2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Welcome back to the second year of the FIRST Robotics Competition Smoky Mountains Regional in Knoxville, Tennessee!

WHEN:

March 1st-3rd, 2012

WHERE:

Knoxville Convention Center
701 Henley Street
Knoxville, TN 37902

PARTICIPANTS:

52 teams are registered for this year including:

• Thirteen rookie teams for the second year in a row
• Ten returning second-year teams from last year
• None of last year's game winners, so the playing field is wide open!

Six teams will receive an invitation to the FIRST Championship in St. Louis, MO:

• Three teams from the winning alliance
• Regional Chairman's Award winner
• Regional Engineer Inspiration Award winner
• Regional Rookie All-Star

USEFUL INFORMATION:

• This year's competition is a week one event
• This year's competition is a Bag & Tag event
• Freight and load-in traffic goes to the South end of the convention center by the freight elevator. Foot traffic and spectators goes to the North end of the convention center and uses the escalators.
• Remember that all pit materials and robots move into the arena by a freight elevator. Take this into account when designing your pits.
• Dress warmly on Thursday. The freight elevator slows down the line moving into the arena and you may spend a while standing in line outside.

RELATED LINKS:

• Tennessee FIRST Website
• Registered Teams List

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

FIRST Team 1501 (T.H.R.U.S.T.) can't wait to come to the Smoky Mountain Regional.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Hey Wayne, I need a ride.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

1038 is looking forward to our first Regional competition South of the river, the Ohio River that is.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Hey I just saw on the team list that Cyber Blue got in - when did that happen? Can't wait to see you guys again. We're hoping to be considerably more competitive than last year (which wouldn't take much <sigh>).

We're staying at the Crowne Plaza Downtown. It's about a 3.5 hour drive for us - coming up after school on Wednesday.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

They dropped Queen City to go, we were dissapointed here, but at least we still get to compete together at Smoky Mountain.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

I see that Indiana FIRST Team 292 (Panther Tech) will be joining us in Knoxville.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Is anyone planning on webcasting Smoky Mountain? We actually do have the internet here in the south.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Team 2386 from Burlington, Canada is coming down to heckle and add to the general debauchery, get stoked for some crazy canucks!

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

I hate to be off topic but can anyone on here consider committing to take pictures of all the robots at SMR?

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=99102

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Who's excited about going to the Smoky Mountain Regional. I can't wait.

I'll be volunteering as a Robot Inspector. I can't be bought but I can be rented :D

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Any word on a webcast for the event?

Word was that 1261 was firing on almost all cylinders before we shipped.

- Sunny G.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Really excited for this event!!! Cant wait for the 10~ hour drive and leaving at 5:00am! :D xbox all the way there ;) lol

Question: how big is this elevator? we have our pits but the biggest one is 2X7 feet. Will we have trouble getting our pit there??!!

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

If I remember right they are freight elevators. Plus they have escalator. Last year it took my team a good 30 mins or more to get down to the pits with all the tool boxes and what not. So get in line fast and get ready to wait. But the venue is amazing and the seats are amazing (At least last year). Definitely the best regional I have even been too in 7 years. Kinda sad that we aren't going this year.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Good to know Wayne!

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

I am looking forward to bringing my little band of rookies - team 4306, the Robo Komodos from Franklin, TN - to their first Regional, especially with 1038 in the house! The name of our robot is Problem Child, which pretty much sums it up! See y'all next week!

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Get it right, people - Smoky MountainS Regional. Look at the logo in the OP. :cool:

Even FIRST got it wrong on our regional champion banner last year. :p

Good luck to all competitors - we had a great time in Knoxville last year!

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Cannot wait, it's Team 2200's first time attending a US regional!

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

We have a lot of work/bugs to work out on Thursday, but I have hopes we will be able to play well enough to make eliminations. We'll have to see though, sounds like some great competition. Very excited to see how the game plays out, and how well we will play. 3 days until we leave.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

2200 will be bringing our webcast equipment just in case there is no one doing it, I asked one of our teachers to respond to the email asking for a team to do it, but apparently that never got done, either way we are prepared.

