2012 North Carolina Regional
 

...has this thread not been started yet?

2012 North Carolina Regional
April 5-7, 2012

Dorton Arena
1025 Blue Ridge Blvd
Raleigh, NC 27607

Webcast

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

I wish we were attending to defend the title. Yeti will have to carry on :D

There will be several NC teams in SC this weekend. Worth watching.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

FIRST Team 1086 Blue Cheese is very excited to be attending the NC Regional. This will be my first time heading down to the Dorton Arena. From what my students are telling, NC is a great venue filled with some of the nicest folks around. I can't wait to experience this hospitality myself!

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

By the numbers:

6 states represented

53 total teams
46 veteran teams
7 rookie teams

13 teams with 10 or more years of experience in FIRST
24 teams with 5 or more years of experience in FIRST

28 (!!) teams attending events in previous weeks:

• BAE: 138, 166, 1519
• SMR: 337, 1249, 2483
• Pitt: 1533, 2614
• Peachtree: 587, 1311, 2655
• VA: 122, 339, 401, 422, 435, 900, 1086, 1598, 2363
• Palmetto: 281, 1225, 2059, 2642, 3196, 3459, 3540, 4083
• DC: 4083

13 teams with experience in the elimination rounds so far this season:

• QFs: 138, 401, 900, 1086, 1311, 2363
• SFs: 1533, 1598
• Finalists: 422 (VA), 1519 (BAE)
• Winners: 435 (VA), 587 (Peachtree), 2614 (Pitt)

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

2059 is excited for the North Carolina Regional this year and the return of teams from Virginia after last year when both regionals where the same week.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Team 587 is pumped about the NC regional. We just got back from Peachtree and had a great time there.

Welcome to all the teams that are coming. We are looking forward to seeing several old friends and making some new ones.

We are especially eager to see our old friends on 122. We have attended a regional together all of the 12 years that 587 has existed.

Good luck to all the teams going to Palmetto this weekend. I hope you bring home some hardware.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

The Mech Tech Dragons are pumped. The kids are psyched. I can't stop thinking about it. The mentors are excited. We're ready for the Reign of Fire to hit Raleigh. If you're going to Palmetto this weekend, we will be watching.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

1598 is looking forward to returning to Dorton Arena. We learned a great deal at the VA Regional and are ready to play. We will (try) be on a bridge every match. Hopefully the center one -- hope we get partners that will be willing to go with us.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Most of all I'm looking forward to seeing the New Hampshire contingent, especially 166, which was my original team! I'll be wearing my (can I call it vintage yet?) Chop Shop jacket! Hopefully I can treat you guys to some good carolina BBQ :)

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

There are a shocking number of successful teams coming up/down/all around to NC. A lot of robots that have gone deep into eliminations, and perennial RCA/EI teams will be featured here.

First time I've gone south for a regional. What's around there for fun? Good places to eat?

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

1771 is working furiously to raise the funds, so we can attend.

All of our kids were disappointed that we lost at Peachtree (Sorry 1311 and 2815) due to a transmission failure, and we turned that disappointment into a drive for money!

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

^The North Carolina doesn't have an open capacity. In fact, I think they're over-booked...

Have you contacted HQ about this? I would love to meet another great team, but I don't want you all to work for something you might not be able to get.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Yes, North Carolina is already full. I know 2655 had a tough time getting in.

I wish all teams attending good luck!

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

The North Carolina regional is back down to 52 teams. It looks like we lost one of our NC rookies.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

1519 is looking forward to returning to North Carolina for a 2nd visit! We had a great time in the inaugural year of the regional and are eager to renew acquaintance with the friends we made in 2010.

Just ten more days until we set out on the drive from New Hampshire to North Carolina!

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

*checks Palmetto results*
Well, everyone has their work cut out for them in Raleigh. A lot of crazy successful teams will be down there. With district play dying down in week 6, is this a sleeper regional or something?

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

281 is pumped for this regional after having a ton of fun last year. We just won at Palmetto (despite breaking Los Pollos Locos 2815 was a more than ample substitute that helped the alliance win along with Hitch hikers and Hot Bots) We hope to win a regional while on the field in less than 2 weeks! can't wait to see everyone and their bots

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Team PyroTech is excited to be attending again in our 2nd year. Congrats to 281 and 2059 for being on the winning alliance in Palmetto this past weekend -- can't wait to see you guys in NC.

As exciting as Palmetto was - and with as may teams from there coming to NC - I expect NC to be a truly awesome event this year. See ya'll there!

