2006 NASA/VCU Regional!

[Alex Cormier]

That's it! next year at VCU someone will be assigned to follow Lavery around while looking at everything and take notes!

[Joe Matt]

Uh oh, did he give another hint? *sigh* I go to OSU and have fun, and he drops a hint, gah. Oh well, anyone get the award winners for today?

[OneAngryDaisy]

all the award winners are being updated live here:

http://www2.usfirst.org/2006comp/Events/VA/awards.html

[Joe J.]

Congratulations to
Engineering Inspiration Award winner
612

Chairman's Honarable mention:
1033
401
1541

Chairman's Award winner
384

[aenggeorge]

joe rules! hey el bruno might be back though!

[aenggeorge]

ok NOW itd officalley over!

[EricRobodox]

That was a pretty cool tournement. The stream wasnt working for me, and then i realized that i it was on Nasa TV, so i turned on the TV. ahahaha. That semi-finals match between 1 and 4 seeds that was one point difference, woh, that was pretty close.

[Joe Matt]

CONGRATS 384! I can't belive you guys won again for Chairmans! I'm so happy for everyone! Can't wait to see you at Champs!

[Billfred]

Congratulations to all the teams--it was a heck of a time, from what I saw on the webcast. (Did anyone else get bumped from the server around semis for the server being busy?)

Further metaphorical green dots to Dave for both channeling Dean's ability to ask folks to do things at events, and for managing to slip in a Heidi Foster reference. (The Jeff Seaton photo gallery, anyone?)

Man, now I really can't wait to see 343 in action at Palmetto!

[bombadier337]

This was the worst alliance ceremony I have ever seen, it was unbelievable how unprepared some of the team representatives were. Because of this many teams that should have been picked weren't.

Just my opinion.

Definately! We thought the picks were after lunch! Our team got rushed and confused and held up the wrong team number for me to pick! (Thought 1095 was 539), so we spent the whole break trying to improve 539 so it could work with our strategy. Needless to say our performance was pretty bad, our hopper broke (but we fixed it), 975 flipped, and 539 lost a wheel). Also, the funniest part for me is that we were picked twice when we were ineligable, it was funny, and it made us feel good. :-). Catch everyone at Championships! Peace!

[mrmummert]

Thanks to all for the congrats from team 1610....also thanks to teams 343 and 1598 as great alliance partners and to sparky and thier alliance and all the other great teams....you'll see sparky and some of the others (team 401 being one) again in atlanta. once again thanks folks

[DRH2o]

A special thank you to teams 1610 and 343 for noticing us and bringing us into a GREAT alliance. Thanks to all our partners and opponents for a great weekend. We hope to be in Atlanta !!

[joshsmithers]

/i come out of my closet and make first post

I just wanted to thank teams 540 and 510 for choosing us to be in your sweet alliance. we did our best and we're proud of ourselves, y'all(510, 540), and all other teams at the regional. unfortunately, we won't be going to nationals, but luck goes out to those who are going, notably 1610, 1598, 343, 435, 384. Great job!

[pyroslev]

First of all, congrats to everyone for making this year fun. All teams did a good job

1610 - I don't know how you guys pulled it off but good job.
343 - That robot was awesome; hope the turret works out better in Atlanta
1598 - Awesome job. You fill in the holes for the others.

384, 435 and 1522 - You guys had awesome robots and performed very well. 384, good shooter and range; you guys have something good every year. 435, good shooting and nice bot; you guys always think of something that works well. 1522, you guys had one of the best performing autons out on the field; good job.

After seeding was done, I looked at the list and match-ups with a few other people and made my picks based on what I saw from my job as real time scorer:

Quarter-Finals

1731,414,401 vs 928,1908,1793: They had the shooters and dumpers.
384,435,1522 vs 1137,222,122: All had autonomous modes and high shooters.
1222,1086,1002 vs 510,540,587: 1222 alliance did not have the shooters but still good match.
1541,975,539 vs 1610,343,1598: 1610 alliance had the shooters and Autons, the ace that won matches

Semi-Finals (Best semi-finals that I have seen)

1731,414,401 vs 384,435,1522: Tight Match but 384 had the shoot/auton needed
510,540,587 vs 1610,343,1598: Tight match but shooters won. One of the good matches.

