2007 Silicon Valley Regional [Archive]

Michael Corsetto

27-01-2007, 23:12

114 will be there in full force. Can't wait to see everyone there. We'll be entering our animation into the silicon valley regional, so you all better be ready for some stiff animation competition (I'm looking at you 192 :p )

And since I know everyone from the Silicon Valley area will be reading this thread, I was wondering if anyone would be willing trade their 2007 CMU camera for some motors or something. We have project we're working on (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=52786), and we need another 2007 camera for it to be legal. If anyone out there is willing to trade us for something, shoot me a PM.

Thanks, and I look forward to seeing you all in a month and a half (so soon!)
Mike C.

Nuttyman54

28-01-2007, 00:51

beware the goat

Ashwin

28-01-2007, 14:52

MVRT team 115 will be there, ready to Rack N' Roll!

Hope everyone is surviving build ! Only 3 weeks left!

See you all at SVR!

(team 114 - WOW two cameras! nice)

Madison

28-01-2007, 15:16

jgannon

28-01-2007, 15:36

We're looking forward to competing down in the Bay Area this season.

Can anyone suggest some things that our team may be able to see after the event on Sunday? Our flight doesn't leave until 8:30 PM Sunday night, so we've got all day Sunday for sight-seeing and such. We'd planned to go to Great America, but its season doesn't begin until the following weekend.

We're also considering trying to take a train to San Francisco for the day, but I'm worried that it'll take far too long. What else is there to see in the San Jose area besides the Tech Museum and, say, the Winchester Mystery House?
If you like hockey and the Sharks are in town, that's an option. Otherwise, I would definitely recommend taking the Caltrain up to San Francisco. It's an hour and a half each way, and $13.50 a person for a day pass. Go ride the street cars, hang out at Pier 39... it's a lot of fun. San Jose is a nice place, but as far as having stuff to do, I've found it to be pretty limiting, particularly with Great America being closed. </twocents>

burkechrs1

28-01-2007, 16:01

Team 668 will be there. You guys better be ready!

Nuttyman54

28-01-2007, 20:09

We're looking forward to competing down in the Bay Area this season.

Can anyone suggest some things that our team may be able to see after the event on Sunday? Our flight doesn't leave until 8:30 PM Sunday night, so we've got all day Sunday for sight-seeing and such. We'd planned to go to Great America, but its season doesn't begin until the following weekend.

We're also considering trying to take a train to San Francisco for the day, but I'm worried that it'll take far too long. What else is there to see in the San Jose area besides the Tech Museum and, say, the Winchester Mystery House?

The Tech Museum is always nice. Down the street and around the corner is the California Theater, which sometimes shows old movies, complete with pre-show cartoons, newsreel and the mighty Wurlitzer organ. If there's a show while you're in town, I highly recommend it. A little farther north, in Mountain View, is the Computer History Museum (http://www.computerhistory.org/).

razor95kds

28-01-2007, 20:59

Team 766 will be there again. Hopefully one of the teams this year can dethrone 254 and their dominance of SVR (thanks for picking us last year!).

Guy Davidson

28-01-2007, 22:33

I have to second the Tech, aka Tech Museum of Innovation. Pretty darrn cool place, especially for robotics people. Otherwise, you could go up to San Fran, though it's a pretty long ride each way, or the Computer History Museum (also mentioned here before).

-Guy

TKM.368

29-01-2007, 03:12

Everyone enjoying their build season I hope...

368 will be there once again - gotta see our hero Mark Leon of course! :yikes:

Guy Davidson

12-02-2007, 13:30

Nuttyman54

12-02-2007, 13:45

I noticed that many teams in other areas hold organized scrimmages on their practice fields. Does anyone in our area do it? We'd love to come somewhere and get some practice with more than a few robots.

-Guy

254 usually has their practice field open to all teams to use, and have held scrimmages in the past. I'd contact them and see what's up.

Salik Syed

12-02-2007, 13:52

I don't know if my team will be there, but I might go check it out!

Dennis Jenks

12-02-2007, 14:06

Can anyone suggest some things that our team may be able to see after the event on Sunday?
Here are some websites that might help you out.
http://www.artsopolis.com/index.php
http://siliconvalley.citysearch.com/
http://sanjose.org/visitors/thingstodo/main.php

One thing in particular I plan to check out, as soon as we get through the build, is the MC Escher exhibit at the San Jose Museum of Art. It will be running through April 22nd.

Hope that helps,
Dennis

Cory

12-02-2007, 17:25

254 usually has their practice field open to all teams to use, and have held scrimmages in the past. I'd contact them and see what's up.

We may or may not be opening our field to everyone this year. We'd definitely like to, but as of now we will not be setting up a secondary field like last year. We do not have enough manpower to setup a field at a secondary location from our lab, nor enough mentors to supervise it.

Due to both teams being extremely behind, we will probably also not be able to let teams come in and use the playing field in our lab. We'd have to limit it to only one team at a time, if we could even find enough supervision to have that many people in our lab, and it would be unfair to all the local teams to not allow everyone in here to practice.

If we are able to let teams come over and practice, we'll let everyone know. If anyone is making a practice robot, you'll be welcome to come over after ship and practice on the field in our lab.

Blair Frank

12-02-2007, 19:00

ARC (852) will be there in full force! I look forward to seeing ya'll!

razor95kds

23-02-2007, 02:11

only 3 weeks before 766 repeats at SVR ;)

Nuttyman54

23-02-2007, 10:51

does anyone know if there's going to be a social this year? It's not listed on the agenda

bduddy

01-03-2007, 23:31

840 :)

And I heard in our meeting today that there would be a social, but there were no concrete details and I'm not sure they really knew for sure...

JYang

02-03-2007, 00:43

Team 604 will be there.

yodameister

02-03-2007, 13:11

We're looking forward to competing down in the Bay Area this season.

Can anyone suggest some things that our team may be able to see after the event on Sunday? Our flight doesn't leave until 8:30 PM Sunday night, so we've got all day Sunday for sight-seeing and such. We'd planned to go to Great America, but its season doesn't begin until the following weekend.

We're also considering trying to take a train to San Francisco for the day, but I'm worried that it'll take far too long. What else is there to see in the San Jose area besides the Tech Museum and, say, the Winchester Mystery House?

If you want to go to SF, I would take the team down Lombard street, go to the Golden gate bridge, and go to the Exploratorium (this is a great hands-on activity science center). I took my team there last year and it was a big success.

rachal

07-03-2007, 01:25

SVR is personally my favorite regional, but we registered too late this year to make it :(

Some of us are dropping in on Saturday anyways, just to see the action.

Nuttyman54

07-03-2007, 14:32

And I heard in our meeting today that there would be a social, but there were no concrete details and I'm not sure they really knew for sure...

I hope there is, that's one of the main reasons that 190's heading out there!

Madison

07-03-2007, 14:37

If you want to go to SF, I would take the team down Lombard street, go to the Golden gate bridge, and go to the Exploratorium (this is a great hands-on activity science center). I took my team there last year and it was a big success.

