2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Yeah who's excitedddddddddddd?!?!?!?!!!!
If you're coming, tell me aaaaallllllll about it!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

I have nicknamed this regional the "jet-lag regional". Teams from England to Alaska. Is that 10 time zones?

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Yes. Oh Yes.

Please post in this thread if you are coming. I'm always game to meet CD-ers.

Incedentally, who wants to be part of the FIRST Scouting Network for Chesapeke? :cool:

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

If anyone needs help finding hotels in the Annapolis area, post it here. I'll help you, and Mrs. Beatty probably would too!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

It might be more than 10. But then again, the time zones in Alaska might be "adjusted" to more closely follow mainland America's schedule. In the kickoff speech, at the beginning, didn't someone say that it's 5pm in England but 6am in Alaska? Oh well, London and Anchorage are exactly 150 longitudinal degrees away from each other!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

http://mitc.org/first/
website for the Chesapeake Regional, with links to the Naval Academy. This is being updated. I will be sending out more info to all the teams attending.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

007 is attending, and we are extremely excited for the regional. We've been coming to Chesapeake since its start in 2003, and we are thrilled to know it is still running. YAY! =]]

See y'all there. Look for me, I'll be in a black & gold shirt running around with a pissed look on my face. ;)

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

I wish I was going there again this year. Chesapeake was an awesome regional last year with a lot of great people attending and some awesome competition. I wish all the teams attending this year the best of luck and I hope you all do great.

Unfortunately due to scheduling conflicts and the extra amount of money it would cost to ship our robot almost overnight, RAGE will not be attending this year, but we wish we were!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

I've been to all of them so far, and I wouldn't miss another. (unless school gets in the way. :( )

Wetzel

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Team 836 and I will be there, we can't wait. We always have a blast. This will be our second regional of the season.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

888 has been to all Chesapeakes too! We'll be in red. I'll be the one jumping up and down and acting like a little kid! I think I remember 007. Someone made a pssssst sound at me, and I was like, do you have a pneumatic leak? I know how to fix that...


We'll miss you, 173; thanks for your support!

As for the people who will be there, make sure everyone on the team has proper I.D., and make sure that you have the vehicle request forms filed if you need to. It's the Naval Academy, so the security is taken seriously. The food in the city surrounding is pretty good though. I can't wait to see you all there!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

We're definitely coming, no questions asked. (After all we're one of the home teams. Probably the more vocal of the two.) If our Board of Ed did not screw us out of $9000, we would probably have either also gone to either Philly or VCU as well.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Wow! BOEs seem to do more damage than aid. Well, it's a hard job. A funny tidbit you might get from our BOE:
Mentor: I'm filing the paperwork so that I can authorize this robotics competition as a field trip...
BOE: Yes, this FIRST Robotics program?... That's fine, I just need verification that this is a legitimate organization... Do you have the number of whoever runs FIRST that I can call?
Mentor: Well, the people in charge are Dean Kamen, Woodie Flowers, and Dave Lavery. Dean invented the Segway, and last I heard, he's trying to make a solar-powered water purifier for some people in the African desert. I hear he's busy. Woodie is head of engineering at MIT. He tends to be hard to reach because engineering tends to be very big at MIT. Right now, Lavery might be out with his other car--which is on Mars. You could try to get them, but I don't think they'd answer.
We don't get help from the BOE, but we have a school booster club of parents and community that are very good to us.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

341 Miss Daisy has been to every Chesapeake Regional. We love it!!

Thanks to Mike Wade, Pete Baltzell, Jenny Beatty, the Chisms, the Taminellis, MITC and everyone else that helps to put this together each year.

We can't wait!!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

This is the wrong thread for this but I need to answer.
Actually, FIRST has an administrative and support staff and a new president, Paul Gurdonis. The toll-free number is 800-871-8326. If the subject comes up again, please have your BOE or administrator call and ask the question. It will help spread the word.
The BOE is not the enemy. The goal of all the teams working within a school system environment should be to get the BOE on their side. Help them understand what this means for the students. It's hard work on all sides, but changing the culture is hard work. You all know this is important, and you need to work on letting them know. Invite them to your school. Ask to do a presentation at one of their meetings. Talk about the team mates who have gotten FIRST scholarships. Recognize your mentors. Better yet, INVITE THEM TO THE CHESAPEAKE! Let me know if there is anyone like the head of the school board, who should be on our VIP list. It's all part of the "community" part of FIRST. I know how hard this is, but it is all part of what FIRST is. Let me know if I can help.
ps. I know a team in Maryland that was recognized two years in a row by the school board. Little ceremony with others being recognized. Michael Phelps was there, not because he was an amazing swimmer but because he started a tutoring program. No they didn't give the team any money. No they did come in and "help." But the head of the school board wrote a pretty nice testimonial about the team which ended up in a Chairman's Award submission.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

I know that 1933 and 1934 are attending.(i'm mentoring 1933 now to an extent, they are abour 2 hours by train north of me but i do visit)
It was 3 pm the kickoff time, because i missed it whilst working until 4 pm
according to worldtimezones.com or something its only 5 hour difference...

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

LOL oh don't worry i'll be in black and gold doing the same thing! Look for me, I'd love to talk with you. =] You seem very nice.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

So.. I was just informed on Saturday that 237 is heading down to the Chesapeake regional.

I thought we were going to the Annapolis regional..

But, then I was mocked and told they were the same regional.