Final Match


384,435,1522 vs 1610,343,1598: To be honest, I predicted 384's crew to win until about twenty seconds into the 2nd period of the first match. It was a good match that made me proud. Both teams fought to the end and to my surprise, 1610 pulled the win with their partners from 343 and 1598.

Excelleny job too all on and off the field. One of the smoothest years to memory and fun. Good luck to all in Atlanta and secondary regionals.

[petek]

It's the head referee's job to enforce this, I believe. However, they need to have the correct measuring devices to see this speed. Is there a ball speed measurement tool at these 1st week events?

Andy B.The head ref in NJ did enforce the speed limit, calling for speed checks on all the top shooters. 25 and 103 were consistently at 11.7 m/s (103 got called twice, probably because they were scoring from mid-field, but were legal). Three teams were over the limit on the first check (15.5 m/s was the highest), but we let them dial in using the time-of-flight device.

Obviously, we have to rely on the teams policing themselves to some degree, since they could sandbag at the speed test, but I think everyone at the NJ event was very close to 12 m/s on Saturday - they knew the head ref was watching closely!

[RoboMadi]

Congratulations to
Engineering Inspiration Award winner
612

Chairman's Honarable mention:
1033
401
1541

Chairman's Award winner
384


Thanks. We worked hard on our robot and on our image as a team to get to this place. Congrats to all teams who participated in VCU Regionals. It was an AWESOME experience working with you guys, and getting to knwo your team. Looking forward to Chesapeake Regionals, (and may be Chairmans over there ;) )

[geeknerd99]

Congrats to 1610,343,1598 on the win. We'll see you guys in Atlanta.

401 wasn't expecting to be picked (especially by the 1st seed), because of our unfortunate seating during qualifications. Our robot was ready, but most of us were wondering where we were going to go for lunch. Thanks to 1731 and 414 for picking us. Pity the DQ cost us the tournament. No hard feelings though, 414.

It was a good regional by all teams, in spite of having probably the most oddities of any regional every year.

[David55]

Was it only me that was very surprised that 414 (placed second) accepted and joined 1731 (placed first) and gave up there chance of being the winners and going to atlanta???




(On the other hand, by joining team 1731 they were on the paper the strongest alliance....)

[SURVIVORfan44]

Did anyone notice that most of the rookie teams were more prepared than veteran teams? 1731 was shocking most of all, they were a perfect candidate for the rookie allstar award. I expected so much more from a couple of teams and I was shocked when they didn't perform as well as they usually do.

[CourtneyB]

Congratulations to 1610,343,1598 on winning the VCU! U guys did awesome..and so did the other teams too!

-Court-

[WorstPirateEver]

Congrats to the winning teams! ..we so pwned that regional though.. ;)

414 and 401 were amazingly strong defenders during those matches! Thanks guys!

The umm... problem.. with 414's autonomous mode was unfortunate.. plus the "disqualification" :mad: in taking away our alliances points for team 414 "going too far into the lower goal" was completely rediculous :confused: (heck.. they could have taken more than 20 points away for that and we still would have won... bad rule) , so no Atlanta... oh well :/

However, it was an awesome experience and the perfect game concept! It was really fun playing with and against you guys.

[bombadier337]

Just wanted to get everyone else's opinion and post mine. I personally think FIRST should talk to team 539 after what I saw at the VCU regional. I'm fine with teams building purely defensive robots, but I was appalled by what I saw from 539. You never would have known that machine was made to play Aim High, let alone be in a FIRST competition. The machine consisted of a ramming plate, driven by a large pneumatic actuator, that looked like it was designed to push robots extremely hard and most likely lead to damage. I wasn't happy about that, but what really made me angry was the vacuum. They had a 120 lbs vacuum on the front of the robot, whose purpose was to try and latch onto lexan plates of other machines. This robot honestly made me wonder if they had even seen the game before they built it. Last year, they resorted to trying to flip other robots repeatedly when their tetra placer didn't work properly, and this year they simply tried to damage other robots. I just feel like they really have no respect for the ideals that guide FIRST, and that they need to refocus their goals. I don't know what caused this, and I don't know if other teams mentoring would help. I just figured I would throw that out, and see what everyone thought.

