Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

New Regional...For all teams planning to participate in the first Palmetto Regional...."Welcome" You are in for a treat. The venue, the Colonial Center (USC's basketball facility), is brand new and spacious. The planning committee is working to make this one of the best Regionals ever. Our plans are to send to each team that will be participating a packet of information prior to your travel. Currently, the Regional is shaping up to be an extremely competitive one, as well as the usual...fun. Should you have any questions please contact us and we will try to answer. More information to come. Frank L.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

The Firebirds are certainly excited to come. Does anyone know what there is around to do, if there is time to do anything else but robotics ;).

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

its Going to be awesome

GO SPAM #180

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

We never had any doubt that going to the backyard of 343 and 342 (MIM and the Burning Magnetos) would be great! We were honored to partner with each of you at regionals in 2002 and 2003 respectively - can't wait for this year.
Still not sure if I'll be coming personally since we're splitting the team for 2 regionals this year - I'l be there in spirit though; any word on a webcast?

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Great to hear for you... Gary, we can only hope to provide the exceptional level of hospitality that you showed us in our rookie year (2000) in Florida. Always great to work with your team...you guys sat the standard...we have only tried to follow. On the webcast...we are working on that...will keep you informed.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Only 15 days until Palmetto! I can't wait, I want to meet as many students on other teams as possible at this regional! So if you would please list your full name and team number I'll do my best to track you down and hang out with you, share FIRST stories etc. Only 15 days and 3 hours to go! :D

I'm Jonathan Minor, on 845 Cutting Edge. I'll be the really loud kid with (hopefully) blue hair screaming at many matches, and helping out other teams that have trouble with their robots! :D

P.S. Can't wait to see Doug (MiM's robot) in action this year! We'll finally be at the same regional yay!

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

If I'm not mistaken, Palmetto will be the farthest 818 has ever traveled for a regional...

I'm not quite looking forward to the bus ride (12 hours...ugh), but I think I'll have a great time in South Carolina. I've even found more proof that I'm a true FIRST geek...I'm excited about seeing robots I wouldn't have seen anywhere else!

Right now, I'm a bit more excited about this weekend's Detroit Regional. Give it a week, though, and I'll be pumped up for Palmetto... :)

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

I'm Jay, Cutting Edge #845, I'll be hanging around with Jon. I'll have either an old Clemson hat (go Tigers) or blue hair. I'm looking forward to the SC regional, I know ComBBat and The Flashbacks from the UCF regional will be there, can't wait to see the the other teams, good luck!

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Just returned from a Palmetto Regional planning committee meeting today in Columbia....things are moving very quickly...glad to hear from you guys (818) that you are planning to make the trip...12 hours is a long way, but our goal is to make this be best experience of any regional that you attend. I made that 12 hour trip several times to Mich....Kettering (sp?). Always enjoyed competing in your area. For all the teams that are participating in the Palmetto Regional...make sure you get your headcounts to USC for the team party...right now we have heard from around 25 teams with over 700 people planning to attend. Another thing...we are working on trying to get a webcast of the regional...we will advise as soon as we can regarding the webcast. See you in Columbia.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Hey, team 818, we will see you at both Detroit Regional as well as in SC! Make sure we get a chance to talk. Good luck to you at both competitions!

We are very excited to come to Columbia! Thank you for the updates on the webcast. I hope it works out!!

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Team 900 is looking forward to it. Will there be a practice field, or at least a practice pull-up bar, or practice IR beacons?

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

I wonder how many teams that are coming to the Palmetto regional has already gone to a regional earlier in the season and how many is this the first one they will be attentending.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

I did a quick count and 14 of 42 teams Palmetto regional will be their only regional.

Tim Tedrow

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Does anyone know if there will be room for a 10 ft bar to practice on?

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

I'm assuming that there will be if (and only if, unfortunately) one of the area teams brings their playing field along with them.

Bit out of the question for us - we're already hauling enough stuff as it is. :)

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Matthew,

Check out this site from SOAP 108: http://www.soap108.com/2004/events/sc/teamlist.cfm

The site lists all teams attending and on the furthest right column you will see if each team is attending their first regional this year or not. Hope this helps!

