2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Currently, GSR is at 38 teams, with one rookie team! 1058, the PVC Pirates, will be there for the 10th time, who else will be there?

Current Team List:

58 Riot Crew
61 BVT Robotics
78 AIR Strike
95 Grasshoppers
131 CHAOS
133 BERT
138 Entropy
151 Tough Techs
166 Chop Shop
172 Northern Force
175 BUZZ Robotics
213 The Dirty Birds
229 Division By Zero
238 Cruisin' Crusaders
319 Big Bad Bob
509 Red Storm
811 The Cardinals
885 GREEN TEAM
1058 PVC Pirates
1073 FORCE Team
1247 Robotics of Kearsarge
1307 Robosaints
1512 The Metal Vidsters
1517 The Lumberjacks
1519 Mechanical Mayhem
1729 Plan B
1831 Screaming Eagles
1922 Oz-Ram
1991 Dragons
2342 Team Phoenix
3323 Potential Energy
3467 Windham Windup
3566 Gone Fishin'
3585 Rogue Robots of 4-H
3609 Duct Tape Dragons
4034 Pelham Pythons
4124 Integration By Parts
4546 ShockWave

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

The Aztechs will not be attending this year unfortunately. :( We had such a great time last year too.

Looks like its a great group of teams attending!

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

We're on the waitlist.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Team 166 is happy to be attending GSR for the 11th time! Look forward to seeing you all there.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

1729 is looking forward to meeting our old friends there.

Oh, and glad to see my old team 1058 is going to be there :D

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Really hope 610 and 2791 come off of the waitlist!

Looking forward to GSR! Our team is growing fast and we are extremely excited to see what 2013 brings! :)

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Can't wait to bring the Clarkson Twins to BAE! :)

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Looks like both of those things came true. Looking forward to seeing you guys again this year.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Only one week until GSR! Looking forward to seeing everyone again this year! Out of curiosity, what kind of robots will we be seeing next weekend?

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

319 will be revealing their robot during FRCTop25's Premiere Night. Tune in!

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Echoing 319, we'll reveal at Premiere Night, followed shortly by a picture and detailed description in CD-Media. Though if anyone really cares about what 2791 is up to you can probably find our robot and design details on the Internet / in my CD posts respectively.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Does anyone know if there is going to be a webcast this year?? I have all the equipment that I can bring with me if there isn't one already planned.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Not exactly sure we bagged a "robot" but we bagged something! ;)

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Hey Everyone,

Team 610 has finished our preparations, and are all extremely excited to make our way down from Canada to compete!

I cant believe competition season is only 2 days away. See everyone then!

Cheers, Austin

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

1519 is extremely excited for GSR too!

I have to say, I really love GSR... from the consistently great crew, to the many friends, to the level of competition! Not to mention this first chance to see the game really played out... and all the nostalgia wrapped up in an event I/we have attended for 8 years... and the fact that our team is sending out our 2013 Ultimate Ascent contender for its first regional!

We are certainly looking forward to GSR and are so eager to see you and your robots... and to play Ultimate Ascent with you!

I don't know if there is... if I recall correctly, GSR hasn't been consistently webcasted in recent years... so it may go un-webcasted if you don't!

Glad you made it off the waitlist too! Look forward to playing with you again!

We're glad you guys are returning to GSR after a several-year hiatus! We may not boast powerhouses like two you're used to playing with, but GSR does tend to have a deep middle-tier... Regardless, I look forward to meeting you and the folks on 3360!

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

And, in true GSR form, there's a predicted snowstorm starting Wednesday and continuing through Thursday, complicating travel plans.

Hey, we didn't really need that practice day, right?

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Well some of us need two practice days at this rate! :p

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

GSR wasn't webcasted last year. If I recall correctly, it seemed to be an issue with getting internet access, but I could be mistaken.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

All the more reason to go home for break!

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

I'm starting to think the only way to make it there for a full practice day might be to round up the neighborhood dogs, make a sled out of some 80/20 and start shouting 'Mush!'

Seriously though, the weather is probably going to be even worse this year then last. If our school cancels on Thursday morning we'll be without a school bus for the trip, and then we'll have to figure out how and when to transport everyone down that day (assuming it's even safe to do so). I imagine a lot of teams may be in the same boat. Could be a pretty quiet practice day...