[GB330033]

I watched VCU on NASA TV, and was intrigued by 539. They reminded me a lot of my team's robot last year: a small, non-scoring, defensive robot.

I wasn't there, so I only know what I saw on TV. I didn't see a ramming plate, but I did see the piston powered brake, at least, it looked like a brake. It seemed that they would push someone, and put down the brake to avoid being pushed back. Brilliant strategy. I also didn't see the vacuum you speak of, but once again, I only saw what was on TV. However, I'm curious, if the vaccum weighed 120 pounds, what was the rest of their robot? :confused:

I don't think they were trying to damage other robots, I believe they were simply playing defense. FIRST said very early on that there would be a lot of contact this year, as was made evident by the bumper rule. Though 539 may have been driving a bit fast at times, they were playing within the rules. I don't think that a robot designed solely for destruction would have
a. Made it through inspection
b. Not been noticed by the officials
and c. Made it onto an elimination alliance

It just doesn't add up. Clearly, if they weren't stopped by the officials, they were playing within the rules. Their machine was built with a defensive strategy in mind. That's the beauty of FIRST, everyone comes up with a different strategy for the problem at hand. Some decided to build shooters to score points, some decided to build defensive robots, some decided to do both. 539 is one of the rare teams who decided on sole defense. I think it's painfully clear they 539 saw the game, knew the game, and realized how important defense would be. They then created a robot for pure defense. Remember it's better to be good at one thing than to be bad at many things.

Edit: Hrm, upon further investigation, I noticed that 539 ended up allied with your team in the end. Usually, no matter the outcome, alliance partners are good friends and have a good time. Did yall have a falling out after the quarters? Like I said, I only know what I saw on TV, and what I saw was a bot built for defense. Being on their alliance, you likely know more than I do, but your whole post seems somewhat harsh for an alliance partner.

[bombadier337]

Edit: Hrm, upon further investigation, I noticed that 539 ended up allied with your team in the end. Usually, no matter the outcome, alliance partners are good friends and have a good time. Did yall have a falling out after the quarters? Like I said, I only know what I saw on TV, and what I saw was a bot built for defense. Being on their alliance, you likely know more than I do, but your whole post seems somewhat harsh for an alliance partner.

No, it was actually an accident we picked them, a mentor got team numbers mixed up. We tried to build a wall on it after the mistake so it could block shots, which you may have noticed. And what you probably didn't see was the vacuum. They were told if they used it again they would be disqualified (can't confirm that's true, though I know for a fact they argued it through inspections).

[GB330033]

Ah, well in that case, I apologize. I only know what I was shown in the broadcast. It seems odd though, that a veteran team such as 539 would opt for destruction. I liked the makeshift wall, it had potential, but it seemed like they had driving issues during the quarters.

Even with all that has been said, I don't know if they deserve being called out like this. I mean, it's clear they were going for defense, but were misguided a bit. I don't think that's contrary to the ideas of FIRST, I think it very much follows them. Things like this happen in the real world, ideas are misguided, things go wrong, and bad things happen. They might not fit the "perfect" model of a FIRST participant, but that's no reason to call them out.

[Nuttyman54]

I watched some of the recorded webcasts, and they didn't look NEARLY as agressive as some other teams out there. They weren't as fast, nor as pushy as other teams (Watch the finals matches and you'll see what i mean). I could see a spot for a vacuum on the front, but calling their robot destructive is really an exaggeration.

[mrmummert]

hello...
We too had trouble with 539 both this year and last year...
(they tipped our alliance partner 616 over and beat on us with that bots flipping board during semi finals last year)
We went against both 539 and 975 (also very defencesive)
at the same time during the quarter finals. I think 539 was built as a push bot
E.I. meant to push balls into the corner goal,hence the plate on the front.
During one match 975 while playing defence tipped themselves and our partner 343 over at the same time.

[btgdaniel]

Way to go team 1731...rookie #1 seed!