Brian

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

hrm...from the sounds of it, there may not be a lot of extra room, but I know that Greenville Tech (and 343 for that matter) has a mock up of this years playing field. I will talk to some people to see if we will have room at USC, and the availibility of getting at least a pull up bar down to Columbia.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Argh! Can't wait! So close, but so far!! Good luck everyone! :D

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Hey guys....we will work on getting a platform and hanging bar...will have to check with the event manager and request a place to set it up....good luck to all attending....let us know if you have any special needs that we can help with...got a great planning committee and team of volunteers.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Well it looks like we'll be sharing rooms and a bus (or busses?) with you guys at 343, M-i-M. What fun! I haven't been on a bus with Metal in Motion since... 2002! Lol. This should be a very fun and exciting regional for us here at Cutting Edge: 845. Our first year going to two regionals, and possibly Nationals too. :D Lol. Can't wait!

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

From what I understand, 343 is providing a half playing field for Palmetto. Thanks!

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

SC is gonna be realy fun, can't wait!

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Team 5 is excited, we're bringing the whole team!!! We thought this would be our last competition this year, but now we're sending our team (part of it at least!) to the Championship! So excited. Good Luck to all, and we will see you there!

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

After both finding out about an opening at the competition and raising the entrance fee in 2 days, Team #1302 will be attending!
Can't wait!!!!
thanks to Team #11 for sharing their bus with us too!

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Amen.

This should be fun. Anyone got any info on the team social?

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

I hope they have a laser tag bounce house like at the UCF social last year. That was so awesome!

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Current plans will be pizza, a DJ, Dancers, a movie showing, the engineering labs open, and a visit from the USC President. We will be handing out specific information as you check in...will be setting up a practice field with hanging bar...still working on the webcast...right now it looks pretty good. In addition, SC ETV will be taping the event with plans to put together a 30 minute show to be aired at a later date....we will try to get copies made for each team that wants one and forward. Can't wait...this is going to be a great regional.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

We received word today from the Palmetto Regional event coordinator that it was about 99% sure that Palmetto will be webcast by NASA. Same procedure as with other webcast...go to the NASA site and follow prompts. We will confirm tomorrow regarding that other 1%. Good luck teams...you are going to be part of a great regional. :cool:

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Full Metal Jackets are looking forward to coming! We leave bright and early tomorrow morning from Indiana to SC!

We will be attending the social, but can anyone tell me what else would be fun to do with our team while we are there? We have Sunday to play! How far away is the beach?

Good luck to all teams!

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Is anyone staying at the Ramada Limited this weekend? It is in Cayce, SC closer to the airport I believe.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

I'm soooooooo there. Then again, since the regional is about ten minutes by car from my house... :D

I'd be highly shocked if there wasn't room for anything at the CC. I've been on the inside for basketball color guards--there's lots of space down in there. (Whether or not FIRST uses all of it is beyond my knowledge.)

I know 1293 is sorta playing host to 433...they started posting on our board and never quit. So it's still on for Taboo?

One other thing I read in the paper today...it seems like the SC Department of Commerce is having an electronics recycling day this Saturday in the Colonial Center parking lot. While it's awful nice of them to be so convenient for any fried Victors, it seems like CC parking is bad enough with the USC students there. (Then again, I guess most teams are carpooling in. 1293 will have the worst per-person fuel economy of the regional! Muahaahaahaa!)

But...yeah. I'm in. If you need help getting somewhere, ask the folks in the shirts that say d5robotics on the back. (<sarcasm>Gee, wonder how they'll see the design...</sarcasm>)

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

The beach is about...2 hours away from Columbia. As for other fun things in Columbia...not sure, I'm more familiar with the upstate area myself ^_^

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Depends on the beach. I can get from the far side of Columbia to Charleston in about an hour and forty-five. Your mileage may vary.

(By the way for all of the SC newbies, you really should see Charleston if you've got an extra day in your schedule by some miracle. It's beautiful.)

