2009 Washington D.C. Regional [Archive]

RKElectricalman

23-04-2008, 22:01

I think we'd go! That would be a great opportunity for a second regional, and it's so close! :D

I'm sort of excited about it too! We're going to have all new drivers next year, and most of the people to carry on the team will come next year, and as a Mentor-to-be I'm concerned about their experience... I really want them to get as much experience as possible, so If I ever have to leave, indefinitely, I'll be more sure of the team's new student leadership.

It'll definitely attract interest of the nation's legislative body. I think it was an amazing idea! :]

Lil' Lavery

23-04-2008, 22:05

Meh. I think this regional was strategically placed with the busy congressman in mind so they couldn't use the excuse "we were in Washington" or "we were busy". This is another way of turning in LATE homework that Dean collected a few years back (2007).

More likely it was strategically placed in one of the densest regions of FIRST teams in the country. There are 58 teams in Virginia, 27 in Maryland, and 6 in DC (going to grow). Both the Chesapeake and VCU events are in at least the upper 50s (usually 60s) every year. They don't have much room for new teams, so logically another venue had to be opened to attempt to take some of the capacity.
I'm willing to bet a majority of the Fairfax county teams (116, 611, 612, 614, 617, 623, 2186) will be there next year.

Akash Rastogi

23-04-2008, 23:00

Hopefully we go to Chesapeake as defending champions next year and can also attend this regional. It would be cool.

hehe 694th post- Stuypulse post ^_^

Kim Masi

23-04-2008, 23:16

Did they announce the venue yet? I was wondering where they are going to hold it...Right downtown? I think gong to a regional in DC would be great. No better way to promote first to our nation than starting where everything happens.

OZ_341

23-04-2008, 23:17

Depending on which week it falls, it will definitely be on our short list. Close to home, great teams, lots of local attractions, opportunities to attract politicians. Sounds like a winner all around.

ZachKahn

24-04-2008, 00:12

I'll be volunteering seeing as how I'll be attending GWU next year. Haha I got lucky!

Coredesat

27-04-2008, 04:25

Depending on when and where it is, I might volunteer.

qwertyuiop[]\

27-04-2008, 12:56

I know that my team would definetly go next year. Since we are so close, we would practically be charging nothing for members to go, opening up the opportunity to go to nationals.Usually our team doesnt go because no one wants to spend the money.

galewind

27-04-2008, 12:59

hopefully it'll be within walking distance of a hotel, then we might consider going -- having to charter a bus to get us on and off of the annapolis base every day was just too much money.

qwertyuiop[]\

27-04-2008, 13:06

If it is at the Verizon Center or the Armory, then it will be walking distance from the metro

Spiffizzle

27-04-2008, 14:33

I don't know about my team... but I'll be attending the University of Maryland so you can expect to see myself and other volunteers around enjoying the event!

Laura_587

27-04-2008, 18:11

There's a chance 587 might be there, since it would be closest after VCU adn Palmetto. It would depend on the schedule.

Joey

27-04-2008, 23:44

count 614 in =) this and annapolis will make for a great 2009 robotics competition season.

Sgraff_SRHS06

28-04-2008, 00:04

I don't know about my team... but I'll be attending the University of Maryland so you can expect to see myself and other volunteers around enjoying the event!

\;743289']If it is at the Verizon Center or the Armory, then it will be walking distance from the metro

There is absolutely no excuse for a Terp (yours truly) to not volunteer! I'm sure there will be lots of competition here to volunteer, especially if it somehow ends up on campus.

Chipawa

28-04-2008, 11:54

Team 1111 should attend seeing how we're just down the road in Annapolis. It will probably depend on how fundraising goes. We always have a blast at Chesapeake, but I'd like to see us compete in a second Regional.

Chris/Fish

12-09-2008, 07:34

\;743289']If it is at the Verizon Center or the Armory, then it will be walking distance from the metro

I heard 4th or 5th hand that it will be at the convention center. I still think that the Armory makes more sense...

dlavery

12-09-2008, 10:37

DC Convention Center, week 1 (Feb 26-28, 2009). There were several reasons why the other sites under consideration (including the Armory) could not work. For example, the venue schedule was such that if the event was to be held at the Armory, it would have had to have been on Week 4. That would have put the VCU/Richmond Regional, the DC Regional, and the Chesapeake Regional all on the same weekend. That was a non-starter for all of us. Conversely, the DC Convention Center had a workable schedule, is centrally located, has easy access (via street traffic and Metro), local to lots of hotels, is cost-compatible, and it is a beautiful facility.

-dave

.

Mr MOE

12-09-2008, 11:09

dlavery

12-09-2008, 12:34

Still TBD.

-dave

JesseK

12-09-2008, 13:47

Sweet deal with the location! I know that if 1885 can't make it, I'll definitely volunteer. We're trying to wrangle the FTC platform and a prototype drive train that's ready for the new FRC controller, so we haven't made a concrete decision on competitions. I'll see ya there either way!

roborat

12-09-2008, 16:03

Team 1249 and 337 are looking at it as a possible third regional. Pittsburgh and Palmetto are already in the schedule. Depends on getting the NASA grant for this region.

Billfred

12-09-2008, 19:47

DC Convention Center, week 1 (Feb 26-28, 2009).
I've slept since then (and don't claim to be an expert on DC), so maybe someone can tell me: Was this the venue of the Capital Clash back in 2005, or am I thinking of another spot?

dlavery

12-09-2008, 20:57

I've slept since then (and don't claim to be an expert on DC), so maybe someone can tell me: Was this the venue of the Capital Clash back in 2005, or am I thinking of another spot?

yes.

flyingcrayons

14-09-2008, 10:16

hey we were thinking of going this year, but it is the same week as the nj regional, which is our home regional... so i believe the dc regional is not week one next yr... so we might go there... should be fun anyways!!!

roborat

17-09-2008, 14:06

I just was looking at FIRST website and Washington DC is not listed as a regional.

