UCF regional!
 

hey everybody since there was no thread for the florida regional i thought of starting one... what is your feeling about this year's regional at UCF... anything that you would want it to be different from last year...?

" Sigmac@t are going to medieval times for one night... i was wondering if any other florida teams would like to join us... if possible im me for more info."

Re: UCF regional!
 

I'd like to see better preparation of the pit tent outside to keep teams' robots from getting moisture in them. I think they've worked on that though... but other than that I think they've done a great job and will continue to do so.

Re: UCF regional!
 

i agree with mike-- those pits really were bad---
and the food policy was well really funny--food got in anyway--lol--

well i know it'll be a blast-- regionals are really fun--but then when is a competition not fun?

whatever--hope everyone enjoys themself--
i hope i can go-- i pray that i can go

TO ALL: Have fun and Go S.P.A.M.!!!



S.P.A.M.! GOT TO LOVE IT YA KNOW!! :D

Re: UCF regional!
 

We had a huge problem with the moisture Friday morning. Also, the tent got a little crowded which made it hard to get robots through. I remember thinking about how safe it was with all of these tools, plugged into some sort of electrical extension cord system or whatever it was, while it was raining (and the humidity). I felt that at any point, the wood floor could just light up, on fire, and everyone would be scrambling to get out through those two narrow entrances that are always blocked by robots in the first few pits, as well as any robot currently passing through the entrance way, the stacks of bins (which I don't expect to be there this year), and the fence that was blocking the other end. The wood floor appeared to be the biggest problem. The crowd of people and narrow entrances were the other problem. The first day, the crates were there as well.

Maybe this year, the pits could be rearanged to make it safer and maybe the wood floor isn't very safe in a machine shop type environment.

I don't think I am going to UCF this year though since it will be during my 3rd quarter exams. My team should be there though.

Re: UCF regional!
 

I think we should all get together and buy the guys who built the floor a level ;). Kidding of course! The amount of work that goes into building something like that is immense, and I have the utmost respect for them. Just, please...dont let our robots slide down the floor this year ;).

Re: UCF regional!
 

food...no problem there i will just go outside
pits....figure out how to get everyone in or everyone out it is not fair to one half of the teams (no matter what half)
i dunno it always just seemed cramped @ that regional....

Re: UCF regional!
 

the pits were the worse thing. If they can fix that problem we would all be happy.

I think they should mix up the Vets and rookies. This way the Vets can give the rookies some help when they are in the pits.

I just hope we are inside and not outside this year. Those tents were very bad.

Re: UCF regional!
 

agreed

Re: UCF regional!
 

so uhhh ive been hearing about these other teams that are gona be tail gateing, why cant we do it????? just a thought... lol :D

Re: UCF regional!
 

i was lucky enough to be inside last year, but i saw what happen an you know they been working on that to fix it. i personly like everything that went on last yaer no problems well err...after the team party me and another teamate ran into problem with campus police.....i guess streaking is illegal or something ?!!?!? please inform ;)

Re: UCF regional!
 

As you may know by now, the Florida Regional does not have a social scheduled for it this year.

Well, we at team 1083 thought to do something about that. We're looking into an "unofficial" social. I stopped by a local bowling alley called Boardwalk Bowl today. They claim to be the biggest bowling alley east of the Mississippi and south of New Jersey, and I can see why. They have a HUGE facility. From what I gather, they have 48 lanes available for us to reserve at 9pm on Thursday if we want them. Of course, we could ge there sooner and hang out, but the lanes themselves wouldn't be ready 'til 9. One game with 5 people per lane should take about 45 min. After hanging out for a while, people should be able to get back to their hotels in plenty of time for their curfews.

Some key notes, it would cost each person $4.50 for one game and shoes. This place has a Pizza Hut, concession stands, and a deli with Boar's Head meat. They have a very large arcade with 3 air hockey tables. They have 17 pool tables. They even have a sports bar in there for the 21+ crowd. And I heard that their wings are amazing.

To qualify for that group rate, we would need at least 15 people who want to bowl. (Heck, SPAM would more than account for that alone ;-)

What I need from you is some official word from your team whether you would be interested and how many would want to BOWL. People who don't want to bowl can still come and hang out, but we need an accurate count of bowlers to reserve the right number of lanes.