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

About 41 hours until GSR starts! Any predictions for the competition? (Winners, exciting moments, etc.)

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Just to let everyone know there is a webcast already planned and it should be posted to: http://www.coderedrobotics.com/webcast

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Hey! I thought the GDC banned blizzards. Due to a technicality, it won't stop snow, I guess. :rolleyes: :D

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

My daughter created a list of the teams attending, their names and their locations. I thought others might be interested.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

According to a couple of weather sources, it won't be below freezing at any point between now and Friday, so I don't think the snow will cause too many issues. Good luck to all the teams, and may the best alliance win!

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Depending on how NE districts shape up next year, this could be our last ever regional in Manchester. We're super excited for tomorrow and hope to make the best of this trip to the Granite State. See you all on the field!

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

So has anyone else noticed 610 dominating practice matches? Watching the twitter feed I see scores of:

39 - 112
25 - 95
53 - 115
87 - 49
3 - 102
15 - 102
35 - 84

All of those have 610 in the winning alliance. They must have a decently accurate full court shooter. Highest tele score was 84 or 28 discs in the 3... Crazy.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

610 is extremely impressive...they can use their shooter from both full court and the pyramid, hats off to them.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Kudos to 610 for an amazing robot plus some very nice work on their outreach for the competition.

Anyone know where I can find a copy of tomorrow's match schedule? I saw 166 printing it out but don't know where they got it.

Thanks!

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Thanks so much for the schedule!

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Where's the snow?? 6:30 am Friday morning and clear blue skies!

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Who won awards today? FIRST site isn't updated.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Dunno, but wow 610. 610's Teleop Points is about the same as 1986's in Hub City.

Can't wait to see what 1114 and 2056 have on offer next week!

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

It was great to see that 610's method of play is very successful. I would assume that in later weeks it'll still hold true.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Here you go: http://www2.usfirst.org/2013comp/eve...MA/awards.html

The page is updated.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

It'll be interesting to see how agressive defense changes this game in the eliminations.

When the game slows down, auto and climbing become that much more important.

I like 610's design and strategy in these qualification matches. They are clearly (IMO) the best disc scoring robot at BAE. I am sure they have plans to counter any attempts to slow them down tomorrow afternoon.

This design will be successful throughout the season. I just wonder if it will remain this dominant.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

I am a bit confused. I did not hear a announcement of the Woody Flowers Finalist award but they have a name listed. Did I just miss it?

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

It was awarded Friday morning.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Thanks. I was late this morning.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Now I am confused about the standings list. I understand Rank, Team, QS, Record and DQ (Disqualifications), but what do HP, BP, TP and CP meen?

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

It would seem that FIRST is using the same template as last year for these. Being
HP- Hybrid points (auton)
BP- Balance points (pyramid)
TP- Teleop
CP- Coopertition points

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Yeah, those should be:

HP -> AP - Auto Points
BP -> CP - Climb Points
TP -> TP - Teleop Points
CP -> N/A - No Coop equivalent

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

It doesn't help that those acronyms are all carried over from last year... HP -> Hybrid Points... BP -> Bridge Points... TP -> Teleop Points... CP -> Coopertition Points

Hybrid pts, actually being Autonomous pts
Bridge pts, actually being Climbing pts
There is no equivalent for Coopertition points...

Each of these point categories is the sum of your alliance's scores in those categories. So, if you play in your first match, and your alliance gets 12 auto points; then in your second match your alliance gets 0; then in your third your alliance gets 20; then in your fourth your alliance gets 18... your HP after those four matches would be 50 pts.

These numbers are used as the tie-breakers for people with the same Qualifying Score. If tied in QS, then HP are used... if tied in that also, then BP are used... if tied in that also, then TP are used.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Excellent. It make sense now. I knew CD would help me with this.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

You are absolutely right about the elims.

And this is exactly when making a good alliance comes into favour of a team; picking the robots that can help you achieve the tasks that you may or may not be able to achieve alone.

