Subject:
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Re: rtlToronto11: Wrap up and Photo request
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto
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Date:
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Mon, 19 Aug 2002 21:04:56 GMT
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Viewed:
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638 times
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> .... and then we have Chris....
>
> * this really only applied to Chris' robot.
>
> Chris: how is it that after badgering the rest of us to build a robot
> with every second breath at the dinner a week ago you turn up with the
> scissor arm from a cyber-slam and the drive system from a cybermaster
> with an RCX holding them together? That took you what? Four hours?
> After seeing your over-the-top X-bot, one comes to expect more from
> "The Pyro Guy". You have a reputation to live up to. I mean please..
> you were beaten by an old geezer with 30 year old parts and almost no
> technic building experience - you should have been able to beat me
> with one hand tied behind your back and the other changing a diaper.
> ;-)
>
>
Matt, I'm going to let you in on a little secret that I had only shared
with Calum. so anyone else reading this should stop right now.
Matt, lets take a walk in Chris land. Don't worry, its a mostly
harmless place.
post project X. we came up with a game that was based on bridge
building. the idea was to have a game that "forced" people to build some
sort of device to cross a gap. in fact that FIRST version of the game
was JUST a gap crossing game. THEN the RTL-Effect(tm) took over. that's
where Calum and I do our best to finalize a game that pleases as many
people as we can. one person thought that JUST bridge building was
going to be TOO easy. SO, we came up with the FLAG. then just touching
the flag was TOO easy so the LIFTING the flag rule came into being.
once we all agreed that this was an OK game we set to work.
Don't worry, most of the scary part of chris land is past. come on I'll
show you.
SO we have a game and 4 months to do it. GREAT!
All that was left was the scoring. simple one point to touch the flag,
and one point to lift the flag. ALWAYS keep in mind that when we do an
event we can not know what kind of solutions are going to be presented.
so what ever scoring system we come up with has to be "vague" enuff to
allow for all robots. for example. IF we gave one point to the first
robot to cross the gap..... how would we define that? sure the first
robot to build a bridge and touch the second table. BUT how would we
score for baby gate arms?? do we disallow those??? NO we NEVER want to
force a robot design. SO the easiest was to offer a point to touch the
flag the thinking was that this mini goal was equal enuff for all
robot styles.
the rtl effect(tm) still marches on. ONCE the rules and scoring system
was put in place it became easy to see that the game could be solved
without crossing the gap. thus null and voiding the whole reason for
the game. BUT the game must go on. OK, back to chris land.
with the game day looming I did an few odd things as mentioned in
previous posts. (ie baby, and that little job thing) suddenly R11 was
the LEAST important thing in my life...... Shhh DON'T tell anyone that.
but it was true. in fact i was going to be more than happy to not enter
a robot at all. heck if Calum did not book the library i don't know if
i ever would have gotten around to it. (normally i book the library for
the robot games, and calum books for the train events)
now hear is a left turn in Chris land. for such a "lack luster" event
and with below normal lugnet posts, I did not think this was going to be
such a great game. I predicted LOW turnout. (shrug)
then the left turn. within a few weeks of each other calum and I
received personal e-mails for a few people who said they wanted to
attend an RTL event. WHAT?!? why would any sane person want to come
to bridge building??? I mean we just HAD project X. the pinnacle of our
games and no one "famous" from far and wide showed up to those..... WHY
couldn't famous people come to project X. WHY??
OK so now the heat is turned up a little bit. as one of the event
organizers i have to do something. I have a game planed and "famous"
people showing up and I cant even get inspired about the darned
game..... So i do what i do best. I inspired others to build using a
patented mocking technique. (tm) how do you think Dave K feels right
now?? VERY bad I guess because he did not build a robot!! Dave is a
poor robot builder and now he must fear my mocking. (BOTH Jeff's
showed up with a robot and that is nice. Jeff E. You always manage to
create such unique robots that push the envelope of the rules and lego
building... I really do wish you had the time to enter more of the
games. the community as a whole looses every time you don't build.
and Jeff W. WOW, congrats to your idea of using the string on the edge
to locate the flag. THAT was a neat idea. I'm sorry you never got all
the bugs out of your robot but what i saw was neat. ) During our most
complex event ever (r10) Bruce could not develop a robot. he felt the
shame and for r11 designed a nice robot. this system works. it is a
bit crude, but it works.
:)
my reasons are simple. if i could inspire many people to build a robot
then when the famous people show up I as a co-orgaizer will not suffer
the current fate of Dave K the robot less wonder. I had no intention of
having Mario come all the way from italy only to show him the community
room of the library and a few empty tables. PLUS I was not going to be
mocked by John B or Doug C. And if how bad do you think Ralph would
make me feel after i went on and on about Owen Sound?? you see. I had
no CHOICE but to get every one to build a robot.
this is why during the last dinner and in one or two posts on line I was
trying to get people to build a robot. HECK that's why I brought the
cyberslam baby game and the tracks to dinner. NOT to show a robot, BUT
to inspire others to build a robot.
it did inspire one person to build a robot..... ME. when I got home
after the dinner i threw the gate and tracks on my bench and went to
sleep. the next morning I took a look at the pile of stuff and it
actually did not look all that different from the robot i brought to
r11. so to answer your question YES it took me about 4 hours. BUT i
had a robot. and so did 11 or 12 other people and THAT was great. I
have told calum this already. this has been one of our most successful
events. the game itself was OK. but as an event this was the only one
where we actually had a CLEAR winner. we had a scoring system that
worked. and enuff time to run every robot against every other robot.
In the end it was worth it. all the famous people said they had a good
time and came to see what we as a group are really like.
To everyone I want to say thank you VERY MUCH. what I saw in that room
reinforced that what we do as a group is unique and inspiring. On more
than one occasion I look upon the builders and think that there is a
collective knowledge here that could be used to such a greater good.....
(sigh) someday. maybe.
(i need a hanky... excuse me)
sniff.
Chris
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: rtlToronto11: Wrap up and Photo request
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| (...) Many thanks to all who participated, spectated, or organized. It was a fun event to participate in. What really surprised me was that we had designs from each of the three major categories and each category finished in the top three - I really (...) (22 years ago, 19-Aug-02, to lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto)
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