RSVP by emailing to pelln@ocps.k12.fl.us and we'll get back to you with directions and such.

So? Does this idea sound like a winner?

Re: UCF regional!
 

Sweet

Re: UCF regional!
 

we are coming down for the ucf regional this year and we would like to know what is around the university?

Re: UCF regional!
 

are you also going to be in the NYC regional? team 233, the PINK team will be at both ucf and nyc

come by and say hello

Re: UCF regional!
 

no we will be at suffolk which is a little closer to where we live?

Re: UCF regional!
 

Dude, I have been to this bowling alley and it is far the best one I have ever been to! If I recall, they had an extensive arcade area, with an alternative DDR arcade machine (either StepMania or BeatMania). I know during summer nights, the bowling alley reserve several lanes for some Cosmic Bowling. To get you an idea of how big this place is, they took an old Wal-Mart and converted it to this massive bowling alley (I think they have a total of 90 lanes). I would highly recommend reserving those 48 lanes. Now if we can get several teams to be willing to go. :D

Re: UCF regional!
 

sounds awesome george!!!

i'm not sure how many spammers are gonna be at this regional so yeah--about 20 maybe less

Re: UCF regional!
 

2 people from 86 will be able to come for sure (well...Mandy wont get much of a choice and I'm sure she and I want to stay out of her bro's apartment as much as possible) count us in :D

Re: UCF regional!
 

Hey Guys...
Team 845, Cutting Edge Robotics will be at the UCF competition again, I'm looking forward to it, it was great last year. I had not heard about there *not* being a social..which really sucks (hey, theres no other way to put it). I'm glad someone is trying to put something together unofficial, and I'll try to talk my team into going to it, it sounds real great.

Re: UCF regional!
 

Woo unofficial social. Sounds great I'll have to talk to my lead mentor about it.. -er or maybe Jay will. :rolleyes: Well UCF is gonna be awesome! Last year was great, my team was inside though. I hope the tents are better this year.
Hope to see some of my good friends from some great teams this year. Jim (SigmaC@t), April (S.P.A.M.) and well you all know who you are. Lol :p Good luck to every one!

Re: UCF regional!
 

Here yall go, our itinerary for 108!

Re: UCF regional!
 

hey we are staying in the same hotel as 108

Re: UCF regional!
 

thats great that team 311 will be at the same hotel as 108.. if you guys want to get together pm me or specialagentjim.. we will work something out...

Re: UCF regional!
 

Theres a strong possibility that representatives from Team #538 (Dragonslayers) will be at the UCF regional.

Our team isn't actually participating there, but the Florida teams always impress us so much that some of us will probably go just to watch. In the event that we do go, you can count us in on all of the festivities. :D

Re: UCF regional!
 

ok george, forggot to tell you ... ya i sent out the email plast to team leasers for you

anyhoo... when we had the swamp and spam bowling Nobody realy bowled we just kindqa did Everything else except for jason but he was like with one other guy and there were like 25 of us all

Re: UCF regional!
 

tytus... how about this time we all bowl... cause there are going to be a lot of ppl... and i will talk to my sponsor and ask if its possible...

Re: UCF regional!
 

I'll be there as a spectator (and make fun of 108's misfortunes). I'll be staying at the Holiday Inn Plus. My goal is for the first time after 4 years of FIRST to actually get to watch a competition. If a rookie team needs help perhaps I could be pressed into service, but I won't get to Orlando until late Thursday night.

Re: UCF regional!
 

do you mean the holiday inn, Or the Holiday in express, Its Verry Important

Re: UCF regional!
 

Well I'll prob. be hitting that up with some of the other 710 guys.. We usually all have our own cars at UCF and our mentors are usually pretty lax if we can get parental consent to do cool stuff. So thus, we most likely will show up.

Whoop up in some bowling. :-)

Re: UCF regional!
 

Maybe i will hit it up too...if im not insanely insane with insaneness. I dont have to worry about people letting me go seeing as how i live in orlando, on campus.

Re: UCF regional!
 

The Holiday Inn UCF found here http://www.hiucf.com/
Why?

Re: UCF regional!
 

So George, are you 21 yet? oops, I see from your profile that you're 23.

