Lessons learned 2005: The positive

[Ryan Dognaux]

- The walk for students between the pits and the fields were shorter this year. Only one set of escalators, much better than last year's set up!
- The VEX set up was really cool. If I had the spare cash, I'd go out and buy one.
- Pits were nice and organized, and just seemed more open this year for some reason.
- The Georgia Dome staff enjoyed the Scott Ritchie head

[Chris Fultz]

Originally Posted by Billfred

(Although I guess the bars themselves should've been secured a bit better--there was that one match on Curie where the bars came crashing down.)

I learned that "Big Mike" won't ever let you forget some things.....

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Billfred

(Although I guess the bars themselves should've been secured a bit better--there was that one match on Curie where the bars came crashing down.)

As a side note, they actually seemed fairly well secured to me. The bars appeared to be welded to the framework which was then ziptied to the structural pieces extending outward from the player station.

I expected the zip tied part to fail, but the welded rods actually were ripped off.

talk about freak accidents... the drivers would have been more safe had the bars not been there at all.

First off, I'd just like to say that the whole "Triple Play" game was phenomenal. There were so many things about the game that made it so intense watching. The Pit Area was awesome, and the proximity of the pit to the dome was very convienient. The whole Atlanta area was very convienient, with hotels walking-distance from the dome, the CNN center right across the street, closed roads, everything. It was a very good location. And well, the people were awesome, and it was just so fun, thats just about all I could think off the top of my head.

[Joe Ross]

4 identical motors completely opened up the drivetrain possiblities.
The gear tooth sensors were cheap and reliable and a great addition to the kit.
The announcer (at least on Newton) telling teams the battery was low or robot turned off, etc was embarassing, but very helpful for debugging.
The banked radios were great.
All members of the alliances in the eliminations were equal, you never had 1 team that would have to sit out and feel like a lesser member.
Simple is better, ie KISS.


BTW, if you want a long tether, cheap, e-mail sanddrag (see his signature). We have 2.

[Bcahn836]

I agree with many who have posted before me.
The kit bot really gave every team a chance to be competitive.
The 3 Vs 3, in the beginning when the game came out I thought that would be a nightmare, with overcrowding in the loading area and too many robots on one field but FIRST pulled it off with hardly any problems.

[Greg Young]

These things have all been said before, but I'll say them again for emphasis.

The kit, especially the kit transmission and kit frame. We used them, we liked them, and they stood up to the test. The designers for both did an awesome job.

The pits at Championships were very good.

The walk from the pits to the field for spectators at Championships was much better. The multiple escalators were choke points last year. The walk from the pits to Starbucks was too long, but I can live with that.

Two practice fields in the pits was great.

FLL pits next to the FRC pits. I managed to see some of the FLL pits and practice fields this year.

The roof over the driver stations was a badly needed addition.

The "why are we making this change" section that showed up in the later team updates. This was a great addition to the updates and should be continued.

[EricH]

The food court next to the pits was great in terms of selection and had reasonable prices and distance. You didn't have to go all the way to the Dome.

Having the competition near a MARTA station is convenient, though they should have opened Gate D. 330 took the hotel shuttle to the airport, then rode MARTA to the Dome station and headed up. Lots of fun.

[dangerousdave]

As our team videographer I was overjoyed when our team leader gave me a Media Pass to allow me access to the floor. I was able to get close to the action while hopefully staying out of everybody's way. Just about everybody that had the pass got closer to the field when their team was out there to get some great shots. They then respected other teams as I did, and moved all the way back to the base of the stands when their team was not competing. It did get a little crowded during the QF & SF but that is expected.

Some people used tripods even when they moved up close but I felt that it was not safe to have one so near the field just so I could get a steady shot. Perhaps a referee, official First camera person or another media person might trip over it. I think the volunteer officials did a great job allowing us to get close enough but not too close as to inhibit their movements.

banztito said

First off, I'd just like to say that the whole "Triple Play" game was phenomenal. There were so many things about the game that made it so intense watching. The Pit Area was awesome, and the proximity of the pit to the dome was very convienient. The whole Atlanta area was very convienient, with hotels walking-distance from the dome, the CNN center right across the street, closed roads, everything. It was a very good location. And well, the people were awesome, and it was just so fun.

Thanks for your comments. Obviously I am happy to have the Championship's close to my home! I think that most will agree that there were improvements made this year and hopefully will continue being made next year.

Dave

[the_short1]

bringing Larry Page and other great ppl to the championshp event to give speaches.. . for me, seeing larry page was quite an inspiration!


also the wrap up party was AWSOME.. but .. bad weather (as someone stated). it was really fun..

[XtremeEagle04]

-The kit was great this year
+ Two Gearboxes (Thanks Paul)
+A Good Frame
+4 CIM Motors
+The Camera (even though not all teams got it to work it was still a good addition, and should be included in the future)

-The Head Ref at NAT'S did a great job of telling everybody in the drivers meeting what he expected of all competitors and from all of the Field Refs and crew, There should be a Q/A Forum at all of the regionals this will clear up a lot of confusion.

