Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Team 1519 has so many people and teams we would like to thank from our participation at the 2012 North Carolina Regional, that this is likely to be a quite long post!

We'd be remiss, however, if our thanks didn't start with the organizers and volunteers who worked at the event! From our perspective, nearly every aspect of the tournament went smoothly. We felt very well informed leading up to the event, were impressed by the courtesy and communication of the event staff in leadership roles, enjoyed the wide aisles in most of the pits, appreciated having two practice fields and a large queuing area for matches, observed "continuous improvement" by the event staff during the event, and generally were again impressed by the management of the regional. Kudos are due to the North Carolina Regional event leadership and volunteers!

Even before the regional started, Team 3459 invited us to attend a potluck dinner with them on Wednesday night! Their hospitality was greatly appreciated after our 14-hour drive from New Hampshire, and it was great to socialize with them and Team 2614 in a relaxed atmosphere before the event started. We definitely won't forget the mini-marshmallow shooters!

We owe a huge THANKS to many other teams, without whom we never could have become the #1 seed at the end of qualification rounds. The major design goal of our robot was to be able to balance with any robot, but our balancing partners made the task much easier -- it was largely due to their partnership that we were able to be balanced on top of a bridge for 9 of our 10 qualifying matches, with 7 of those successful balances being on the coopertition bridge. We'd specifically like to thank each of our balancing partners:

• 3229 - Double balance in our first match
• 3270 & 339 - Balanced the coopertition bridge for our alliance while we were on the alliance bridge in our second match
• 3737 - Coopertition balance in our 3rd match
• 3680 - Coopertition balance in our 4th match
• 422 - Coopertition balance in our 5th match
• 1311 - Coopertition balance in our 6th match
• 2363 - Our coopertition partner in our 7th match -- we're so sorry that the balance attempt ended up with your robot toppled and damaged! We're so thankful you were able to repair your robot before the next match! We're also thankful for the continued goodwill between our teams!
• 1771 - Coopertition balance in our 8th match
• 2642 - Coopertition balance in our 9th match
• 2614 - Coopertition balance in our 10th match. This balance was particularly exciting, as it maintained our position as #1 seed and elevated 2614 up to the #2 seed position. A true example of coopertition!

The finalist alliance of teams 2614, 1771, and 4083 was a definite force to be reckoned with. We were definitely sweating bullets heading into the finals, as your alliance had put up the highest score of the elimination rounds, amassing 68 points in the semifinals. You were excellent competitors and made the final rounds very exciting indeed!

We also would like to thank our alliance partners. Heading into the alliance selections, we had determined an ordered pick list for shooters and balancers. Team 1311 topped our list of shooters -- their incredibly accurate turreted key shooter was what we thought was the best of the event. We were relieved that as the #1 seed, we could pick them for our alliance, rather than have to face them as an adversary!

However, what we hadn't expected was that the team on the top of our "best balancers" list would still be around to pick for our 2nd pick! We were truly stunned that Team 2642, who was balanced on top of a bridge at the end of 9 qualifying matches, had been passed over twice by all the other teams!

We're also thankful to our partners of 1311 and 2642 for being willing to mix up our strategy as much as we did during the elimination rounds. We ended up running three different arrangements of hybrid programs, varying our plans in accordance with the alliance we were facing.

It was also a true alliance of three teams, rather than a case of 1 or 2 strong teams carrying the alliance. As an example of this, different teams in our alliance stepped up to the key role in different matches:

• In our first quarterfinal match, 1311's camera auto-tracking wasn't working, transforming their normally impeccable automatic shots into manually-controlled ones that went 3-for-9 in teleop. However, 1519's shooter compensated by going 6-for-10 during teleop before we headed for the alliance bridge.
  
• In both semifinal matches, when a communication error kept our driver station's image processing results from reaching the robot, making it so we couldn't shoot at all, 1311's shooting returned to a level of increased accuracy, going a total of 10-for-14 in teleop across the two matches.
  