Word

Any word on practice fields yet? Making you set your's up in the south 40 last time stunk - with autonomous mode so critical we need access to at least a couple areas for running around with the ball tees.

Re: UCF regional!
 

Woot! Well I've got a "maybe" from my head mentor about the unofficial social. So that means you'll probably be seeing 845 there. :D I challenge you to a bowling match! -er yeah lol.

Oh yeah, and what hotels are all your teams staying at? (Besides the ones that have been said.)
We're staying at a near by place called "La Quinta" I think. Don't know how many teams will be there. :rolleyes: Oh well.

Re: UCF regional!
 

Yeah...its the La Quinta Inn at UCF..anyone else staying there??

Re: UCF regional!
 

i stayed at the la quinta during robot rodeo it was nice but no high speed interent like the hilton

Re: UCF regional!
 

I know part of my team is at the Hampton Suites.

Re: UCF regional!
 

Are there any plans for organizing a practice field at UCF like last year? ComBBAT is wondering if/what we should bring to help set this up.

Re: UCF regional!
 

if the other regionals this weekend are any indication first will have one for us

Re: UCF regional!
 

I cannot wait for UCF after watching the elimination rounds of the VCU Regional. I guess we are going to try and "raise the bar" since UCF is going to have a live webcast. Totally sweet. :yikes:

Re: UCF regional!
 

Can't wait any longer! 3d 22h 21m! Jeez. Oh well. Maybe I should sleep off the next two days. :D

Re: UCF regional!
 

especially because you won't be getting any sleep during the regional!

Re: UCF regional!
 

i am storing up sleep cause the lack of sleep at regionals is alot, but that is one thing i look forware to :)

Re: UCF regional!
 

hahaha, that's EXACTLY what I did this morning. A good 11 hours of sleep for the resevoir ;)

UCF, here we come!

Re: UCF regional!
 

It's so hard to wait, when it's so close.. Oh well. It's going to be a riot and a half of fun.

By the way, can I get some details on the unofficial social? Like time, location, etc. Thanks!

Re: UCF regional!
 

what is sleep?... :confused:

Re: UCF regional!
 

Getting ready for UCF!!!

Ten 12 packs of mountain dew .... $45

Inflatable bed with pillow .... $68

A shot at nationals and an endless lifetime of FIRST memories..... priceless


INSPIRATION exsepted at all major and unoffical FIRST comps.
FIRST:
LIVE IT
DREAM IT
BREATH IT

Re: UCF regional!
 

I second that!

Mmm...so close, i can taste it.... or is that the residual taste of getting my tongue shocked by the OI ac adapter....not sure.

Re: UCF regional!
 

I think this is the proper time for a big UCF Regional team sing-along.... and since Barenaked Ladies are playing in Orlando tommorow, it's only appropriate.

"Who needs sleep? Well your never gonna get it.
Who needs sleep? Tell me, what's that for?
Who needs sleep? Be happy with what you're getting. There's a guy who's been awake since the second world war."

See you guys Thursday.

WHO DAT BBAT!!? COMBBAT

XBOX LAN party!?
 

A few of the members of Team 408 Roboticks are having a large xbox LAN party the 2 nights that they are there. (Friday night- Saturday night)

We will be staying at the Days Inn @ 11639 East Colonial Blvd. If you want to join in the lan party, an xbox is needed (of course) and a copy of Halo, although we will be playing some other games. (DOA3, project gotham (yes, we're old school-its pg 1)vice city (although not MP) etc.)

Flyers will be posted in select places around the hotel for more information if you want to get in the LAN party. :cool:

Re: XBOX LAN party!?
 

::reserves comments on ely to himself and select ely team members...::

Re: UCF regional!
 

So since we are closer any teams gonna be at the hilton

Re: UCF regional!
 