Mark McLeod

17-09-2008, 14:31

FIRST still has the 2008 regionals posted (even though it now says 2009).
I imagine they're in the process of updating it, but the Regionals and dates are all from last season.

JesseK

17-09-2008, 16:21

Dave -- do you know if there will be a DC kickoff event as well?

dlavery

18-09-2008, 12:10

Dave -- do you know if there will be a DC kickoff event as well?

That is still being investigated. There are several efforts underway to get plans completed in time to have a central DC-area kickoff, but there has not yet been a final commitment.

-dave

.

wilsonmw04

18-09-2008, 12:52

2106 is looking into DC to make our 2nd regional. This would be the first time we've ever tried more than one. If we can get some room in our budget we will definitely be there.

qwertyuiop[]\

21-09-2008, 11:50

Our teams(623's) lead mentor wants to continue the VCU regional's tradition of having workshops at the kickoff (that didn't happen last year, why?) in DC and would be glad to teach one of them.
Also team 623 is definitely going to make it to the regional seeing that we can just have our members ride their bus to school and then walk to the metro (which is only a half mile away).

daryl

23-09-2008, 22:59

dlavery

23-09-2008, 23:03

Hi all,

Does anyone know if we are allowed to apply for and find out the results of the NASA grant before registering for the DC regional? My team is a bit reluctant to apply for a first week regional right before our own home event (week two).

Thanks for any help!

The applications for NASA grants are due by October 20, 2008. As indicated in the application instructions (https://frc-grants.arc.nasa.gov/directions.php), NASA intends to announce the selections by around November 12.

-dave

.

daryl

23-09-2008, 23:07

The applications for NASA grants are due by October 20, 2008. As indicated in the application instructions (https://frc-grants.arc.nasa.gov/directions.php), NASA intends to announce the selections by around November 12.

-dave

.

Thanks for your quick response! So we don't need to confirm that we are going to be there/register beforehand to be considered?

dlavery

24-09-2008, 00:08

Thanks for your quick response! So we don't need to confirm that we are going to be there/register beforehand to be considered?

Yes, you do. Please read the instructions carefully. If you are going to apply for a Regional Challenge Grant to attend the Capitol Regional, you need to commit to attending that event.

-dave

.

BandChick

24-09-2008, 11:24

I think this is a great choice. With a LOT of the east coast regionals hitting max capacity, this is a great spot to add a new event. Between PA, NJ, and the DE/MD area there are hundreds of teams.

Hope to go another year! (When it doesn't fall the same week as NJ!)

dlavery

24-09-2008, 12:18

A meet and greet for the new Regional Director was held last night. Stan Toney announced to the teams that there would be a Maryland local kickoff, returning to Capitol College in Laurel.

And I will repeat what I said before - the issue of a DC-area remote kick-off is still TBD. The discussion is not finished. So local DC-area teams might be well advised to keep their options open.

-dave

.

Rich Kressly

02-10-2008, 12:47

https://my.usfirst.org/myarea/index.lasso?page=teamlist&menu=false&event=DC&year=2009&event_type=FRC

Looking at the list of potential teams makes me want to believe that this will look a lot different than your typical "rookie" regional. Lots of potential support for those DC area rookies here - wow!

Akash Rastogi

02-10-2008, 15:10

Schnabel

02-10-2008, 17:05

45 will be there!

qwertyuiop[]\

02-10-2008, 18:48

While the regional its self might be a rookie, i would disagree to call all dc teams "rookies". there are some well established teams there. i think though that a local regional will make the competition more feasible for schools that were thinking of joining FIRST and create more rookie teams in that way.

623 is going to be there so watch out, we've nearly tripled our membership since last season.

JesseK

03-10-2008, 09:52

It's official -- 1885 will be at the DC regional for our 'home' regional. Now for a jump start on Dean's inevitable homework...

See you guys there!

Sgraff_SRHS06

03-10-2008, 15:59

As Will Ferrell once said, "We have a real barnburner on our hands." Looks like DC's going to be really tough! Looks like it will be a fun one to call and/or volunteer! Considering it already looks like a warmup for Championship with all the calls or lack of calls that go on with first week!

Joe Ross

06-10-2008, 11:35

At our team meeting on Friday, it was almost unanimous that we wanted to go to the Washington D.C. Regional and we are now registered.

Now to fund raise...

Koko Ed

06-10-2008, 11:41

Looks like DC is turning into a MUST SEE regional up there with Florida and Midwest!

joshsmithers

06-10-2008, 12:02

WOW, I can't wait for DC! Just look at all the "powerhouse" or "dynasty" teams that are attending. Daaaaaang. 587 will be there. (Score!) Unfortunately, we're ditching VCU; it's our first time ever not going.

JesseK

06-10-2008, 12:30

Looks like DC is turning into a MUST SEE regional up there with Florida and Midwest!

I totally agree. There are several teams attending that will keep the crowd on its toes...I know who my first FF pick will be...

dlavery

06-10-2008, 12:49

With out-of-town teams like the Teknokats (45 from Kokomo, IN), Beach Bots(330 - Los Angeles, CA), MOE (365 - Wilmington, DE), Cyber Blue (234 - Indianapolis, IN), Arab (538 - Arab, AL), Foshay (597, Los Angeles, CA) and even Yellow Fever (1872, San Juan, Puerto Rico) coming to join in with the local talent, it looks like it is shaping up to be quite an event. Add in the teams from Connecticut, Pennsylvania, the Carolinas, New Jersey, and it gets even better. And then there are the ones that we know will be added to the list when the second-event registration opens. This should be a lot of fun!

-dave

.

Sgraff_SRHS06

13-10-2008, 23:17

Any bets DC will beat Connecticut to 2 fields? It's already full after initial registration, and with the number of teams coming as a result of 2nd regional registration and rookies (projected), it's almost certain to happen (~80-90 teams?)