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Yup, we're still on for Taboo. Anyone else that wants to join us is welcome. Come to our pit for more information.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

YAY! I'll probably come by the pits....dunno how to play though (maybe some can teach me?? :D)

(BTW: Good luck to all...my last post on ChiefDelphi until I return Sunday afternoon)

Palmetto Regional - South Carolina - UPDATES!
 

Okay! So Hi from Palmetto! I'll try to post as many updates as possible, but from what I understand there will be a webcast so yeah.. I'll be posting tonight!

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

I am Jonesin' for a robot competition - I wish I was there!!! we don't have RealPlayer at work (some license issue with the freeware) so I can't watch the webcast. Let me know how we're doing, and say hi to April for me.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

This is Team 900 (Team Inifinty) posting live from their pit. We are here at the regional and enjoying it. We have been workign on autonomous (a way to knock down the 10pt ball) and a lifter to get us on the bar today. To my left, I can see the back of Team 393's crate. To my right, I can see Team 507 (yeah, those orange guys) working on their 'bot. Well, my team just left to go to our next match. I'll try to post again but we'll see how that goes. By the way, there is "free" wireless access at this competition. The AP name is "Linksys" and the access appears to be provided by the CSD. Thanks to CSD for providing me with a way to check my email and post on CD.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

wow match 56 had a lot of penelites

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Yeah that match sure did have a lot of penalties. I wonder how that match ended up.... I think the teams competing were 900, 1102 Vs. 665, 348.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Wow, seven penalties, hmmm, how dare them, bah penalties are soo overrated we won anyway. Granted it was all thanks to our wonderful opponents, we couldn't have done it without their accidental goal tending since we were accidentally driving through our corral. Oops, good luck everybody.

Live from team 900 pit
Anthony

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

So, I'm reporting in our hotel after the first day of competiton. Let me just say, there are a lot of great teams here and if you get the chance, watch the webcast there are some great matches going on! Currently we are ranked third out of the 42 teams competing. (Not to brag) Its been a great day for us, we've had barely any problems, except for one accident with our arm's sprocket falling off. But, we had the problem fixed after one match and are now back up and running, full potential. I wish luck to all of you competing tomorrow, and if you need any sort of help, let team 845 know and we'll try to assist you!

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Daggone webcast hasn't worked all day! :mad:

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Worked fine for me :confused:

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Top 4 teams at Palmetto: 1) Team 11, 2) Team 1319, 3) Team 845 (us!), and 4) Team 343! OH! And here are the rest in the top 8 after the first day of competition: 5) Team 5, 6) 1051, 7) 281, 8) 122!

Team 11 is really tough they're so far 6-0-0 (Out of 8). If all things go well our next two matches will be pretty good. There's a lot of great teams here. There's deffinetly a lot of high spirit energy around the competion.

Horror story:

Imagine this if you will, the most important functions of your robot are rendered useless, and you have 20 minutes to rebuild somthing that seems impossible. Every things hectic, it turns out that you have to send your bot on the field anyway.

Oh. Anyway. What happened was the shaft that held the sporket that runs our arm up and down cracked right in half! So we had to replace the shaft AFTER sending the robot out into the field for one match with out the arm, and still winning! But yeah we fixed it and everything was good. SO! I have to go because this is the only computer in the loby and people are getting pushy! Bye!

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

i have yet to see the webcast, but my spies in palmetto told me all team 11 did was run and hung ASAP....i could be mistaken, but i doubt this....

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Yes you're mistaken. Team 11 does two things, Runs and hangs, but we do both very well. Our drive train has been tested to push over 400 pounds and our hanging mechanism is capable of lifting two bots. We finished 6th at Annapolis in the seeding matches and 3rd in the finals. I couldn't make it to SC, but I sure wish I was.


