Posted by Joe Johnson at 03/10/2001 12:18 PM EST
Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.
I just watched a few of the matches from VCU on the web
(by the way, it does not seem to be on NASA TV as
promised ā some silly thing like a multi-billion
dollar space station has bumped us 
I just saw the high scoring seeding match. It was just
over 200 points. This seems very very low to me. I
doubt that this would have been in the top 10 or maybe
not even the top 15 or 20 scores at UTC.
I am wondering if the teams are not as capable or if
the teams are not playing together as well.
Joe J.
Posted by Jared at 03/10/2001 12:24 PM EST
Student on team #312, Heatwave, from Lakewood High and Baxter.
In Reply to: VCU low seeding matchesā¦
Posted by Joe Johnson on 03/10/2001 12:18 PM EST:
There does seem to be a lot of very low scores at VCU. I have been watching off and on and the scores are in the 80s-150s on average. That is not very high. The new high score is 205, and the number one seed has an average of like 135. That is extrememly low compared to UTC and KSC and as I hear it the Michigan Regional is scoring really big. The problem with VCU maybe that it is like 1/2 Rookie teams and experience does help. Well, I am gonna go watch the finals. I wish everyone Good Luck!
-= Jared =-
#312
!HEATWAVE!
P.S. PLEASE POST ANY REGIONAL UPDATES YOU HAVE. THANX
Posted by Gary Stearns at 03/10/2001 1:41 PM EST
Other on team #236, Techno Ticks, from Lyme Old lyme High School and Millstone Power Station.
In Reply to: Re: VCU low seeding matchesā¦
Posted by Jared on 03/10/2001 12:24 PM EST:
Did you check that bridge it hangs with about an inch or two off the field!!
Still the matches are lower than UTC.
TEAM!! 236!! TECHNO TICKS!!!
Posted by Jessica Boucher at 03/10/2001 7:22 PM EST
Student on team #237, Sie-H2O-Bots, from Watertown High School and Eastern Awning Systems & The Siemon Company.
In Reply to: Re: VCU low seeding matchesā¦
Posted by Gary Stearns on 03/10/2001 1:41 PM EST:
: Did you check that bridge it hangs with about an inch or two off the field!!
Andā¦from what I remember hearing, those bridges are built by the same company & transported from regional to regional (no, I dont remember where I heard this)ā¦so we might be looking at these same bridges at Nats.
Wouldnt it be interesting to see the bridge from UTC on one field and then the bridge from VCU on the one right next to it, and both balanced? I can see a lot of peeved people at Nats.
: TEAM!! 236!! TECHNO TICKS!!!
Side note to 236: Every time anyone on our team mentions that number (or anything about ticks), that cheer can be heard from whoever is in the room at the time. Just wanted to let you know how catchy that darn thing is
-Jessica B, #237
Posted by Justin Stiltner at 03/11/2001 11:41 PM EST
Student on team #388, Epsilon, from Grundy High School and NASA, American Electric Power, Town of Grundy.
In Reply to: Re: VCU low seeding matchesā¦
Posted by Jessica Boucher on 03/10/2001 7:22 PM EST:
: : Did you check that bridge it hangs with about an inch or two off the field!!
: Andā¦from what I remember hearing, those bridges are built by the same company & transported from regional to regional (no, I dont remember where I heard this)ā¦so we might be looking at these same bridges at Nats.
: Wouldnt it be interesting to see the bridge from UTC on one field and then the bridge from VCU on the one right next to it, and both balanced? I can see a lot of peeved people at Nats.
: : TEAM!! 236!! TECHNO TICKS!!!
: Side note to 236: Every time anyone on our team mentions that number (or anything about ticks), that cheer can be heard from whoever is in the room at the time. Just wanted to let you know how catchy that darn thing is
: -Jessica B, #237
Yes the bridge was very ā¦problmatic. such as pressing one end down in order to go over and the bridge comming completely down to the carpet then we take our arm off it and it comes back up to a balanced position. I dont know what happend but we ended up aroun 52 or so when we did exactly the same thing as the number 1 seed. Our stradgities just kept going down the drain. I agree that some of the rookie (and some non rookie) teams werent being compeletly truthful they told us what they sould be able to do insted of what they could actually do. Im very embarrased at our scores. arrrrrrg its very fusteratingā¦ oh well lets start on physics makeup work.