Nate Laverdure

29-01-2009, 16:36

From Bill's blog (http://frcdirector.blogspot.com/2009/01/invite-your-congresswoman.html):
Good Morning Teams,

I’m excited to announce the new DC Regional has plans to host a special Legislative VIP Breakfast for members of Congress and the Senate so they can come see what FIRST is all about. We’re going to send formal invitations, but a message from you will probably mean more to your State Senator and your District Representative. Please take a moment to invite your congress(wo)men to join the DC teams on Friday February 27th from 7:30 to 9:00AM at the Washington Convention Center. You can find contact information here (http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml). Thank you for helping promote FIRST.

28 days until Week One
See you then!
I'm excited to see this announcement (partly since my mom and my sister first proposed this idea), and I have heard that the DC Regional planning committee already has received one VIP RSVP from a certain VA congressman.

Here are more details about the VIP breakfast:
Because this new regional is located so near the center of the US government, we have an interesting opportunity to reach out to our elected representatives in Congress by inviting them to Legislative Day at the Washington DC Regional on Thursday, February 26, 2009. The goal of Legislative Day is to increase the visibility of FIRST among our US Legislative assembly through a grassroots effort. We believe legislators will gain awareness of the benefits of the FIRST program in contributing to and sustaining a technologically advanced workforce in the United States and it will provide our students with critical skills in advocating for valuable resources.

You, and anyone on your team, are invited to volunteer to be a VIP tour guide on Legislative Day. If possible, each legislator will be paired with a FIRST participant. Tour guides will meet with legislators during a meet-and-greet welcome reception and will then lead their VIP on a tour of the pit and competition areas. The tour will be followed by a luncheon during which legislators will learn about the FIRST program from a panel of speakers consisting of students, mentors, business partners, and FIRST officials.

We also request that you send personal invitations directly to your state's senators and your district's representatives. A good tool for finding contact information for your elected officials is USA.gov (http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml). We will be sending invitations to the offices of all US senators and representatives, but we expect that your personal letters will be most important in convincing our congressmen to attend our first Washington DC regional.

pentau

02-02-2009, 22:26

Wow, the VIP Breakfast sounds like a great way to expose first to the new administration! Do you know who we should contact if we are interested in being a tour guide? I'm afraid I'm not on the DC email list (if there is one, I'd love to be one it...:P) but I know a few members on our team who would probably be interested in "tour guiding".

NorviewsVeteran

02-02-2009, 22:31

No, a better first exposure would be to ziptie the president to an underdog team and let him experience it first hand for the weekend.

Like that will happen.

234smidget

02-02-2009, 23:31

JesseK

03-02-2009, 11:53

No, a better first exposure would be to ziptie the president to an underdog team and let him experience it first hand for the weekend.

Like that will happen.

We tried that back in November. We wrote him and his staff in two separate attempts, and both came back with the reply that out of all of the things he gets invited to, this is one where he'd love to come make an appearance. Unfortunately, no one was able to make a commitment since it's so close to the start of the term and there is so much for him and his staff to do.

It's OK though; we are already working on other possibilities :cool:

Phil Ross

03-02-2009, 13:02

If you are willing to post.

What teams are submitting Chairman's at the D.C. Regional?

Any teams already finished with their Chairman's submission? (That would be really cool)

Just Curious!

Excited about this regional. I am a senior this year and I feel that this year is going to be one of the best.
Dawgma team 1712 will be submitting Chairman's at DC. if you want a sneak peak you can find our award submition essay here:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/2199

see you all in a few weeks!

Nate Laverdure

03-02-2009, 14:20

Do you know who we should contact if we are interested in being a tour guide?
You can contact any of the following:
Melinda Koca
Co-Volunteer Coordinator
DC Regional Planning Committee
melinda.koca@gsa.gov

Jill Wetzel
Co-Volunteer Coordinator
DC Regional Planning Committee
jhwetzel@gmail.com

Dee Tomczak
Assistant Regional Director
VirginiaFIRST
Cell: 804 677-7995
robotstoo@aol.com

Pattie Cook
Regional Director
VirginiaFIRST
Tel: 804 784 4898
Fax: 804 784 5774
Cell: 804 564-8906
Robotsfirst@aol.com

Stephen of REX

03-02-2009, 20:08

Dawgma team 1712 will be submitting Chairman's at DC. if you want a sneak peak you can find our award submition essay here:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/2199

see you all in a few weeks!

1727 is going! We are torn between submitting our Chairman's to DC or Chesapeake. We don't know if a lot of the powerful teams there will be submitting chairman's to DC, or submitting at their home regionals.

And the Dawgma essay looks quite nice! Were I a judge, I would be duly impressed!

Phil Ross

03-02-2009, 21:06

1727 is going! We are torn between submitting our Chairman's to DC or Chesapeake. We don't know if a lot of the powerful teams there will be submitting chairman's to DC, or submitting at their home regionals.

And the Dawgma essay looks quite nice! Were I a judge, I would be duly impressed!

thank you so much, we all worked really hard on it. we are using DC as our home regional this year so we don't really have a choice. either way its going to be quite an experience competing (in chairman's and on the field) with some of the most respected teams in the FIRST community. Which ever place you decide to submit your entry I'm sure you will do your best and thats whats important.

can't wait to see you in DC!

Nate Laverdure

08-02-2009, 16:55

More Legislative Day information can be found in this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj51PgcvRVY), also posted here (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/2204) in the CD white papers.

Chipawa

08-02-2009, 18:15

Team 1111 will be there in DC. We're one of the more local teams, just down the road outside of Annapolis, MD. Can't wait for the Regional ... especially now that we have a working 'bot.

We'll also be at the Chesapeake. This is the first time we've gone to 2 Regionals.

Wetzel

10-02-2009, 07:32

Plane ticket is booked. I will be at the DC regional this year. :D
I'll be on the lookout for awesome, and just might have some special awards to hand out.