We have to rely on public transportation while we are there and it seems like those things are all reasonably spread apart, so we didn't expect to see all of them. I want to see the trolley museum and Fisherman's Wharf; maybe Ghirardelli Square, too. A lot of the kids on the team want to go to Chinatown, so we'll probably spend some great amount of time there, too.

yodameister

07-03-2007, 15:02

We have to rely on public transportation while we are there and it seems like those things are all reasonably spread apart, so we didn't expect to see all of them. I want to see the trolley museum and Fisherman's Wharf; maybe Ghirardelli Square, too. A lot of the kids on the team want to go to Chinatown, so we'll probably spend some great amount of time there, too.

If you are relying on public transportation, try the BART system. It will take you from (at least Fremont, its been a while since I've taken BART, it may go further south than that now) to downtown SF. It is similar to the MARTA system in Atlanta.

Madison

07-03-2007, 15:11

If you are relying on public transportation, try the BART system. It will take you from (at least Fremont, its been a while since I've taken BART, it may go further south than that now) to downtown SF. It is similar to the MARTA system in Atlanta.

BART doesn't go as far south as San Jose, so we're planning on taking CalTrans up to the city, but we'll be reliant on public transit for getting around there as well. We're all used to public transportation since most of us use it pretty regularly to get around up here in Seattle (I don't even have a car), but the city's a lot bigger and we're not as intimately familiar with it, so we're trying to find an area that has a lot to offer and sticking around there.

Sean.Conway

10-03-2007, 16:16

Team 987 is all ready to go!

Guy Davidson

10-03-2007, 17:53

Man, I can't wait for SVR... Seems it will even be more diverse this year with 190 and 987 coming.. Only four more days...!

Borgel

10-03-2007, 18:22

1351 will definitely be there, looks to be another awesome year. Even more so if we work, thats usually a plus.

1072, too bad you guys missed the deadline for it, where are you going instead?

edthegeek

10-03-2007, 18:32

Bill Gold

10-03-2007, 18:34

Ditto with Borgel, 1351 will be at SVR. If you have time, take BART up to Berkley, its a fun town. Oh and for cheap food around San Jose State, you can grab a bite at La Victoria, really good food. Or for finer dining, El Fornaio or California Pizza Kitchen is also a good place.
Original Joe's, Gordon Biersch, PF Chang's, The Tied House, Spaghetti Factory, and lots of other good restaurants are within walking distance of the SJSU Event Centre, as well. :)

TKM.368

10-03-2007, 19:15

Should be quite a regional indeed now with LA Winners Cheesy Poofs (and their 305 point Finals Match)... can't wait!

Guy Davidson

10-03-2007, 19:22

Original Joe's, Gordon Biersch, PF Chang's, The Tied House, Spaghetti Factory, and lots of other good restaurants are within walking distance of the SJSU Event Centre, as well. :)

And as far as more student related food goes for, last I remember there was a pizza place, a McDonalds, a Quiznos, and a few more fast food places within a few blocks from the even center. Very useful for those who didn't order concession food.

Cory

12-03-2007, 00:59

And as far as more student related food goes for, last I remember there was a pizza place, a McDonalds, a Quiznos, and a few more fast food places within a few blocks from the even center. Very useful for those who didn't order concession food.

There's a mexican place near the event center, I believe on San Salvador and 4th (maybe 3rd) that we got some great burritos at last year.

Bill Gold

12-03-2007, 01:01

There's a mexican place near the event center, I believe on San Salvador and 4th (maybe 3rd) that we got some great burritos at last year.
That's the previously mentioned La Victoria (between 3rd and 4th on San Carlos). $10 will fill up 2-3 people with good food, easily (and they're open until 1-2am).

987HighRoller

12-03-2007, 01:20

I CAN'T WAIT!! Oh, and thanks for the food advice.

burkechrs1

13-03-2007, 17:01

Well with SVR only 2ish days away I must say I'm pretty excited. This is by far our best robot yet and last year we did pretty well losing in the finals. I know there is already a thread about SVR but it contains some off topic posts.

So I want to know from teams that are going to be there, what do you guys expect to see? Also, lets make this the official SVR update thread. Good luck to everyone that's going. I will see you all thursday.

Chris
Team 668
Driver

Michael Corsetto

13-03-2007, 17:08

I'm predicting SVR to be one of the most ringer intensive regionals this season. I've been "spying" on a bunch of the websites of teams that are going and I see a LOT of arm bot, and not so many ramp bots, which makes me nervous. I think the "west coast" arm is going to be a consistent theme from what I've seen, even though our arm is nothing like it :p

It's going to be a fun regional, and I expect the action to pick up a lot from Thursday to Saturday, since to my knowledge only 7 of the 48 teams have had previous regional experience (114, 190, 192, 254, 488, 1070 and 1700)

Good luck every, I can't wait!

Mike C.

Guy Davidson

13-03-2007, 17:23

SVR will be a fun, scoring intensive regional. PALY Robotics is really looking forwards towards unleashing Thor for the first time, and see how our arm holds up with the rest.

Mike, what exactly is the "west coast" arm? I've heard of the West Coast Offense before, but not west coast arm.

-Guy

Michael Corsetto

13-03-2007, 17:29

Mike, what exactly is the "west coast" arm? I've heard of the West Coast Offense before, but not west coast arm.

-Guy

For west coast arm: see team 60/254 in 04 and 254/22 in 05, i believe 60 did it even earlier that 04 but I haven't personally seen it. I could link to 4 other teams who are making "west coast arms" this year, but I'll let you find those on your own ;)

Only 2 days left!

Mike C.

Arille

13-03-2007, 17:30

Coming from one of the regional's 5 rookie teams, team 2135 is diving into the competition head-first. Most of us do not really know what to expect at all, but we're game for whatever's to come! I, personally, am excited to meet all of the other teams competing :)

We have a few things left to correct on our 'bot (wire gauges, etc. etc.), so hopefully we will finish in time for inspection.

For those going to SVR, look around for our team! Team 2135 Presentation Invasion :D

Lavapicker

13-03-2007, 17:38

Team 2024 is coming over from Hilo Hawaii with a two-bot lifter. Very unique design...you just have to drive up four to six inches into a tray and we pull you up the rest of the way up like a tow-truck on either side of us. We then pull the whole side up and use kickstands to stop the backdrive. Worked well on some bots we used several years ago but we'll see when we get there how it works on you folks! We've missed FIRST the last three years so we're coming in as a rookie with distant memories of how it all goes!

Aloha,

Guy Davidson

13-03-2007, 17:39

If you guys need any help, feel free to ask one of us from team #8. We've been around for a while, could probably lend a hand or a piece of advice if needed.

-Guy

Fred Sayre

13-03-2007, 17:45

Team 488 is looking forward to bettering our PNW performance :)

http://a539.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/54/l_4cd6179a90a912c8bfb788f35b0fd752.jpg

2 robots @ 12"

We have very large low profile ramps that are really easy to drive onto that lift independently and without the need for continuous power.

Guy Davidson

13-03-2007, 18:05

That looks pretty awesome. Hopefully we'll get a chance to test it for ourselves.

Bill Gold

13-03-2007, 18:08

Mike, what exactly is the "west coast" arm? I've heard of the West Coast Offense before, but not west coast arm.
I don't mean to totally derail this thread, but here are some pictures of the evolution of the "west coast" arm.

