In praise of FRC4451, ROBOTZ Garage
 

South Carolina is not a powerhouse for FRC.

We have our moments of brilliance, yes, but when Palmetto wrapped up nine days ago, only one of the eight sets of medals stayed within the state*. 2056 has matched South Carolina's combined Einstein appearance count**, and done it in three seasons. While other states have experienced explosive growth, team count in the state hasn't doubled in ten years***.

*2187 won; Chairman's, Engineering Inspiration, and the five other teams in the finals were from out of state.
**343 in 2003, 1319 in 2007.
***19 in 2004, 36 in 2013. Of those 19, only 10 remain active today.

It is against this backdrop that I have to brag on a rookie team from the town Fountain Inn, South Carolina. (Never been to Fountain Inn? It's more or less the sign that you're close to Greenville.) Laurens County has a 14.3% poverty rate*, a 62% free/reduced lunch rate in their district*, not much of an industrial base...and you know what came from here?

• Palmetto #7 Seed (7-1)
• Orlando #4 Seed (8-1)
• Orlando Finalist (in three matches)
• Palmetto Semifinalist--including reaching Level 3 one timeout after falling from that high off the ground
• Palmetto Rookie All-Star
• Orlando Rookie All-Star
• Palmetto Highest Rookie Seed
• Orlando Highest Rookie Seed
• Palmetto UL Industrial Safety Award
• Orlando UL Industrial Safety Award
• The best image in the south this side of Exploding Bacon.
• And everyone, from the decade-plus mentors to the students, are just plain nice! Not gassed up, not tense, just having a lot of fun with robots and already helping other teams.

Ladies and gentlemen, FRC 4451, ROBOTZ Garage.

Watch these guys in St. Louis.

Re: In praise of FRC4451, ROBOTZ Garage
 

Looks like we have the latest and greatest rookie powerhouse. Every time I watched them do an amazing climb and dump at Orlando I was impressed. They successfully managed to complete one of the most difficult tasks FIRST has thrown out. From what we've seen of their robot so far, I think they'll find a place on an alliance in St. Louis and I can't wait to see what they think of next year.

Re: In praise of FRC4451, ROBOTZ Garage
 

Its a scary thought, but you put them on an alliance with 1114/2056/254/987/610/1986 and they could win Einstein.

Re: In praise of FRC4451, ROBOTZ Garage
 

Billfred, do you know what their story is? On the Roboshow it sounded like they have a couple of mentors with FIRST experience.

Great, great robot and as part of the Field Reset team by far the most annoying robot to get off of the field (in a good way).

Good Luck to them in St. Louis and the future!

Re: In praise of FRC4451, ROBOTZ Garage
 

More than a couple; their mentors have been on 342, 1319, and 2751 in the past.

Re: In praise of FRC4451, ROBOTZ Garage
 

Members of 11 could not stop talking about 4451 during week 1 and we were incredibly happy to see them pair up with our friends on 125 in Orlando. Such a great "rookie" machine. They executed their climb and dump strategy perfectly and consistently.

Re: In praise of FRC4451, ROBOTZ Garage
 

Our mentors said that they recognized almost all of their robot mentors from some FRC teams in the past. I recognized Mike Bryan from 2751...I swear he mentored 342 at some point but maybe that's my imagination.

Re: In praise of FRC4451, ROBOTZ Garage
 

You're off by one; he was with 342 through 2008 (including their lone regional title) before transferring to the Upstate.

Re: In praise of FRC4451, ROBOTZ Garage
 

That explains a lot. Especially considering, when I talked to a few people about 4451, there would always be a couple of air quotes around the word 'rookie'.

Hopefully 4451 can keep up their technical success in years to come.

- Sunny G.

Re: In praise of FRC4451, ROBOTZ Garage
 

I can not say enough nice things about this team! They are such a class act and the nicest group of people you would ever want to meet! They deserve only the best in the future!

Re: In praise of FRC4451, ROBOTZ Garage
 

4451 was the team I and a few others really wanted to win Rookie All-Star so we could see em in St. Louis.
They were great to compete with down in Palmetto, so glad to see them do well in Orlando as well, and I can't wait to see what else they have in store for the future.

Re: In praise of FRC4451, ROBOTZ Garage
 

Yes they could Mike. BillFred, they were a superb addition to the Orlando lineup. Those finals were a thrill to see live. ...just a thrill.

Eric

Re: In praise of FRC4451, ROBOTZ Garage
 

Looking forward to meeting 4451 at champs. I was blown away by the pictures of the pit and robot cart. Of course the robot success speaks for itself. Definitely a team I'd rather work with than against.

The buzz around this team reminds me a lot of the Rookie-All-Star we met at the Minnesota regional in 2009.

Re: In praise of FRC4451, ROBOTZ Garage
 

They also have the coolest robot cart in all of FIRST.

Re: In praise of FRC4451, ROBOTZ Garage
 

Rookie All-Star for champs, maybe?

It's interesting when a rookie team turns out to be one of the teams giving out a wild card; the majority of other teams will wind up struggling and hoping to get a wild card themselves (2 rookie all-stars at regionals).

Re: In praise of FRC4451, ROBOTZ Garage
 

Billfred,
Thanks for the team shout out!

We have mentors with FIRST experience. But the key to our success has been the strong relationship with Laurens District High School. Their administration and staff have been 100% behind our industry / school partnership. We have also had terrific parent support that provided food and transportation during build season.

I’ve been very proud of our students’ accomplishments thus far. We have been working with them since October and have now turned over most competition duties to their control. I don’t think they understood all the preparation we were doing until they got a taste of competition.

It’s a long wait until St. Louis. Hopefully our game strategy will still be relevant…

Hope to see you at the Championship. We’ll definitely stop by SCRIW III!

David Allred

Re: In praise of FRC4451, ROBOTZ Garage
 

Yes. Their robot is good. Incredible, in fact.


...but even more impressive than their robot were the 4451 students. They were enthusiastic, courteous, and a joy to talk to. Year 1, and they get it.

Re: In praise of FRC4451, ROBOTZ Garage
 

At Pametto, 4451 really was a top notch act. By already looking like a veteran team and starting a program that will be around for years to come, you were truly deserving of every award you won. Also, thank you so much for adding a link to our Tumblr on you website!

Re: In praise of FRC4451, ROBOTZ Garage
 

The last time I saw a team with imagery like that was Fondy Fire...and these guys have taken it to a new level.

(I want to be part of a team like that.)

Re: In praise of FRC4451, ROBOTZ Garage
 

We can vouch for the awesomeness of 4451.

We chose 4451 with our pick from the #2 spot because of how reliable they were at their 54 point match strategy. You could pencil them in for those 54 points just about every match (in fact they managed a 30 point climb + 20 point dump in 9 consecutive elimination matches!). They were unbelievably consistent at their strategy.

They play and act like vets on and off the field and are truly deserving of all those trophies already filling their case.

Best of luck 4451.

-Brando

Re: In praise of FRC4451, ROBOTZ Garage
 

My predictions, 2013 Championship Rookie All-Star award, and watch out Palmetto 2014 regional, here comes your Regional Chairman's award winner...

Call me crazy, oh wait, they do!

Absolutely OUTSTANDING team!