Hey everyone i know alot of people are following this thread and so i would like to bring up something. If you dont know at VCU regional this weekend there was a outbreak of a virus, were alot of people got sick they had the health department come and everything. FIRST made a offical statement to. As i was reading throught the CD thread about it i came to find out that there field, that was used in VCU is coming hear next

hear is the quote from the thread

The symptons are nasty with vominiting and diaheraa some students and mentors ended up in the hospital.
Even though it was sanitized and hopefully died off, i just ask everyone this weekend to wash there hands and desanitize everythign. When human players get off the field wash your hands. Just be careful cause i knwo i dont want it and i dobut anyone else wants it

Re: UCF regional!
 

gawd im going to orlando then peachtree....ugh im getting sick and that is all there is to it.... :(

Can anyone please help me with a dilemma that i am facing this week for UCF i know there will be wireless internet acess at the competition. However the laptop my school is giving me to bring does not have built in wireless and they dont have a wireless pcmcia card. and i do not own one my self. So i was hoping someone that will be there might have an extra wireless card for me to use for the competition? If anyone does can they please pm me. Thank you in advance.

Re: UCF regional!
 

i would like to just point out... that whoever read this thread about the virus... they should let every single of their team member know about this whole situation... i really dont think that any of us want something like that happening @ UCF... when a lot of teams have another regional and championship event to go to...

Re: UCF regional!
 

i agree-- just watch out-- i pray no one gets sick now

i alway get sick after regionals so yeah i pray that i don't this year--- whatever

see ya all there

Re: UCF regional!
 

i hate it when people Get sick. I hope noone gets scarred and starts wearing masks along with their saftey glasses making UCF Looking all like a sars outbreak.

well lets recap... Robots, practice day scouting. hotel lan party, matches, Swamp and spam connection ;). Bowling aley. more hotell craziness, more matches. Sleep depravation kicks in. Picking, Finals, awards lots of driving. then Sleep for a day and a half then post pictures on delphi...

Re: UCF regional!
 

Well while talking about this with Nathan Pell(1083), we looked at the FIRST statement about the virus and they said it was prob the norovirus and so Nathan found a fact sheet about it and hear it is

facts on Norovirus

February 2004
Norovirus Fact Sheet
What are noroviruse?

Norovirus is a virus that causes the “stomach flu,” or vomiting and diarrhea, in people.

What are the symptoms of illness caused by noroviruses?

Norovirus illness usually begins 24 - 48 hours after exposure, but can appear as early as 10 hours after exposure.
Symptoms usually include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramping. Sometimes people have a low-grade
fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, and a general sense of tiredness. The illness is usually brief, with symptoms
lasting only 1 or 2 days.

How serious is norovirus disease?

Norovirus disease is usually not serious, but people may feel very sick. Most people get better within 1 or 2 days,
and have no long-term health effects from the illness. Sometimes people are unable to drink enough liquids to
replace what they lose from vomiting and diarrhea, and they can become dehydrated and need to see a doctor. This
problem usually occurs only among the very young, the elderly, and persons with weakened immune systems.

How is norovirus spread?

Noroviruses are very contagious and spread easily from person to person. The virus is found in the stool and vomit
of infected people. People can become infected in several ways, including eating food or drinking liquids that are
contaminated by infected food handlers, touching surfaces or objects contaminated with norovirus and then touching
their mouth before handwashing, or having direct contact with another person who is infected and then touching
their mouth before handwashing. Outbreaks also have occurred from eating undercooked oysters harvested from
contaminated waters - cooking kills the virus. Drinking water contaminated by sewage can also be a source of these
viruses. Persons working in day-care centers or nursing homes should pay special attention to children or residents
who have norovirus illness. This virus can spread quickly in these places.

How long are people contagious?

People infected with norovirus are contagious from the moment they begin feeling ill to at least 3 days after
recovery. Some people may be contagious for as long as 2 weeks after recovery. Therefore, good handwashing is
important. Persons infected with norovirus should not prepare food while they have symptoms and for 3 days after
they recover. Infected people do not become long-term carriers of norovirus.

Who gets norovirus infection?

Anyone can become infected with these viruses. Because there are many different strains of norovirus, norovirus
infection and illness can re-occur throughout a person’s lifetime.

What treatment is available for people with norovirus infection?

Currently, there is no specific medication or vaccine for norovirus. Norovirus infection cannot be treated with
antibiotics. By drinking fluids, such as juice or water, people can reduce their chance of becoming dehydrated.
Sports drinks do not replace the nutrients and minerals lost during this illness.

Do infected people need to be excluded from school, work or daycare?