Thanks so much -- we had a great run, and lots of fun! Great job, alliance partners 414 (Smokie) and 401 (Hokie Guard)! Hats off to team 1885, Rookie All-Star Award -- ROBOCAT!!!

[bombadier337]

Thanks so much -- we had a great run, and lots of fun! Great job, alliance partners 414 (Smokie) and 401 (Hokie Guard)! Hats off to team 1885, Rookie All-Star Award -- ROBOCAT!!!

I know you all really wanted to make it to the championship. Last year, 1541 was a rookie a we really wanted to win Rookie All Star and go to Nationals. Unfortunately, we got Rookie Inspiration (which was still awesome) and couldn't go. We decided just to go and watch and still had a great time chilling with some VCU teams. It's also a great chance to see all the other teams. I would seriously recommend going if you can. Also, congrats to team 1885, it was fun in that first round!

[mrmummert]

congrats to team 1885 also from team 1610...you guys are where we were last year...keep it up.
Also congrats go out to team 1541 and 1731...you guys rocked at VCU.

[Craig1989]

They were told if they used it again they would be disqualified (can't confirm that's true, though I know for a fact they argued it through inspections).

That isn't actually true, while there was naturally some controversy over the issue, the inspectors, judges and refs all read the rules carefully and confirmed the suction cup was legal.

As far as the "120 pound suction cup" that was how much it can hold when suspended vertically, not the weight of it. <- Just thought I would clear that up.

---------------------------

Now anyway here is our story in short:

We are a very small team, with only 1 mentor and 3 or 4 active team participants, we also do not have the money to purchase expensive parts or employ external help on our robot. All of the work you see on our robot was preformed by a group of 4 people with a budget of around 500$. Previous years we have worked very hard on creating an effective offensive robot, however, to put things short we have just been outclassed. We were very proud of our robot last year however when we arrived our alliance partners just wanted us to play defense, and let their laser guided (exaggeration) arms work on the offense.

After last years experience we decided to try and create a competitive robot, knowing full well there was no way we could compete with all the other teams in offense we created a strong defensive robot. To stop any confusions here is what our robot had:

- Pneumatic Brake powered by 2 cylinders that lifted our robot of the ground.
- Pneumatic Bumper that extended to slowly push other robots out the way
- Suction Cup to suck onto other robots flat panels, (while a nice scare factor it was very hard to use in practice)
- Suction Cup on underside of break for sucking to the slipping ramp surface.

While the bumper on the front was used mainly for defense it could also be used to push balls into the bottom goals.

We in no way intended our robot to be 'cheap' or 'unsportsmanlike' or 'against the first way' we just simply wanted to create a robot that was competitive using the small resources we had available to ourselves. We studied the Aim High game very carefully and discovered that being defensive would work very well in this game (which it did placing 19/64 teams). We did however compensate by recruiting a successful human player who could make 7 out of 10 shots in the bottom goals.

As far as the quarter finals went we got midlocanics to help with our autonomous programming, (thanks guys), unfortunately we hit the wall so fast that it dented our rear break into the right wheel, prohibiting any movement on that side. Hence the circles in the first round.

Hopefully I have cleared everything up, feel free to ask anymore questions if you have them.

Craig

Team Driver.

[adamt71389]

Well put Craig. Sometimes people just assume without thinking and make complaints about ideas that they didn't come up with. Seriously guys, there was nothing cheap about this. Being cheap is hiring engineers to build the majority of a teams robot, when we are actually doing what first wants- students to build the vast majority of it and learn about it.

Adam

Human Player.

[Joe Matt]

That isn't actually true, while there was naturally some controversy over the issue, the inspectors, judges and refs all read the rules carefully and confirmed the suction cup was legal.

As far as the "120 pound suction cup" that was how much it can hold when suspended vertically, not the weight of it. <- Just thought I would clear that up.

Now anyway here is our story in short:

We are a very small team, with only 1 mentor and 3 or 4 active team participants, we also do not have the money to purchase expensive parts or employ external help on our robot. All of the work you see on our robot was preformed by a group of 4 people with a budget of around 500$. Previous years we have worked very hard on creating an effective offensive robot, however, to put things short we have just been outclassed. We were very proud of our robot last year however when we arrived our alliance partners just wanted us to play defense, and let their laser guided (exaggeration) arms work on the offense.

