[FiM] Week 1 Recap and Week 2 Analysis
Week 1 is in the books, and what a wild ride it was. We saw a lot of big names compete and had multiple other teams step up to the plate and compete very effectively in these Week 1 events. One thing I love about Week 2 every season is that we finally have some data to look at. More often than not, people will likely over react to some of the results that we’ve seen in Week 1, but we need to understand this game is going to continue to evolve as these next few weeks play out. As the overall competitiveness of robots increases, so will the game strategy. Our weekly analysis, stats and blue banner count will always focus on on-field performance of the teams and not the other judged awards.
Week 1 was a little underwhelming in regards to multiple cube auto’s, with only 3536 actually achieving this feat in these first FiM events. However given it was week 1, I wouldn’t expect that to last for long. Having a consistent auto, especially a switch auto, proved to be a big advantage, and resulted in high seeding rankings. 4405 tops the list with 10 rank points obtained in auto, making use of a consistent center switch autonomous and ended up as the number 2 seed in Gibraltar.
Top Auto Rank Point Teams for Week 1:
Rank Team # Auto RP
1 4405 10
2 1023 9
3 4216 9
4 70 9
5 862 8
6 1718 8
7 5843 8
8 3604 7
9 5234 7
10 3536 7
Perhaps it is not surprising then to learn that when an alliance falls behind in auto, they only had a 14% chance of winning the match. With scale auto’s being relatively rare, a quick and consistent switch auto for not only the RP, but also the double points was able to give those alliances a leg up in teleop. However, when you look at the matches for these week 1 events, auton points were primarily determined by how many robots crossed the auto line, not necessarily switch or scale ownership, especially in quals. This just goes to show the importance of having a functioning robot that is able to contribute to your alliances ability to control the field, whether it is via scoring on the switch or vault or scale. Just make sure your robot is durable enough to work every match and contribute to your alliance. Expect auton switch and scale scoring to ramp up in the coming weeks. I would expect to see this stat move closer to 50% as the weeks progress. Given that the average margin of victory was almost 150 points, a 10-20 point advantage in auto might not be a back breaker, but it definitely sets up for a continued deficit into teleop as those points continue to rack up. Autonomous has always been important, and perhaps the most important part of the game for the last few years, and 2018 looks to be no different. As the competition season continues into weeks 2-3-4, expect scale autos and multi-cube autos to become a major differentiating factor between winning and losing the match.
However, many times the real battle began in teleop for ownership for the scale. It was clear that whoever won the battle for the scale in teleop almost always came out on top. In fact, alliances with more scale ownership time won the match a staggering 96% of the time. This goes to show that securing ownership of the scale (and maintaining control) should be the primary focus above everything else. This game seems to have some of the most capable week 1 robots in recent years, raising the floor for competitiveness. With a majority of teams able to place cubes on the scale in some fashion, it may be difficult to stand-out in this packed scale-bot crowd. Keys will be efficiency in obtaining cubes and quick, accurate placement.
End game and climbing seemed to have a lower impact in the grand scheme of things in this first week, however those that had a consistent multi-climb clearly stood out among the rest. Top multi-climb robot this week goes to 67, accumulating 5 climb RP with their slower-than-they-probably-want, but impressive and consistent rear ramp mechanism which got them to rank 3 in Southfield even with 5 qualification match losses.
Top Climb Rank Point Teams in Week 1:
Rank Team # Climb RP
1 67 5
2 5114 4
3 1023 3
4 1918 3
5 1322 3
6 3604 2
7 5234 2
8 33 2
9 3535 2
10 6101 2
Spotlight of the Week:
1918, NC Gears put on an impressive show at the Gibraltar event this week, showing off an extraordinary and quick scale auto, consistent switch auto and triple climb capability. They also were able to successfully climb with only 1 other robot, a concern with the dual forklift style lift. 1918 plowed through the event, going 18-1 and coming home with the gold. Look for these guys to be a strong contender as the weeks go on and into MSC.
Some interesting Week 1 facts and stats:
The highest auto scale ownership time by 862 accumulated to only 44 seconds across the event, averaging out to only 2.4 seconds per match played.
The highest auto switch ownership time by 3538 accumulated to 170 seconds across the event, averaging 9.4 seconds of sweet double points per match played.
Of the 373 matches played so far at Michigan events, 10 matches have been decided by 5 points or fewer (2 by only 1 point!). 4 of these occurred during elims!
The average winning margin per match (quals+elims) across all Michigan events was 149 points.
The average number of foul points per match (quals+elims) across all Michigan events was 26 points. There were lots of discussion in Week 0 events regarding the amount of penalties, but this stat perhaps make it not seem as bad as originally thought. However, it was definitely noticed that launching and herding penalties were not being called consistently across events. Something for the refs to work on for Week 2.