As a reminder, the website submission deadline is in two days, 12 Feb.

Wetzel

Koko Ed

17-02-2009, 19:46

I'm going to be staying in Alexandria, Va. Does the metro run over there? And which metro train runs to the Convention Center?

Wetzel

17-02-2009, 19:53

I'm going to be staying in Alexandria, Va. Does the metro run over there? And which metro train runs to the Convention Center?

There are several metro stops in Alexandria, though depending on where your hotel is you may or may not be within walking distance. The Convention Center is on the Green and Yellow lines, of which the yellow runs through Alexandria.

The metro trip finder has worked well for me in the past, better than the London TfL version.
http://www.wmata.com/rider_tools/tripplanner/tripplanner_form_solo.cfm

Wetzel

qwertyuiop[]\

17-02-2009, 20:03

lets let a northern virginian metro expert on this. yes there is metro there i believe. if you are near the pentagon in crystal city there is a stop there as well as in ballston. the blue line runs through the reagan airport - arlington corridor and connects up with the orange line at foggy bottom and from there you take it to metro center and connect to the red line then to the green.

also http://www.dc-first.org awesome kickoff pic. it didnt get broadcasted on the kickoff video

Wetzel

18-02-2009, 04:47

\;823440']lets let a northern virginian metro expert on this. yes there is metro there i believe. if you are near the pentagon in crystal city there is a stop there as well as in ballston. the blue line runs through the reagan airport - arlington corridor and connects up with the orange line at foggy bottom and from there you take it to metro center and connect to the red line then to the green.

also http://www.dc-first.org awesome kickoff pic. it didnt get broadcasted on the kickoff video

If you are getting on the Blue line, most in Arlington/Alex is shared track with the yellow, which goes direct to the convention center. Making as many transfers as you are suggesting will take forever, so I don't recommend it.

Wetzel

qwertyuiop[]\

18-02-2009, 18:14

sorry my mistake. i live at the end of the orange line, so i never really take the blue or yellow.

nomad725

19-02-2009, 10:32

team 1370 will be at washington dc and i think this regional will be great.....

gblake

26-02-2009, 23:28

Hey Guys and Gals,

If you have a little time on your hands, grab a couple of friends, take the escalator up to the ground floor lobby and try the 6-player, Xbox controller, 3D graphics, physics-based Lunacy simulation Lockheed Martin is sponsoring.

An informal tournament is in the works! Be one of the top N high-scoring 3-player alliances on Friday - Get invited back Saturday morning to compete against the other high-scorers in a set of elimination rounds to see who is king of the DC Regional's virtual hill.

Or ... Just stop by anytime, solo or with friends, to play a match or two just for fun. The tournament idea is very informal - We won't let it get in the way of everyone having a good time ;)

Blake (and Dave and Jason and Stephanie and Johnson and Emily)

Alex Cormier

27-02-2009, 18:55

Congrats Rich!

DarkFlame145

27-02-2009, 19:46

awards for day one coming soon?

Koko Ed

27-02-2009, 20:32

awards for day one coming soon?

AVA = 116
Imagery = 2068
Innovation in Control = 234
Creativity = 1731
Driving Tomorrow's Technology = 339
Website = 620
WFA = Rich Kressley of 1712.

Collin Fultz

27-02-2009, 20:58

Congratulations, Rich!

Adama

27-02-2009, 22:26

Congratulations to all the award winners today.
Also, I have been unable to make it to the regional though I have watched most of it on tv. In general how is the regional playing out? The camera isn't very good at showing an overview of matches,it just focuses from robot to robot a lot.

Go 2199!

BPetry234

28-02-2009, 06:08

The regional is going great. They are sticking pretty close to scheduale, teams are helping teams, lots of VIP's are just a few things that don't have to do with bots.

As far as teams go, the games are pretty tight. There are a few X2 matches, but for the most part, most are with in 10 points of each other. It really makes for a good atmosphere.

Good luck to all the teams today and I look forward to see how the whole thing turns out.

lachoneus8

28-02-2009, 06:09

If you have a little time on your hands, grab a couple of friends, take the escalator up to the ground floor lobby and try the 6-player, Xbox controller, 3D graphics, physics-based Lunacy simulation Lockheed Martin is sponsoring.

Here's two of the top scorers on Friday: Team 836, the Robobees vs Team 1699, the Robocats. Final score 60 Robocats, 52 Robobees.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fv-_EhEuiA

Chuck Glick

28-02-2009, 10:39

Big Congrats to the head honcho of Dawgma, Rich Kressly. You deserve it Kres.

Kyle

28-02-2009, 14:48

I'm in class and can't watch the regional. Whats going on????

tim-tim

28-02-2009, 15:14

On behalf of team 836, the Robobees,

I would like to thank all teams for making the DC Regional exciting to watch! Another thanks goes to all of the sponsors and volunteers that made this event happen.

Finally, Congratulations Teams 45, 234, and 620 on their victory

-Tim

DarkFlame145

28-02-2009, 15:17

gratz to the winning alliance, it was a great regional to watch. Now time to finish watching the MidWest Regional

tim-tim

28-02-2009, 16:33

Another congratulations to 234 on the Chairman's Award. What a weekend for you guys.

And, congratulations to all the other teams receiving awards. Hopefully we will see majority of you at Chesapeake.

-Tim and the Robobees (836)

Koko Ed

28-02-2009, 17:43

Lil' Lavery

28-02-2009, 19:25

When people talk about strong regionals they like to point out the level of the on field performance of the robots. In terms of that measurement the DC regional will pale in comparison no doubt (though 45's robot will go down as one of the strongest robots this season in my opinion). But when you talk about the quality of teams at this event there was no regional I have seen that has ever been better. There were teams moving up and down and all around the pits helping every other team to get their robot ready and out onto the field. Especially the rookie teams.
It was something to see and inspiring to witness. You guys made FIRST proud this weekend.
Way to show them how it's done!