After last years experience we decided to try and create a competitive robot, knowing full well there was no way we could compete with all the other teams in offense we created a strong defensive robot. To stop any confusions here is what our robot had:

- Pneumatic Brake powered by 2 cylinders that lifted our robot of the ground.
- Pneumatic Bumper that extended to slowly push other robots out the way
- Suction Cup to suck onto other robots flat panels, (while a nice scare factor it was very hard to use in practice)
- Suction Cup on underside of break for sucking to the slipping ramp surface.

While the bumper on the front was used mainly for defense it could also be used to push balls into the bottom goals.

We in no way intended our robot to be 'cheap' or 'unsportsmanlike' or 'against the first way' we just simply wanted to create a robot that was competitive using the small resources we had available to ourselves. We studied the Aim High game very carefully and discovered that being defensive would work very well in this game (which it did placing 19/64 teams). We did however compensate by recruiting a successful human player who could make 7 out of 10 shots in the bottom goals.

As far as the quarter finals went we got midlocanics to help with our autonomous programming, (thanks guys), unfortunately we hit the wall so fast that it dented our rear break into the right wheel, prohibiting any movement on that side. Hence the circles in the first round.

Hopefully I have cleared everything up, feel free to ask anymore questions if you have them.

Craig

Team Driver.

Craig,

Thanks for clearing it up from a first person perspective. I'm fully aware of the plight you're facing, and believe it or not, 384's had many a tight time with money.

What confuses me still is WHY. I know you want a defensive robot, but you've put yourself in a VERY bad position. We were one of the teams you almost tipped over last year on your way to the top in the semi-finals. We weren't the only.

My question is this: is playing defense by nearly tipping over robots and having a pneumatic bumper and suction cup gracious or professional? Did it cross your mind that at one point that you were lucky you didn't get disqualified for tipping over robots? Did you possibly rethink your strategy to prevent such a conflict from happening? And what about seeking help from other teams in the area? I know $500 is not much, but couldn't the pneumatics and such go towards some sort of dumper mechanism for the balls? I give second chances, and I wanted to see what you guys did this year, but frankly, I'm worried that if this trend continues, what next? What if the suction cup actually worked? What if the "bumpers" worked too well? Should we just chalk it up to an under funded team trying to compete? Should we lower the standard of sportsmanship in FIRST just because a team can't compete with the Beattys, Wildstangs, and TechnoKats of FIRST? I hope not.

[end rant]

[adamt71389]

I personally think FIRST should talk to team 539 after what I saw at the VCU regional. I'm fine with teams building purely defensive robots, but I was appalled by what I saw from 539. You never would have known that machine was made to play Aim High, let alone be in a FIRST competition. The machine consisted of a ramming plate, driven by a large pneumatic actuator, that looked like it was designed to push robots extremely hard and most likely lead to damage.

If you feel so stongly about this, then why did your team program our robot to go full speed ahead into the other alliance's big scorer in autonomous period? Personally I think that you're trying to make us alone your excuse for losing, but that's ok, we all try to put blame onto other things sometimes.


Really Joe? Sparky has been in that situation? When? Seems to me that you probably had the most resources and funding of anyone in that competition. I don't mean this offensively (no pun intended).

[Joe Matt]

Really Joe? Sparky has been in that situation? When? Seems to me that you probably had the most resources and funding of anyone in that competition. I don't mean this offensively (no pun intended).

No you totally did.

Yes really, ask those from season 1 how money was. Or ask how many people are going to Champs. Maybe we should go back to a post you did......

Well put Craig. Sometimes people just assume without thinking and make complaints...

[Craig1989]

I have answered your questions in red.

Craig,
What confuses me still is WHY. I know you want a defensive robot, but you've put yourself in a VERY bad position. We were one of the teams you almost tipped over last year on your way to the top in the semi-finals. We weren't the only.