• Lastly, in the finals matches, 2642 stepped up their defense against the fender shooting of 2614, slowing them down enough to keep the score of the #2-seeded alliance below 60 points.

It was only due to the combined effort from the three robots on our alliance that we could collectively emerge as regional winners. Thanks, 1311 and 2642!

We also want to recognize Team Spork's (3196) win of the Engineering Inspiration Award -- we were impressed with your team!

The selection of Team MARS (2614) for the Regional Chairman's Award was very well-deserved. They are a real class act both on and off the field! We'd love to have you come compete at the Week One Granite State Regional some time!

Lastly, we want to applaud the selection of Linda Whipker of 3459 as the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award winner. Her efforts on Team Pyrotech and in the North Carolina region are clear even from way up at our home in New Hampshire! This is another example of a well-deserved award!

In sum, Team 1519, Mechanical Mayhem, had a great time at the North Carolina Regional, and we look forward to being able to play with many of the great teams from this area again some time! We'd love to have you come up to compete in New England!

PS: Unfortunately, we don't have our own video of the two rounds of the finals due to one of our videographers needing to fly home before the last matches and technical difficulties on our other videographer's equipment. Is there anybody out there that has video of the final matches that they can post or send to us? Thanks!

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Team 281 had a blast in North Carolina this year. Even though we didn't win anything we didn't really mind after winning a regional and a Chairman's award at Palmetto. I realized this week how blessed I am to be on a team as spirited as 281, especially after I noticed that our section of the stands was more fun than the team social!

281 would like to congratulate all the winning teams, Dean's List finalists, and Woody Flowers finalists, and rookie teams. We can't wait to see all the winning teams at Championships, and the rest of the teams next year. There were some very impressive teams competing at North Carolina this year, and we loved getting to know some of the teams we had never met before.

Also, after 3 years of FRC I finally hugged that Platypi!

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Ken,

I believe that we have video of all of the elimination matches from the top of the arena in a full-field view. If we have them, I will have our multimedia team post them on YouTube and will let you know where to find them.

Many congratulations to you, 1311, and 2642 for your excellent performance in the eliminations. After being on the losing end of two blowouts in the semifinals against our friends from 2614 and company, I really thought that they had it all together and would take the competition. You and your partners proved me wrong in two amazing finals matches!

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

That would be awesome! Thank you very much! We haven't yet been able to find anybody else that had full-field video!

Just before the finals, I also thought the #2 alliance of 2614 / 1771 / 4083 was likely to win. I'd even spoken with Earl Scime of MARS 2614 moments before the first finals match started and said I didn't think we'd be able to match their scoring because in the quarterfinals and semifinals, either our robot or 1311's robot ping-ponged back and forth with technical difficulties -- we never had both robots shooting successfully in the quarters or semis -- and that there was no way we could match their alliance without both of our shooters functioning at the top of their game. It was only with the combined firepower of both shooters plus the defense of 2642 that we stood a chance.

I'm very appreciative of your team, 2363. It was great to be allied with Triple Helix last year in St. Louis on Curie with 1983, even though we fell just short of winning a match against the powerful alliance led by 71 to have a shot to get to the semifinals. Any time you get beat by 71 in elimination rounds you can't feel too bad, right? We'd love to be allied with your team in elimination rounds again some time!

We're also thankful that there isn't any ill will as a result of the failed coopertition balance attempt with your team at the end of the day on Friday.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Get in line! ;-)

I knew we had a good pick list. I was shocked that Helix was still around for the 3rd pick! I was gratifying to see the 2nd and 1st seeds sigh and scratch 2363 off their list. Helix is a quality team and will do well every year.

Spork, you are a great team and an awesome first pick. We can't wait to see what you all do next.

Helix and Spork: we did pretty darn well. Too bad we weren't prepared for the type of defense we saw in the Semi's. Best of luck to Spork in St. Louis!

