.T.S, from Alvirne High School and Daniel Webster College.

Posted on 3/20/2000 8:20 AM MST


In Reply to: Re: Mid-Altantic Results - Wow! posted by Mike Kulibaba on 3/19/2000 10:13 PM MST:



I totally agree with Mike here, team 102 was awsome and somehow they weren't chosen until the second time around!?! If my team was ranked number 1 and I could choose our partner they would have easily been my first choice, they were a huge scoring powerhouse. How could the teams at the mid-atlantic regionals not see this?
Good Luck all,
Andy Grady, DWC/Alvirne

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Posted by Chris Dibble.

Student on team #102, Dextrous Gearheads, from Somerville High School and Ortho Clinical Diagnostics.

Posted on 3/21/2000 8:14 PM MST


In Reply to: What about team 102!!! posted by Andy Grady on 3/20/2000 8:20 AM MST:



Thanks for the compliments, they're great. All I can say is can't wait to see you in Florida!

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Posted by Doug Fischer.

Student on team #41, Warriors, from Watchung Hills and Cordis.

Posted on 3/20/2000 5:12 PM MST


In Reply to: Re: Mid-Altantic Results - Wow! posted by Mike Kulibaba on 3/19/2000 10:13 PM MST:



All of the top 8 machines were amazing robots for what they did, but the top 8 bots for qualification are not as well suited for elimination> The bots that do well in qualifiers are quick scoring machines that can deliver balls very quickly, thus controlling the score at the end of matches. The robots that do well in the eliminations only have to win the matches so they only need to make sure their score is higher. The game changes completely so it only makes sense that the type of robots that do well also change. My team's robot ranked 30th but we got picked by delphi becasue we could control the ramp, we couldnt do anything else however, so in qualifiers we did poorly because without a partener to help control the score we were useless. Some teams built robots that were more designed for the qualifiers (47, 56, 153, 191) others built robots more for the elimination matches with more ramp and bar control in mind. Thus the top 8 is a reflection of the best robots for qualifying but not the best for elimination. The game changes so much that what could be considered a great robot for qualifying could be a poor one for elimination and vice versa.

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Posted by Jason Panila.

Student on team #102, Dexterious Gearheads, from Somerville High School, Somerville, New Jersey.

Posted on 3/21/2000 5:24 PM MST


In Reply to: Re: Mid-Altantic Results - Wow! posted by Mike Kulibaba on 3/19/2000 10:13 PM MST:



thanks for the compliments guys, I appreciate it. I was a little surprised myself to see the top teams pick other top teams when there were better robots available. I was afraid we weren't going to be picked at all. To tell you the truth, I like driving our machine, it seems to be the best in my opinion. Just god help us if Delphi decided to add hooks to hang A special thanks to Mt. Olive and the Robo Raiders for chosing us as final partners.

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Posted by Conrad Barnes.

Student on team #95, Lebanon Robotics Team, from Lebanon High School and CRREL.

Posted on 3/21/2000 6:35 AM MST


In Reply to: Mid-Altantic Results - Wow! posted by Raul on 3/19/2000 10:56 AM MST:



Well, team 95 had a blast at the NJ regionals! We got the Delphi Technology Award and 2nd place. All by a team that qualified 29th out of 40! We were in the lower half, yet our robot was the key player (sorry 303) in the eliminations! I really don't see any co-opertion in this game. It's all about the elimination round. Hope to see most of you in Fl. (Delphi...we'll be back! hehehe) It was also a great thing to see our team with no big sponsers and have just enough money to get to Fl, beat a team with tons of dough, great engineers, and a wonderful robot. hahaha (hey, we can gloat, can't we?)

Good luck to you all!
-Conrad

P.S. oh, yea, our robot (the one with the green bug on the side...) is called Gracehopper (after the navy woman who helped create one of the first programing languages, also coined the term 'computer bug') not Grasshopper as was anounced when we got 2nd place and our Technology Award... Hope we can clear this up by Fl!

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Posted by Conrad Barnes.

Student on team #95, Lebanon Robotics Team, from Lebanon High School and CRREL.

Posted on 3/21/2000 6:35 AM MST


In Reply to: Mid-Altantic Results - Wow! posted by Raul on 3/19/2000 10:56 AM MST:



Well, team 95 had a blast at the NJ regionals! We got the Delphi Technology Award and 2nd place. All by a team that qualified 29th out of 40! We were in the lower half, yet our robot was the key player (sorry 303) in the eliminations! I really don't see any co-opertion in this game. It's all about the elimination round. Hope to see most of you in Fl. (Delphi...we'll be back! hehehe) It was also a great thing to see our team with no big sponsers and have just enough money to get to Fl, beat a team with tons of dough, great engineers, and a wonderful robot. hahaha (hey, we can gloat, can't we?)

Good luck to you all!
-Conrad

P.S. oh, yea, our robot (the one with the green bug on the side...) is called Gracehopper (after the navy woman who helped create one of the first programing languages, also coined the term 'computer bug') not Grasshopper as was anounced when we got 2nd place and our Technology Award... Hope we can clear this up by Fl!

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Posted by Conrad Barnes.

Student on team #95, Lebanon Robotics Team, from Lebanon High School and CRREL.

Posted on 3/30/2000 6:28 AM MST


In Reply to: Mid-Altantic Results/Giantslayer posted by Conrad Barnes on 3/21/2000 6:35 AM MST:



Erp.. Excitement goggles or something... That last
message came off a bit more insulting them
planed. Team 303 was a great team and picked us
into the finals. Our team, and myself, owes them
the privilage of getting to the finals. Delphi is a
great robot. (Still can't believe we beat them) It has
a wonderful team and is a consistant winner
where-ever it goes. I ment to say that I am very
proud of my team! Even more, I'm thankful that 303
took the risk (after all, we did seed 29th, and 303
and 340(i think) played the quarter finals and won)
and put us in to play against Dephi and Xerox. I'm
glad we helped 303 get as far as it did. Apologys to
all who had to read my flawed first entery's, hope
no-one took offence. If you did. Once again, sorry
you had to read them.
-Conrad
P.S. Do hope to see you all in FL!
Team 95 'Gracehopper'