I cannot agree much more with this comment. The work that many teams, in particular 234 and 365, with other teams to help them prepare for matches and pass inspection was truly outstanding. Very rarely have I witnessed such cooperation between the teams as I did at this regional.
As for the on-the-field competition, while this regional won't be the most competitive (even this weekend), it is certainly up there. 45 was far from the only team who tore it up. 234 also did a spectacular job, and many considered them much more "explosive" than 45 (although easier to mitigate). The fact that a team the quality of 365 lost in the quarter-finals (yeah, I know it's not 1114 and 71) should be a good indication of how strong this event was.

FRC4ME

28-02-2009, 19:56

339 had a great time. We are very happy with our Delphi Driving Tomorrow's Technology award. Congrats to the winners.

Also, thanks to MOE and Epsilon Delta for helping us put up a good fight in the quarter-finals. Two points; that's a single moonrock. That game could have gone either way, easily.

Phyrxes

28-02-2009, 21:20

chic0junit

28-02-2009, 21:29

To EVERYONE,
I just wanted to say that I had a great time for the past of couple of days, and I would not trade the experience for anything. Thank you all for truly inspiring me and the world and I hope to see you all again soon!

David Aponte
Team 1885
ILITE Robotics

http://www.thebluealliance.net/tbatv/teambadge/gen/1885/660099/660066/teambadge.png (http://www.thebluealliance.net/tbatv/team.php?team=1885)

tkwetzel

28-02-2009, 21:38

Thanks to all the teams and volunteers that came to the Inaugural DC regional!!! We had an excellent regional that ran extremely smooth, especially for it's first year. I think we may have a FIRST record for regional completion time. The final match ended at 3:00 pm, the awards ceremony went until 4:30 pm, and I left at 6:00 pm (while the field was being loaded onto the truck).

Thanks again and I look forward to seeing everyone next year!

MissInformation

28-02-2009, 22:05

What a great regional! It was an honor to be in the alliance with MOE and Killroy, and to play against the Metal Jackets, Dawgma, and Aces High.

It was a well deserved win for 45, 234, and 620. And an equally deserving Chairman's win for 234!

Of course, when I walked into the pits today and saw Andy Baker in a nun's outfit, I knew this regional would go down as one of my all-time favorites!

Heidi

Wetzel

28-02-2009, 22:08

What a great regional!
Of course, when I walked into the pits today and saw Andy Baker in a nun's outfit, I knew this regional would go down as one of my all-time favorites!

HeidiThat was just Andy up to a bad habit.

Wetzel

MissInformation

28-02-2009, 22:09

That was just Andy up to a bad habit.

Wetzel

Hey.. we'll have nun of that now...

Dmentor

28-02-2009, 22:55

My DC Random Walk:

1. The inaugural DC event was an awesome time to bump into VIPs and all around cool people associated with FIRST. Senator John Kerry took time to address us during Friday’s opening ceremony. And while I never did manage to catch up to Dean Kamen to thank him personally for creating an awesome opportunity to share my love of engineering with the students, our team did get him to sign our OI!! I’m sure we’ll treasure it long after we’ve reduced this years’ robot to scrap.

2. We worked with lots of great teams through qualifications and got two really great alliance partners for the elimination rounds: 1712 and 176! We had some nail-biter matches with three other great teams in the elimination quarterfinals (339, 365, 116) and were fortunate to squeak by. It is never much fun to lose, but if we had to pick an alliance to lose to 45/234/620 is a good one. These teams are class acts. I really enjoyed chatting with Andy Baker over the last couple days. As I’m sure so many across FIRST have realized he is truly a gem!

3. I believe in miracles! At one point on Thursday, I think I noted a MOE representative in nearly every rookie pit. Loads of other teams also chipped in and teams were literally racing each other to fill part requests from other teams. Several members of our team adopted 2961 and we were so proud of our adopted team when they finally we able to get out there and show their stuff. Unfortunately we added one to their loss column. Hopefully we can continue a lasting relationship with 2961 and many of the other teams we met at DC!

4. Little things can potentially make a big difference… Match 58 – our head to head with 45 in the qualifications (both were 5-0 at the time). We figured we had to win this one since we suspected 45/234 would pair up if possible (both are excellent independently but together… ouch!). Unfortunately this turned out to be the one match where a silly little mistake caused us major headaches. Root cause? Our software has (very soon to be “had”) two different ways to toggle between arcade and tank mode (a residual from our driver selection qualifications); this leads to an odd exclusive-OR logic. For some reason, karma maybe, one of the toggles was accidentally enabled without the driver being aware and so when he thought he was toggling on tank mode he was actually toggling it off. Not realizing the problem, he was unable to turn effectively (ie. not at all or unpredictably) and so we had the double whammy of not being able to score and being a sitting duck. Attention to the smallest detail is so fundamental to winning reliably in FIRST…

I could go on and on with observations I’ve seen over the last few days but I think it is time to catch up on a little sleep. Thanks for the awesome memories at DC and best wishes to all the teams at their upcoming regionals/championship!

Raul

28-02-2009, 22:58

Rich - Congratulations!

I always look for your words of wisdom in these forums when the CD community wants to tackle a controversial topic (you folks know what I'm talking about). You inspire us to seek a higher ground on these tough issues. I see how your team reacts to your leadership - well deserved.

Hope to see you in Atlanta.

Raul

BPetry234

28-02-2009, 23:22

Thank you to all the teams, including but not limited to 45 and 620, for playing with us. Having a good robot means nothing if you don't have parteners to play with. All the teams should be proud of their level of preformance. I know it sounds a little cliche, but no one walked out of that building a loser.

To all you rookie teams, keep at it. Every year gets easier. Hopefully you had a lot of fun and learned a few things.

Thank you everyone in the pits and on CD for your support. It means the world to hear from you.

Good luck to all the teams who have more regionals and see everyone else in the future.