To our VA crew: It was nice to see some smiling faces from VA. Every Dominion team was a credit to the state.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

On behalf of FIRST Team 1086, I would like to congratulate and thank the following people and teams:

Marie Hopper: On three separate occasions, Ms.Hopper (North Carolina Regional Director) came over to our pit to ask what we thought could be improved. After seeing how much Ms.Hopper not only cares about the rookie teams she helped to form at her regional but also cares very much about the veterans who choose this regional. In talking with Tom Gerber (the much deserved volunteer of the year), our team found out all the work that the planning committee puts into the regional; faced with having to add two more teams to the pits, members of the committee took a personal day from work to measure the Dorton Arena since no electronic drawings were available. Speaking of the pits, there were 15 to 20 foot aisles and a large board that displayed all the parts teams needed (that's right, no part announcements in the pits).

Inspectors: The inspection team at North Carolina was a great group of people. I, personally, appreciated the giant pit map that displayed which teams still needed to pass inspection. This large board as well as inspectors who sought out veteran teams to help the rookies could be why North Carolina was so close to having everyone through inspection on Thursday!

3196: It was an honor to select you to join our alliance. Your team was a model of consistency in all aspects of the game that our team had to play with! Congratulations on the Engineering Inspiration, it is not surprising an award like this has finally gotten to you because many of our members recall how you grasped the mission of FIRST even during your rookie season. We hope we can work together again in the future, on the field or in outreach!

2363: Since your team broke out in a big way last year we have wanted to work with your team. As the representative during selections, I was apparently visually elated when the scouts agreed with your selection (and who wouldn't at that place in the alliance selection you guys were a steal). It was an honor to play with a team with such great strategy, I mean, your team was smart enough to save new balls for use on the practice field before eliminations when the balls are all replaced. Cheering with you in the stands throughout the weekend was awesome but nothing beats cheering together in eliminations!

2614: Your team was a beast on the field and was a great model of consistency and excellent strategy. Our team was amazed by your performance all weekend and playing against you in the semi-finals was no different. After semi-final match #1 we realized you had us out gunned and had no other option but to try the triple balance. Upon watching your video, the Chairman's award was well deserved. The extremely profound impact you have made not only on your community but your state is something that everyone at the regional should strive for going forward!

1771: The turret on your robot was impressive but watching it work with your backboard tracking code made it astounding. The robot's performance on the field was amazing as well. Congratulations on a great finish!

4083: Your robot on defense was absolutely amazing, very few robots were able to push our robot around this year but you could! The foresight from a rookie team to build a robot with so much torque was impressive. Congratulations on Rookie All-Star, enjoy St.Louis!

1519: Many of the members of our team had the pleasure of talking to many members of your team and look at your robot. Watching your team through qualifications eliminations, you were able to adapt to any strategy. After seeing you come so close to winning in The House of the Rising Sun (Dorton) in 2010, it was nice to see your team take home the hardware! Congratulations on the much deserved blue banner!

1311: After reading about Kell Robotics' many outreach efforts here, on ChiefDelphi, I had to come over and talk to you Thursday morning. Within 15 seconds of starting to talk to your team, I was given the full stakeholder report from your team and a full explanation of everything your team did by your outreach lead. Your outreach plan and team structure was one of the greatest takeaways for me this weekend. Your robot was, indubitably, the most consistent scorer at the whole tournament. Your robot deserved to win the competition, I mean, who else thought about using astro-turf for their intake roller.

2642: Your team was deserving of being on the #1 alliance, being a top scorer at the regional. Our team has been exposed to your team since 2010 during the first North Carolina Regional and to see such a great team win was awesome. Congratulations on the three awards and good luck at Championship!

Virginia Friends: 122, your team has been an inspiration for our outreach events for years but the "Joey" sensor you invited us to look at in your pit was an amazing integration of a simple sensor to solve a complex problem. 401, your team was an astounding force of spirit was amazing for us to enjoy, thank you for suggesting that the Virginia teams should sit together and cheer together. Also congratulations on the technical award, in queue during eliminations I got to enjoy it! The fight your alliance (345 and 3336) put up in the quarter-finals had our whole alliance nervous. All of our Virginia friends we are looking forward to doing more things together in the future!