- Bochek

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

I made a Facebook Group for the regional Here

There has been a few made for other regionals I have attended and it got me to know more people in the FIRST community. Invited other people in your team and people from other teams attending the regional! :) Feel Free to add me as a friend also :) (Aaron Koscielski)

hoping to see this work out like the other ones have :)

Good luck this weekend teams!

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

I emailed asking about a webcast and was told that there were plans to webcast the event and links would be made available soon.

- Sunny G.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

It's supposed to be raining Wednesday night for the unload. Now if I only had a big plastic bag to put the robot in so it would stay dry.........

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

If only our pits had big plastic bags over them so they wouldnt get all wet...

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

I knew a few teams that could loan you a big wooden box if that would help......:cool:

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

The loading dock is underground, so at least for those of us unloading there we will be dry.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Where would one go about getting one of these bags you speak off? ;)

- Sunny G.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Is there a webcast for this regional!?

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

If no other team is doing it, 2200 will be bringing our equipment to broadcast it. In either case it should be on http://watchfirstnow.com

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Does anyone know if the stream will be up on Practice day or will it only be live Friday and Saturday?

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

The stream is 'up' right now.

http://www.justin.tv/webb1466#/w/2692119216

Is anyone else not seeing any video? I can hear the competition sounds, but see nothing.

- Sunny G.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

I can see the video but it looks like a stop motion video and only half of the field.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Posting from the event.
The half field of view is what is being broadcasted on the big screen right now so I'm sure it will change when something of interest actually starts. They used to have a camera guy above the bleaches that face the broad side of the field, but he isn't on his platform anymore. I assume he will come back later though, as the camera that is currently broadcasting is on the scaffolding that is above the field (not a good view).

Not too much else going on here, just a lot of teams getting ready.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

I think they've gone to lunch and have switched the feed over to the practice field for the time being.

I do hope the quality gets better. It's going to be a long regional if this 'stop motion video' continues.

- Sunny G.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

The feed is there but they need to disable the screen saver on the stream computer.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

It was working fine during lunch, and then it went back to screen saver during actual matches...

Strange
- Sunny G.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

GAH! i just moved from lexington,ky and from my 3 year old team 2856 this last year to franklin i even go to FHS. if i had know about you guys i would have joined up with you in a heartbeat (i'm in class with some of your members who never mentioned it), i even know labview. Really upset i missed joining your team.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

BC,

I am also sorry you didnt know! Blame Mr. Domkowsky... you should come to knoxville, 2856 is here with us! You might not know this but i worked with PLD 2 years ago when Andy Stevenson and Mr. Z Were involved, my team in Cincy - 1038 - lent you some VEX kits for prototyping... come over and enjoy the fun!

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

will there be a podcast?

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

any chance that someone can fix the webcast? just in case the team providing it happens to be able to read this...

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

agreed! hopefully the webcast is fixed soon!

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Severe weather (tornado warning) running through Knoxville at the moment - hopefully everyone is safe and secure!

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Fast moving strong storms came through. About 7 teams in our hotel and no problem so far. There were some bad cells, so hopefully everyone else is safe.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Congratulations to your Smokey Mountians winners, captain 772, 234, and 3259! In addition, another congratulations is in order for 234, for their regional chairman's award!

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

On behalf of Team 772, I would like to thank all of the volunteers, judges and referees for their time. We would like to say thank you for your hospitality. All teams performed well this weekend. We would especially like to thank our alliance partners, without you we would not have gone as far as we did. Congratulations to the regional finalists consisting of captain 2386, 1319 and 4264, you all put up a great fight at the end.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Hey all,

I hope the stream went better today, i sent my programmer over with all my webcasting equiptment, he said he got it working.

Let me know if anyone witnessed any problems today. and be sure to check out www.watchfirstnow.com next week.

- Bochek

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

The sound was terrible, but we appreciate the video. Got us out of the dark.

- Sunny G.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Alright, proper thanks in order from 1501....

Thank you so much to 447 and 1261 for being alliance partners. We seriously did not consider anyone else above you two to be on our alliance.

447- 1501 was so sure that you guys would be taken by another team, because you all had such a consistent robot that put you above all others. We were extremely surprised and happy at the same time when it came to our turn to pick. We had a great time working with you all, and hopefully if we can pair up again sometime in the future, we will get a blue banner.