Since the virus is passed in vomit and stool, children should not go to daycare or school while they have diarrhea or
vomiting. Once illness ends, children can return to daycare, but handwashing must be strictly monitored. Persons
who work in nursing homes, take care of patients, or handle food should stay out of work until at least three days
after symptoms end.

Can norovirus infections be prevented?

You can decrease your chance of coming in contact with noroviruses by:
• Frequent handwashing with warm water and soap
• Promptly disinfecting contaminated surfaces with household chlorine bleach-based cleaners
• Washing soiled clothing and linens
• Avoiding food or water from sources that may be contaminated
• Cooking oysters completely to kill the virus

Re: UCF regional!
 

Hahahahahh, you know what's funny? I'm one of the 4 volunteers assigned for unloading that truck on Wednesday for setting up. Oh boy, fun times ahead ;) If you see me coughing in the pits, just don't come by lol. I trust FIRST though, I don't think there will be an issue anymore.

Re: UCF regional!
 

eew, Please dont Vommet on any robots, Ok mike?

Re: UCF regional!
 

PLZ dont... specially on ours!!!... i will be working on it all 3 days.... :ahh:

Re: UCF regional!
 

Oh, if you have to puke, Aim For Aerfin, hees washable, Unless hees wearing a Swampthing shirt

Re: UCF regional!
 

just cause he said that you all can puke on me... how about puke on me when i am actually wearing swampthing shirt... or i can just give it to you guys and you guys can puke on it as much as you want... just make sure that you dont touch spam, combat and paw's shirt...

Re: UCF regional!
 

hey everyone, its ashley from 212 - i just wanted to wish everyone good luck! I wish R.A.C.E could be there, but unfortunatly, there is no longer a team 212 as of now - but we are all there in spirit! At least we are giving other teams a chance to win! lol! (jk). GOOD LUCK EVERYONE! its gonna be an awesome regional.. break records like last time!



<3 ashley
R.A.C.E (212) -- Regional Champs 2003

Re: UCF regional!
 

I know everyone has heard about the flu virus that went around at the VCU competition. Our team,for one, will be bringing hand sanitizer to help stop the spread of the flu. All other teams might want to do the same. The virus is not airborne, so as long as there is no physical contact with infected persons or balls, the virus should not spread.

hope this helps.

If you haven't heard about what happened, then check the other forums. I believe the name of the post is "So who likes tacos"

Re: UCF regional!
 

Ashley... we all will miss RACE... hopefully you guys will be back in action next year... you guys are great alliance... thanks for helping us getting that gold last year @ UCF...

Re: UCF regional!
 

Well, I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone good luck, I can't wait to see everyone in action! If you want to say hi, just look for the guy in the tie-dye lab coat with that stupid hat of mine on....

Re: XBOX LAN party!?
 

"select" ely team members? ooh, i feel special, tho yes, i'll admit, we are xbox nerds...anyone remember last yr at the hotel where we had wires running thru the hallways all covered up with duct tape? and big duct tape arrows? that was us

Re: UCF regional!
 

Soooo, Moral of the VCU incident:
WASH with SOAP...
(No SOAP coverage at VCU...interesting...)

212: We miss yas! We'll do ya proud!

Re: UCF regional!
 

Less than one day until the start of UCF...

Are there any expectations, or certain things to happen at this regional? All I know is that it is going to be really good. :D

Re: UCF regional!
 

Hmm... can we say "Who dat BBAT?" heheheh.... so yea, the usual ComBBAT crowd, and from what I've been hearing from a bunch of people on other teams... we're going to have a very high-spirited competition, I can't wait... I think all the teams are going to make it a very good time as always.

A personal hope is that the field will be working without any glitches in the morning tommorow, unlike all the problems regionals had last year. However, that's probably just because I'm setting up lol.

Re: UCF regional!
 

In just a few hours I'll be on my way to UCF! I can't wait too see you all there. Even though we're not taking a large number of students this year. *shrugs* Oh well, it'll still be awesome! :D

Go Cutting Edge! :D Lol. Good luck to everyone! See ya there! ;)

Re: UCF regional!
 

we are leaving now from Ft. lauderdale and we are hopefully gonna average about 100 mph so we should be there in two hours

Re: UCF regional!
 

i leave bright and early tomorrow morning...see you all in the pits :D

Re: UCF regional!
 

dang! it's gona take me like 5 mins! to get there, gosh they sure are haveing this thing way out in the boondocks, it's gona take me forever to get there. :ahh:

Re: UCF regional!
 

