UTC Regionals Team 126 GaelForce

[Zotas]

Originally Posted by meredith

I would also like to make a comment about lining up robots in autonomous mode. According to the rules, during elimination rounds the highest seed has the last chance to line up their robots accordingly. Before one of our elimination matches, all 6 teams were behind the lexan, and they were about to announce the teams, when we looked at the field our opponent left their alliance box and was repositioning their robot to hit us. Since we were about to be announced I did not have time to change our program and they hit us. I find this action violates a clearly stated rule. It also appears that this was done on purpose so we could not change our autonomous mode. This type of action does not seem to fit under the FIRST moto of gracious professionalism.

I follow this forum regularly but I don't usually post. I've made an exception as this thread has really gotten under my skin.

I can assure everyone that the 177 alliance in no way violated any rules during the UTC regional. To say that our team intentionally violated rules to block your shooter in autonomous is reckless and I seriously hope that you do not represent the opinion of your team. The only time that you were blocked you was in SF1-2, and you didn't even run the same program that you ran in SF1-1, so you obviously changed something. We have the utmost respect for your team and it is unfortunate that you see the elimination in such poor light.

With respect to defense and pushing, we again did not intentionally tip anyone or violate any rules. We were pushed onto the ramp numerous times and even pined up there once by your alliance, team 20. We did not fall and were able to maneuver and re-enter the playing field, but that action by 20 was legal and in no way different than any defensive posture that we took. We apologize if either robot was damaged and I can assure you that was never our intention.

The FIRST world is not a perfect but the referees and judges did an amazing job given the circumstances as the field broke and they had to resort to manual scoring. They even went as far as having manual time keepers to assure that everything was fair. Great job!

Great job 20, 126 and 571. Can't wait to see you in Atlanta!

[CBelliss]

I had a great time at the UTC Regionals, as an oberver, and as the operator/shooter for Team 20. I was very happy when our mentor, Paul Kane won the Woody Flowers award, he started our team, and was very deserving of the award.

With regard to the competition and semifinals, I believe that the Bobcats and their alliance played a very strong defense. At the same time, I believe they were too aggressive, forcing our robot around even when we were in no position to affect the outcome of the match. At the end of the round we were way down in points, yet we were still forced up the opponents ramp by two robots, and tipped over. Effective defense yes, gracious professionalism, no. I believe it was uncalled for, and caused unnecessary damage to our robot. I recognize that it could have been an accident, and someone might have been carried away in the heat of competition.

I realize that this is a physical game, but there are limits. Anyways, congrats to the winners and all who participated. I am eagerly awaiting the national competition, where I hope to see as many great competive robots as the UTC regional.

[Tom Bottiglieri]

177's strategy was to play defense on 20. I assume this was under the impression that if 20 cant pick up balls, they cant score.

I did not see anything from the stands that would imply the Bobcats were playing unnecessarily hard. Either did the refs.

177 won the match fair and square. Sorry.

[Revolverx7]

I was the one of the drivers for team 358 and was amazed by the power of the Bobcats drivetrain. It was a well built machine and I had a particularly good time facing off with them in the finals. I was not dissapointed in the least to have gone up against them and came out #2. It was a powerfull alliance both in robot strenght and shooting ability. In my eyes it was a great alliance worthy of the gold.
Thanks for a great regional, and I hope to see you all in Atlanta.

[Devin L.]

Originally Posted by Jake Mazotas

I follow this forum regularly but I don't usually post. I've made an exception as this thread has really gotten under my skin.

I can assure everyone that the 177 alliance in no way violated any rules during the UTC regional. To say that our team intentionally violated rules to block your shooter in autonomous is reckless and I seriously hope that you do not represent the opinion of your team. The only time that you were blocked you was in SF1-2, and you didn't even run the same program that you ran in SF1-1, so you obviously changed something. We have the utmost respect for your team and it is unfortunate that you see the elimination in such poor light.

i would like to assure you that you did violate a rule. In the FIRST manual it says:
<T09> Prior to each match, teams shall indicate to the queuing manager their choice of available starting positions for that alliance. Once starting locations are selected, teams must place their robot in the selected location. Robots may not be repositioned in response to robot positions of the opposing alliance. During elimination rounds, teams may orient their robots within the selected locations once the robots are placed on the field. The higher seeded alliance will have the last opportunity to orient their robots within the selected locations.

during SF1-1 we saw your robot aimed diagonaly to intercept us. we decided to run the auto mode that had the robot stay in its starting box and shoot balls. during SF1-2 you lined the robot up so it was aimed directly at us. upon seeing this we selected the mode that has the robot drive out a few feet then shoot. all 6 teams then went behind their respective driver stations and the announcer was about to announce the teams when your team went back onto the field and angled your robot, which obviously meant that you violated rule T09 as you did not give us, the 1st seed, the final opportunity to reallign our robot in respect to your orrientation. im sorry for your confusion, but i just wanted to make sure that you understand that rule.

i can assure you that we will not let this rule slip by us next time as we will step forward and let the refs know that we need to reposition our robot in respect to our opponents. this is a very critical rule, as it could determin the outcome of the game. wining autonomous mode and gaining the 10pt bonus is a critical strategic manuever in this years game.

my two cents

congrats to teams 177, 176, and 1124, see you in atlanta!