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

First robotics team 3506 is ready to try a hand at North Carolina after some electrical mishaps in Palmetto. Congratulations to teams 281 and 2059 for an unexpected yet very effective alliance win in Palmetto, great match!

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Average 2012 statistics of the 27 NC-registered teams competing in previous weeks:

• Record (W-L-T): 7.1 - 5.7 - 0.3
• Total matches played: 13.0
• QS: 13.8
• HP: 56.6
• BP: 55.4
• TP: 55.9
• CP: 2.6

Other tidbits:

• Most matches played: 19 (2059, Palmetto)
• Most wins: 15 (2614, Pittsburgh)
• Highest qualifying rank: 1 (1311, Peachtree)

(OK, I'm done now...)

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Excited to report that 1771 just got accepted into the North Carolina regional today!

We've been to South Carolina, but never North Carolina...

Since it will be spring break for our school, is there anything fun to do after competition/at night, that is around the arena?

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Awesome - we'll be glad to have another team coming!

7 days, 23 hours, and 27 minutes 'til the pits open! :D

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

BTW, There is a team social / dinner at NC State Friday evening. You need to contact the RD ASAP to RSVP.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

From the Dorton Arena Webpage
Has this been a problem in years past?

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

If the event were in July, yeah it would be really hot.

Looking at the weather report, it should be very very comfortable there next week. It will be awesome.

With all the glass they can open up it will feel almost like we are outside, with giant umbrella over us.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

As long as it isn't too hot it shouldn't be a problem. They normally open a bunch on windows. In the two years I've been to Dorton being cold in the mornings is more of a problem than the lack of ac.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

It seems opinions differ, but in 2010 it was very hot in the upper stands, at least... The weekend of the event in 2010 was very warm, but since the arena has windows all the way around, the solar heating was very significant.

Unless the weather is Sunny with highs above 75, I wouldn't expect any issue at all. I can't recall how the temperature was throughout the arena, though... I just recall scouting up high in the stands with a laptop on my legs being very hot! :-)

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

2010 was a huge atmospheric anomaly.

We drove from Atlanta to Raleigh on Wednesday and the temperature shot up a lot, might of even broke records, all over the Southeast. So much so that from our drive down on Wednesday to the end of the event on Saturday the Southeast went from winter to spring immediately.

I don't think I've ever seen leaves on trees come out and flowers bloom so fast. Between Wednesday morning and Saturday evening the plants looked like a month had gone by.

There were huge clouds of pollen everywhere all over the SouthEast but especially in North Carolina. I had never seen anything quite like it.

I think on Friday it got to about 90% in the arena for an hour or two.

Looking at the forecast it looks like we will wear a jacket in the morning but but super comfortable the rest of the day.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

By request:

There are now 20 teams attending the 2012 NC Regional that have experience in the elimination rounds so far this season:

• QFs: 138, 401, 900, 1086, 1225, 1311, 1771, 2363, 3196, 3459
• SFs: 1533, 1598
• Finalists: 422 (VA), 1519 (BAE), 2642 (Palmetto)
• Winners: 281 (Palmetto), 435 (VA), 587 (Peachtree), 2059 (Palmetto), 2614 (Pitt)

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Is anybody forseeing any problems with the sunlight interfering with camera tracking? We had significant problems with scoreboards at the ends of the field at Virginia causing our camera to want to target that instead of the actual basket.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

The sunlight come in perpendicular to the field, in from the edge, in the morning. The field is shaded by the roof midday and afternoon shaded by the curtain.

I don't think it is an issue.

edit: go look at this video at 1:40 and beyond.

A ray of sunlight is coming in over the curtain, hitting the step plate and straight up to the camera. That is how we know the the light is coming across the field and not into the targets at each end. If you were to go straight across the field, through the curtain, into the stands behind the curtain and into the exit you are looking straight into the south sky.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Good to know, thanks :)

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Team 435 is really excited for the NC Regional. We were thrilled to win at VCU and we can't wait to play against all of you.

As the oldest team in North Carolina, We would also like to offer any help you guys need. We've had a lot of fun helping teams in the past, and we'll have extra members in the pits looking for ways to help out.

We'll see you there, ready to Rumble!!!

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

The webcast is down, and the Twitter feed is silent. :( Any word on how things are going?

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

I don't know; the FIRST site has nothing other than the match schedule. I suspect they're Internet-limited.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Match results and standings are now available:
http://www2.usfirst.org/2012comp/eve.../rankings.html

I am not at the event and do not have word on the webcast. It has been down all morning, to the best of my knowledge.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Unfortunately a webcast of the North Carolina Regional will not be up tomorrow either. We had a number of technical difficulties with the venue and were unable to get the webcast online.