Justin Stiltner
Team #388
Epsilon
Grundy Va,
Posted by Laurence at 03/10/2001 12:27 PM EST
Engineer on team #537, Domo ARIGATO, from Sussex-Hamilton and GE Medical Systems.
In Reply to: VCU low seeding matchesā¦
Posted by Joe Johnson on 03/10/2001 12:18 PM EST:
Team 537 is gathered in a multi-media studio watching the VCU regionals on NASA TV. No problems here 
It was nice to finally see an over 200 match scored!
: I just watched a few of the matches from VCU on the web
: (by the way, it does not seem to be on NASA TV as
: promised ā some silly thing like a multi-billion
: dollar space station has bumped us
: I just saw the high scoring seeding match. It was just
: over 200 points. This seems very very low to me. I
: doubt that this would have been in the top 10 or maybe
: not even the top 15 or 20 scores at UTC.
: I am wondering if the teams are not as capable or if
: the teams are not playing together as well.
: Joe J.
Posted by bill whitley at 03/10/2001 12:49 PM EST
Student on team #70, Auto City Bandits, from Powers Catholic High School and Kettering University.
In Reply to: VCU low seeding matchesā¦
Posted by Joe Johnson on 03/10/2001 12:18 PM EST:
The contrast of the scores strikes me! Highest scores at VCU barely break 200, while Beatey averages 335, with a match score of 488 (+10% makes it 537).
Bill
Team #70
Posted by Lora Knepper at 03/10/2001 12:49 PM EST
Other on team #177, Bobcat Robotics - (Adoptee) =), from South Windsor High School and International Fuel Cells.
In Reply to: VCU low seeding matchesā¦
Posted by Joe Johnson on 03/10/2001 12:18 PM EST:
: I just watched a few of the matches from VCU on the web
: (by the way, it does not seem to be on NASA TV as
: promised ā some silly thing like a multi-billion
: dollar space station has bumped us
: I just saw the high scoring seeding match. It was just
: over 200 points. This seems very very low to me. I
: doubt that this would have been in the top 10 or maybe
: not even the top 15 or 20 scores at UTC.
: I am wondering if the teams are not as capable or if
: the teams are not playing together as well.
: Joe J.
Posted by Adrian Wong at 03/10/2001 1:40 PM EST
Student on team #596, Hopkinton Hillers, from Hopkinton High School and Zymark & Computer Associates.
In Reply to: VCU low seeding matchesā¦
Posted by Joe Johnson on 03/10/2001 12:18 PM EST:
: I just saw the high scoring seeding match. It was just
: over 200 points. This seems very very low to me. I
: doubt that this would have been in the top 10 or maybe
: not even the top 15 or 20 scores at UTC.
The finals arenāt scoring that high either. Scores so far being 120, 133, and 150. 
One strategy I have noticed being used more (that I didnāt see or, perhaps, didnāt notice at the UTC New England regional) is ābalancingā the bridge just by lifting the lip off 1/4" or so.
Posted by Andrew Falendysz at 03/10/2001 4:45 PM EST
Student on team #343, Metal In Motion, from Walhalla High School.
In Reply to: VCU low seeding matchesā¦
Posted by Joe Johnson on 03/10/2001 12:18 PM EST:
The problem seems to be the bridge. We were in a couple of matches where bridge handlers couldnāt flip it. The fact that several teams were able to balance in a position other than level indicates there was some kind of difference from the other regionals. I believe this made balancing two goals nearly impossible. We (team 343) did do it once and got the outstanding play award. In my view it was the bridge that caused the low scores.