Good luck to all the teams!
Go M.O.R.T

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Team Standings for the top 11 teams at the Palmetto Regional:

1: 343
2: 281
3: 5
4: 11
5: 1051
6: 845
7: 393
8: 1319
9: 818
10: 34
11: 900

live from the stands too.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

In the first finals match between 11/122 and 271/95 the final score decided by the judges was 100 points to (271/95) and 80 point to (11/122). Not that saying anything here will make a difference, but I am sure that 271 goaltended at least 2 times that did not seem to count which would have tied the score. Did anyone else see this?

I realize that I am not there and the refs did their job in making a tough call, but I'm just wondering. Both alliances are doing a great job!! Good luck in the final matches.

<Edit>
Congrats to teams 11, 122, and 281!!! Great job guys!
<Edit>

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

That an 8th seeded alliance with no seeded teams came close to winning the whole thing just goes to show how unpredictable this year's game is. And how great it is.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

I didn't see them goal tending, but another member of my team mentioned it. It is highly likely with the mechanism that they have. I am just happy that 5 didn't win a third regional and the 8th seed team made it to the finals. Again, congrats to 11, 122, and 281! That was an exciting regional! Good job teams!

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

my webcast feed form SC died right after the website award. can anyone help out with trhe other awards?

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Shouldn't take too long. FIRST has been doing a good job of keeping up with everything this week.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

LOL. I know Ed ....... I'm sitting here hitting refresh ....

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Well, not that fast. ;)

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

W. Mich Awards are posted already ... others should be coming shortly

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

I would like to congratulate all the teams the competed in the Palmetto Regional. You demonstrated that you were all winners by stepping up to the FIRST challenge and completing a robot that could compete in this regional.
The inspection process when very smoothly with over 90% of the teams completing inspection on Thursday. The few changes that were required by the inspection team were handled well with other teams stepping up to supply a helping hand or a spare part.
The level of gracious professionalism demonstrated by all the teams would make any grandmother smile. :)

Tim Tedrow
Lead Robot Inspector
2004 Palmetto Regional

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

I also saw what appeared to be some goal tending done by 271 in that match. I believe the refs said something to them since the next match when they took the ball off and waited for the drop the flipped the ball over to the back of their robot far away from the goal.
That whole matches scoring did seem kind of sketchy to me though, and then the reasoning the refs gave was "they counted the red mobile goal for the blue and red alliances". Does anyone know if there were any other penalties assosciated with that match or if 271 was infact called for a goaltending?


In all though, very great job to 271's alliance for making it as far as they did and then that was very nice of team 11's alliance to allow 271 to switch onto the field after all that confusing and with the match already partially started. Very glad to see that 271 got thier robot up and working nicely since SBPLI 2 weeks ago. I was pleased to see that someone finally noticed team 95 this year with yet another great ball robot.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Just a note to all teams that attended the Palmetto Regional...thanks for making our first SC regional the success that it was. Teams were great and gracious. Please provide any feedback ASAP helping us to improve for next year. Our debriefing will our following the championship. Will advise of the items discussed. Again, congrat's all the winners and teams for visiting SC. :)

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

This regional was spectacular, and truley one of the more competitive regionals out there. The scores remained close through out the whole regional. And many teams played good strong defence, as well as great offence. Congrats to 281, 11, and 122!

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Congrats 281, 11, and 122 also. I'm really glad to of taken part in this regional.

I just got one question though, was it just team 5, or did they play some un-G-rated music? I don't mean songs like "Lose Yourself" and such like that, but like that skirt song played during the semi-finals or something like that.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

I thought I heard that song in the pits...I was back there trying to help the Firebirds with anything they needed...yadda yadda yadda, 1293 is not using Fisher-Price motors anytime soon. (Not that we were gonna, far as I know. I was just desperate to yadda yadda SOMETHING about the regional.)

Personally, I'm surprised they played "Party Up" by DMX. Outside of the hook, it's a very dirty song. Even the CLEAN version is dirty by my standards, and I'd imagine FIRST's standards are higher!

...was it just me, or did the music shoot up about 40 dB from Friday to Saturday? Ah well.

Congrats to Keenan High as well for the Rookie All-Stars. Catch y'all in Atlanta (as a volunteer, at least)!