2000:
http://www.firstrobotics.net/00gallery/pages/060-1_jpg.htm

2001:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/12758
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/12759

2004:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/16914
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/19859
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/17228

2005:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/20479

It feels like only yesterday...

115inventorsam

13-03-2007, 18:34

Team 488 is looking forward to bettering our PNW performance :)

We have very large low profile ramps that are really easy to drive onto that lift independently and without the need for continuous power.

Among all the ramp bots I've seen, I say this one is definitely my favorite. I'm sure you can back up your performance at PNW pretty easily.

This will be my first ever regional, I won't be there on Thursday, but I'll be all pumped up for Friday and Saturday.

If you want to see 115's bot, it's on the MVRT website's frontpage(as a rookie, not sure if this is indeed what you call a west coast arm)

rachal

13-03-2007, 21:30

1072, too bad you guys missed the deadline for it, where are you going instead?

We went to L.A. instead, and Sacramento is our second regional again.

Hey, I've never met 488 before! Looking forward to that :) Have they ever been at SVR in the past?

Fred Sayre

13-03-2007, 22:53

We went to L.A. instead, and Sacramento is our second regional again.

Hey, I've never met 488 before! Looking forward to that :) Have they ever been at SVR in the past?

Nope, first time ;)

AznPrincess3089

14-03-2007, 01:03

1070 will be going as one of the all girls teams! Can't wait to see everyone there.

burkechrs1

14-03-2007, 13:55

less than one day w00t! I just want to say one last good luck to all teams. Hopefully everyone has minimal problems if any at all. And lets not forget to have fun. See you all tomorrow bright and squirly. =P

jackie Ha

15-03-2007, 15:50

hey, can anyone post the link to the SVR webcast. I checked robotics.nasa.gov webcast list, but the link is not there. Thank you

waialua359

15-03-2007, 15:58

http://robotics.arc.nasa.gov/events/webcasts/regionals_2007.php

SamC

15-03-2007, 16:00

http://robotics.arc.nasa.gov/events/webcasts/regionals_2007.php

notice there is no link to the SVR webcast...

waialua359

15-03-2007, 20:39

should be on tomorrow, Friday:yikes:

burkechrs1

15-03-2007, 23:22

well the first day of SVR is over. who sticks out to you guys?

waialua359

15-03-2007, 23:52

Im sure the hawaiian team, 368 did, as usual.:D

115inventorsam

16-03-2007, 00:21

Im sure the hawaiian team, 368 did, as usual.:D

I wouldn't be surprised if they did, it's a nice looking robot from what I saw on their website, and their manipulator is quite impressive, though I still sort of like our's better.:p

Unfortunately I wasn't there today, stayed in school for today, but I'm ready for tomorrow, I'll be out there scouting and cheering on my team, MVRT!:)

I would guess that the teams who had already competed before(i.e. 254, 114, etc.) probably stood out the most, but once it really begins, we'll see who really is the best.

Stvn

16-03-2007, 00:50

By what you've seen today (Thursday), how do you think your robot will match up to the rest?

I think we'll do well. We've gotten up almost every ramp, and are able to get 5-7 tubes on per match. I especially like one match where the only tubes on the rack were six blues in a row, all hung by our team.

waialua359

16-03-2007, 00:53

They are a very friendly and humble team.
It's too bad we haven't come of late. The timing of week 3 was bad for us. We usually attend at least one regional together, but just not this year.

good luck to you all!:D

royal_robotix

16-03-2007, 03:18

omg! i couldnt believe dean kamen was actually there!!! it was pretty exciting!!! our team got a picture with him and i have to say, my life is complete now!!! I LOVE YOU DEAN KAMEN!!!

waialua359

16-03-2007, 06:35

we are going to see him in May when he checks out the arena for the 2008 Hawaii regional!:p

royal_robotix

16-03-2007, 09:35

ok, im gonna try to convince our team to go that regional

115inventorsam

16-03-2007, 11:07

Dean Kamen was there!? Another reason why I wish I could've been there yesterday.

Oh well, I'm all set to head out to the Event Center, ready for my first ever regional!:)

madmac625

16-03-2007, 13:36

Why isn't the webcast up? It says technical difficulties but it's almost lunch there, I want to see what's going on!

115inventorsam

16-03-2007, 21:27

What a day...

One keeper was scored today at SVR by 846, congrats to them.

Standings are currently unavailable, all I really know is that 115 is 38th out of 48 teams...tough day for us, half the drivetrain failed, forced us to be a no show for one match, and we faced 114 too many times, with that good robot that they have.

But I'm optimistic, we did better the last few matches, and we'll be ready to come back tomorrow with what we really got.

Other teams that did great in my opinion: 100, 254, 668, 190, 852 and there's probably some more, but I forget.

waialua359

16-03-2007, 21:30

How about the hawaiian team 368? Just curious as there is no access to results or video of today.

bduddy

16-03-2007, 21:55

They did fairly well in the competition (can't remember exact record), and also won two awards... congrats to them :)

slickguy2007

16-03-2007, 21:56

Any updates on awards? The FIRST site isn't displaying them.

waialua359

16-03-2007, 22:03

They did fairly well in the competition (can't remember exact record), and also won two awards... congrats to them :)

Was it the website award, because they had an awesome website! :D

Travis Schuh

16-03-2007, 22:11

Other teams that did great in my opinion: 100, 254, 668, 190, 852 and there's probably some more, but I forget.

Too bad that some of these teams (at least 190 and 254) are ranked lower than they should be.

Guy Davidson

16-03-2007, 22:12

Hey guys,
The SVR website currently doesn't have the match results for the mathes. Does anyone happen to have them? I don't even need the teams that played, just the final score.

Guy Davidson

16-03-2007, 22:14

Too bad that some of these teams (at least 190 and 254) are ranked lower than they should be.
The match assigning system really messes up the correlation between ranking and robot ability. It's true for many teams, including those you mentioned (and us, and some other teams). Alliance selections will really showcase how well teams scout and make decisions.

burkechrs1

16-03-2007, 22:33

yea we're like the 25th seed and have the two highest scored matches at the regional (128-0 and 290-2).... we'll have to see if the top 8 evens itself out tomorrow.

as for who is solid i think 100, 114, and 668 stick out. well of course i say my own team but i seriously think we have been solid when our steering wheel wasnt borken haha. 254 is just gettign beat up out there. they're double teamed just about every match which is really hurting their scores. but they should still probabaly be chosen for the playoffs...

andreagirl13

16-03-2007, 23:22

Does anyone know how Team 987 is doing? They're my alma mater and it's driving me crazy that the scores aren't available. :ahh: Any info would be appreaciated- Thanks!

Madison

16-03-2007, 23:31

Does anyone know how Team 987 is doing? They're my alma mater and it's driving me crazy that the scores aren't available. :ahh: Any info would be appreaciated- Thanks!

They're currently seeded in the top 10 -- somewhere around 5 or 6, I think. We haven't run the data yet, but I imagine they're one of the best ringer-scoring machines at the event, alongside 100, 114 and 254.

waialua359

16-03-2007, 23:34

Madison

16-03-2007, 23:41

how about team 368? I heard you folks went out to dinner with them.:D

We invited the two teams that traveled from Hawaii to our hotel for a party and dinner last night. We had a great time meeting everyone and have been cheering them on all day.