Shoutout to teams 4362, 302, and 141 who went out-of-state last week and won their events!
Updated Weekly Rankings
As we continue to see teams debut/play we will update these subjective rankings. This week is difficult due to the fact that only about half of the teams on last week’s list actually played. With that said, we saw a lot of strong robots this week and added them to this list. Those that did play were moved to where we felt their current capability landed them and will be updated as the weeks progress. Rankings were weighted with more emphasis on having potential to get that 4th rank point for facing the boss. If you don’t like it, tough luck, but let us know and we could consider adding our justification to future weeks on moves.
- 67 (↑3)
- 2767 (5 Wins, 1 Finalist, 11 Points)
- 910 (4 Wins, 2 Finalist, 10 Points)
- 33 (↓3)
- 2619 (3 Wins, 2 Finalist, 8 Points)
- 5505 (3 Wins, 2 Finalist, 8 Points)
- 4391 (3 Wins, 1 Finalist 7 Points)
- 2137 (2 Wins, 3 Finalist 7 Points)
- 1918 (Added to list)
- 3536 (Added to list)
- 27 (↓7)
- 5114 (Added to list)
- 469 (3 Wins, 0 Finalist, 6 Points)
- 3538
- 1023 (Added to list)
Honorable mentions:
2834
302
245
One final observation to before moving into the Week 2 event analysis:
If you go park on the platform at the end of the match and you don’t have a full vault, you’re doing it wrong people. Multiple times teams would drop what they are doing once the endgame started and go sit on the platform for a measly 5 points, when they could have been using those last 20-30 seconds more effectively by placing cubes in the vault for 5, 10, or even 15+ additional points.
Week 2 Events:
Center Line
Grosse Pointe Woods’ Knight Vision, team 3175 has won 1 blue banner in 2017 and 2016. Although they haven’t won a blue banner at their first event since 2014, we can expect them to be chomping at the bits for an opportunity take one home at center line, and we won’t be surprised if we see them in the finals on Saturday. Teams competing at Center Line need to be on the lookout for Warren’s Steel Armadillos, team 818, Ferndale’s IMPI Robotics, team 1025, Detroit’s Pink Panthers, team 2048, and Waterford’s Captains, team 3098, who are all consistent top contenders at district events. Finally, with over 25% of the teams competing at centerline having 1 year or less of experience, we are hoping to see some powerhouse rookies pop up out of nowhere, which are usually started by FIRST alumni.
Kettering #2
Round two of the events located in Flint should be a fun one to watch, and might even give St. Joseph a run for the money as top event of the week. We get to see if Bloomfield Hill’s Las Guerrillas, team 469 has any surprises up their sleeve to bring to this year’s competition after accumulating 3 blue banners including a MSC win last year. Other Michigan favorites Sterling Heights Thunder Chickens, team 217 will show off what they’ve got after two finalist appearances last year and an Einstein appearance in 2016. Another high performing contender is Midlands The Charge, team 2619 who has accumulated 3 blue banners and one finalist appearance since 2016. Currently ranked 5th in the subjective rankings, we’ll see if they live up to their stellar performance over the last couple years. Other teams known to produce great robots include Goodrich’s Martians, team 494 and Flint’s The Megatron Oracles, team 314 who each had wins of their own last year.
St. Joseph
This could be the Michigan event of the week to watch considering who’s being represented here. The powerful lineup starts with the 2017 World Champion alliance captain, Kalamazoo’s Stryke Force, team 2767. Will we see see another dominate year from them or will they come back to earth to play with the rest of us? With the highest blue banner count of any Michigan team in 2017 all eyes will be on them this weekend to see if they can solidify themselves as a Michigan powerhouse. Determined not to be overshadowed, teams such as Zeeland’s B.O.B., team 85, Grand Blanc’s Enginerds, team 2337 and St. Joseph’s own, The Average Joe’s, team 3620 will be looking to take the crown for themselves. Each of these 3 teams have 2 blue banners in the past two years and produce quality robots year in and year out. Expect two of these 4 teams to pair up and take the event, but it should be a shootout into the finals, and potentially some of the most competitive Michigan gameplay yet.
Waterford
A number of successful teams make their debut at this event including Oxford’s TORC, team 2137. With 2137 coming off of a great 2017 after taking home two blue banners and making it to Einstein last year, look for them to make another push for the gold this year, even though their first event isn’t usually their strongest. Holland’s Team R.O.B.O.T.I.C.S, team **107 **had a strong MSC run last year and will be looking to continue that into the 2018 season. Rochester’s The FEDS, team 201 won in Howell last year and was a finalist in their division at MSC. Typically a very competitive event, it will be interesting to see what other teams will be able to shine and make a name for themselves here at Waterford. I am sure we will see at least a few that will surprise us by the time this event is over.
Until next week…