Homsar66

01-03-2009, 00:50

It was a great first regional. Unfortunatly our team 122 was on the 8th alliance, which meant we had to play the 1st alliance :(. that first game was insane, 100 to 128. I thought i had you with those two supercells, but it was well won.

BTW, i missed most of the finals, if someone could put up video that'd be amazing.

Akash Rastogi

01-03-2009, 01:04

Mr. Kressly congrats! Can't wait to meet you and Dawgma in Philly. :D

OZ_341

01-03-2009, 01:35

Congratulations Rich! You truly earned this WFA through many years of service to area teams. See you in Philly!

Kyle Love

01-03-2009, 01:51

Congrats to the TechnoKats and Cyber Blue, two of three Indiana teams to capture regional victories on Saturday. Way to do it in thrilling fashion.

Mr MOE

01-03-2009, 07:56

The inaugural DC regional was a very memorable experience.

THE TEAMS
While 65 teams meant only having seven qualifying rounds, it was great to be at an event with teams like 45, 234, 176, and 118. It was also terrific to see some old friends and make many new ones.

THE ROOKIES
MOE has not been to a regional over the past few years, where there were this many rookie teams (12?). It was a pleasure to experience your first FIRST regional with you all. I applaud all your mentors and teachers for committing to make this experience happen for you. I look forward to seeing you all evolve over time.

THE VOLUNTEERS
Thursday was a tough day, with a new control system, playing field, venue, etc. However, by Friday and Saturday, things were humming. Thanks to all organizers and volunteers for making such a large event like this go so well.

THE PEOPLE
Where else can you walk around a regional and see Andy Baker dressed as a nun, newly-minted Woodie Flowers regional award winner Rich Kressly (way to go Rich - well deserved and long overdue!), Dean Kamen, head of the patent office, Dave Lavery, many congress people and staffers, and Paul Gudonis and John Abele. Wow.

THE MATCHES
We all learned how to play Lunacy better this weeked. The game play is more interesting than I thought it would be. Stategy is important to have but difficult to execute. The little things make a big difference. There is more scoring from more locations this season than from any FIRST game in the past 10 years, which makes this game difficult to play and follow. The playing field is constantly changing.

THE GRACIOUS PROFESSIONALISM
Thanks to everyone who helped other teams this weekend. It was awesome to see a rainbow of colored team shirts at pits of other teams helping them this past weekend. Teams were rushing to help each other. I also heard more "Thank You's" go out to teams over the Pit Admin announcements at this regional than any other I have attended.

Well, done to all participants! Best of luck during the rest of your season.

JesseK

01-03-2009, 14:06

Heh, I thought we were in for another tormenting weekend when we got stuck on the floor again first thing Thursday -- but it turns out that the way we packed our crated caused some fiberglass to warp. Good thing we had some weight to put in a bar to fix it.

Friday was somewhat frustrating as far as matches go -- luck of who you're allied with/against plays a large part in it. Then there's alot of times where the Outpost player simply does not cooperate with you and tosses the Empty Cell over the wall or defys your pleading by dumping it onto the floor instead of on the ramp...

As a general warning, the second qual. match had a team not show up, which meant we were on the wrong end of 2 vs 3 against team 45. It was MOE and us vs 3 other bots and we had a great strategy for an upset. We could have pulled it off with better execution, but every strategy changes when there's a sitting trailer on the field, heh. When we learned there were rookies who'd barely built a bot Thursday afternoon, we went to help. Then Friday morning, we could put more people out to help because we had more mentors to help. Still kinda stings that we were helping the rookie who would've filled the empty trailer finish inspection as Match #2 started, but that's just how it goes.

End of qualifications, THE very last match of Saturday, we learned how to play defense, and play it well. We finally perfected our side-hybrid modes for the linkage drive train, so you guys in Florida better watch out :cool: We all but shut down the second undefeated team, and though we got pinned once we also made sure they had nearly a full trailer by the end. Let the record 2-5 fool you, if you dare :p

The venue for the most part was great! 12x12' pits with gigantically wide aisles that prevented traffic jams and loud "ROBOT COMING THROUGH"'s. It was alot more safer for all of the VIP's, CTO's, VP's, CEO's, etc, that happened to pass by. If only we didn't have that silly trailer, we'd impress the other teams on the field as much as we impressed all of VIPs as the robot danced around in our pit... The burgers left something to be desired, but the smoothies were fantastic. By Saturday we needed more seating for the audience, haha. Loading stuff into the event from a trailer was pretty easy too -- a large bay door led from the loading docks straight into the pits, with no bumps or door dams to get over.

Finally, there are many thank you's -- MOE (365) definitely did us some favors, and I know they did all of the rookies a ton of favors. Then there was Dawgma (1712), who helped build a rookie's bot completely from scratch on Thursday. Then there's Epsilon Delta (116), who seemed to have mentors and team members volunteer in many aspects of the event.

Thanks to the many who helped pull DC off; we look forward to coming again next year!

Rich Kressly

01-03-2009, 14:38

...Then there was Dawgma (1712), who helped build a rookie's bot completely from scratch on Thursday...

Thanks, but not entirely true. 2911 already had a functioning drive train and a manipulator 70% done. Which is ahead of the curve for many rookies, especially considering this team did not have the full six week build. We never touched the drive train and 2911 finished off the manipulator by themselves. Minor problems they had were software upgrades, the fact that their DS and controls weren't mounted, a few sharp edges, some wiring gauge issues, and the need for a BOM. Their major problem was that they had misinterpreted the rules and while the robot was well within sizing restrictions their manipulator extended well into and beyond their bumper zone. So, what we did with a few of their team members was help them modify their chassis to get them close to maximum footprint and find space to allow for front ball collection, while the rest of 2911 worked on finishing the manipulator. This led to two additional needs - two additional free spinning kit wheels and redesigned bumpers. Lots of teams came to the rescue with parts and tool use (Especially MOE) to get things done and just when our crew was running out of steam 234 came on in (congrats on the CA guys!) and took care of the bumper mounts.