I am nearly positive I have forgotten someone during this post, in that case Blue Cheese as a whole is extremely grateful for everyone we got to meet this weekend!

For those of you who have not attended the North Carolina Regional, it is the best regional our team has ever attended. The large doors at the East and West allow for pleasant spring cross breezes, the security at the arena is not only tolerant but actually kind, the teams that are attracted to this regional are some of the best and nicest in FIRST. Since the planning committee was searching for feedback, I can only assume that the regional is only going to get better from here!

Good luck to all the teams attending St.Louis!

Patrick Brew
Captain FIRST Team 1086
Blue Cheese Sponsored by PCS and Deep Run High School

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Hello again all...

As mentioned there was a large board at Pit admin for parts that teams
either needed or had...but when teams first asked for parts at Pit Admin
they would be announced first then added to the board. The board made
it easier to remember who needed or who had what. I worked the spare
parts table and if we did'nt have a part would refer team members to Pit
Admin. Most teams were able to find what they needed. For future reference
there is also a hardware store (Burke Bros?) two blocks down the street
(on Hillsborough st west bound) from Dorton.

Besides the playing feild picture here earlier i was also able to take a few
team pit areas before teams came in Saturday morning. Here are some if
i can get them on here. I have a few others also. You can see the Pit Admin
parts board in the background of 122's picture.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Joey insists that this is called "the Cool Sensor," but he's getting some serious pushback there. I'll pass along the compliment!

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Yeah we heard that, but the Joey Sensor sounded so much better!

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

More pit pictures...

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

No problem! Ours was shot from the very top of the arena, so they have a good view of the field. We use the videos primarily to show the drive team their performance after a match so that we can discuss ways to improve. I found out on Friday that it was a lot farther up there than it appeared to be from the 5th or 6th row of the stands! After several huffing and puffing sessions to go pick up the memory card with match video on it, our video mentor took pity on me and started sending runners with the card. I was very grateful!! :o

The feeling is most definitely mutual! It was really great to see you guys again, and your robot was simply phenomenal!

The failed balance attempt was just one of those things. Things were rushed preparing for that match, but we knew that your team was an excellent match for us on the coopertition bridge. I was there when our drive teams exchanged notes regarding the balancing. Your team's approach to balancing was a little different than that which we had taken, but the logic was sound. You guys requested that once the bridge started to swing that we maintain position and let you make any of the necessary moves to steady the motion of the bridge. It wasn't until I got back up to the stands that I realized that this was going to be tough for us because we have our drive train motor controllers set to coast, not brake. This generally worked fine for the strategy of staying bumper to bumper on the way up, but doesn't work so well when you're trying to hold position on a moving bridge. When it came time to balance we got close, but our robot (somewhat predictably) moved causing the bridge to pivot more violently than expected. Our driver tried to correct twice, but overshot and drove off the bridge. We would have likely sustained no damage except that our "faceguard" snapped when we hit the floor and our shooter axle was bent. We had designed the shooter to make the axle easily replaceable and had a spare ready to go, so it wasn't really that big of a deal for us to replace it. In the end, we felt worse about the failed balance attempt than we did about any damage to our robot. Those are simply the risks that you take when you wish to play the game well! We're really happy that your robot sustained no damage in the incident as we are far more to blame for it than you guys were.

Best of luck to you at the Championship! We will likely have a small contingent there even though the team as a whole didn't qualify. We'll look you guys up and stop by to say hi!

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

I've posted pictures taken at the NC Regional.

The first folder has mostly pictures of our team:
https://picasaweb.google.com/1099928...eat=directlink

The second album has pics with plenty of others, if you fell like playing "Where's Waldo?": https://picasaweb.google.com/1099928...t= directlink

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Have you had a chance to post these videos yet? I would love to see them.

Thanks,

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

I just came back to this thread and saw that we never let anyone know that a bunch (but not all) of the match videos were posted back at the end of May, here: http://www.youtube.com/user/TripleHelix2363/videos. Enjoy...