I don't recall their exact seed, but I think they're somewhere in the teens right now. They have a good machine, but the scheduling seems like it has been working against some folks more than it should have.

waialua359

16-03-2007, 23:46

Thank you.
There are 4 Hawaii teams this year. The other two will be in Vegas, including us. We also just finished competing in NJ and our team is still feeling the jet lag and missed schoolwork after being gone for a week and a half.

Good luck to you folks! We actually travel to Seattle every year after competing in a national electric car race every year in Portland. There is a team from Seattle called team sealth that competes against us every year!
We watch the Mariners and shop in Tualip?? at the outlet mall yearly!!:D and go to the casino's next door of course.......hehe.....

razor95kds

16-03-2007, 23:48

Our robot is finally fully functional! We struggled today with programming but we had near final code for our last match today and our robot scored 4 tubes including one at the last second to tie the match. Tomorrow we should be scoring 5-6 a match now that the robot is fully functional.

The robots the stood out for me today were 488 and 190. Both teams have fantastic ramps and will be very important come elimination matches.

Good luck and have fun tomorrow!

Guy Davidson

17-03-2007, 00:22

Same as 766, we only finally now have a fully fucntional bot. We're looking to turn it on tomorrow and finally have it actually performing to its real level.

royal_robotix

17-03-2007, 00:26

1070 had the la regional to work out a majority of our kinks in the lift sytem but now, they are working next to perfect. also, we've been working on our defense...

im really looking forwards to tomorrow's matches...

Gboehm

17-03-2007, 00:34

We are an entirely defensive bot, we are currently ranked 5th. We seem to be pushin people around and makin it hard to score. But we can climb any ramp. Some good fun out there, playin defense. Come and stop by our pit.

CraigHickman

17-03-2007, 01:23

Standings are currently unavailable, all I really know is that 115 is 38th out of 48 teams...tough day for us, half the drivetrain failed, forced us to be a no show for one match, and we faced 114 too many times, with that good robot that they have.

It's been a great regional so far, and I look forward to tommorow as I head off to sleep. The one thing that really keeps our team running to the level we've achieved is our meetings. Other teams could learn from this: it eliminates just about all og the chaos. After every match, no matter the outcome, no matter what, all memebers but the key scouters in the stands go off to a quiet corner and meet. It really keeps everyone involved, and it allows us to highlight all that needs to happen, to schedule who's in the pit when, and to refocus onto what we need to do.

And designing the robot before touching tools made us able to work with one heck of a machine.

Good luck to all teams tommorow!

andreagirl13

17-03-2007, 01:46

They're currently seeded in the top 10 -- somewhere around 5 or 6, I think. We haven't run the data yet, but I imagine they're one of the best ringer-scoring machines at the event, alongside 100, 114 and 254.

Thank you!!! Hopefully the website will be working tomorrow. Wish I was there! Sounds like great fun! Believe me, you definitely miss this when you get to college. Good luck to all of the teams!

114Klutz

17-03-2007, 03:00

They are actually in the top 5, I believe they are seeded 3rd.

Joel J

17-03-2007, 03:03

Madison

17-03-2007, 03:14

What's the verdict on the competitiveness of this regional? Most competitive SVR yet? What about a run down on the current "all-stars." How is 488 doing? What kind of scores are being put up? Why haven't they uploaded the results to the website?

I can't speak to how more or less competitive things are this year than in years past, but so farm we feel as if things here are a bit less competitive than PNW was two weeks ago. In Portland, we saw none of the problems people reported in week two regarding robots missing matches and failing inspection and the like, but that sort of thing seems to be very prominent here in San Jose. As the day went on, things got better, naturally, but the ramp up took a lot longer than it did in Portland. Because our design requires some participating from other teams to be effective, today was a trying day for us.

We're doing okay. We are 3-2-1, I think, and have been pretty steadily improving our performance. I think we all underestimated how badly battered and bruised our machine was after PNW, so it took us a bit of time to get everything back in shape. Tomorrow, we expect to lift well in our remaining two qualifying matches and continue the trend we established this afternoon.

Madison

17-03-2007, 03:20

I'm exhausted. Our "sucker" got cracked in the second to last match and we were a little worried it would get worse (even through it still ran fine).

So we packed up at the end of the day and went machining. We worked until midnight and got 2 new suckers built - so we will have spares tomorrow.

I understand the desire to make sure your machine is in top condition, but this is a violation of <R21>. Just a heads up.

<R21> At the competitions: Teams are allowed to repair, modify or upgrade their competition
ROBOT while participating in a competition event. To support this, teams may bring
SPARE, REPLACEMENT and UPGRADE PARTS and COTS items to the competitions
(within the limits specified in Rules <R30> and <R31>). Work can only be done on-site in
the Pits or at any facility made available to all teams at the event (e.g., in a team’s repair
trailer or a local team’s shop offered to all teams to use). Fabrication may be done when the
Pit area is open for normal operations during the period starting with the opening of the Pit
area on Thursday and ending at 4:00PM on Saturday. All work must be completed when
the Pit area closes each evening. Parts cannot be removed from the competition site and
retained overnight after the Pit area closes.

Good job today. You've got a great robot.

=Martin=Taylor=

17-03-2007, 03:26

I understand the desire to make sure your machine is in top condition, but this is a violation of <R21>. Just a heads up.

I didn't know about this.
Won't happen again.

Fred Sayre

17-03-2007, 04:14

Scouting data so far:

Team AvgRingers
254 3.5
852 3.5
100 3
114 2.666666667
987 2.5
1280 2.166666667
668 2
2024 2
604 1.833333333
692 1.666666667
190 1.5
971 1.333333333
192 1.166666667
368 1.166666667
115 1.142857143
760 1
846 1
1560 1
2035 0.833333333
2141 0.8
1693 0.5
1967 0.5
973 0.428571429
766 0.4
1544 0.333333333
1970 0.333333333
1458 0.2
581 0.166666667
1700 0.166666667
256 0.166666667
840 0.166666667
253 0.166666667
624 0.142857143

Team AvgLift
1700 20
1070 17.5
846 15
624 12.85714286
190 10
987 10
488 7.5
2144 7.5
675 7.5
668 7.5

Overall SVR has been an interesting experience. I am really proud of 488 so far, the robot is more or less functioning as designed. It is tough depending on other teams for scoring, despite how easy you try to make it for them. Would I have advocated building a lifting robot if I had to do it again? Probably, but either way it is a lesson learned. Hopefully as the finals approach people will understand team's abilities despite the match performances. The match pairing algorithm is frustrating for most.

Joe Ross

17-03-2007, 09:32

The standings and match results are posted now on FIRST's site. http://www2.usfirst.org/2007comp/events/SJ/rankings.html

Cory

17-03-2007, 09:51

The standings and match results are posted now on FIRST's site. http://www2.usfirst.org/2007comp/events/SJ/rankings.html

Finally...now the rankings are actually useful for scouting purposes.

114Klutz

17-03-2007, 09:59

This information is currently not available.
Please try back later.