We can only apologize for what happened last year, as I said in my above post we did not intend to play defensive, that was simply the result since our alliance partners felt they could play better offense. The fact that we tipped some robots was also not intentional, we tried to hit low as described in the rules to the best of our ability, hence why we were not DQ by the refs.

My question is this: is playing defense by nearly tipping over robots and having a pneumatic bumper and suction cup gracious or professional?

Maybe not, but everything we did was in the rules, we purposely slowed down the bumper speed and did not hit robots from a distance to ensure that our opponents were not damaged in anyway.

Did it cross your mind that at one point that you were lucky you didn't get disqualified for tipping over robots?

Naturally this did cross our minds, however, we were not DQ so in the eyes of the refs, we played a fair game.

Did you possibly rethink your strategy to prevent such a conflict from happening?

Naturally we thought of playing offense, however from past experience we know that we would not be able to compete with teams such as 384 or 343, so we tried to take a different approach (one that is still legal) and try to acheive that way.

And what about seeking help from other teams in the area?

No we did not seek other team's help, however that is something to consider for next year.

I know $500 is not much, but couldn't the pneumatics and such go towards some sort of dumper mechanism for the balls?

We did have plans for a low goal ball dumper, however we had to sacrifice that due to weight issues. Again we could not afford the strongest, lightest materials avaliable.

I give second chances, and I wanted to see what you guys did this year, but frankly, I'm worried that if this trend continues, what next? What if the suction cup actually worked? What if the "bumpers" worked too well? Should we just chalk it up to an under funded team trying to compete? Should we lower the standard of sportsmanship in FIRST just because a team can't compete with the Beattys, Wildstangs, and TechnoKats of FIRST? I hope not.

We have no intention of being like this every year, last year we went in with what we thought was a very good offensive robot. We did not play any 'dirty defense' until the final rounds.. Prior to that we had actually been a very good scorer. This year we took a defensive approach because we saw the advantage of doing so. We prooved in the competition that with a slight tap from our bumper very few teams could shoot the centre goal.. Now if they can't manage how are we suppose to be able to?!

[adamt71389]

Yes really, ask those from season 1 how money was.

Season 1 eh? I see, you 'totally' understand our predicament. Now if you have anymore problems, take it to me personally outside of this thread please.

[bombadier337]

If you feel so stongly about this, then why did your team program our robot to go full speed ahead into the other alliance's big scorer in autonomous period? Personally I think that you're trying to make us alone your excuse for losing, but that's ok, we all try to put blame onto other things sometimes.


Really Joe? Sparky has been in that situation? When? Seems to me that you probably had the most resources and funding of anyone in that competition. I don't mean this offensively (no pun intended).

This is starting to get ugly, so this will be the very last thing I say. I'm not blaming 539 for what happened in the finals by any stretch of the imagination. I'm not trying to hide the fact our hopper cracked in half and 975 flipped. Nobody on our team is mad about the finals, we said it was just the icing on the cake to top off the fantastic time we had at regionals. Believe me, we all agree we didn't really stand a chance against that alliance. I'm not mad at 539 at all for the what happened in the finals, nothing that happened was even your all's fault. What I will say is this. Even with the budget you had there is a lot you could've done. The innards of the robot were great, and the 80/20 made the robot look fantastic. I just feel like you could have done so much more with wha you have. And I will also put this out there. 975 and 1541 are great friends who live right down the road from each other. Why not try to share some resources with us? You're pretty close, and both teams have great programming knowledge. Now as to the point about your autonomous, that was done for one reason, it was the only way to defend against 1610 in the finals. So in summary, I personally think with what you have you could have done more, and that there are many teams around you who I'm sure would be glad to share resources, and I in no way blame 539 for what happened in the finals.

[Craig1989]

I appreciate everyone's comments and I don't want this to become any worse than it already is. I agree with nearly every point here that what we did was not necessarily in the spirit of First Robotics, and I agree it really wasn't! When we set out to build this robot we did have a plan for a dumping mechanism, however the weight limit hit us hard and we couldn't afford to mount the design with out completely starting from scratch, something we didn't want to do in week 4.

One thing I must add is that although we love competing in the competition I really don't know how competitive we can be, it would be great if U.S. first had different divisions depending on the resources available to the team.