Team 2059 and the North Carolina Regional Planning Committee apologize to anyone that wanted to watch the event and has been unable to.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Congratulations to the winners 1311, 1519, 2642 and the Engineering Inspiration winners 3196 the rookie allstars 4083 and most of all Chairman's winner 2614 I can't wait to see you all in St. Louis and to the finalists 2614, 2083, 1771 you guys did great and I'm glad to see 2/3 qualify for championships anyways! - Team 281 EnTech GreenVillains

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

We're geeked to see our Peachtree alliance partners both made it to the finals--shame it had to be on opposite sides of the bracket! Congrats to 1519/2642/1311, and good job to 2614/1771/4083. (Special shout to 1771, who wasn't even registered for North Carolina as of the end of Week 3 when we played with them at Peachtree. That's hustle.)

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Glad to see 4083 got to finals and earned their RAS. In case no one knows, they ran on a KBoS with a giant 30-60-90 triangle on top. We played with them in their last match when there was a mad dash to the top 8 on Saturday morning, and did they ever pull through with the double balance while we sat pretty on the Co-Op with Entropy.

Even though 422 didn't get the win we've been dying for all year, we had a really fun weekend in North Carolina. It was crazy watching the co-op bridge flip the rankings so much (We went from 3rd to 8th in 3 matches!) Also, our build review session next Saturday will probably result in some heavy modifications before we enter in a spring offseason event or two. We (especially the seniors and myself) regret not preregistering for CMP, but that's how the gearbox crumbles.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

This is a picture of the feild on Saturday morning before the teams came in.
This was taken about 7:25 am and you can clearly see the sunlight coming
across the feild and hitting the goals. It was overcast on Thursday and Friday
and a bit chilly. On Saturday it was clear, but still a little chilly.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

I had such a great time at the NC Regional!

The Flying Platypi would like to say huge congratulations to teams 1311, 1519 and 1642; you guys made a fantastic alliance! Congratulations are also due to #3196, Spork, on winning Engineering Inspiration, the team has certainly earned it. It was amazing watching team 2614 go up to receive the Chairman's Award, we were next to you guys in St. Louis last year and your professionalism is astounding.
Huge congratulations to team #3229, Hawktimus Prime on winning the Judges Award, you guys are an awesome team and we're so happy to see your work recognized.

The competition was such a blast and I'm already excited for next year!

Winning the Dean's List Nomination was such an honor for me. It was a total surprise (I didn't realize it was me until a teammate gave me a gentle shove) and I can't express how grateful I am. I have to thank my fantastic team and our awesome mentors for making my FIRST experience as incredible as it is. Also, special thanks to one person in the stands (I believe a student from #401) for keeping me from falling down all the stairs in Dorton. That was very much appreciated :)

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Team 2614 also congratulates the winning alliance of 1311, 1519 and 2642. We started off with a great party with 1519 at the home of 3459 (Pyro-Tech) and ended up facing them in our last match and then also in the finals with them leading the other alliance. What a small world FIRST can be. Congrats to 4083 making it to Worlds with Rookie All Star. Folks should keep their eyes on these rookies. They literally pushed low number robots across the field like the other robots were on roller skates - and they weighed less than 90 lbs ! I've never seen such defense before, glad they were on our side. We really enjoy the Dorton arena with all the natural light and the hospitality is always top notch. Our team loves working with other teams, especially rookies, and getting them onto the field. Congrats to each and every one of you who played hard at NC. Most impressive thing I saw was a robot trapped and dead on the hump get restarted and freed by an opponent bot, and then end up coopertition balancing with that very bot. True coopertition at work. Okay, the 54 points of penalities in a single match was pretty wild as well. Winning Chairman's at Raleigh made the event extra special for us of course. It has been a great year for team MARS and we look forward to seeing in STL the teams we've had the pleasure of getting to know over the past five seasons. We Are... MARS

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

We were one of the many teams bullied at the fender by 4083. The coolest things I saw their drivers do was push an oposing team around the opponents' key in one match, then push an opponent into 4083's own key to get foul points, THEN pushed them into their bridge for more points. Insanity.

It looked like a Kitbot on Steroids, but I feel like they hid some ridiculous gear reduction to be a bull in the proverbial china shop.

The Dorton Arena, while dated, is one of the coolest venues for FIRST. It's a very calming place where the sunlight peaks through and the cool mornings fill the pits. I stress out like crazy on drive (at VCU, you would see my crayola-red face stomping around the pits in a mad dash to find other drive teams) but at NC, it felt easy going like an offseason event. Definitely stressing to my team how much they should go back next year.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Hi again....