Did it go up, then go down?

Joe Ross

17-03-2007, 10:03

Did it go up, then go down?

still working for me, do you have the old page cached?

rainy846

17-03-2007, 10:49

We did very well yesterday (5-1-0)
We were against 254 for two times during the Qualification matches, and either game was with super good robots, we thought.... "AHHH there goes our ranking" but surprisingly we won both, and both are so CLOSE!! Luckily for us , we got on the ramps both times, so thats 30 points by itself!
out of the 5 matches we won, 2 matches we had ringers stuck on our lift so we couldn't touch other ringers, and 1 match our ramp was hit by another robot, so it fell out in the beginning, so we can't "score" anything, good thing i think 2024 put a couple ringers and among with our other alliance , so in the end one of our alliance got on our ramp so we got to win the match. With our ramp design, we can still move and adjust position even with the ramp down! And when we don't need our ramps, we can easily detach them so our robot would be lighter and faster and it would be easier to climb on other ramps!!
during the match that we lost, it was like one on one considering our only alliance got DQed , but we still did pretty well, put we 3 ringers in a row, which was pretty good.
so of our 3 "no-problem" matches, we score 2-3 ringers.
we added something to the lift so ringers can no longer get stuck on the lift!
hope we can score a lot more today

Currently ranked 3 (the last time i checked at least), but we still have 2 more matches to go!

Good Luck everyone!!

SamC

17-03-2007, 15:49

Any idea when the Eliminations will begin? The webcast has been the elimination brackets for the past 1/2 hour...
http://robotics.nasa.gov/events/webcasts/regionals_2007.php

waiakea11

17-03-2007, 15:51

Hey team 2024 is at the silicon valley regional, and even though we didnt make it to finals, we kicked butt! we were 12th! YAY!!!

T3_1565

17-03-2007, 16:10

Any idea when the Eliminations will begin? The webcast has been the elimination brackets for the past 1/2 hour...
http://robotics.nasa.gov/events/webcasts/regionals_2007.php

It still is.. I'm wondering if they are on lunch break or something.. I mean it is like 1 or 2 there isn't it?? (I have no idea just so you know)

Edit: hahaha it just started when I finished this

madmac625

17-03-2007, 17:01

Did the webcast just skip for anyone? I was watching the end of 254's match, and waiting for the score, and then it jumped to the end of 190's match, which ended in a tie..

SamC

17-03-2007, 17:06

Yes.. That happened for me too. I think that 254's alliance won (because of my own calculating). But I don't know about penalties so I don't know for sure who the winner was.

Ken Leung

17-03-2007, 17:26

Travis Hoffman

17-03-2007, 17:50

chaoticprout

17-03-2007, 17:52

Who won?

madmac625

17-03-2007, 17:57

It's not over until the fat lady sings. :Puts hand to ear: I don't hear anything yet..
Oh, sorry.

codeoftherobot

17-03-2007, 18:00

Who won?

Well he's commenting on the quarter final match where the alliance with 1070, 692 and 254 was defeated. So the regional isn't over yet but it was surprising after so many years of winning the regional that the Poofs lost so early in the elimination matches.

Jonathan Norris

17-03-2007, 18:09

I just tuned in and I am really impressed by 488's ramps, they work really well. 100 was a great scoring machine, but it was 488's ramps that beat them. I have a feeling the 488's ramps are going to be successful in the finals.

theycallhimtom

17-03-2007, 18:11

Yah Xbot (488) is great with their ramps. What worked when we faced them was to play defense on them and the people trying to get up their ramp till the 15 second mark. If nobody plays defense on them though its huge points.

T3_1565

17-03-2007, 18:21

well I must say wings (not ramps) seem to do much better than ramps themselves, don't worry not trying to start another thread like that, but they are wings lol. In my personal opionion they work much better than ramps

theycallhimtom

17-03-2007, 18:51

The finals are tied 1-1
Red team 488,766,852
Blue team 1516,1280,190

First match blue got more rings on but only one robot was able to get up the ramp. The other one was disabled or not functioning I'm not sure which. Red team got ramp points to win.

Second match one the red robots(852?) has a ring thrown onto its flag and its partner (766?) had to grab it off. While it was cool teamwork it slowed them down and the blue team has 32 rack points to only 4 from the red team. Both teams got ramp points, but red could not overcome the rack points by blue.

SizzelChest330

17-03-2007, 18:58

190 has a pretty sick machine!

Looks and functionality!

The ramps are what got me :D

Great job everyone!

madmac625

17-03-2007, 19:03

Go Team 190!!
Congrads everyone.

dlavery

17-03-2007, 19:06

WOW! I was able to tune into the webcast just now, and I still can't believe it. The Cheesy Poofs just got knocked out of the finals! History has just been made in the Silicon Valley Regional!

They still did a wonderful job though.

All I can say is, Wow!

By my count, the Cheesy Poofs have won 13 of the 17 FRC regional competitions that they have entered. By any standard, that is an absolutely amazing record! No one else even comes close. There are two records in FIRST that may never be broken - the mightly Team Hamond's unbelievable run of four National Championships, and the Cheesy Poofs incredible record of winning 76% of the regional competitions they entered over a nine-year period. Congratulations to Team 254 for continuing to be a class act, and congratulations to whoever actually is winning the Silicon Valley Regional (since the FIRST web site hasn't been updated in a while, and the webcast appears to be stuck, I can't tell what is going on with the competition right now).

-dave

waiakea11

17-03-2007, 19:59

Team 488 didnt win...team 970, 1516, and one other that i cant remember...at least i think that was the numbers. team 970's ramps were great, and their claw was the one that made the most scores....so all in all 970 won the match for the team....at least that is what i think.

Karthik

17-03-2007, 20:00

By my count, the Cheesy Poofs have won 13 of the 15 FRC regional competitions that they have entered.

By my count they are 13 for 17, with the only losses being Cleveland in 2002, Sacramento in 2003 & 2005, and now SVR in 2007. Either way, their record is phenomenal. I don't think we'll ever see a streak of the same magnitude as their streak at SVR.

rachal

17-03-2007, 20:10

Wow, I still can't believe they were finally defeated! They were so good at LA, I was sure they would wipe out SVR again...

Congrats to everyone. And props to 190/488's ramps, they were the coolest I've seen this season ;)

Ken Leung

17-03-2007, 20:33

By my count, the Cheesy Poofs have won 13 of the 17 FRC regional competitions that they have entered. By any standard, that is an absolutely amazing record! No one else even comes close. There are two records in FIRST that may never be broken - the mightly Team Hamond's unbelievable run of four National Championships, and the Cheesy Poofs incredible record of winning 76% of the regional competitions they entered over a nine-year period. Congratulations to Team 254 for continuing to be a class act, and congratulations to whoever actually is winning the Silicon Valley Regional (since the FIRST web site hasn't been updated in a while, and the webcast appears to be stuck, I can't tell what is going on with the competition right now).

-dave

Yup, let's not let the history of team 254 slip through the crack. Let's take a look at their history on their website: http://team254.bcp.org/history.php

10 Regional Champions from 1999 to 2007 (so far) plus 3 Off-Season Cal Games Champions

2004 Regional and National Chairman's Award

Numerous awards at various competition.