I am sure the boys down in NH have a little something planned out for the masses watching.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

I'll save my thoughts for the end of the regional, but I just wanted to say that 610 is far and away the best scorer here. According to our scouting data, they score 1.5 times as many points on average than the second place team for overall average score.

I agree that the tough New England defense will emerge this morning and certainly this afternoon, and I am really interested to see how that goes. That said, 610 hasn't shown very many terribly exploitable flaws. They are optimized for the fastest possible cycle time, they can go under 30 to shake off defenders, and their base driver is the best thing out of Canada since Nick Lawrence. It's going to be quite the uphill battle.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Anyone have the alliances? The webcast went down a while ago

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Alliances are as follows:

#1: 610 4124 3609
#2: 138 131 58
#3: 230 1991 1153
#4: 885 1519 133
#5: 151 229 1277
#6: 1512 1922 1517
#7: 61 175 172
#8: 2791 78 3467

The picking order may be mixed up, but the alliances are correct per http://www2.usfirst.org/2013comp/eve...eduleelim.html

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

We were wondering the same thing as we practiced during week 6 of build season, and had setup different strategies to counter. Although we have floor pickup for auto mode and can shoot from everywhere around and under the pyramid.

Can anyone confirm that 610 doesnt have a floor pickup and cannot go under the pyramid? I only saw shots from the same set point and no pickup from the floor during auto mode.
If that's the case, then that's some great driving, and I'm sure they'll adjust during eliminations to whatever defenses throw at them or their alliance.

As many have mentioned during the build season, perhaps the best combination we'll see in later weeks is a combination of the best auto, best shooter, and best climber as much as possible for eliminations.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Per their spec sheet, they can go under the pyramid, their alignment device is retractable. They do not have floor pickup at present.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Any word on the status of the webcast? It went down several hours ago

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Webcast is still down, but there is a radio broadcast. For a non-FIRST audience, so it is less technical than you are probably used to.

But looks like we are in for a treat if/when 610 and company and 885 and company collide!

BAE Radio Internet Stream

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

I just setup a new Webcast for BAE, its located at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bae-fi...-regional-2013

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

We aren't sure which match it was but in the qualifying matches we thought we saw a red robot get knocked off the pyramid by a blue robot. The feed went out before we heard the ruling.

Did this happen? What was the ruling and penalties assessed on it.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

So checking the BAE results 4546 got highest rookie seed. and rookie inspiration, but there is no one listed for rookie all star can anyone confirm if they got it or if it went to someone else?

EDIT: I am aware they are the only rookie, I didn't know if that meant they auto qualified

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Interesting. If they're the only rookie, they should get Rookie All Star and Rookie Inspiration doesn't get handed out, going by precedent. In the past, one rookie team at an event meant they auto-qualified for Champs. I'm guessing it was input wrong or something.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

It was not input wrong. I thought it was very strange. Why deny a rookie an invite to Champs just because there wasn't another one in the region to compete with?

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

This is seriously wrong. It would be like not awarding Chairman's because only 1 team submitted at the event.

NJ has given all 3 rookie awards to one team in the past in the absence of competition. (Highest, RAS, and Inspiration).

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

First off: thanks to all the teams, students, mentors, volunteers, and everyone else who was at GSR the last few days. I have to say that was an extremely fun competition.

Second: Congrats to 610, 4124, and 3609 for winning, that alliance really deserved it.

Third: WOW. What a great run by the 7th seeded alliance of 61, 175, and 172. You guys were fantastic and very fun to watch.

Lastly: (Personal note) thanks to all of my own teammates and mentors for pulling through this competition, we are raring to go for Pine Tree.

Can't wait to see you all again next year in New Hampshire!

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Congratulations to the incredible high-scoring alliance of 610 - 4124 - 3609 for going through elimination rounds undefeated at today's Granite State Regional! Your alliance was definitely the one to beat due to the great offense of 610 and 4124, coupled with excellent defense from 3609.

We thought we'd have a shot at matching your best efforts when our 885 - 1519 - 133 alliance came up against you in the semifinals. Those two semifinal matches were exceptionally exciting! We really thought we might have outscored you in SemiFinal 1-2 since we knew we had put a whole bunch of frisbees into the goals, but when the match was over and I looked up over my head into the high goal for the red alliance, I saw an incredible mountain of frisbees and knew we'd been beat despite giving it our best effort! There were well over thirty frisbees in that goal! Congratulations!