Posted by Allen Smith at 03/10/2001 6:54 PM EST
Engineer on team #7, Knights, from Parkville High School and Black & Decker/AAI/Raytheon.
In Reply to: Re: VCU low seeding matchesā¦
Posted by Andrew Falendysz on 03/10/2001 4:45 PM EST:
There was a real problem with the bridge at VCU. Or robot has two arms which could push down the bridge Thurs. and Fri. But today they couldnāt do it when we really needed to in the semi-finals. We limboed to the other side and drove back in order to reset the bridge for our partner and our driver had to pause at the high end of the bridge as it slowly rotated down. The driver said he almost launced right off the end into space as usaually you run across at full speed
Posted by Stephen at 03/11/2001 8:19 AM EST
Other on team #122, NASA Knights, from Grafton High School (Robotics team is at NHGS) and NASA.
In Reply to: Re: VCU low seeding matchesā¦
Posted by Allen Smith on 03/10/2001 6:54 PM EST:
I have to thank you for that, you got the bridge down for our team (122). We tried with our arm to push it down that match, and it didnāt work. Thereās got to be a problem with the bridge, because our arm worked every other time. Anyway, thanks for being such nice alliance parners.
Posted by Patrick Butler at 03/13/2001 5:33 AM EST
Student on team #122, NASA Knights, from NHGS and NASA Langley Research Center.
In Reply to: Re: VCU low seeding matchesā¦
Posted by Stephen on 03/11/2001 8:19 AM EST:
: I have to thank you for that, you got the bridge
:down for our team (122). We tried with our arm to
:push it down that match, and it didnāt work. Thereās
:got to be a problem with the bridge, because our arm
:worked every other time. Anyway, thanks for being
:such nice alliance parners.
Yeah the bridge had jumped its track. It took only a few hundred pound-feet(torque) to get it back in. I was the 2nd driver and hence not in that match and from where I was I could tell the bridge had come off the pivot point. What happned to our alliance partners? Two of them had troubles, which they didnāt have in the previous match.
Patrik
Posted by mike oleary at 03/11/2001 1:30 PM EST
Student on team #419, rambots, from bc high and sponsors are overratedā¦go pocket-change robots!!!.
In Reply to: Re: VCU low seeding matchesā¦
Posted by Allen Smith on 03/10/2001 6:54 PM EST:
if hed gone shooting off itā¦that woulda been interesting to see, but bad for the robot i suppose
hey anton: can we do this? please?
: There was a real problem with the bridge at VCU. Or robot has two arms which could push down the bridge Thurs. and Fri. But today they couldnāt do it when we really needed to in the semi-finals. We limboed to the other side and drove back in order to reset the bridge for our partner and our driver had to pause at the high end of the bridge as it slowly rotated down. The driver said he almost launced right off the end into space as usaually you run across at full speed
Posted by Mike Carron at 03/10/2001 10:11 PM EST
Engineer on team #343, Metal In Motion, from Hamilton Career Center and Square D Company.
In Reply to: VCU low seeding matchesā¦
Posted by Joe Johnson on 03/10/2001 12:18 PM EST:
Chalk it up to plain old inexperience. The field of 67 teams at VCU included 33 rookie teams. Many of them made the typical rookie mistakes. We were the only team (343) that had experience at another regional (KSC). This helped us somewhat, but we still struggled to pull off a strategy with any consistency. There is simply nothing you can do when one of your alliance partners falls over on the bridge or breaks down on the same. The bridge was also suspect, It didnāt behave like any other bridge that we have dealt with. It could balance only .25" off of the playing surface. This helped some teams, but hurt others. It was so tight that we had a hard time balancing a goal on the bridge from the playing field, which is our bread and butter. There were many two wheel drive robots that struggled just to get over the bridge let alone pull any weight. Leading me to believe that many of the teams obviously didnāt test their design on a ālegitimateā playing field before going into competition. Iām baffled at how low the scores were. We wound up winning the finals with a high score of just 212 points versus the 490 points that we scored at KSC. But guess what, It was still a blast!! See you guys at the nationals.