And most importantly, through out the years they've let Bay Area teams use their playing field for practice and off-season events, they've volunteered to help us transport the field, setup the field, sent volunteers for the events, and NASA Ames has also setup their mobile machine shop at SVR as well as other regionals.

Oh, they took me to LA with them for the 2001 Fall Classic too.

Their leadership in the Bay Area is undeniable. Hat's off to the Cheesy Poofs for raising the bar and maintaining such a successful program since their rookie year, 1999.

CraigHickman

17-03-2007, 20:56

I only have a few words about the regional: That was fun.

I can honestly say that that was the best regional I have ever been to. After going undefeated during the qualifiers, we lost to an amazing alliance. If we're gonna be beat by anyone, I sure am glad it was someone better.

Thanks for a great competition! See you in Davis!

madmac625

17-03-2007, 22:33

Anyone hear about SOAP putting the videos up? I really want to rewatch a few of the matches

ChristinaC

17-03-2007, 23:33

Congratulations to 604 (Leland) for winning Chairman's Award! :)

=Martin=Taylor=

17-03-2007, 23:42

I only have a few words about the regional: That was fun. See you in Davis!

I agree, that was totaly awsome!:D Our alliance may not have won; but when it came to tubes we just couldn't be beat:D

Looking forward to Davis!

Dr.Bot

17-03-2007, 23:54

Since the servers at FIRST never got the updates on Saturday, (even though the event server said it got sent):

AWARDS:

General Motors Industrial Design 100
Motorola Quality 190
Johnson @ Johnson Sportsmanship 649
DaimlerChrysler Team Spirit 1700
Judges Award 568
Rookie Inspiration 2135
Rookie All-Star 2024
Highest Rookie Seed 2144
Underwriters Lab Safety 840
Regional Finalists 766 852 488
Regional Winners 1280 1516 190
Chariman's 604

Teams in rounds: Elimination

973 114 100
192 2144 581
1070 254 692
846 675 987
624 668 604
1700 971 378

Yes it is true 254 lost a Silicon Valley regional. Qtr final went to three matches - they became disabled in the third and final when they took a hard hit and the main circuit breaker popped. In a true act of gracious professionalism, the entire alliance went over and shook the hands of their victorious competitors.

Hope I got it right. FIRST should be able to get the results off the server when it gets to San Diego.

Stvn

17-03-2007, 23:55

The funny thing about 254 losing is that half the teams were celebrating over it. Other than that, it was a great regional. We had some phenomonal tube scorers on our team, but 60 ramp points is hard to beat.:)

Michael Corsetto

17-03-2007, 23:55

Our alliance may not have won; but when it came to tubes we just couldn't be beat:D

Looking forward to Davis!

I can't wait for Davis either. You guys were a solid scorer and it was a lot of fun filling up that rack every match.

If anyone wants to see an incredibly heavy offensive match watch our first match of saturday. Us versus 100, with 987 on our side. We used up all 9 of our human player ringers, and the other alliance used 7-8 of theirs, and then us and 987 each grabbed a spoiler and essentially flanked the rack and while we attracted the defense, 987 placed their spoiler. By the end of the match the rack was full. It was quite a sight to behold.

Congratulations to teams 190, 1280 and 1516, you guys were awesome!

Mike C.

s_forbes

17-03-2007, 23:56

From what I saw, that looked like an awesome regional! Lots of unique scoring robots there. I especially liked team 114's design; it was very innovative and effective. Team 100 had a nice quick machine, but they had some stability issues (low tire pressure?) which led to some interesting matches! I loved 488's lifter, and it was nice to see our old alliance partners 852 get so far in the elliminations. Definately a cool regional!

I agree, that was totaly awsome!:D Our alliance may not have won; but when it came to tubes we just couldn't be beat:D

We shall see... ;) Davis is going to be one awesome regional, I really wish I could go to cheer my team on. I predict that there will be many high scoring and exciting matches.

Michael Corsetto

17-03-2007, 23:59

spinmunky

18-03-2007, 00:00

i believe that the first match of the regional was the best for me. We were in that match and i think it was the highest scoring match of the entire regional (but i was in the pits alot of the time) The score was 290 to 2 we were on the alliance that scored 290. I'm also looking for a video of that match so please PM me with any info on that.

Gboehm

18-03-2007, 01:07

Congratulations to teams 190, 1280 and 1516, you guys were awesome!

Mike C.

Thanks, you guys were tough, but it was a boatload of fun.

Ashwin

18-03-2007, 01:16

Does any have Jason Morella's video, played during the eliminations?

Does anyone have any videos of the competition? I want to see some cause i was in the pit. Especially the match of 114 vs. 100 Saturday morning where the spoiler was used. I heard it was an amazing match!

On behave of team 115 (MVRT) I just wanted to say congratulations to 604 for winning the chairmen award! :) Also, congratulations to team 488 for engineering inspiration. Congratulations to the regional champions 1280 ,1516 190! (190 was an amazing robot) Also, while on that note, congratulations to the Regional Finalists 766, 852, 488. (488 also had great ramps) (several out of state teams doing really well at SVR this year!)

Robots that I think stood out at this competition were 100, 114, 1700, 368, 488, 852 and 190. (but i did not watch that many matches because I was in the pit most of the time... so I know there are a lot more teams the were really good.)

It is true, the poofs did not win. SVR history has indeed been made! They had an amazing record!

Congratulations to all the teams that won awards!
See you all at Davis!
115 will be ready, we hope we have taken out all the bugs in our robot at SVR and will do well at Davis!

Blair Frank

18-03-2007, 01:19

Some Congratulations and Thanks:

First: A hearty thank you to all of our alliance partners, especially our finalist alliance, teams 488(XBot) and 766 (MA Bears). To XBot: We could not have done what we did without your help, especially on defense, and in the area of bonus points. Thank you so much for providing that extra "boost" that put us over the competition. (Also, Congratulations on the engineering award) MA Bears, you guys are great. Your robot was a great all-around support, scorer and defense 'bot, and we thank you.

Thanks also to the officials, Judges, Regional administrators, Pit Admins, and everyone else that helped make this Silicon Valley Regional something to remember. FIRST would not be there without you, and all of your effort shows, whether it's cleaning up the field long after people have left, or using their lunch break to make sure we can see out the lexan of the alliance station, you all are the most hard-core group of people I have ever met. Thank you for all that you do.

Congratulations to the winning alliance, 190, 1280 and 1516. You all just "gelled" out on the playing field, and it showed. 190: Your ramp was an amazing piece of work. From talking to some of you, it was so apparent that you realized all of the possible design flaws with a ramp and went to correct them. It turned out great. Your claw design was also just amazing. 1280: Whether it was acting as a secondary ramp, hanging ringers like crazy, or just getting in the way, you went the "extra mile" and really contributed a lot. 1516: You were the clinchers, the clutch hitters, who may not get as much recognition, but believe me, you were a force to be reckoned with out on the field. And to all of you: I cannot think of a better, more coherent alliance to lose to, and thank you for that.

And last, but most certainly not least, a hearty congratulations to team 604 for their Regional Chairman's Award Win, and likewise, a whopping congrats to all of the other award winners who have been mentioned previously.