I don't want to fall out with any of you guys since living so close to one another can have some great advantages, including but not not limited to sharing resources.

Another thing is that Trinity Robotics is planning to host a scrimmage in October, we have talked with a team in PA that hosted a scrimmage and they said it is a very good fundraiser, if we carry this out, you will all be invited.

The money that we take from the scrimmage can be used for the following team to create a competitive robot that can hopefully play the game as it is suppose to be played.

[mrmummert]

Hello guys..

I just wanted to let you guys know about some things about us that you did'nt know.

Last year (our rookie year we had just 6 kids and 6 mentors (including the teacher) This year we have 13 kids and 6 mentors again. We are a very small
rural school with near 400 kids in the high school. We don't have the budget
that teams like 67 or a 122 have. We probably spent between 500 to 1,000
on our robot. Some parts were cast offs that would other wise ended up in the trash. Our robot was torn all the way down to the frame at week 5
because of weight issues. The kids and mentors kept changing the shooter
up until week 5. We did'nt even have a good reliable working hopper until
three days til ship date.

The mentors on our team give the kids ideas and we let them decide and run with it. Even though we have registered for nationals we still have to find money to make it there (last year the teacher used her credit card and everyone payed her back after nationals). Team 616 used to be the closest
team to us. We had planned to work with them and share resources this year
but that did'nt work out and team 616 folded as part of the result of this.
Also last year we found ourselves competeting with 616 for sponsors and
did'nt want to do the same this year. But we were willing to share what we had with team 616 until they folded (hopefully something can be done to
bring that team back next year)

What has helped us is that we talk alot about what we do or are doing.
We think things out in as many ways as we can. We use what we have as
far as we can. In short We make to most of what we have.

Were there better robots at VCU than us ...yes.

But between what we had,what we did and a little luck we were
able and very grateful to be able to win VCU this year. We did'nt even
plan on this...(although it was in the back of some team members minds)
We had already had the crate ready for the return trip home.

What does this mean?...that even the most prepared teams or unprepared
teams, near broke teams or well to do teams can find a way to compete
evenly.....

IF you got a robot to VCU you were a winner...
If you learned something about engineering or science or
some form of trade...you are a winner...and that is what FIRST
is all about.

[santosh]

I must say, VCU is still my favorite regional that I have been to. I was very thankful to the field crew because they got us in there and out of there as soon as possible. it seemed that everything except for match 10 worked out great. It semed to me that there were a fw issues with the scoring system, but hey, that is life.

[sketner]

Hello there, when we were pulling out our team neglected to grab our
black-and-white pirate flag :ahh: with the team number and 'Atlee" on it. The flag was hanging on the upper railing with the other flags. I'm looking for
anyone who might have seen or grabbed the flag. Please email sketner@hanover.k12.va.us Thanks, Sam

[mrmummert]

hopefully you will get this...

Please look for My E-mail.
You guys were long gone and when I took our banner down I cut your flag
loose and turned it in to the pit administration desk. Hope fully they will contact you or you can find someone who was at the desk at VCU.

[dangerousdave]

Last weekend the NASA / VCU Regional was my first time attending although I have been involved in First for 3 years. This was my second time being at a regional, (Peachtree 2004), where Jeff Seaton was the field announcer.

Jeff is a class act and I really appreciate him. I really appreciated his describing exactly what autonomous mode was, basic ways to score and rules. The new spectators around me on Saturday were kept well informed on just exactly what they were watching. Jeff announced many times throughout Friday and Saturday the basics of a match.

The NASA / VCU Regional was well run although there were delays in some matches and problems with displaying the scores on Saturday afternoon. What a great arena to hold it in!

Both of the socials on Thursday and Friday nights were wonderful!

Dave

[adamt71389]

I apologize for my earlier attitude, and in no way did anyone on our team think it was right. I overreacted to a Midlo post, and I regret doing so. Joe, I am sorry that I offended you and please do accept my apology. If I could delete the posts I would, and I reiterate that in no way did my team agree with my point of view.