Well, I just got back from setting up today... and from everything I saw... we're in good shape in my humble opinion.

Re: UCF regional!
 

The set up looks good, same as last year with the tent, but better than last year, level floor, projector not on the roof. Looks like its going to be a good comp and even better weather!

Re: UCF regional!
 

Oh yea, one last minute thing... I'm still around this year, so if anybody's having problems with programming/autonomous/wiring/etc.... come grab me. Unfortunatly I've been so busy that I haven't been able to organize a workshop for UCF (I'll still hold one at nationals again however) to have today... and I haven't made print-outs or anything lol, but feel free to come grab me from 21's pits... or you'll see me around, or something. Good luck to all!

Re: UCF regional!
 

Anyone at UCF right now reading this? I expect a few people on my team to be all over that wireless network.

I'll be watching the webcast all day, folks. Feel free to PM or IM me and tell me about anything exciting.

/me wants to be there, too.

Re: UCF regional!
 

ya isabel we are standing at our pit me and dan. we miss you and we wish you were here

Re: UCF regional!
 

*waves*

Anyone want to tell me when my team's matches are tomorrow and Saturday? Heck, tell me when yours are, too.

EDIT Also, the moving info boxes on the screen are awesome.

Re: UCF regional!
 

we dont know yet we get the sheets tommorow morning..what you rusty you dont remeber we dont get them yet?

Re: UCF regional!
 

hey everyone! great day of practice, good luck tommorow and have fun!

Re: UCF regional!
 

2 things....
1) When you're watching, look closely down by the scorekeeper (he has a table with 2 flat screens on it built in in this big case) and if you see a guy there, it's probably me if it's the afternoon... good view of the field and the whole FIRST volunteer thing :)
2) Heheheh... from the way the network people were joking around when setting up... if ANYBODY other than the 2 or 3 people authorized that are working there use the Wi-Fi... they will be kicked out of the place if they don't stop connecting in, or just plain old hacked lol. They changed it from last year, so no more of SPAM's 5000 laptops connecting to the wifi.

Re: UCF regional!
 

:ahh: 180 points! Jeebus! They aren't the 1st seeded alliance for nothing...

Re: UCF regional!
 

Anyone else who is watching this, shouldn't Children of the Swamp get MAJOR penalties or DQ for popping not one, but two big yellow balls?? Destruction of the field much??

Re: UCF regional!
 

This happened with one team at nj last week, the big ball gets stuck in the ball chute and is pushed more due to a bot being pushed into the ball by another team. Really no penalties would be given out in this case for popping the big ball(s).

PS if anybody is wondering thisa was in match: QF3.2

Re: UCF regional!
 

Well, according to the rules (as far as I know), the bot doing the pushing should have gotten penalties...

And in this case, Swamp popped that first yellow ball all by themselves...

Re: UCF regional!
 

lol, Thanks Team 233 accidentally picked us. Too bad we are in Canada not FL :(

Re: UCF regional!
 

dis spam and swamp win? i didnt see... the webcast cut out

Re: UCF regional!
 

*Grin* Team 233 accidentally picked *everyone* =P They got it right eventually though...

Re: UCF regional!
 

no, they lost. 179 suffered because none of their alliance could hang well, if at all.

Re: UCF regional!
 

Swamp is down and now 311 and 233 are moving on

Re: UCF regional!
 

of course.... 15 seconds to go n the websat sut out for me again


wow.. tie what a match

Re: UCF regional!
 

then I guess you just missed the finals where all 4 team hung...120 to 120 awesome

Re: UCF regional!
 

4 robots hanging.

Re: UCF regional!
 

anybody else having promblems with nasas braodcast?

Re: UCF regional!
 

I have been having problems all afternoon keeping a solid connection at low and high bandwidth.

.. from what I have caught though, the finals have been great. Last match was awesome seperated by only 5 points.... want to see more hanging though! :yikes:

Re: UCF regional!
 

No problems here RR works just fine.

great second match .. nobody hung

Re: UCF regional!
 

I guess we'll have to wait til the regional is archived to get a really good look at it.