1261- We were completely taken by surprise at the end of the first round when we found out you guys were still not taken. It's still baffling to even think about the shooter- it was one of the only three shooters by our count that could consistently shoot in the top row. You guys were great partners to work with, and unfortunately for our first time together in eliminations, it had to be cut short.

It was amazing to work with you all (especially this was my first time being on an captain team), and yes, I do feel it was a blue-banner alliance.

Once again, congratulations to 772, 234, and 3259, in addition to thanks to all teams at Smokey Mountains for a great first time week 1 regional for us!

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

On behalf of team 3259, I want to thank 772 and 234 for going out on a limb and picking us. We had a lot of confidence in our machine after making some modifications Friday night, but we were afraid no one would notice Saturday morning; We're grateful that you were paying attention for our two matches. We still can't believe we were lucky enough to be picked by such an overwhelmingly powerful alliance. Those last two matches were intense. We hope to see you all again in St. Louis.

We'd also like to thank team 3844; without them, this robot wouldn't have been possible. We expected to mentor them, but we instead found an incredible partner. While we're glad to have a regional win, we're disappointed we had to go through you to get there.

Awesome regional, great experience.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Smoky Mountains was once again a well run event - great venue, great volunteers and well organized. The facility is just about perfect for an FRC Regional.

It was great to meet new teams and make some new friends.

Thanks to our new Canadian friends 772 for the Alliance pick and to 3259 for being an awesome selection! I don't think there could have been a better combination of robots and capabilities than we had. We worked well together and were able to adjust strategies when needed. I look forward to seeing both of you in St. Louis!

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

On behalf of teem 447 we thank you for the opportunity to work with you. Thank you 1501 for chosing such an awsome alince. We truly enjoyed the experience. We hope to work with both 1501 and 1261 in the future. Just working with you all on the practice field made us shore that we had an awesome alliance! Thank you all so much for everything and we hope to work with you all again soon to take home the blue banner!!!!

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

I suppose I will check in from team 1261.

To team 1501, obviously thanks are in order for picking up our team. I can't say that we were too excited to be around for 2nd picks, but you guys were able to create an exciting, stacked alliance. Additionally, I want to thank you guys for being so courteous and kind to our team. We don't have too many "friends" outside the Peachtree Regional, so it was extremely nice to hear the scouts speak so highly of your team.

To team 447, you guys were excellent partners and provided just the balance we needed for the alliance. Good luck to you guys in the future.

I keep staring at the image of the 3 robot balance and think about what could have been. Anyways, it was the most fun Week 1 event we've been to, and we look forward to the next time.

- Sunny G.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

On behalf of FRC Team 4306, the Robo Kamotos, I would like to thank all of the teams who threw support at us - my kids had an absolute blast! Two teams I would especially like to thank are 772, who adopted us as thier own and screamed out my drivers by name every time we were up, and 1038, our pit partners who helped us get a bulletproof auton and get our camera up so we could see trapped balls under the bridge. What a great regional for a rookie team, everyone was great to us - the kids are already amped to help my other team, FRC Team 3945 - Cobrotics, prepare for Queen City!

Thanks again,

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Drove 1,100 miles (round-trip) just to visit on Saturday... wanderlust cured (for now).



BTW, I loved the "Mardi Growl" festival!

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

WOW! Thats further than us coming from Canada! lol Nice picture of 234's drive team looking really into the match lol. Same with our human player there :P.

Does anybody have Videos uploaded from the finals? or any other matches??

Thanks For the great Competition! Hoping to come back next year :)

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Congratulations to 234, 772, and 3259 on the well-deserved championship win this weekend! 2856 and I had a blast competing with and against everyone - it was an excellent event, and everyone who was there should be proud of their performance. I particularly want to thank 2200 and 4092 for their support in the tournament - despite our quarterfinal loss, it was great working with you to do our best on and off the field.

Re: 2012 Smoky Mountains Regional - Knoxville, TN
 

Big thanks to 2386 for picking us and to 4264 for being a great alliance partner. We did well to make it to the finals each round tweaking our strategy to win and advance.

Being our first time at TN we were not sure how things would be, it turned out to be a great venue ran by equally great volunteers, we would love to be able to attend next year.

1319 still has Peachtree, Palmetto and World Championships ahead of us so we are far from done, and hope to take what we have learned and earn a blue banner(s) in the future.