[FTC]: Difference between Qualifiers and Regionals

[Cuttlefish2014]

Hello Guys

By surprise, we found out that we are going to regionals due to another team not being able to go.

However, we just want to clarify the differences between Qualifiers and Regionals. Are there any differences? And if so, what are they?

Thanks

Cuttlefish
6165:deadhorse:

[MattRain]

Qualifiers, qualify you to go to a regional. From a regional, teams compete for a spot in Super Regionals. From Super Regionals, you can then earn a spot at the FTC World Championship.

Regionals are run pretty much the same way as qualifiers, structure wise, but with more teams, and competing for a spot in one of the four Super Regionals in the US.

[MarcSol]

Qualifiers are held to see which teams 'qualify' for the State Championship.
State Championships are held to see which team 'qualify' for the associated Super Regional.
Super Regionals are held to see which teams 'qualify' for the World Championship.
note: The portion on Qualifiers and State Championships vary slightly by state. Check how your state runs. Some states have too little participation to require Qualifiers and other states have switched to the League format. Check with how your state (or a state you want to compete in) runs its events.

As a team rises through each level of competition, they are pitted against better and better teams. If your state holds qualifiers, All teams can go to a Qualifier. Only the better teams from the state will qualify for the State Championship. The competition is harder because your teams will be up against better teams than they experienced at the Qualifier. This repeats going from the State Championship to the Super Regional. And once again from the Super Regional to World.

To make it even more intense, the teams have been learning at each event they attend. They are improving their robots from the lessons learned at each previous level. So not only will you be competing against better teams at each level, their robot, their driving, their strategy, their scouting, how they handle judging, etc... will be improving at each level.

Your pit at the qualifier might have been but a place to store your gear and work on your robot. At State, you probably added some sign boards to advertise your team to other teams and to impress the judges. At the Super Regional, each teams pit is decked out to wow the judges, their fellow competitors, and the general public. Your team will be given a set size space (I think the standard is 10'x10'; check with your Super Regional). Own that space! Use it as both a work space AND an advertisement to all who pass by. It should say, "This is an AWESOME team, worthy of note, and a good alliance partner as well!"

Lastly, there is the size of the event. If I recall correctly, their will be 72 teams at each Super Regional and the teams will be divided into two divisions. I know of few states that have events this size. With so many teams, the event is also longer than most state events, starting on a Thursday and going through to Saturday.

That all said, while the scale is much larger, the Super Regional follows the same rules as the earlier events. Your team will go through hardware and software inspections, will be judged for the same awards (although some of the optional awards that your state might have overlooked will probably not be optional there), and will compete in qualification matches where you will compete with other teams from your division. At the end of the qualification matches, each division will hold an alliance selection, 4 alliances from division, each consisting of 3 teams. Semifinals and finals will determine a division winning alliance and finalist alliance.

Here things change (at least from states that do not have divisions at their championship), the winning alliance from each division compete to determine the Super Regional Winning Alliance. The other team becomes the Super Regional Finalist Alliance.

Advancement to World follows the same criteria (http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/ftc/team-advancement) as previous events with no host team in the criteria and starting at the 16th spot, alternating between the Winning Division (the division which the Winning Alliance competed) and the Finalist Division (the division which the Finalist Alliance competed).