At least we knew we had been beaten in a match where we really gave it our best -- the alliance of 885 - 1519 - 133 was able to stand proud with our losing score of 123 points -- we were simply bested by a great alliance! (I've since learned that our losing score of 123 points was the highest losing score at any of the Week 1 Regionals!)

Congratulations are also due to the Regional Chairman's Award Winners, 131 CHAOS, of Manchester's Central High School. With all that CHAOS has done for the Manchester robotics scene, the award is extremely well deserved!

We were also glad for 172 Northern Force to receive the Engineering Inspiration Award! With your graciousness to us in loaning us a broaching set during the event being a clear example of your classy organization, your presence in St. Louis will definitely contribute to making the Championship an awesome place to compete!

Thanks so much to 885, The Green Team, for asking us to be on your alliance. The capabilities of our robots were a fantastic complement to one another, enabling our alliance with 133 to come very close to topping the offensive juggernaut of the #1 alliance. The excellent teamwork and complementary abilities were reminiscent of our 2006 GSR alliance with 1276 and 133, where three good but not exceptional robots with the right set of capabilities were able to stun the favorites in an upset from the bottom half of the seeding bracket. It sure felt like we were oh-so-close to making a similar upset today!

We very much enjoyed seeing many teams we've allied with at GSR before take home well-deserved judged awards -- 885, 1073, 1153, and 2791 all definitely earned the accolades bestowed upon them in New Hampshire this afternoon.

It's hard to believe that the 2013 Granite State Regional is over already! 1519 had a wonderful time and was glad to have competed at the event.

A final thanks is due to the event sponsors and organizers at BAE Systems -- the event went 100% smoothly and was a great pleasure to attend. Thanks to all the volunteers who gave of their time!

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Started to upload video from GSR... 8 of the 9 quarter-final matches are up already, because I have them. Hopefully more video to follow...

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...5BrWEbRxhDpuK3

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Many thanks to all who made this a wonderful year for us.

Thanks to 610 and their alliance partners for showing us how it's done. 610 was an amazing robot - approached the job in a simple way and did it SO well.

Thanks to our alliance partners 1519 and 133 for giving them a good fight in the semi. When the losing score is 123 you can't feel too bad about it.

For us this year was a real high. Never in the seven years that I've been with the team have we made the top 8. Just being there made it all worth it!

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

I've (only) been to 5 regionals, but BAE this year was definitely my favourite.
The level of competition was amazing. Eliminations were extremely competitive. I really felt that every alliance had a shot at winning. There was never a match where I could predict the outcome before it happened. Those semi finals were especially intense!

I want to thank our alliance members, 4124 and 3609. There's no way we could have won the regional without such an awesome alliance.

Even more importantly, I want to thank every single person there for making BAE the awesome regional it was. The spirit, atmosphere, and level of competition were just incredible! :)

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Team 61 would like to thank team 175 and 172 for being great partners. They gave us their all even when things looked grim. Great run.

You will be seeing both these team do even better in he future. Great job and great robots.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

this was a great event. thanks to BAE for sponsoring and for providing so many volunteers.

610 was a dominating machine and had several strategies for dealing with defense. the elimination matches were excellent and very competitive.

i think there was just one floor pickup robot at the event so there were usually a lot of discs on the floor at the end of the matches. it will be interesting to see how that stat changes with other events.

congrats to 131 for the Chairman's win. awesome!

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

There were a total of four teams who had designed a floor intake, and the only two I saw implemented were team 885 the green team, and my own team, 1058. My team was very surprised by the lack of floor intakes.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

I remember 175 using a floor intake at least once, but their main strategy seemed to use the feeder station.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

You are correct, both 175 and 58 had floor intakes (58 actually had a plunger) but neither used it very much that I saw.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

We love GSR and have attended most years of it’s existence – it is always a great group of teams who are not only there to work hard & compete, but to have fun doing it.