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

The DJ wouldn't let team 5 listen to Beethoven's Sympony (sp?) #5 song because of their "special list". I think the song-play was not very well thought of.

I believe it did get louder from Fri. to Sat.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

WOW, what a weekend ........

I don't think it could have been any better. Congratulations to all that volunteered and participated in this regional. Columbia is such a cool city: good people, great food, interesting history, clean, safe, and a good central location to a lot of teams. You will certainly be a popular regional from now on.

Thanks to teams 180(S.P.A.M.) and 435(Robodogs) for being such great alliance partners. You guys did a wonderful job and we hope to "Hang" with you again in Atlanta. The volley of "Rocket Bot" and "We Love SPAM" cheers was soooo cool to see & hear from the playing field. The Rocket-Spam-Dogs are a strong allience. :)

As to the comments about the referee calls on goal tending (or anything else) ...... let's be careful.

I was a volunteer inspector on Thursday, a volunteer pit tech on Friday, and a referee on Saturday. I was the lead inspector at Peachtree regional and I've volunteered for just about every field reset and scorer position at regionals in the past. By far, the most difficult job I've experienced is the referee position.

All of the referees (and Inspectors) are volunteers. A few have years of experience with FIRST in some capacity but most do not. All of us have one thing in common - to do the best we can to insure that the game is played within the rules. We're human and we don't have instant replay ...... Hmmmm maybe next year. :ahh:

Volunteers read the Chief Delphi forums - I know the majority of us appreciate them and wouldn't want to give them any reason not to volunteer again next year.

I want to give a BIG THANKS to the FIRST Crew, our host S.C. Teams, and all of the volunteers that made this event such a joy to attend.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

yea the music did concern me out too (i know its been a few posts since we talked about that but i still wanted to say this) i believe those are professional DJs (correct me if im wrong) and they bring their own collections and that would be my idea why we got some more suggestive music than we are used to...i thought it was nice to not have just 70s songs...but that tweet song was a bit over the top (the skirt one)

i wanted to come down there and cheer with you guys but our team wanted us to stay together....sounded like fun too bad :(

the robodogs had a blast and kudos to all of the teams who helped in starting the regional and all who came to support it!

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

I hated most of the music they played at this regional, everything else about it rocked though. But I mean, the best songs they played were the Metallica song, and the Evanessence song. I was hoping for at least some Green Day like I heard at UCF but no luck. It seems to me that maybe the DJs need a little more variety. Like, there wasn't any country at all, and in South Carolina no less. I personally didn't care about that but a few of my team members kept wondering "where the <explitive deleted>" the country was. Oh well it's not easy being a DJ I guess, gotta try and keep everyone happy.. That must be harsh. :\

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Is there an archived copy of the Palmetto Regional broadcast available? :confused:

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

i would personally prefer them just 2 play some trance all day long. after all, its a robot competition, y not have electronic music :D

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Well what about those people who don't like trance? Variety is important in my book. =P

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

I'm still completely exhausted from the trip...

I had a great time in South Carolina. The competition was very well-run. The venue was great, the pits didn't seem at all cramped, and the food was...eh, let's call it decent. :)

It was nice to see 818 do well for once - this is the first time we've ever been one of the seeded teams and gotten to pick our partners for the finals. Thanks to 900 and 9 for accepting our offer...and we apologize for letting you down. We weren't planning on breaking down; if we had been working, things might have been better.

Also...Palmetto was special because it was the first time that our robot has EVER hung. We did it for the very first time on Thursday in practice, and we managed to do it again during our real matches. Unfortunately, the robot wasn't very reliable. Still...we finished in ninth and we had a good time. That's what matters the most.

I spent almost all of my working time in 507's pit - since no one on their (very small) team knew C, I ended up becoming their programmer. Helping them made me feel great - they told me that I'm the reason they were able to compete at all on Friday and Saturday, and I got to see the autonomous on one of my robots work flawlessly. Thanks to 507 for allowing me to help you out - I had a lot of fun doing it.