Many people commented on the pit arrangement at Dorton. While its a
somewhat smaller venue...the pit arrangement made it less crowded compared
to what i've seen at VCU. I wish VCU would change that. At VCU it tends to get
very crowded between the end of the pits and the Queing area
(behind the curtain) There is room for them to do the same at VCU. Also at Dorton you
don't have the long ramp like VCU has to deal with. Many people
that i know that have been to VCU also commented that it was more relaxed and easier
going than at VCU. I did'nt go to the team social so i can't comment on the food,
but while it was nice to have the team social at the science museum
(for VCU) the food was awful. Dorton also has the advantage of free parking
(as long as you stay out of the flea market area) compared to the paid parking at VCU.
There were some teams which had to move cars at Dorton though.
I recall team 122's bus almost getting towed, but one of the team members
quickly went out and moved it. (122 uses a small bus)

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

It was interesting to watch, but it almost cost them a birth in the finals. There was a question if this was a strategy or not. The refs conferred for nearly 10 minutes. If it had been deemed as such, they would have received a red card and disqualified their alliance. They were warned not to do that again for the rest of the tourney or they would have been disqualified.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

The team social at NC wasn't much of a social, unfortunately. They also ran out of food that we PAID for ahead of schedule. 3196 and us had to load up somewhere and go eat; luckily the VA Regional secretary got a refund from the NC regional director for both teams.

The Dorton pit layout was solid in structure, but not numeration. When I saw 401's pit on Thursday I said "hey, we must be right near there." We were on the opposite side of the stadium. The numeration at VCU makes sense, but creating dead ends and narrow walkways doesn't. Maybe the regionals should trade notes on pit structure and numerations.

At NJ, they had it so the veteran teams sat on an "outer ring" while the rookies were nested in the "inner ring" closest to pit admin.

I liked NC's "loading bay" pit queuing, but entry to the pits was awful. Heaven forbid anyone that needed to be somewhere in the pits move at anything faster than a snails' pace. VCU queuing is nightmarish because it's so tight, but pit access isn't ridiculous. Once again, trade notes!

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Going with the always welcomed double post, I was commenting on how I saw that during qualifiers. I also heard that there was almost a red card in the semis, but I was so exhausted after sleepless nights of chairman's award prep and scouting prep that I managed to pass out in the stands for some matches, including the last semifinal and the first final.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

That is too bad. In previous years the social was held outside near the engineering buildings at NC State. Teams could either play/dance outside or go inside to learn more about projects done at NC State. I heard that the team social this year was also loud and crowded.

I believe the idea behind the layout at the NC regional is that there is a rookie team situated next to a veteran teams so to facilitate rookies and vetrans working together.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Interesting comment. I wonder if the refs knew this at the time of the Elims.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

I wasn't particularly happy with that style of play, at all. Pushing people all over the field isn't really in the spirit of the game or in the spirit of competing against the challenge. I'm really surprised they didn't get red carded.

Just my 2 cents.

Congrats to the all the teams that attended the NC Regional and thanks to all the volunteers and organizers that help put together such a great event..

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

I wasn't watching what transpired on that end of the field, I was watching our team score on the other end, but afterwards I talked with our human player who was watching closely, and here is what he saw: (keep in mind that the GDC intentionally made it difficult to defend the bridge during balancing. They wanted to make it expensive to try and block the bridge)


Spork was blocking access to our bridge, so 4083 pushed them into the bridge causing a penalty. They then backed way off to allow Spork to leave the area. Spork instead positioned themselves in front of the bridge again. After a pause, 4083 again pushed them into the bridge causing a penalty, again they backed off and waited for them to vacate the are. Again, Spork positioned themselves in front of the bridge blocking access. 4083 pushed them into the bridge a third time, causing a penalty. I think Spork's alliance partners finally told them to get out of there and they moved. (the total number of may be off, I have not seen a video of he match, if someone has one, please post it for review).

I know that 1086 was upset, and yelled at our coach (who had no idea what he was being yelled at for) and they complained to the head ref. If what was described to me was accurate, there no way a red card should have been received for those actions.

All the controversy aside, if you subtract all the penalty points, our alliance still would have won the match.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

As has been discussed to great length in the Queen City Regional thread, being pushed into the bridge should not be a penalty unless you also contact an opposing robot touching that bridge ([G44]). Were they called for that?