[mechanicalbrain]

I apologize for my earlier attitude, and in no way did anyone on our team think it was right. I overreacted to a Midlo post, and I regret doing so. Joe, I am sorry that I offended you and please do accept my apology. If I could delete the posts I would, and I reiterate that in no way did my team agree with my point of view.
Hey it's ok we all have those posts we wish we could burry. Normally It's not what your saying just how you say it.

On a different topic, who at VCU got some pictures of me in the mascot outfit? We realised we don't have any and I think every team in the pits took at least one picture with me, I was the angry silver robot. It's for our team site.

[Joe Matt]

I apologize for my earlier attitude, and in no way did anyone on our team think it was right. I overreacted to a Midlo post, and I regret doing so. Joe, I am sorry that I offended you and please do accept my apology. If I could delete the posts I would, and I reiterate that in no way did my team agree with my point of view.

Don't mention it Adam, I agree, I got hot headed too, and quite frankly was very happy you lived in Richmond and I lived in Dayton. ;)

I guess in the end I should add one more thing here. In the end I point out things not to make fun of, but to instead spark change. I want to see you guys do well, I want to see you guys win a regional and win chairmans. We had troubles, even lots of "well funded" teams have money troubles. If you need help with ideas on fundrasing, I'll help you with things 384 did.

Again, I'm sorry too and I accept your apology. I guess some small verbal fights are a result of doing something we love so much.

[btgdaniel]

congrats to team 1885 also from team 1610...you guys are where we were last year...keep it up.
Also congrats go out to team 1541 and 1731...you guys rocked at VCU.

And congrats to you guys, too! We very much enjoyed it, and look forward to seeing you again next year!

[FF_1610_EMT]

i want to say congrats to all the teams at NASA/VCU and a special thanks to teams 343 and 1598 for helping us win the competition.

i also want to apologize to team 384 for damaging their robot as much as i did during the second to last match.

[Lee]

Thanks to 1610 and 1598 for making us look good. The VCU regional was great. There were so many excellent teams...

[Crebb]

I would like to thank teams 435 and 1522 for making a great alliance. We hope to see you all in Atlanta.
i also want to apologize to team 384 for damaging their robot as much as i did during the second to last match.
-Thanks, Sparky's doing just fine.

[mrmummert]

to anyone from team 1598...how are you guys getting to atlanta?

[DRH2o]

Sorry it took so long. I just saw this. We have chartered a D & M Bus

[mrmummert]

Sorry it took so long. I just saw this. We have chartered a D & M Bus


Good to hear that...hopefully all three VCU winners can get together in Atlanta for some picture taking...keep in touch.

[DRH2o]

We would love to get together, The kids have been talking about that. We are staying at the Omni. Where are you staying?

[mrmummert]

we are going to be at the comfort inn downtown (wish it had been the omni,but it way better than where we were last year)

[mrmummert]

We would love to get together, The kids have been talking about that. We are staying at the Omni. Where are you staying?

Also team 343 is at the omni..so you guys can look them up while there.
Hopefully someone can come by the pits and we can plan this out.
I'll be in the pits most of the time (like I was last year)
I'm the grey haired guy wearing the old railroad vest.
We'll probably be able to take a picture in one of the practice fields
or maybe in one of the competition feilds after competition.
(keep in mind they take them up very fast just after competition though)
One place every liked to take pictures at in Atlanta last year was the open
grassy area between the Dome and the GWCC buildings. First had a very large
sign with the logo set up and many teams took pictures there.

[mrmummert]

looks like 343 and 1610 are in the same division...cool

[DRH2o]

Good luck 1610 and 343 !!! We wish we were in your division !! :(

[sporno]

ya im part of the team that lost he battery. 540 aparenly people go nuts when that happens , we had a good alliance , but didnt think we were gonna get picked so when 510 asked 540 our team when nuts then were like wait ... us?. i was in the crew for the quarterfinals and 1 semi. it was the most intence thing ive been in. I actually made it onto VCU's website ( our alliance ). , but when our battery fell out the most gracious thing is when another team tryed to push us up the ram ( get us out of danger and we would score). I loved the compition great job to all the teams expecially the 1 canadian team