Re: 2013 Inland Empire Regional
 

The air conditioning in this venue was fantastic when it was running. That would be reason enough for me to go back. We had a great time. Thank you all who were involved in creating this great new event.

Re: 2013 Inland Empire Regional
 

It was a loose battery connection.

This event was very well run, especially considering it was its first year. The turnaround times were impressive, and definitely something I want to see replicated at other events. All the teams in competition were professional, and I was surprised with how much GP we were met with when 2485 broke a lead screw during the elims. 3255, an opponent, rushed to help find one, and I was impressed by their spirit throughout the entire competition.

2485 and 968 were two of the best partners we could have asked for. I cannot thank them enough.

One of the coolest strategies I've ever seen in FRC was the interaction between 968 and 2485 to virtually blockade an 84" defender. Strategy and teamwork were strong points for our alliance, and they paid off.

I'm glad to see 3476 advancing to championships. We spent a lot of time deliberating about who to pick, and it was a happy moment to see them advance regardless. Also happy to see 399, 4470, and 3880 advance.

Thanks to the event staff and teams for making this such a wonderful experience. I would be more than happy to see us return next year!

Re: 2013 Inland Empire Regional
 

399 had a great time at Inland Empire. It was a very short drive from our home and it was a very well organized and run event. This was may last regional competition as a student, and I have to say that I loved every minute of it. The best of CA and FIRST ran and competed at the event.

399 fought many silly technical issues(thankfully none of the gremlins from Sacramento decided to strike), but were overall happy with our performance.

Thanks to our elimination alliance partners, captain 1323 Madtown Robotics and 2nd pick 3647 Millennium Falcons. It was a pleasure talking with RC over the course of the build season and to get some insight into how a quality West Coast robot is built. Mark from 3647: glad you finally got to make eliminations in your last competition. You were an extremely aggressive driver and 3647's next driver has some large shoes to fill! Sound strategy and quality bots made this alliance a dream for us.

Thanks to our opponents in quarterfinals, 2493. Your aggressive defense driving was extremely good and going into the first match, we instantly knew it was going to be a huge threat. How right we were, with 2493 keeping us from a climb and another scoring cycle with an effective T-Bone.

Thanks and congrats to our opponents in the semifinals, 1538, 2485, 968. Three quality California robots, effective scoring and strategy, and consistent triple digit scores made these semifinals some of the most exciting matches I've ever played in. Check out our blue bumpers at STL and you'll see some battle scars from our bout with 2485 :)
Congrats on the win guys!

Special thanks to everyone else. I know for sure that our underclassman members were quite inspired by the quality robots that IE fielded.

See you in St. Louis.

Re: 2013 Inland Empire Regional
 

First, a HUGE thank you to everyone who volunteered and everyone who competed! Especially Madtown, for the last-minute feed/shooter modification ideas and materials that finally got it working (on the practice field, Saturday after alliance selection--so close!) We came away from the event with a lot of ideas on how we can improve our team, both on the technical side and as an organization--expect to see even more improvement next year.


Saturday, I was talking to a mentor who commented on Team 4's sweet blue foam floor mats in our pit.
They're sourced from http://www.greatmats.com/products/dense-foam-mats.php

I swear by these mats, I never got leg fatigue this year AND it makes it a lot safer for dropped fasteners, ziptie scraps, etc (they sink in so you can't trip on them, and they often don't roll anywhere awkward). These mats are the second thing I'd invest in for a pit, right after a shelving unit or two.

(To the mentor in purple: I told you I'd get the source to you, but then forgot to exchange contact information! So I'm throwing it out into CD in the hope that you'll find this here... sorry!)

Re: 2013 Inland Empire Regional
 

Wow! What an event!

First off, I'd like to thank our alliance partners:

Team 2485: Our two teams have a lot of history together both on and off the field. It was great to be partnered with you guys when you won your first regional - it's been a long time coming. At San Diego, you showed people you could score a lot of points by being a full court shooter, at Inland Empire you showed people you could win matches by running cycles. It was this versatility that convinced us to pick you guys. During our scouting meeting Friday night it became clear that the mismatches you guys would create, would make a pairing of our two teams hard to beat. Keep up the great work, you guys are quickly becoming one of the top teams in California.

