Anyone know anything about it? Where can we sign up?
Here is the event’s website: http://www.303gametime.org/b-r-b-r
Team 25 had a great time at the inaugural (BR)^2 last year and is looking forward to attending again!
Team 1071 is going. We will have a smaller crew then usual but are looking forward to this event.
Well, Team 1989 might be going. We’re having a hard time convincing our mentors and teachers to go to 3 off-season competitions in a row… :rolleyes:
FRC Team 1640 is going and it will be the third event that month (PARC, Monty and BR-BR)
Two teams from the Downingtown VEX-MEN teams will be attending to play the new game Round Up. The sponsors are hoping to have 18 teams play to make it the first official qualifier in the US for 2010-2011.
I recently received an email containing “Breakaway BONUS” rule changes. I copy-pasted and highlighted the changes here. If you have registered, check your email for the official rule modifications, as the sender has requested that you reply to the email to confirm.
<G09> BALL Starting Positions – Prior to the MATCH, each ALLIANCE is provided with nine BALLS to be placed on the FIELD. The BALLS must be placed on a STARTING GRID location prior to the MATCH start. When the FIELD is viewed from the ALLIANCE STATION, the BALLS must be placed on the right side of the CENTER LINE, with two BALLS in the near ZONE, three BALLS in the MIDFIELD, and four BALLS in the far ZONE. The BALLS must not be in contact with a ROBOT at the start of the MATCH.
<G04> Scoring - ALLIANCE scores are determined by a combination of the number of BALLS SCORED in the ALLIANCE GOALS during the MATCH and the number or ROBOTS in the following states at the conclusion of the MATCH, where:
a. Each Standard SCORED BALL is worth 2 points during the AUTONOMOUS PERIOD, and
b. Each Standard SCORED BALL is worth 1 point during remainder of the game, and
c. A single ELEVATED ROBOT is awarded 3 points, a second ELEVATED ROBOT is awarded 5 points, a third ELEVATED ROBOT is awarded 7 points, or each SUSPENDED ROBOT is awarded 9 points.
d. Each SCORED BONUS BALL is worth 3 points during the last 20 seconds of the MATCH.
e. Standard BALLS may be scored and returned to the playing field during the FINALE PERIOD as in normal play.
**BONUS Balls: 2 of distinctively different color from those used for regular Breakaway
BONUS Balls will be INITIALLY introduced to the playing field at the start of the FINALE PERIOD, by a REFEREE, 1 BONUS Ball, into each END ZONE. Once a BONUS Ball has been scored, it must be returned to the field via the normal TRIDENT RETURN path by the human player.**
We expect these changes will cause most teams to modify their game strategy, but it is expected that these changes will make the game a bit more exciting and certainly create some interesting results.
Well, 1676 has a prior commitment, but I signed up as a volunteer 
Well, Team 2016 is interested in going… we just need to get the money for it. :]
And if we don’t get the money, I’m sure I will be there! 
What are the volunteering hours for each shift?
Myself and a few other 1676 members, are interested in volunteering at BR2. Only problem is that we may get down the BR at about 1:30. I would just like to know what the scheduled hours for each shift are. I am not sure if we will be able to volunteer, but I would like to know, just in case.
Is there anyone I can privately contact in case I have further questions?
-Eric
Both teams 2016 and 2753 will be in attendance, can’t wait to play some spiced up Breakaway!
I believe there are still spots left, register while you can!
The website says 22 interested teams, and 10 registered teams.
Look at the lists, the same teams are on both. From an e-mail I got today there are around 23 confirmed teams attending.
Ah, my bad. I was just stating what I saw on the BR2 website; the site says 22. Just informing, sorry for creating confusion. :o
BRBR Bonus went great. Qualifications went a few minutes late, but the finalists were getting their trophy around 3 pm. I had a lot of fun.