Although 2911 never saw one practice match, they were fully inspected on Thursday prior to departure and were able to win a few matches, contribute to alliance play, and take home the Highest Rookie Seed (out of 12 there). Working with the students and mentors from the team was an experience that will stick with our team members for a long time. It would have been really easy for these guys to throw in the towel on Thursday and decide they didn't belong. That never happened though, and with a little guidance, instruction, and help they showed an incredible amount of perseverance time after time as the inspectors kept politely pointing out the "next" thing they needed to do. I don't think I ever saw brighter faces hold a trophy nor have I met a team more deserving of an award in my entire life.

coldfusion1279

01-03-2009, 16:29

On behalf of every member of Cold Fusion Team 1279, we would like to thank 118 and 538 for the uphill battle that we fought so well. It isn't often that the number 7 seed makes it all the way to the finals. Our team was a perfect tandem of ball collecting/scoring, empty cell transport, and defense.

Congratulations to teams 45, 234, and 620. A well deserved regional victory.

Good luck to all the teams we played with and against. 1279 always enjoys making new friends.

See you at Philly.

Cold Fusion
1279

alanraynes

01-03-2009, 21:34

Great job to all the teams this weekend!

Loved the new regional and made a lot of friends at the competition. Got to see a lot of new teams getting up and operational. Tons of competition with that many teams made it difficult sometimes.

Also, thanks to teams 45 and 620. Great Alliance partners!

Mr MOE

02-03-2009, 06:31

A big thanks to all, who worked hard over the past number of years to get this regional on the schedule. Thanks for all your hard work. I can see this event being a critical one for FIRST over the years.

Also, thanks go out to 339 Kilroy for selecting us for eliminations and 116 Epsilon Delta for sharing some close quarter-finals matches. We gave them a run and were close in both matches. Congrats to all competition and award winners, especially 234 for taking the Regional Chairman's Award back to Indiana with them. Best of luck in Atlanta! You guys are a class act!

Enjoy the rest of the season. It's just getting started!

RoboMom

02-03-2009, 10:31

The inaugural DC regional was a very memorable experience.

THE PEOPLE
Where else can you walk around a regional and see Andy Baker dressed as a nun, newly-minted Woodie Flowers regional award winner Rich Kressly (way to go Rich - well deserved and long overdue!), Dean Kamen, head of the patent office, Dave Lavery, many congress people and staffers, and Paul Gudonis and John Abele. Wow.

Not only see but talk to. :)
John Abele stood quietly in the pits, near the safety glasses and welcome discussion with anyone who approached him. There were many who recognized him and took advantage of the time to chat, as noisy as it was. I've been fortunate to have a few conversations with him over the past few years, sometimes about difficult topics. He is a great listener and welcomes feedback and is one of my heroes.

And the moment I realized it was Andy inside the habit ranks up there in all time bursting out laughing moments.

AcesPease

02-03-2009, 10:36

Now that 2068 is back home (Yay for living 30 miles from a regional) we would like to thank our alliance partners 1712 (Dawgma) and 176 (Aces High) you guys were awesome to work with in our run.

To MOE, Killroy, and Epsilon Delta that quarter final match was a total nail biter and you are right it totally could have gone either way.

To all the award winners congratulations again!

Thanks first the organizers of the DC regional. Everything ran like you had been doing this for years. The field officials were especially gracious, patiently explaining things to our drivers :) Great job!

Big thanks to 2068 for picking us after our slow start! You and 1712 were great to work with.

Also special thanks to 1699 and 181 for all their support on and off the field. See you in Hartford!

Finally: Congrats to the winners, especially 234 for the Chairmans. See you in Atlanta!

Rich Kressly

02-03-2009, 11:56

Big thanks to 2068 for picking us after our slow start! You and 1712 were great to work with.

It was indeed a great experience working with 2068 and 176. Having the opportunity to play two close QF matches against 116, 365, and 339 and come out on top was a great experience, especially since we are such good friends with MOE and the fact that Sean had an opportunity to develop strategy against his old team and "beat" his father's crew. It's just a very cool thing when you get to go up against friends that you have respect for and connections with. And speaking of friends and respect, it was indeed an honor to play against the 45/234/620 alliance in the semis.

In all 1712 had a great time meeting new friends and old, the event staff and volunteers were awesome to work with (DC functioned way above what you would consider to be a "rookie" regional), and our students certainly grew a lot from their experiences over the weekend.

namaste, all. :)

Chris Fultz

02-03-2009, 14:58

The students, mentors and parents from Cyber Blue want to thank everyone for such a fantastic event. Well organized, well run, great space and facility, and the most pit space ever allowed for a FIRST competition!

We were especially impressed by the overall mood of the event - it was great fun to be a part of. The Judges and guests, and the speakers were awesome!

It was great to see so many teams helping get some of the newer teams up and running so that they could compete. There was help everywhere. It was also very cool when teams had the pit announcer say "thank you" to other teams that had helped them out. Our new school lead was impressed when a rookie team requested a cordless drill and 5 appeared within minutes!

We were able to visit our Senator Lugar's office on Thursday and take in an evening tour of the monuments on Saturday night after the competition. What an awesome place to have a competition! We will certainly plan to return.

It was great to be part of an alliance with our old friends on Team 45 (how could we say "no" to a nun?), and to make some new ones on Team 620. Also very cool to be there with so many teams we have admired but never really been around, like 365, 1712, 116 and 118, just to name a few.

And, Congratulations to Rich on the Woodie Flowers Award! Well Deserved!

:)

MGoelz

02-03-2009, 16:17

I have to say that this was probably my favorite regional event yet. It definitely didn't seem like a first time regional. Everything was run so well and efficiently.

