I believe the webcast will be hosted at Team 230’s website, here. http://shsrobotics.org/webcasts
I will check tonight and update this post if that isn’t correct.
The field has been set up. See you all tomorrow morning.
Thank goodness it’s being webcasted. Now I have a “legitimate” excuse to postpone studying for my finals. Good luck to all the teams participating. Can’t wait to see how it pans out.
P.S. Yea I said finals. (We’re on a trimesterish schedule)
Does anyone have the link for the webcast. I can’t find anything on 230’s site. Is the event being streamed?
I just found the stream. Here it is for anyone wondering: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/first-robotics-team230
Looks like the ramps used to keep balls from under the bridges don’t work that well…
FIRST might need some iteration…
Why are we watching the Kinect station for the whole match??
I hope the camerawork improves greatly when they start doing actual matches.
Staring at the sidelines for a whole match is not really all that interesting.
Yeah Koko Ed. I was a bit frustrated but hopefully once the real matches start they’ll show more of the action.
The camera man needs to know what to look for. I wanna see a bridge balancer, barrier crossing and the other biggies.
FTC qualifier I pulled the camera man aside and told him what to look for. Somebody needs to tell him these things while they’re trouble shooting issues.
Thus far, I think we’re in for low scoring matches.
Webcast crashed.
Webcast is back
A few observations just from watching the webcast. Hybrid and Balancing seem to determines most of the matches. This will probably be less and less the case as the season goes on though as more points will be scored in teleop. It also seems like up close scoring is the way to go early on. This is probably because there is not much defense being played so there is no need to shoot from the key and people haven’t got their tracking working. It does seem as someone said earlier that a lot of balls end up under the ramps which prevent people from balancing. one last thing I noticed was that I think we will see quite a few robots end up on their back trying to double balance because the robot on the bridge tips it while the other robot is half on and the bridge tips the robot that’s half on. It should be interesting to see how the game develops!
Also noticed there were way more catapult like shooters then I would’ve expected.
Just added a 2012 Initial Match Observation thread here. Check it out here!
Congratulations to Aces High, 176, The Whos’cteks, 716, and 2168, The Aluminum Falcons, on their win.
Many great teams and unique designs
Team 23 returns after a >10 year absence. Their design is unique and enviable. Pics later.
Here are some interesting observations:
Scoring balls matters, so hybrid matters.
In the endgame there were two robots on each bridge without much trouble, so those scores cancel.
The amount of time that they spend balancing and then waiting can be a tradeoff while others score. 230 could score from the ramp, but didn’t.
Balls get stuck under the ramp, and the drivers can’t see it as they try to trip the bridge. FIRST will probably fix this, but it could still become a defensive strategy to prevent balancing at the end, without physically touching the bridge.
Catapults work. There were two, Buzz, Team 175, and Team 558 RoboSquad. They take ball wear and variability out of the shooter equation, but usually require specific placement of the robot, which can be defended.
The barrier was not a problem. Balls under robots were.
I am thinking of suggesting the addition of some brushes under the bumpers to keep balls from getting under the robot. (without keeping them there!)
Bobcats were there and will probably be on Einstein again. :rolleyes:
They have a unique design in their ball acquisition device that, while not great at the scrimmage, will greatly reduce their scoring cycle time if they can make it work.
Team 23 was the only team to use the Kinect system. They used it to tip the coopertition bridge for balls in hybrid.
I will post some videos shortly, including:
The season’s first coopertition score.
Team 23’s Cool Vacuum Cannon.
Buzz’s Catapult.
Some shooters.
This is going to be a very interesting game this year, it may rank pretty high among favorites.
Here are some videos from the Suffield Shakedown.
Here is the FIRST coopertition qualification points scored of the season:
This is the Team 23 Robot with a cool shooter cannon:
This a the first of the finals matches that shows some good shooting and both bridges balanced with two robots each:
Great day at the Suffield Shakedown!
Thank you 176 Aces High for hosting this event and to 230 Gaelhawks for the webcast.
Congrats to 176, 716, and 2168 on their win.
About the game:
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Balls getting lodged under the ramp appears to be a problem. :eek:
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Not too much defense (yet) or crossing over. Didn’t see any team go for the feeder station.
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Balancing two will be a breeze with just a little more practice. Three is where the fun begins.
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Getting the balls on the coopertition ramp should be in autonomous.
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Autonomous and balancing are key.
Team 23’s “cannon” is also a vacuum and a bridge tipper, bi-directional. They were trying kinect control but as a stopgap for autonomous since they have shortage of programming people. I chatted with their videographer in the stands.
Wooh feeling the Team 23 love. But yes Kinect control was actually written less than 12 hours before the scrimmage since our programming team basically learned how to code in the last 6 weeks.
But the scrimmage was great. as a driver, i found this has helped fore practice more than anything else.