I'm still happy about our Sportsmanship award...especially since I've been told repeatedly that I'm the reason that we won it (because of what I had done for 507). I don't know how accurate that is, but it's a nice feeling. I've finally become important to 818. :)

I had a great time in SC...I got to help others and see 818 do well both on and off the field. I don't know if we'll be making it back next year or not (the travel costs being the biggest problem), but I'd love to be back next year. Thanks for the great competition.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Don't care what anyone else says, that regional was frickin awesome! The matches were all intense, there was brilliant strategy, and there was so much gracious professionalismness going on. I must agree with the rest of the people that the music...sucked. I know people like rap and techno, but please mix it up some. 2 years ago at VCU they did a great job of having a big mix of music, they had everything from rock to pop to country to ::insert music:: I find it kind of sad that I can pick out my favorite songs on one finger.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Team 818,

Your performance off the field exemplified FIRST’s motto of Gracious Professionalism. I heard many comments from teams that you helped at Palmetto, especially 507. Congratulation on your Sportsmanship award, it was well deserved.

Tim Tedrow
Lead Robot Inspector

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Thanks for the comments about the music...I was so busy that I really did not focus on what was being played...just something to consider....if at (I would say) any regional...anyone notices any music being played that is inappropriate...they should let one of the host volunteers know...at that time we could address the issue and see that it does not happen again...Not sure who chooses the DJ, but I will make sure that this is addressed...Thanks again for the comments...keep them coming.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

I was dying to be there guys, feedback from our team was that the regional was great all around. Only one question - what was up with the "No Dancing Allowed" signs at the team social? DJ's playing "Electric Slide" and you're not allowed to dance?

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Thanks, we are also glad we didn't win our third regional. Too much pressure and everyone's high expectations. Next, everyone would expect us to win the Championship. Hee hee. J/J.

For real, though, why would you say that about Team 5? I am sure we've never done anything to offend you, and we've worked hard on our robot and done tons of fundraising to get where we are today. One thing FIRST has taught me is that you don't need to put down a team in order to cheer for another team. Remember gracious professionalism!

Awesome job Teams 281, 11 and 122! We were cheering for you! Hope to see you in Atlanta!

Woo hoo... Go Team #5!

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Thanks! and a great regional! We hope to go to nationals too ... but we'll have to do a heck of a lot of fundraising, and I'm not sure we'll make it. At least it's during our spring break, because if I miss one more day of cat dissection, I think my bio teacher is liable to have my head, instead of the cat's!

The competition was great, though, during the finals. Geez ... first they come and say it's a tie, then a whiles later they say we lose ... then the next two matches we manage to win. And all this while we are working tirelessly trying to get our hanging mechanism functional again! Three regionals and we've never had a problem with it; all of a sudden we're in the quarter/semifinal matches, and we go to hang ... and the hook shears off, completely tearing the (admittedly) thin piece of aluminum supporting ourselves. Someone tells us we have 20-30 minutes before we go again, so we race to the pits to do some surgery ... and a rep comes and tells us we have to be there 5 minutes ago! This leaves us crippled our next match, so all we can do is cap -- which we pulled off fairly well. So after the match we grab a drill, make a new locking hole, manage to get the piece back together, albeit a little shorter now and go to hang in our next match ... the piece again shears, but somehow, I can't quite say why, we were still hanging at the end of the match, 130 lbs. supported by a tiny thread of aluminum, dangling precariously. Phew! In my three years in being in FIRST, this was definately the most exciting, nerve-wrecking experience ... and we didn't even have time to fully think about what we were doing.

Congrats to all!

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Congratulations to all the teams who participated in this regional. The collaboration of all teams and the exceptional gracious professionalism was amazing and made this event a phenomenal regional. Congratulations to the the winning alliance. Thanks especially to 818 for choosing us as allies and to 9 for joining us. Hopefully we will all be up and running come nationals. Congratulations to 34 and 435 we were without question hoping to have that as our ending alliance, but unfortunately that could not occur. Good luck everybody and see everybody at nationals.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Hey Great job to all our competitors the regional was great!

The Elimination rounds gave us a run for our money, all of our opponents were capable foes.