Buzz 175 would like to thank team 61 for choosing us and having team 172 Northern Force play with us. It was a fun, anxious and hard work with two great teams. Thanks for a great regional. (Wow, 61, first time I watched your ‘bot climb I paid no attention to the rest of the other bots in the match!) Best of luck the rest of the season and we hope to see you again soon.

Congratulations to 610, 4124 & 3609 on a game well played. We look forward to seeing how you do the rest of the season and at Championship and, best of luck to all of you.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Team 3609 would like to give a huge thanks to our alliance partners 610 and 4124 for a great competition. You both had very impressive machines and it was a pleasure being part of our alliance.

See you in St. Louis!

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

I have posted some videos online of some of the Robots and matches:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...hreadid=114589

It was an excellent week one Regional.

Many classic teams, upsets, Robots falling, one face shot by 610 on 2342, A robot with no wheels.

A big congratulations to 131 C.H.A.O.S. for the Chairman's Award.

610 picking 4124 and 3609 showed great scouting. Duct Tape Dragons and Integration by Parts are heading to St. Louis!

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Does anybody have any videos of the Semi-Finals and Finals?

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

I have them recorded from the webcast and our team, I'll try and get something up today.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Great work to CHAOS 131 on your RCA. You deserved it!

1058's ground intake will be making an appearance again at Pine Tree, I know we will see a lot of you guys there- good luck and have fun!

By the way, does anyone have a video of Qualification Match 67 (1058, 175, 1247 vs. 1831, 2432, 3566)? It's the first match that we really got our act together in. Thanks!

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Here you go, although I was focussing on Team Phoenix's Leaf Blower Shooter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF_K0fwDng8

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Congratulations to 610, 4124, and 3609 for an amazing performance. It would have been nice to have had a shot at them in the finals, but all 3 machines in our alliance had problems in the semis that ended our day quickly.

And when something as unlikely as a robot flopping over and blocking BOTH feeder stations happens, it's time to pack the trailer.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Thanks to everyone at GSR for a GREAT time.
This was my last official event as a mentor for the "Clarkson Twins", 229 and 4124. (229 will be at Boston, but I'm on the RPC so I won't be able to spend much time with them.) I couldn't be prouder to have this as my last note. Thanks to 610 and 3609 for being amazing alliance partners.

By the way, does anyone have videos of the elimination matches?
One, I'd like to be able to get some footage of them for our year-end wrap up video. Two, I'd like video evidence of my first-official Frisbee to the face of the season. (Team photogs, STAND BACK. The nets don't help if you're six inches from them.)

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Libby,

Just uploading all the video that we took to the 610 Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/Team610

I also have the webcast feed, but its a lot lower quality.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

This regional is probably the most fun one I've ever had the opportunity to be involved in. I have lots of friends in the northeast, and it was really really cool to compete with and against you. Being able to look in almost any direction in the Verizon Wireless Arena and see a friendly, familiar face is something I only used to experience at Canadian regionals.

Specifically, I wanted to thank a few certain individuals and groups.

First and foremost I wanted to thank James Temple, Joe Sanchez, Libby Kamen and the entire 229/4124 program. You guys are some of the friendliest and easiest to work with people I've had the opportunity to share the field with. It's a rare thing to be able to walk into your pit to chat about whatever immediately before and after competing against you on the field. Thank you, for being awesome. Wall of Green forever, eh?

Second, I want to thank team 3609. To be completely honest you should never have been on our alliance, you should have gotten picked long before we had the opportunity to ask you to join up with us and 4124. You guys were one of the few teams to really make our drive team's job difficult in the qualification rounds, and we definitely took notice. You guys played amazing defence on whoever we needed you to and were willing to do whatever was asked of you. I'm so happy for you guys to make only your second trip to the elimination rounds, and to win the whole thing. On the back of my medal from this weekend is a little bit of duct tape. Thank you for being awesome, hope to see you in St. Louis in a couple months!

Third, I wanted to thank all the regional staff and volunteers for putting on such a fantastic show. The BAE Systems Granite State Regional is one of the best run events I have ever been to, with super polite and friendly volunteers. I would recommend this event to any FRC team.