Team Overdrive (2753) got bitten hard by one particular rule:
<T21> In the elimination matches, each ALLIANCE will be allotted one TIMEOUT of up to 6 minutes. If an ALLIANCE wishes to call for a TIMEOUT, they must submit their TIMEOUT coupon to the Head Referee within two minutes of the Head Referee issuing the arena reset signal preceding their MATCH. When this occurs, the Time-out Clock will count down the six minutes starting with the expiration of the arena reset period. Both ALLIANCES will enjoy the complete 6-minute window. <snip>
There are no cascading time-outs.
They didn’t ask for their timeout until after the opposing alliance’s timeout had expired, so they didn’t get onto the field.
Congrats to Teams 25, 2016 and 1071 on their win!
Anyone have information/pictures on how the Vex went?
Actually, it was a lot more complicated than that! This may take a bit to explain, so please bear with me! Just to set the scene, in the semifinals, the number 1 alliance played the number 4 alliance and the number 2 alliance played the number 3 alliance.
It started right after the number 1 alliance (25, 2016, & 1071) won their second semi-final match. They realized that they would have to call a time-out to fix some things on one of their robots. The number 2 alliance
(2753, 1279, & 1640) was going to play their second semi-final match after having won their first. So the head referee had the number 1 alliance wait to use their timeout after the number 2 alliance’s second match was over. What happened in that match was 2753’s robot broke and they ended up losing (which is another long story). So now the number 1 alliance’s timeout began to run on the clocks while there was still at least one more semi-final match to play. The head referee did not call the number 2 alliance to come and place their robots onto the field until the number 1 alliance’s timeout had ended. When there were exactly 5 seconds left in the number 1 alliance’s timeout, the number 2 alliance requested to use their timeout. They were told that they were too late. They had to have called it within 2 minutes after the head referee had given the “all clear” for the previous match.
It was very confusing for us because we thought that we had until the number 1 alliance’s timeout was over to call our timeout, since they were not calling us onto the field until then. But it’s done and over with. If only that antsy 25 alliance hadn’t called their timeout early!! 
jk
On another note, this competition was really fun and I loved the modified rules! Congrats to the number 1 alliance on the win and to the number 3 alliance for some tough-fought semis & finals! Also I’d like to thank our alliance partners 1279 & 1640 for fighting like champs!
A big “thank you” to all the volunteers and organizers who made this event possible and to the hosts - team 303!! You rock!
On the behalf of team 75 I would like to thank 303 for hosting a great event.
Also a big thanks to teams 1923 and 714 we had some great matches together.
I would like to congratulate the alliance of teams 25, 2016, and 1071 winning BR.
Subtitled: Hard play vs playing hard
I did a debrief with the Head Mentor on how the event went on Saturday. His comment was there was a lot more “agressive” play with harder hitting defense being played.
Are teams doing “hard play” on the off season:
- New rookie drivers don’t drive that well
- Changes to the rules made it more of a defense game
- It’s the off season so making the robot “last” until Championships isn’t that important.
- Too much hockey playoff action slamming into the boards
Or was it just our imagination?
Thanks for a great “spiced up” competition! Although we didn’t make it to the eliminations, we still had a good time. Very special thanks to Sean from Team 25 for helping us with tweaks and repairs, and as a great driver coach and strategist, as we only had 2 team members able to attend! 
P.S.: Anyone know when the awards will be updated on the “303gametime” site? We had to leave early and I didn’t get to see the awards ceremony.
P.P.S.: Anyone know why there were only 4 alliances? Not enough teams? Time constraints? I know PARC had 6 alliances…
That wasn’t your imagination. As the referee in ‘that corner’ of the field, some of the collisions with the wall were scary.
There were only 3 or 4 teams playing that hard, and I think that much of it was a combination of all of those factors. For one team, it was most certainly inexperienced drivers. For another team, it was the desire to play hard defense in an effort to win against a team perceived as ‘better’ - once they got a penalty for field damage, they changed their driving to not whack the field so hard.
Sean is awesome, and very generous with his talents.
I think they decided to just go to semifinals, and a 4-way was logistically easier than a 6-way.