I can't wait to see most of you at davis!
-Blair

Stvn

18-03-2007, 01:28

I'm trying to improve upon the FIRSTWiki SVR page. It started out as "The Silicon Valley Regional in ________ is usually held at ________." I've improved upon it, but if anyone has some spare time, please add some more information to it.

gpb1191

18-03-2007, 01:31

it was indeed a good weekend/thursday
thought the cold early mornings, the never ending repeat of the same 10 songs and the unforseen problems, it was a weekend. As this being my first true robotics competiton, it was deffinitely a once in a lifetime experience. I smell a slideshow somewhere...
852 is ready for davis!

KrazyRoadster

18-03-2007, 02:17

MVRT (Team 115) would like to give a shout out to team 488 XBOT for providing us with a banebots transmission for out drivetrain after one of ours broke. Not only do these guys have a great robot (and my favorite lifter) but they are a shining example of gracious professionalism.

Madison

18-03-2007, 02:54

Well he's commenting on the quarter final match where the alliance with 1070, 692 and 254 was defeated. So the regional isn't over yet but it was surprising after so many years of winning the regional that the Poofs lost so early in the elimination matches.

The matches against the 1070, 254, 962 alliance were some of the toughest I've ever played in the years I've been doing this. Competing against the Poofs anywhere is intimidating, but doing it in their hometown is terrifying. All three teams fielded fantastic robots -- but better than that, they were a fantastic group of people. I'm really happy to have had the chance to play against them again.

I just tuned in and I am really impressed by 488's ramps, they work really well. 100 was a great scoring machine, but it was 488's ramps that beat them. I have a feeling the 488's ramps are going to be successful in the finals.

Thanks! We are so proud of our lifts. They've proven themselves, time and again, to be reliable and easy to use. Building an armless robot was risky, but we're extraordinarily happy with how well it's worked for us so far.

Anyone hear about SOAP putting the videos up? I really want to rewatch a few of the matches

We recorded the event and will be making it available via SOAP as soon as we can get things split up into matches and compressed. We're still working

Also, team 488 won the Engineering Inspiration Award, great job 488! Your lifters were incredible! I remember on thursday when we climbed your ramps in a practice match, even though we were on the other alliance, that was fun :D

Running down to the field to receive our Finalist medals and trophies was fun, but winning the Engineering Inspiration Award took my breath away. We were not expecting anything else and this award means so much to our team. We can't wait for the Championship!!

Thanks, everyone, for a great time. Particularly, all of us on 488 want to extend our sincerest thanks to our alliance partners, teams 766 and 852. You each played some of the smartest matches I've ever seen in FIRST. You all played with amazing, dynamic strategy that made sure we were able to adapt to almost anything that came our way. 852 -- we'll be cheering for you from Seattle while you're competing at UC Davis.

Congratulations to teams 190, 1280 and 1516!

Also, we want to congratulate team 2024! We invited them to join our team for pizza and fun on Thursday night alongside 368 and so we were thrilled when they won an award that qualified them for the Championship.

Bill Gold

18-03-2007, 03:30

Does any have Jason Morella's video, played during the eliminations?
I was talking to Jason field-side before and during the playoffs and he mentioned that he'd like to put both videos on YouTube eventually. So stay tuned for possible links.

Congrats to all of the teams who competed in another great Silicon Valley Regional.

waialua359

18-03-2007, 06:56

what an exciting regional. the poofs outcome has everyone commenting on what happened and even bringing up the past.
We sure remember the past alright!
We played in San Jose 4 times from 2000-2003 and made the finals all 4 years with the help of our fellow Hawaii teammate 368, 254, and by ourselves.
It involved the Poofs all 4 times! Twice as teammates and twice as an opponent.:D :o

115inventorsam

18-03-2007, 12:39

See you all at Davis!
115 will be ready, we hope we have taken out all the bugs in our robot at SVR and will do well at Davis!

Yeah I can't wait, I knew we were going to have some problems, but at some points it just felt a bit too ugly for me. Congrats to the winning alliance of 190, 1516, and 1280! Every one of you guys made this year's SVR a really fun first ever regional for me!:)

MVRT (Team 115) would like to give a shout out to team 488 XBOT for providing us with a banebots transmission for out drivetrain after one of ours broke. Not only do these guys have a great robot (and my favorite lifter) but they are a shining example of gracious professionalism.

So that's how we managed to get back on the field? Amazingly I never knew that, but anyways, thank you 488! You made the team pretty darn happy when El Toro X came back on the field.

See you all in Davis!

razor95kds

18-03-2007, 15:12

Team 766 would like to give a big thanks to 488 and 852. The fact that both these teams were around for us to oick as the fifth alliance captain amazes me. 488 was the best ramp bot and 852 was the second or third best scorer according to our scouts. Both were amazing in the eliminations and were the two most friendly and cooperative teams I have allied with. It was a pleasure working with 488 and 852 and I just hope that us and 852 can ally again in Davis.

royal_robotix

18-03-2007, 17:37

id like to thank the cheesy poofs and the fembots for being alliance partners with the robotrons. we gave our opponents a run for their money. also, congrats the to the regional finalists, also... good luck at nationals!!!

AznPrincess3089

18-03-2007, 18:10

1070 would like to extend a special congratulations to Team 254 and Team 692. You guys were a great alliance!

Zyik

18-03-2007, 19:46

Team 973 had a lot of fun at Silicon Valley. We look forwards to seeing you all at Davis.

Special Thank You to teams 100 and 114. Thank you for picking us.

We are trying to improve our ramp system if anyone is interested.

Also, my scouts took a lot of pictures of other robots, PM me if you want a picture of yours. Pictures are always good for sponsors and the like.

See you all at Davis!

RoyalRobo1070

18-03-2007, 20:06

As a part of the drive team from 1070, I would like to give a VERY BIG thanks to our alliances 254 and 692 for making this an awesome regional for us. We really gave them a run for their money!

Also especially hats off to 254 for encouraging our entire alliance to shake hands with the other alliance. If that wasn't gracious professionalism, I don't know what is! And also good luck to 254 in Nationals. Show them what you're made of!

And congratulations to 190, 1280, and 1516 for winning SVR. You all had great bots!

Otaku

18-03-2007, 20:44

On behalf of Team 675, Thanks to Team 987 (High Rollers) and Team 846 (Funky Monkeys) for choosing us into the Elimination rounds and getting to the semifinals.

Team 448, once again, congratulations on your awards.

Team 190 & your alliance, congratulations on your Regional win.

Team 100, on behalf of 675, we can't wait to see you at Davis. Also, I like your Saftey Captain's hat.

I think that 675 did pretty good. Our bot displayed amazing torque and traction (we pushed Team 668, the Apes of Wrath and the Rack at the same time), and the ability to score 60 bonus points with our monster of a ramp.

I'd say that the really notable bots were:

488's bot, for their innovative ramp design (and engineering award!)
254's bot, for their amazingly quick robot and their very effective grabber/scoring mechanism
100's bot, for their grabber mechanism with automatic stop, plus their bot's speed
190's bot, for it's ramp mechanism (you'd have to see it to get it, but it's amazing)
675's bot (I am a bit biased, however), for our amazing display of torque, defensive capabilities, and large ramp

Thanks to all the teams that attended for a lot of good matches, and sorry to any teams whose bots we messed up.

