Round Up Fall Classic

From DEW Robotics
Jump to: navigation, search

We held a dual event on Saturday November 20, the Downingtown Fall Classic for High School Teams and the Downingtown Junior Fall Classic. Our primary sponsor for both events was QVC!

Thanks for everyone that came and played we appreciate you coming to make the Downingtown Classics the largest VEX event in Pennsylvania with 42 teams partipating. All of the robots were top notch.

Thanks for our huge concession team that fed all of our roboteers. With over 350 people in attendance there was a lot going on. We heard positive comments about the variety of food that was for sale.

Thanks to our major sponsor QVC and award sponsors Kaloke, Techentrouge and STEMRobotics.

Round Up Junior Fall Classic

This is the coverage of the Junior Classic.

We had 18 teams from two states (thanks to Acme for taking the 3 hour drive). We got off to a slightly late start but teams got seven full rounds of play in.

Robots scoring systems were in 4 categories: VEX claws, custom tower claw, spatula and snorkel bots. Base designs were omni, holo, variety of omni/regular wheels (including the new super grips), and one half track (always a crowd pleaser).

Only one robot could hang on a regular basis, it was a custom hook on a slide that grabbed the upper outside and the lifted the robot. When it hung it was the turning point for those matches.

The spatula bots when teamed up with a snorkel bot was the best playing team. The spatula would preload and then score. It would contiue to score until the other alliance scored. It would then wheel over and remove the opposing alliance rings. Meanwhile the snorkle bot would score.

The referees for both events and discussed how to manage agressive defensive play. The pinning rule (5 seconds and back away a full robot length 18") was explained to all the teams. Teams were also warned about the entanglement rule. When called teams were disabled on the field. We had some incidents during early rounds. Once the word got out the agressive play dropped with the middle school teams.

Elimination battles were hard fought with many of them ending up in ties.

The final moments was an impromptu Junior Classic vs Classic winner takes all - three on three match. Action was fast and amazing. The Juniors held their own for the first 1:45 of the match. The Classic winners came back with 5 quick scores in the last 15 seconds to take the match.

Junior Fall Classic Awards

Excellence Award

  • 80 Downingtown Area Robotics

Tournament Champions

  • 12K The Potomac School
  • 23A STEMRobotics
  • 81 Downingtown Area Robotics

Tournament Finalists

  • 12J The Potomac School
  • 23D STEMRobotics
  • 740A Chichester Middle School

Amaze Award

  • 98 Downingtown Area Robotics

Build Award

  • 12K The Potomac School

Design Award

  • 740A Chichester Middle School

Judges Award

  • 740E Chichester Middle School

Round Up Fall Classic

This is the coverage of the Fall Classic.

We had 24 teams from four states, thanks to the VA and NJ teams for making the huge drives to get to us. We also saw the first outings from nearby Haverford and Upper Darby.

Robots scoring systems were in 4 categories: Custom claw, Claws that could do a tower of 4 rings, spatula and snorkel bots. Base designs were omni, holo, variety of omni/regular wheels (including the new super grips), and one trike. The trike was wicked fast and fun to watch. There was also a robot that had four standard omni wheels and then a pair of omni's at right angles (making a 6 wheel drive).

Only one robot could hang on a regular basis, it was a custom hook on a slide that grabbed the upper outside and the lifted the robot. When it hung it was the turning point for those matches. A few other robots tried to hang, but from the matches I saw it was hit and miss.

The spatula bots when teamed up with a snorkel bot was the best playing team on the Junior Classic side. One of the Acme teams had combined them into a single robot. It was magical how it was all folded up inside the 18" cube. It was clear that the drive teams had practiced, it was a smooth action that removed a ring of one color and replaced it with another. Another advantage was it could reach into the ladder area and retrieve rings.

One of the largest robots on the field was 677's robot. Build on an omni base it was a dominant player on the field. The Jones brothers like their Acme counter parts appear to spend hours and hours in drive practice. The only thing they can't make the robot do is hover.

While I spent most of the day on the Junior Classic side, I did get a chance to see the High School roboteers play. The level of the robots were clearly up a notch. I'm impressed year after year how much better the VEX robots get. The linkages and build skills really have changed from the early years. I sent my teams down into the pits to talk to the teams and I want to say thanks for everyone that took time to talk to them.

I got a chance to watch the semifinals and the final matches. Huge play action with lots of close scores. It's still early in the 2010-11 season, I can't imagine what these robots will do in another 4 months.

The final moments was an impromptu Junior Classic vs Classic winner takes all - three on three match. Action was fast and amazing. The Juniors held their own for the first 1:45 of the match. The Classic winners came back with 5 quick scores in the last 15 seconds to take the match.

Fall Classic Awards

Excellence Award

  • 12A The Potomac School

Tournament Champions

  • 12A The Potomac School
  • 169A The Haverford School
  • 677 Montclair High School

Tournament Finalists

  • 1267B Delaware County Christian School
  • 1267C Delaware County Christian School
  • 357 Upper Darby High School

Robot Skills Winner

  • 677 Montclair High School

Programming Skills Winner

  • 677 Montclair High School

Amaze Award

  • 277 Scotch Plains Fanwood High School Robotics Club

Build award

  • 12C The Potomac School

Design Award

  • 12F The Potomac School

Judges Award

  • 12M The Potomac School

Here are a few videos