Finally, I want to thank all of the students and mentors on 610. I came to this team late in the 2012 season, and was welcomed right into the Crescent Robotics program. You guys are some of the most dedicated and professional people I've ever met in FRC. The students sometimes make it difficult to remember that you're high school students. Thank you for making FRC fun again for me, looking forward to more in the future!

-Nick

As a (very proud) Team 610 Parent who was fortunate enough to have been allowed to accompany his son's team to what for me was my very first robotics event, I thought I would share my perspective. Perhaps some other teams' members may share it with their parents in the hope of encouraging more parental involvement in this amazing program.

In no particular order, here are my "first" impressions:

1. Even though everybody received the same instructions for the same event, there was a surprising diversity of robot construction, abilities, and capabilities. I had imagined (before the event) that robots designed to do the same tasks, would probably all look and act the same way. Wrong!

2. The entire concept of "coopetition" where competition is seamlessly knitted together with collaboration is the most striking feature. This is unique to this generation, and quite foreign to my own experience and upbringing. These young men and women had no apparent issues with providing willing and cheerful assistance to other teams, against whom they were competing. Also, collaboration had no discernible effect on the natural and healthy competitive desire to win. Who would have thought such a thing was possible? I strongly suspect that this new attitude and approach will yield significant benefits for these young people in their future studies and professional lives.

3. Many of these kids are smarter than we are. There - I said it.

4. Shooting robots may score more points, but climbers are more fun to watch!

5. The students really do run things - they chair the meetings, build and design the robots and call the shots. Although mentors and teachers could jump in and solve the problems and fix the robots - they don't. They seem to understand that they are building young men and women - not robots. I saw no evidence of adults ruining things for the kids, which is something we do regrettably hear about in other competitive activities. I feel pretty sure that this type of bad behaviour would not be tolerated in the First culture.

6. The adult volunteers who run and judge the event seem to share the same value system as the students who build and drive the robots. They were consistently impartial, fair and helpful. Thanks.

I am deeply grateful to Team 610's members, mentors and teachers for their "graceful professionalism" and charity in allowing me to become involved in what has been a very positive life experience for my son. From concept to execution, First is one of the very best organizations ever to be made available in our schools, and is worthy of all the support a parent could give. Congratulations and thanks to all those whose efforts over the years have made this incredible opportunity possible!

I strongly encourage more parents to become involved and allow their sons and daughters to let them "show you how it's done".

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

It's these kinds of posts that make me proud to be a member of FIRST. You sir, clearly understand the point of why your kid is involved with the program.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

The 2013 Granite State Regional was the best regional that I have been too in my 6 years of FIRST. I would like to thank all the volunteers and coordinators that ran the event. It was run so smoothly and we even were running a little bit ahead of schedule on Saturday.

To the people over on 610. Thank you for picking 4124. Working with you guys was amazing. The students and mentors blew me away at their friendliness and willingness to help. The best example was when both of our twins were having communication problems right before eliminations had started and the students of 610 came over to our pits and fixed both 229 and 4124 knowing that they might be facing 229 in eliminations. That shows true gracious professionalism. You guys are without a doubt the best team that I have worked with.

To 3609, The Duct Tape Dragons. I will echo what Nick said and say that you were a steal in the draft. You guys should have not lasted that far in the draft and were the pick that made our alliance. I walked in on Thursday morning and told myself that you guys would be a great pick. Your amazing defense and willingness to do anything that we told you will make you a great alliance partner forever. I am so happy that you guys are going to championships.

Another congratulations goes to Chaos for winning chairmain's. You guys deserved the crown and look forward to competing with you at champs.

Last but not least. Thank you to all the students and mentors of Clarkson Robotics for making my first regional as a mentor the most memorable event that I have ever been too. I look forward to many more to come.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

I must agree. All the points made by 610.Dad are so important to what FIRST is that it is very hard to give a quick and concise explanation of the organization.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

I Second That Emotion.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

This one too.
Captures the reasons why we "waste" our time engaging in this silly pursuit.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

It's terrific to hear these stories. Thanks for sharing this with us.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Echoing everyone's response to 610.Dad: Welcome. Many times in my 11 years of participating in this program I've seen the very tangible changes its made in people's lives, my own included. It even changes the adults it touches. The program is really done a disservice when its treated like its a "high-school" robotics competition.