Hope to see at least some of you at Davis or the Nationals!

DotCom

18-03-2007, 21:05

Stvn

18-03-2007, 21:22

Team 100, on behalf of 675, we can't wait to see you at Davis. Also, I like your Saftey Captain's hat.

That hat was a media magnet. The team member wearing it was interviewed by four or five newspaper reporters. It also made the front of the Chronicle. For some reason, a hammer sticking out of a hardhat strikes people as funny.

AznPrincess3089

18-03-2007, 21:50

Team 692 would like to thank our alliance partners, teams 1070 and 254, for choosing us and making this regional absolutely splendid!

And I agree with RoyalRobo1070. Thanks to 254 for encouraging us to shake hands with the other alliance!

And big congrats to 190, 1516, and 1280!

I especially loved 190 and 488's bots. Those final rounds were VERY intense.

Though we were never given the chance to lift you, it was great being allianced with another all girls team. I know some people were hoping for an all girls alliance at Eliminations but we were the closest thing to it.

Royalpride1070

18-03-2007, 21:51

Silicon Valley was an extremely rewarding (fun/awesome) experience! once again 254 has amazed us all by their awesomeness. I would like to also congratulate our alliance 692, it was awesome having two all girls team in one alliance.

DotCom

19-03-2007, 01:43

Though we were never given the chance to lift you, it was great being allianced with another all girls team. I know some people were hoping for an all girls alliance at Eliminations but we were the closest thing to it.
I think you did lift us once...second match of quarter-finals, I think? I remember driving onto your ramp with only 3/4 of our robot on your ramp and you still managed to lift us at least 4". =)

Oooh, I was meaning to ask team 488 how their ramps were able to keep lifting even after they cut the power. I never had a chance to ask, though. =[

Cory

19-03-2007, 01:56

Oooh, I was meaning to ask team 488 how their ramps were able to keep lifting even after they cut the power. I never had a chance to ask, though. =[

They were actuated with gas springs.

AznPrincess3089

19-03-2007, 02:45

I think you did lift us once...second match of quarter-finals, I think? I remember driving onto your ramp with only 3/4 of our robot on your ramp and you still managed to lift us at least 4". =)

Oooh, I was meaning to ask team 488 how their ramps were able to keep lifting even after they cut the power. I never had a chance to ask, though. =[

I don't think we got the points for that. I was pretty sure that you guys acted as a counter balance to lift 254 up all the way even if they were on the blue (unsupported) side. Lol, everything was kind of a daze when we saw Raptor lifted.

DotCom

19-03-2007, 03:07

I don't think we got the points for that. I was pretty sure that you guys acted as a counter balance to lift 254 up all the way even if they were on the blue (unsupported) side. Lol, everything was kind of a daze when we saw Raptor lifted.

Really? I think that was in the first match when we were the counter balance. And then in the second match Raptor was pinned against the rack, so we got on the ramp...

royal_robotix

19-03-2007, 03:14

Really? I think that was in the first match when we were the counter balance. And then in the second match Raptor was pinned against the rack, so we got on the ramp...

we did get the points for lifting both bots but i dont think we got the full 60 pts

JB987

19-03-2007, 10:32

Team 987 would like to congratulate the winning alliance (and all of the other great teams that made this regional such an awesome experience for us). We were especially impressed with the friendliness of the folks at the regional and look forward to a return visit! We can't wait to see some of you again, at our regional and/or at Atlanta...

Guy Davidson

19-03-2007, 13:13

Team 8 would like to thank and congratulate:
The winning alliance, teams 190, 1280, and 1516 for their victory.
The finalists, teams 488, 766, and 852 for making it to the finals.
All teams that made eliminations, becuase it's something.
Everyone who fielded a robot, because that's what we were there to do.
Everyone who had fun, because what's the point if we didn't have fun?
Everyone who learned something, because learning is awesome.

For those of you we'll see again at Vegas, we can't wait. We plan to actually have an operational bot for Vegas, and hopefully put together a more impressive show. For everyone else, good luck in whatever regionals you go to, and at Championships if you go.

Madison

19-03-2007, 13:40

So that's how we managed to get back on the field? Amazingly I never knew that, but anyways, thank you 488! You made the team pretty darn happy when El Toro X came back on the field.

It was our pleasure. We didn't use those gearboxes, but we knew they'd come in handy for other teams, so we brought them along with us to Portland and San Jose. We started with two; now we have none. :)

Oooh, I was meaning to ask team 488 how their ramps were able to keep lifting even after they cut the power. I never had a chance to ask, though. =[

As others have mentioned, we use two 125 lbf., closed-loop gas springs per side to lift robots. The gas springs are held closed by some steel hooks that are pulled loose by the Fisher Price motors coupled with a 256:1 Banebots transmission. We need only a fraction of a second of power to spin the FP motors and pull the hooks, then it's up, up and away.

Gboehm

20-03-2007, 18:50

Any video footage avalable yet?

Lavapicker

20-03-2007, 23:54

Thank you for the hospitality 488! Our Hawaii kids had fun with you and 368 on Thursday. We were real bummed about getting as high as 12th, being one away from alliance captain and then not getting picked up for the quarters. Can't be blamed since our arm showed nothing in our last match because we tied the tie-strap on backwards when we changed out our grips which made tubes fall out....Ouch! To get the all-star rookie award was a total shock! We are so thankful for the recognition and are going to try hard over the next two weeks to get enough money together to make it from Hilo to Atlanta. Our kids want to bring the "haka" there. Thank you to all the teams in regionals...especially McKinley (368) who helped us so much. I"ll return the electrical tape next year..... Aloha all...hope to see some of you in Atlanta if we make it.

TKM.368

22-03-2007, 03:39

AUGH! Being without an internet connection since the end of the SVR has delayed our being able to make proper thank you's.

Thank you first to Teams 1700 and 971 for picking us for the Eliminations. It was a valiant effort.

We would like to thank especially Team 488 for inviting ourselves and Team 2024 to get together (http://www.mckinleyrobotics.org/2007/regionals/siliconvalley/pictures/0315-11.htm) on Thursday night. It was a blast - Line Charades is always a winner! We knew that we were in the company of an Engineering Inspiration as well as some All Stars even before Saturday's awards ceremony. It really broke our hearts when we found ourselves playing against you folks MULTIPLE TIMES and never together. Thanks for the memories you folks and best of luck to you in the Nationals!!

Nick 568

25-03-2007, 04:39

All of 568 had a great time, just being able to get out of the freezing temps and into the perfect CA weather was one of the best parts for us. This was my third FIRST event, second regional, and favorite regional yet. Ran much more smoothly than the Richmond-VCU regional IMO.

We had a fantastic time hanging out with 1351 on saturday and hope to see you all again next year. At the HI regional hopefully! :D Thanks as well for doing the whole light-swap with us. I still think it's stupid to go to that whole new light set-up... I mean what was the point? A pain to figure out how to wire, and tells you less info than last year's light...