Team 968: We wanted 2485 for their full court shooting, so we could clean up their misses. However, we knew picking 2485 would mean seeing 84" tall robots in every match. We couldn't have asked for more in a 3rd robot. You guys were able to score in auto, able to climb and were able to keep blockers away from 2485 so they could make their full court shots.

Congrats to team 3880 on the Regional Chairman's Award and team 399 on the Engineering Inspiration Award.

I'd also like to congratulate 3476 on receiving a wild card birth to the Championships. You're always a class act and we always enjoy competing with you guys. You guys built another great robot this year and were very very close to being our first pick. Good luck in St. Louis!

-Jon

Re: 2013 Inland Empire Regional
 

I liked to thank some of the behind the scene folks that made this event s special.

2584 Reseda Regents Robotics. They haven't competed for a few years, but hey are still around helping. Every time we needed a volunteer, they would be ready to help. They manned the practice field for all three days.

585 Cyber Penguins from Tehachapi. They also provided a ton of volunteers. Each time I thought I was going to have trouble filling a position, someone from 585 would volunteer.

SMaRT Education. Liberty, Chris, Richard, Maria, Mikie, Calista... You guys run FIRST events like no other. Whether on the planning committee or as the FLL showcase team, you guys rock!

Steve Stark, thank you for your experienced guidance and being in the right place to handle those things that made the event run like we knew what we were doing. We learned a lot from your experience.

The group of core volunteers that made the event run on time. Jared, Cameron, Nick, David, Cynthia as FTA, scorekeeper, field supervisor, lead robot inspector, and pit admin. thank you!

And of course you always need family there to help. Cindy and Fred Stong are the best Judge Adviser and Head ref any event could ask for. They handled a crew of refs and judges, many of whom were introduced to FIRST at this event.

Shawna and the crew from Show Ready were the behind the scenes force that made sure we were always in the right spot at the right time. How can you run an event without the crew from Show Ready.

Wendy and Ann Marie kept our volunteers welcomed and fed in the volunteer room. What a great pair to start with each morning.

A huge thank you to Carol Dixon from CSUSB and her staff that worked with us for so long to get us into the Coussoulis arena! What a beautiful facility.

And then there are the folks that are the face of the event, Blair, Stephanie, George and David. Our MCs and Game Announcers.

And finally to Jim Beck for believing in us and bringing such a wonderful went to the Inland Empire.

Let's do this again next year... Or maybe an off season event? Dona, are we doing anything this summer?

Re: 2013 Inland Empire Regional
 

The Rookie All Star team, 4470, is looking for video of the Saturday Awards ceremony where the RAS was announced.

Also video of the Dean's List award is also wanted.

Your help is much appreciated.

Re: 2013 Inland Empire Regional
 

I have video of nearly the entire event but it would be a while before I'd have any time to slice it or do anything with it. If someone wanted to mail me a large capacity flash drive or external hard drive I could put it on there and mail it back to you.

Re: 2013 Inland Empire Regional
 

Team 2485 would like to thank all teams and staff who participated at the Inland Empire Regional. Winning this regional for Team 2485 marks the first time we, the Francis Parker W.A.R. Lords, have won a regional. We are so happy and grateful for the opportunity we now have to compete in St. Louis for the title of world champions. A special thanks to our Inland Empire alliance partners Team 1538 - The Holy Cows - and Team 968 - RAWC - for being part of one of the Chief Delphi predicted "winning alliances" - full-court shooter, anti-defense, ground-pickup robot. Together we put up our personal best, 207 points!

Check out the video on our site:
http://robotics.francisparker.org/ne...nal-champions/

Also, thanks to any and all teams that have been complementing our matches, team, and robot online; we appreciate the support, and know we are blushing behind the interwebs. :)

Thanks again from the W.A.R. Lords, see you in St. Louis!

Re: 2013 Inland Empire Regional
 

Thought I'd just bump this thread with a video that our team made of the first ever Inland Empire regional. Be sure to point out all of your lovely faces.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFMTZ...ature=youtu.be