Special thanx to 281 and 122 for being great alliance partners. I'm glad 122 and us (11) could finish what we started in Annapolis (we lost in the Semis).

I'm so happy that our mentoriees 1302 Pope John made it to the Finals with us. It made for a fun bus ride home.

P.S. I think the music did get a lot louder between friday and Saturday

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

i would like to send a big thanks out to teams 11 and 122 for being real awsome partners look forward to seeing you at the nats. hopefullywe will be in the same divison and can hook up for the finals.

p.s. any body have any pics of the finals

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

This was my first non-Florida regional, and it was a blast. 34 and 435 were great alliance partners, and all the matches were awesome to watch.

I'd also like to know what was up with the "Unfortunately, dancing is not allowed." signs. Even though it was kind of funny for the DJ to have to come on the mic every once in a while to say "Do not dance, y'all. Do NOT dance."

Heh, and who else took a sign when they left? I know I'm not the only one, because I saw a team that had put one on their robot the next day.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Heh, it was team 900 with the sign. We laminated it and put it on to ensure that it would last until nationals. Some of our team started dancing and were told to stop, it was kinda funny considering they were playing dance music. In fact we got two of those signs as we were leaving.........there were plenty left as they put them every five feet. I appreciate what the organizers of the even did in order to make it a memorable regional. I know that my team and I all had a wonderful time, with the exception of not being able to dance hehe.
-Aaron

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Yep...the non dance thing was a surprise, even to the planning committee members....we were told on Friday by FIRST that dancing was not allowed, something about insurance...not sure that I understand, since dancing has been allowed at other regionals...i.e. Atlanta...but will make sure that it is addressed in the debriefing meetings in a couple of weeks....I know that USC had planned for that to occur. Thanks for the input.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

I was kind of upset when I found out the dj later let people dance and the party livened up a bit. Most of our team ate pizzas read the signs and left. If you know ComBBAT we can't stay anywhere without dancing.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Haply enough, I just found out today that team 122 does plan on attending the nationals (there was some money and other issues which were resolved). Hrm ... just checked the FIRST site, and it seems divisions are out, and we're not in them. Oh well, can't wait till champs, and hope to see 11 and 281 there (and the other teams as well!).

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

I don't remember that happening, and we were there for a while.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

the facilities were nice, many of the exibits were interesting too- did anyone "play" with that auto balancing machine? the extrusion frame reminded me of our own robot :)

maybe those of us going to atl can do some dancing to make up for palmetto?

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Yeah, actually I thought that the exibits were pretty cool. Especially the auto balancing machine. Did they use a potentuimeter (sp?) to do that?

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Does anyone know where I would be able to get a copy of the webcast? I was hoping to download it and show it to our sponsors.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Your best bet would be to contact someone on Team 108...They archive match video and host it online. I don't know if they have Palmetto video (there's currently none on the site), but they're probably your best shot.

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

i thought chesepeake was the best regional i ever went to.....but palmetto definitely beat it

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

I have been to many regionals in many different cities, The only regional that could compete with the Palmetto was the Kennedy Space Center Regional that took place in the Rocket Garden and sadly it no longer exist.
Great Job to everyone involved. I hope that every team that came this year returns next year, maybe Lightning can strike twice in the same city. This was a great, no holds barred, take no prisoner competition between some really classy teams, this is what FIRST is all about. See you in Atlanta and see you next Year in Columbia !!!

Don Taylor
Team (3+4)^3

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

I'm told dancing isn't allowed because someone was crowd surfing, yes, crowd surfing, at a team social before and died. Now FIRST has the whole liability issue, so instead of just saying "not crowd surfing" they say "no dancing"

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

South Carolina was awesome for me....my first regional. I know my team had a lot of fun as well. For the no dancing allowed all I have to say is that I didnt mind too much as the signs on our robot got us posted here on chiefdelphi and a lot of people asked us about it at nationals.
-Aaron

Re: Palmetto Regional - South Carolina
 

Yeah--I remember explaining it to Ron at the scoring table.