[MChapman]

Originally Posted by Devin L.

i would like to assure you that you did violate a rule. In the FIRST manual it says:
<T09> Prior to each match, teams shall indicate to the queuing manager their choice of available starting positions for that alliance. Once starting locations are selected, teams must place their robot in the selected location. Robots may not be repositioned in response to robot positions of the opposing alliance. During elimination rounds, teams may orient their robots within the selected locations once the robots are placed on the field. The higher seeded alliance will have the last opportunity to orient their robots within the selected locations.

during SF1-1 we saw your robot aimed diagonaly to intercept us. we decided to run the auto mode that had the robot stay in its starting box and shoot balls. during SF1-2 you lined the robot up so it was aimed directly at us. upon seeing this we selected the mode that has the robot drive out a few feet then shoot. all 6 teams then went behind their respective driver stations and the announcer was about to announce the teams when your team went back onto the field and angled your robot, which obviously meant that you violated rule T09 as you did not give us, the 1st seed, the final opportunity to reallign our robot in respect to your orrientation. im sorry for your confusion, but i just wanted to make sure that you understand that rule.

i can assure you that we will not let this rule slip by us next time as we will step forward and let the refs know that we need to reposition our robot in respect to our opponents. this is a very critical rule, as it could determin the outcome of the game. wining autonomous mode and gaining the 10pt bonus is a critical strategic manuever in this years game.

my two cents

congrats to teams 177, 176, and 1124, see you in atlanta!

I found many posts in the last few days arguing about rule violations and team 177's alliance allegedly trying to hit 126 alliance. My two cents I dont think it is worth fighting over after the fact. If you saw this as a problem at the regional why didnt you ask the refs if they were aware of this rule so you could have repositioned your robot?? Instead you wait till afterward to argue about it. Where is our Gracious Professionalism that we talk so much about?? FIRST is not about complaining about what each team does for strategy or how we position our robot. Defense is a key strategy in this game and like mentioned before that is why we have bumpers, and are not allowed to hit above the bumper zone. If any of our alliance robots hit the other alliance i'm sure we were sure not to hit above the bumper zone because we would have had penalties. I have faith that the refs are professionals an know what they are doing. So, as a friendly FIRST person why dont we drop all these alligations against these teams. This is not why we are in FIRST. We are here to have fun an enjoy science and technology.

[MWTrek]

Amen,
This issue is no longer whether rules were violated. It is (as Mel had said above me) how the teams handle the loss. Over the past few years there have been rules which are not totally clear. Most teams (including 176) feel that they may have lost a competition due to ref or field error at one point or another. There is absolutely nothing you do about what happened. If anything you are just making it worse.
Just recently we had someone sign up as a member to our forum and spam it saying that we suck. This is not what FIRST is about. Keep in mind when arguing about the rules that no matter how much you complain nothing will happen. Keep in mind FIRST's motto "Gracious Professionalism".
I am not saying it is not ok to argue your point, just please keep it professional. Remember your grandmother could be watching

[rjbarra]

Originally Posted by Jake Mazotas

I follow this forum regularly but I don't usually post. I've made an exception as this thread has really gotten under my skin.

I can assure everyone that the 177 alliance in no way violated any rules during the UTC regional. To say that our team intentionally violated rules to block your shooter in autonomous is reckless and I seriously hope that you do not represent the opinion of your team. The only time that you were blocked you was in SF1-2, and you didn't even run the same program that you ran in SF1-1, so you obviously changed something. We have the utmost respect for your team and it is unfortunate that you see the elimination in such poor light.

With respect to defense and pushing, we again did not intentionally tip anyone or violate any rules. We were pushed onto the ramp numerous times and even pined up there once by your alliance, team 20. We did not fall and were able to maneuver and re-enter the playing field, but that action by 20 was legal and in no way different than any defensive posture that we took. We apologize if either robot was damaged and I can assure you that was never our intention.

The FIRST world is not a perfect but the referees and judges did an amazing job given the circumstances as the field broke and they had to resort to manual scoring. They even went as far as having manual time keepers to assure that everything was fair. Great job!

Great job 20, 126 and 571. Can't wait to see you in Atlanta!

Listen you did a great job. You were able to adjust and defeat a powerhouses alliance. What a tournment! That was amazing! I bet you the rest of the country is shaking in their shoes. Have great season. Don't worry about anything and play your game! We will be playing our game.