It was awesome to have not one, but TWO Outstanding Volunteer Awards given. A big congratulations to Cricket Moore and Charles Harris. All of your dedication and hard work has been recognized. We all thank and appreciate everything you do for your teams and FIRST.

I especially want to point out the overwhelming level of gracious professionalism that was evident here. It was so refreshing to witness all of the "coopertition" that occurred.

A big thank you to 45 for drafting us and 620 for joining in and giving it your all. Your teams are full of wonderful people. It was a pleasure to work with you.

Also I wanted to point out the great sportsmanship demonstrated by the teams that we weren't able to pick, and they understood. I loved being able to work with some teams that I haven't been around much before, such as: 118, 122, 365, and 1712, to name a few.

Finally, I was very impressed by the speakers that were there. Dave Lavery, Dean Kamen, and Paul Gudonis, in addition to the deputy mayor and John Kerry was wonderful.

Congratulations to all of the teams who brought home awards and Rich for a well-deserved Woodie Flowers. Also congratulations for all of the rookies for making it through their first regional!

Lil' Lavery

02-03-2009, 18:56

Finally, I was very impressed by the speakers that were there. Dave Lavery, Dean Kamen, and Paul Gudonis, in addition to the mayor and John Kerry was wonderful.

Actually, that was one of the deputy mayors, not Mayor Fenty himself.

A big thanks goes out to the Wetzel family, specifically the seven members of it who volunteered at the DC regional. Wetzels filled the roles of FTAA, Inspector, and Volunteer Coordinator down to passing out safety glasses.

MGoelz

02-03-2009, 19:04

Actually, that was one of the deputy mayors, not Mayor Fenty himself.

Oops. I apologize for the error. I'll fix it.

gblake

03-03-2009, 22:15

Congrats!

To Joel, Sam and Rachel? from Team 1699 for their (82 to 58, and 60 to 52) win in the informal 5th Gear Lunacy Simulator Tournament we held Saturday at DC.

Congrats also to the Team 836 runners up, and to our team 1872 and team 2068 semi-finalists.

Look for a picture or two to show up in the photo gallery shortly.

Blake

NorviewsVeteran

03-03-2009, 23:27

I'll send out a thanks to the guys from Luminary Micro who found us and gave us a new Jaguar in exchange for our cadaver, so now we have a spare, and they can perform tests on it to make the new ones better, faster, stronger.

Great job getting to know your consumer base!

Aarnat

04-03-2009, 21:45

Hey all connected to the DC regional,

I want to thank:
-all who organized and maintained the regional and getting all the bugs worked out (judges, referees, announcers, A/V, etc.)
-all teams that participated, had fun, made friends, been safe, and learned
-Team 1727 (Rex) and 836 (Robo-Bees) for being the best and most spirited alliance partners in the final matches
- All Teams in the final matches, especially 45, 234, and 620 for winning the regional
-Team 234 for winning chairman’s
-and any unsung heroes that may not have been mentioned

Thanks! See ya at the Chesapeake Regional!

Aaron

1727's duck

04-03-2009, 22:04

Thanks Aaron! REX also wants to thank you for selecting us out of the other awesome teams there : ) You guys did awesome and i can't wait to see you again at Chesapeake.

It is now almost a week later and we are still celebrating how awesome DC was.

dpc131

05-03-2009, 16:27

I agree with you, it was one of the most spirited regionals in my last 8 years. It was fantastic seeing all of the teams helping out, and I heard from many of the rookie teams that they were astounded by the help they were receiving. One special case that I saw was members of 1727 frantically helping to get 1446 inspected prior to the match in which they were competing against each other! If all things in this world worked like a first competition, we'd be in pretty good shape.

Of course, gotta thank 2199 and 1727 for a great alliance. I think our cheering in the back after the semi-finals was louder than the stands. I'm looking forward to another great regional over in Annapolis.

dlavery

12-03-2009, 18:48

We had Bill Ingalls, the chief NASA staff photographer, cover the DC regional. Bill took nearly a thousand very high-resolution photos, which we have been sorting through since last weekend. We finally finished going through all the photos, and have posted the “best of” collection. There are pictures of every team, on the field and in the pits, as well as most of the major “events” at the competition. The photo archive has been posted on the FRC Team 116 web site at http://www.team116.org/DC2009Regional/ Thumbnails and sub-sampled versions of the 347 “favorite” images can be viewed there. If you want any of the full-resolution versions of any of the images, just let us know. All photos courtesy of NASA/Bill Ingalls.

-dave

.

Collin Fultz

12-03-2009, 18:54

Dave -

Once again NASA has stepped up in a HUGE way. Please pass our thanks onto all involved with taking/sorting/posting these photos.

Rich Kressly

13-03-2009, 17:46

I don't want something to get lost in the shuffle here. The fact that Bill Ingalls found the time to cover our event is no small thing. I'm not sure if many here know about Bill's career as a photographer, but he's been the go to guy for documenting some of NASA's most historic events, ever. If you've never seen his portfolio, take a look at some of it here:
http://homepage.mac.com/bingalls/nasawork/Menu40.html

He's captured elation and joy in the Spirit and Opportunity landings and he also captured the darkest moments, including the loss of Columbia - all with great dignity and professionalism.

One of my greatest moments in DC was meeting Bill and being photographed by him. Quite an honor and hopefully more of you will have the same opportunity in the future.

Chris Fultz

14-03-2009, 20:49

We had Bill Ingalls, the chief NASA staff photographer, cover the DC regional. Bill took nearly a thousand very high-resolution photos... All photos courtesy of NASA/Bill Ingalls.
-dave.

These pictures are awesome. Every team, the action, the guest speakers.

Thanks Bill for dedicating your time and thanks Dave and others who reviewed to create this collection.

Mr MOE

15-03-2009, 10:09

I agree with all the recent posters. A HUGE thanks to Bill and NASA for providing these photos of the DC Regional. They are fantastic.

Thank you!

AcesPease

15-03-2009, 19:43