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

During the match they were but I spoke with the head ref afterwards and he said that it was a mistake and the penalty was taken off. It didn't affect the outcome of the match so it wasn't reported to everyone. The penalties that were called were for contacting an opposing robot in their lane and not for contacting the opposing alliance's bridge.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

There is at least one video of that particular match up on youtube, though the focus isn't on that particular spot on the field.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-_jT...CYDiN9c-ENAnM=

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Thanks so much for coming out on Wednesday night! We sure had a lot of fun! Also, Congrats on getting Chairman's!

The match where the blue alliance robot got stuck, red freed it, and then both balanced at the end was actually us. That was a great match -- lots of fun to watch. Here's a link to a vid by our team. At 2:27 you can see us free the blue robot. http://www.teampyrotech.org/2012/nor...egional-video/

Thanks to all the teams on a great NC regional -- Can't wait for next year!

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

I just posted the video I shot of the match.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MIU4...fdWPQ6RuO9g%3D

I was supporting our student pit leader, and was behind the glass, so the video is a bit obscured. But, even with the view partially blocked, I think the video shows a different version of events than told above.

What I see is Spork trying to shoot when they are pushed into the red lane by 4083. Spork tries to get out, but is pushed under the red bridge by 4083. At this point I panned to the basket, but when I returned, Spork is still trying to get out of the lane, and 4083 is pushing them into the red bridge. When Spork manages to get turned and out of the lane, 4083 pursues Spork, pushing them across the field. 4083 is clearly pursuing Spork, not attempting to gain access to the bridge. Spork is trying to score baskets, not attempting to block the bridge.

While I admire 4083 for pursuing a vigorous defense, and have heard good things about design features of their robot that allowed them to do so, a strategy of forcing other robots to commit penalties is not permitted [G45]. The judges elected not to issue a red card because they couldn't be certain the actions in this one match demonstrated an ongoing strategy. Rather, they removed the penalty points and warned 4083 against using these tactics in future matches. I'll certainly be reviewing other match videos to see if these tactics were used in prior matches.

It's tough to swallow a loss when you feel you have been the victims of tactics that are prohibited. That said, those are the breaks. 1771, 4083, and 2614 were a fantastic alliance and beat us fair and square in the next match. While they may have gotten a little carried away in this match, 4083 was a great defender, and effectively thwarted our scoring plans. Congratulations to their alliance for effectively executing their match strategy.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Indeed, it appears that once spork was in the lane, 4083 was trying to capitalize on the penalty points. Additionally, for spork, it appears as if they continued to attempt to collect balls while in the lane, although because of the camera turning away, it's hard to tell.

However, once the teams leave the lane, in my opinion, that was perfectly fine defense. A defensive robot has the right to pursue/target the other team.

- Sunny G.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

I watched your video, and I agree that the the actions weren't as cut and dried as I was lead to believe. 4083 did put up a great defense. They pushed 1086 across the field (and across the key), but I think they were trying to keep them off our scorers who were gathering balls, not trying to cause them a penalty. You can't judge someone's intent by watching their actions.

As for the action in the lane, it does appear that they initially pushed Spork into the lane, perhaps while trying to turn them and mess up their aim, (that's why we only shot from the key) but then they backed off and waited. Not sure why Spork didn't immediately leave the lane, but every time 4083 hit Spork, they backed up and waited. Again it is impossible to detrmine intent by observing actions.

As has been said before, the penalties did not affect the outcome of the match.

I admired 3196, they had a great robot. They were on the winning alliance that beat us in match #48. Blue cheese was awesome as always, as was Triple Helix. We enjoyed competing with all the teams at the NC regional.

Re: 2012 North Carolina Regional
 

Thank you everyone for an incredible regional! Congratulations to the Winners 1519, 2642, 1311 and Finalist 1771, 4083, 2614. A double congratulations to 2614 for winning the chairman's award, you guys definitely deserve it. Also thank you to 1086 and 2363 for being awesome alliance partners and helping us get to our first semi-final.
Our team looks forward to seeing many of you in St. Louis!

Also regarding the lane penalty ordeal, I'm not exactly sure what our driver was thinking at the time but I do know that our robot has been struggling with turning and driving in general this year, we can't turn in place very well. Our driver might have been attempting to leave the lane but wasn't able to turn out of it quickly enough.
I think its a bit silly that so many foul points can be accumulated so quickly, but I guess that's just part of the game and honestly its our own fault for not building a robot with a better drive train. Also 2614 and 1771 had us easily outscored just with hybrid and teleop points so in the end it doesn't really matter.

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...