Re: Boston Regional 2013
 

Lots of fresh robots.
Funky Monkey debut.
Nutrons second attempt at a win.
HYPER, TJ squared, Gael Force, OverClocked, Brazillians!
T-Hawks, Rolling Thunder, Alaskans! (Not sure if they're gonna make it)
Ligerbots, IgKnighters, Three Rookies, Robot Unicorn Attack!
Too many to mention. Let's make this Regional pop!

Webcast:
http://www.thebluealliance.com/gamed...w_0=2013mabo-1

Re: Boston Regional 2013
 

Sadly, the Alaskans didn't make it. I was sad to see an empty pit today.

Way more corner climbers than I have seen at the other competitions. If half of them are effective it will be an interesting alliance selection.

Re: Boston Regional 2013
 

Looks like the webcast isn't working? Unless it's just my computer somehow...

Re: Boston Regional 2013
 

It isn't just you, the stream doesn't appear to be online at all. I hope this can get fixed soon!

Re: Boston Regional 2013
 

They're updating everyone via their twitter twitter.com/bostonfirst so you can track the webcast acquisition process there.

Re: Boston Regional 2013
 

Yes, we know it's not up. We are scrambling to get it going. Please be patient. And please stop calling the Arena about it -- they can't do anything :)

Re: Boston Regional 2013
 

Thanks for the update!

Re: Boston Regional 2013
 

Thanks to the Nutrons we have the livestream up and running! Thanks very much, guys!


http://www.ustream.tv/channel/boston-frc-regional

Re: Boston Regional 2013
 

We had some great matches on Friday, teams lets crank up the excitement today and show the public why FIRST isn't just about robots, it's about making the world of STEM something EVERYONE will want to be a part of!

Grants to 1099 the Disco Techs for their Team Spirit award yesterday, help pump up the crowd today and blow the roof off Agganis Arena!

Doors open in 1 hour can't wait :)

Re: Boston Regional 2013
 

Thanks to everyone who offered help to TJ squared after our mega fall on Friday. I've never heard an arena go silent like that before. The immediate and total outpouring of support was much appreciated!

As it turns out, our damage was limited to just a burnt out LED light and a loose bumper.
http://vimeo.com/m/62467238

Re: Boston Regional 2013
 

Big congrats to 125, 126, and 1511 on a really exciting final and victory!

Re: Boston Regional 2013
 

Great job 125! Maybe this year we will be on the same field in St Louis..

Re: Boston Regional 2013
 

I'm exhausted, in a good way.
Every Regional begins and you wonder how it will develop and will it be exciting.
This one was.

Congrats to the aforementioned 125 NUTRONs, 126 Gael Force, and 1511 Rolling Thunder on their championship.

The semifinals were hot, with 1100 the T-Hawks, blocking 3173 the IgKnighters FCS with resounding cracks. 3173 at one point knocked their blocker off.
3780 Robot Unicorn Attack surprisingly found themselves as the 5th seed and did a great job scouting to get two steals in 229 Division by Zero and 1153 the Robo-Rebels. 3780 had a relatively simple Robot that dumped in the 1-point goal. They benefitted from a favorable match schedule and picked brilliantly, getting two great late improving shooters while they played essential defense to take them to the semifinals, losing by less than 10 points in each match. Oh, for the want of a climb, the match was lost.

Gael Force is back in the house with their first Regional win in four years and taking home the RCA. They and the NUTRONs would do their 10 point climb that engaged after the Buzzer sounded. (Five Second Rule)

Rolling Thunder got their first win since 2005 to go along with the GP award (also at FLR) and the IS award.

846 The Funky Monkeys, all the way from San Jose, got their ticket to St. Louis punched with the EI award. In the Eliminations, they gave up on shooting and spent the entire match protecting 3173 in the corner with their FCS, more than once pushing Rolling Thunder all the way across the field. It almost worked. I think their shooter was actually broken. 88 managed the Wombo Combo Slamma Jamma with a 30 point climb and four disc dump in their final match. 846 has yet to win a Regional in 11 years, hopefully it will happen at SVR. Monkey Poofs anyone?

The lesson is that for a FCS to win at the remaining Regionals and Championships, they're gonna need a great defensive bot with good traction.
They were beaten by two great cyclers.
Time will tell if an FCS can beat rapid cyclers.
Start scouting.

The Cyber Gnomes came all the way from Ontario, not to escape the cold but those BFFs in Toronto. ;) They have had some transitions to make with the Ontario teachers action and had a list of sponsors from their community of Clearview Township that surely would violate the FMS bandwidth limit. They build their Robot at JT Snowmobile Shop and their robot includes snowmobile parts. Probably not COTS in Florida, but here in the Northeast? Sure. Hopefully 2013 will get a win in 2013 next week at GTR West. When they are fully functional, they can shoot and climb with the best.

383, The Brazilian Machine were back in Boston and were on their game by the end. IMHO, they were overlooked in the Alliance Selections. They should fare better in DC next weekend.

I would say the same for 23 PNTA. Good shooting and climbing. A shame that they won't have a second regional to improve in.

3236 TriForce had the most entertaining climb, I think they made 30 points once or twice. In it's early climbs it was doing pull-ups, up, and down, and up, and down. Then they finally got in their groove and would climb to the top, only to fall to the floor (once landing on 23), Then they would rush back to the lowest rung for a 10 point climb. They had these round lead sinker weights on their robot that looked like truck nuts. When they fell, the weights would fly off in all directions making the audience think that they had broken many parts

Gracious Professionalism was evident all around. The best example was when 88 fell from the top with a crash and silenced the crowd. By the time they got back to their pit, dozens of teams were waiting to offer their assistance.

I will post some videos shortly including one of the weirdest climbers you will ever see from 2084 Robotsbythe-C, a greatly improved 3958 Schrodinger's Cat, whose mentor Joe Johnson has been in FIRST forever, won the WFFA.

Thank you to all of the volunteers, judges, and teams. Kudos to the GDC.

Re: Boston Regional 2013
 

Actually, believe it or not, 3780 came up to 229 (specifically myself) early Saturday morning (shortly after realizing they'd be picking) telling me that they were looking for possible picks and 229 had been "looking good". Furthermore, they informed me that they had not scouted at all on Friday, and were only just then starting to "scout" teams by writing down the "good" machines on paper. Knowing that they were carried, they asked many of the other top seeds about the possibility of partnership, and unfortunately for them, most outright declined.

When all was said and done at the end of quals, we were ranked outside the top 8 due to a rough Saturday morning. We accepted 3780's invitation, and immediately sent our scouters with whiteboards and tablets as close to the field as possible. 3780 was excellent in allowing us to pick anyone we wanted, and when it came back to us in the second round, we knew we needed 1153. We had been watching them all weekend, and their strokes of brilliance in a few key matches made them very attractive, even though their rank was surprisingly low.

During lunch we worked quickly and carefully to spruce up 3780's drivetrain (did I mention how willing they were to let us do anything we felt necessary to succeed!?) to play defense while we kept a close eye on both 229 and 1153, getting them ready for what we hoped would be an offensive onslaught. In QF 1 and 2 we put up 140 points, and that was with only 2 robots scoring in autonomous and 1 or 2 robots hanging at the end. We looked to improve further for the semis, but a dead battery in 1153 in one match and a jammed frisbee in the other seemed to seal the deal for the #1 alliance.

Re: Boston Regional 2013
 

This story, among many others, is why I "waste" so much of my time with FIRST.

Thank you, James.