-The drivers station over head protection (despite the fact that it broke on Curie during one of our matches) was a great idea and should have been there from the start.

-Great game overall, that allowed bots of all different types to be competitive.

-the walk from the pits was a lot better this year

-the Hall of Fame Looked great

-the social would have been better if not for the weather (don't get me wrong it was still a blast)

-Having the Antenna stationary instead of attached to the OI is great!!!

-no battery in the weight limit.

-Addressing Flop Down Robots in an update

-Dean's Speech Made me want to go invent something

-Seeing Dave Lavery drive by me at 8:00 in the morning driving a Segway with one hand, holding 2 boxes of krispy Kremes in the other.

-The Finger Lakes Regional

[Mark Pierce]

As promised when I wrote in that other thread (which is way too long) here are some additions and reiterations of the great improvements and successes this year.

I should start by saying I agree with almost everything said so far. Andy's list is a great, concise list of my top items I started with when thinking about what to say here.

I liked:

--- the game structures and pieces. Easy for teams to make and easy to move, store and use.
--- The kit of parts: transmission, frame, electronics, other goodies best ever!
--- the emphasis on offense, what defense that was played did not destroy our robot as in previous years.
--- Improved communication, especially in the regular, scheduled updates and the e-mail blasts, and the animation and kickoff video being available almost immediately. Still room for improvement, but a big leap forward this year.
--- New robot rules, especially electronics and vendors. Common sense guidelines help a lot...
--- More autonomous action with the help of some good code samples. Better than previous years..
--- Three versus Three. It provided our scouting team a chance to really show their worth. Watching robots became much more important than watching match results.
--- Both Great Lakes and West Michigan regionals seemed better, mainly in lots of subtle ways that are hard to specify.. I'm glad the Boilermaker regional was a success, but we missed you guys. Save room for us next year please!
--- Atlanta. We missed going last year, but had a great time this year. Overall experience was outstanding, I personally would say better than my last year in Florida (2000) or Houston.
--- Awards in the opening ceremony and mixed in with the finals at the Championship. I remember the long ceremonies of the past. However, please let us know what to expect. We were surprised to see the awards given out Friday morning.
--- Amazing teams on the field and off. Even older teams seem better than ever.
--- Amazing rookies. They came up with competitive robots and whose off field activities challenge some of us veterans to do better.
--- Team 141 moving the Lego League competition they sponsor to our location and asking us to help. It was an awesome experience.
--- Our seniors, some of whom started with the team with me as freshmen, who made this year such a success. We are losing 50% of our students! Fear not, we've got great underclassman and recruiting is going great.
--- The volunteers and sponsors who make all of this possible. I can't begin to thank them enough, but I did see lots of improvements in volunteers knowing their tasks and being helpful at several events. I also see a wider base of support at our regionals.

Is there room for improvement? Of course! "Continuous Improvement" is not a buzz phrase invented by corporate cheerleaders, it's a way of life for technical people. So keep the criticism constructive, praise the things that get better, and figure out how to do as much as we can to help all of us improve! The FIRST organization and volunteers have certainly shown us how to do that this year.

[527point]

since i could not decide whether to put this is the + or - thread i decided to put it in this one since it was shorter. It is not a positive as much as it is a possible improvement.

The Programs- The booklets FIRST hands out all the regionals and championships could use some improvement. I like the layout and the comments from sponsoring corportations but the amound avalible is scarse. I know that it costs a lot to produce them and takes time to produce but for teams such a mine (a very late addition to teams attendign due to a regional win) beign left out of the program is a small dissapointment.

A way to rememdy this is a make an online version avalible, not only will all the latest additions be included but FIRST does not need to worry about if they printed enough. And always a plus is more people will see the sponsor advertisements

[Not2B]

Must. Beat. Dead. Horse...

But it's worth adding because these were GREAT things...

- kit frame
- kit transmission
- unique sensors
- great GREAT game
- changing the bot size was cool
- FIRST really seemed to listen to people this year
- Everything seemed to go very smooth
- FIRST didn't back down on rules (cough-2002 teathers-cough)
- And so many other things... best year in my 4 years.

And, the coolest thing this year...

The VEX rollout, in my opinion, is going VERY well. Finally I can believe that robotics could make it to every high school in the viewing area.

[kjohnson]

Originally Posted by Joe Ross

The announcer (at least on Newton) telling teams the battery was low or robot turned off, etc was embarassing, but very helpful for debugging.

That was Corey Chitwood from IFI. He helped us with camera and RC problems during build season.

-This was our first championship competition but it was great. The screens with the live matches and live standings were great (and we could see them from our pit).
-The practice fields were great for teams that were having mechanical or programming problems, but they would be better if we could use the radios? I think this year they were a safe distance from the dome and the real games.
-The media pass and passes for extra members during eliminations were great!