There are few things more exciting than watching a young student transform from knowing nothing about tools and how to do something, to seeking an engineering degree at university, to having a successful career in a STEM field, and knowing that you're at least partly responsible for the change.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

I'm sorry to bring this thread to a somber note, but I have some sad news. Team 3609 will unfortunately not be able to attend the Championships in St. Louis. We are unable to meet the financial burden of registration or travel. We tried as hard as we could, but FIRST needs the registration payment by 5 PM EST today and there's no way we can meet that. We wish teams 610 and 4124 the best of luck, along with all of the other teams that will be attending!

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Give your Regional Coordinator a call right now, I've seen some very creative ways they can help teams in these situations. Don't give up!

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Unfortunately we already tried calling our Regional Coordinator and she wasn't able to help us. We reached out to all of our sponsors and as many companies as we could all day yesterday and today with no luck. It's tough being a team for the Boys and Girls Club because many companies already donate to the Club and can't give specifically to the Robotics Team.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Wow, what a regional. It was am amazing experience for everyone on 2791.

I'd first like to thank 229 / 4124, in particular James Temple for all of their help and effort this build and competition season. In the build season, around week 2 or 3 we used some of their early concept designs to help us build our Frisbee hopper. Then, in week 5, I heard from James that they were struggling with shooting. I sent them along the details of our completed hopper-shooter prototype, and then a few days later I hear nothing but good things from the 229 camp. Essentially, we collaborated and ended up with "fraternal triplets".

As BAE approached, we decided it'd be best for all three of our teams if we scouted together, continuing the partnership from build season. This is probably the best decision I made all week. 229's students and mentors ran an excellent scouting program and Excel database, allowing our rookie scouting team to really learn from the best and to understand what it takes to be successful. We even made our pick list together, a level of collaboration I have never heard of in FIRST prior to this event. It was one of the most fun pick list meetings I've ever had. (Granted, we made it together since we were "certain" 229 wouldn't be in the top 8... but still)

I know that when 4124 took home that banner with 610, I was so proud of all of you guys. Congrats on the win, even though a room full of Clarkson engineers needed some help from an RPI guy to pull it off. ;)

I'd also like to thank our alliance partners, 3467 and 78. Having those two teams in the huddle was worth it for strategy alone. While the three of us didn't all work at 100% capability during either of our two matches (2791's shooter jammed in QF1, 3467 lost air pressure in QF1, and 78 unfortunately tipped in QF2), it was still a fun set of elims matches and the strategies we came up with were pretty solid. I'm sorry that our shooting wasn't working as well as it did in our best qual matches.

(On a "neat coincidence" note: This is the second consecutive event that we've had to face 610 + a team with Clarkson mentors from the eighth captain position. We did MUCH, MUCH better this time. One of these days, Nick, we'll catch you...)

I'm sure I have a million other things to say about this regional that I'm forgetting, but I do want to add just one thing. We were fortunate enough to win the Motorola Quality award at this regional. I am so proud of everyone on 2791 - we have come a long, long way from PVC arms, wooden claws, and fiberglass bumper frames. It's been a great year, and we'll see if we can keep our success going at WPI.

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

No more dubstep arms! :) I was very happy to see 2791 take that home, what a clean machine.

Best of luck at WPI!

Re: 2013 BAE Systems Granite State Regional
 

Congratulations to 610, 4124, and 3609 you guys all had amazing robots and worked very hard to plow your way through the eliminations!

Big shout out to 131 on your Chairmans award. You are an amazing team on and off the field and that award was long overdue!

Thanks to 2791 for picking us and leading our alliance and to 78 for joining us. Sadly none of us stayed operational for both matches but we fought hard! Good luck to Shaker this weekend at WPI and can't wait to play with 78 again up in Pine Tree!

We on 3467 had a long weekend that started with a major rebuild on Thursday morning. We successful got the entire robot completed by lunchtime but some interference issues between our climbing arm and shooter assembly forced us to chose between one or the other. We went with our climbing arm since the shooter code needed a lot more debugging than two days of competition would allot so we stuck with the arm.

Big plans in store for Pine Tree so beware!

Good luck to teams moving forward to regionals and the Championship!