Who knew?

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Everyone... ;) :p

Anyway, 116 is very upset we will be missing Chesepeake for the first time in its existance (we will be going to Peachtree that week). Have a great regional and keep up the rapidly growing tradition of excellence!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

What!!!! And nobody told me.... ;)

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

I remember Miss Daisy! I met a bunch of your team members at Capital Clash last August. You guys are awesome!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Thanks! Things with the BOE have gotten better over the years. They recognize us but don't fund us. For the first time, we now have a NEM--we'll make sure the community end picks up, especially since we're the only team in Howard County!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

sad to hear you won't make it

and
be nice, kid!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Team 1656 will definatly be there for a second year. Can't wait :cool:

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Like OZ_341 said, 341 will be there again this year, and I can't wait to be back in Annapolis! (Robots + the best crab dinners anywhere...there's not much that can beat that :D ).

-Mike

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Team 1446 is anxious to go! This is our third year and the excitement is in the air.
We would like to find a bowling alley and go out with other teams for a night out.
Let me know if you are interested?

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Dude I wanna go! I'll see if I can, but in the meantime, I'll find an alley nearby.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Great! The team wants to release some stress.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

I am looking for any students who do calligraphy, coming to the Chesapeake, who could help me with a project for an hour or two on Thursday March 16. PM me if you know of anyone. I can reward you with...food (the Chesapeake has the best caterer for the volunteers!)

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

NOTE: More detailed version :) sent to all main team contacts.
Chesapeake Regional Newsletter to the teams

Welcome to all the 64 teams!
Chesapeake Regional Lingo
• USNA: United States Naval Academy
• Halsey Field House: on the USNA, where the event is held; also home of The Armel-Leftwich Visitor Center
• Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium: Shuttle pick-up and drop-off on “Blue Side” parking, near the Blue Angel. Follow FIRST signage. Not on the Academy grounds, but rather a few miles from the USNA.
• Annapolis: Home of the nation’s oldest statehouse in continuous legislative use, historic 18th century seaport “city” with winding streets, cobblestone roads, limited parking, surrounded by water. City Dock, with restaurants is a 10 minute walk from Halsey. www.visitannapolis.org has an excellent visitor guide booklet you can request. Annapolis is 30-45 minutes from Baltimore and Washington DC. The closest airport is BWI. Some teams combined the trip with a visit to their representatives and to see the sights in Washington DC last year
• Gate 1: Entry closest to the Halsey. Not to be confused with Gate 8. Team vehicles will use Gate 8. The USNA is a big place.
Chesapeake Regional website: http://mitc.org/first/
Access to the Academy Grounds: http://www.usna.edu/FIRST/access
My team will be arriving by bus (school or charter) van (rental or institutional)::
1. Need to fill out a form and submit no later than March 1. Vehicles without pre-approved passes will not be granted access to the USNA, no exceptions made. A separate form is needed for each bus/van. http://www.usna.edu/FIRST/access
2. Driver can then drive to Stadium to park, take shuttle bus back to the Halsey for the day, return to the Stadium by shuttle to pick up bus, and then return to Halsey through Gate 8 at the assigned time to pick up the students. Please do not have all the students ride the shuttle bus to return to the Stadium, as it will create the delays encountered last year.
3. Make sure each person has a photo ID. School-issued student picture ID’s are accepted. Those without picture government issued or picture school ID cannot enter the USNA unless accompanied by an adult with a government issued picture ID.
My team will be arriving by private car:
1. No private cars will be allowed access onto the USNA grounds.
2. An exception is made for private cars with handicapped tags, but be prepared to show documentation.
3. The team members can be dropped by Gate 1 and walk ½ blocks to Halsey. They can arrange to be picked up outside of Gate 1.
4. Make sure each person has a photo ID. School-issued student picture ID’s are accepted. Those without picture government issued or picture school ID cannot enter the USNA unless accompanied by an adult with a government issued picture ID.
Tool Vehicle-My team is coming by bus/van/car and we have extra tools.
1. Can assign one personal truck or van to be the team’s “Tool vehicle”.
2. Need to fill out a form and submit no later than March 1. Vehicles without pre-approved passes will not be granted access to the USNA, no exceptions made. A separate form is available for “Tool Vehicles” http://www.usna.edu/FIRST/access
3. Tool vehicles will only be allowed on the USNA on
• Thursday March 16, 6:30-8:30 am,
• Saturday March 18, 3-5pm.
Parking:
• Parking is off-site at the Stadium.
• Halsey is near Gate 1. A free shuttle bus will be running between the Stadium and Halsey. Parking at the Stadium will be free to everyone involved in FIRST.
Singers
• Last year, we had a multi-team group of students sing the US and British National Anthems during opening ceremonies on Friday and Saturday. This was so successful I have been asked to organize again. Send me the names and team numbers of interested students.
Food:
• You can bring your own food into Halsey pits.
• There are box lunches that can be ordered http://www.usna.edu/FIRST/, places to eat on the USNA grounds (Drydock Restaurant) and within 10 minutes walking to City Dock.
Volunteering:
• Still recruiting volunteers to help out at the event. Contact Desiree Taminelli, the Volunteer Coordinator at Desiree.a.taminelli@nasa.gov and sign up in the FIRST VIMS. https://my.usfirst.org/vims/
USNA Admission talks/Tours of the USNA
• Information about the USNA and admissions will be available. We are working on having briefings, with sign-up sheets for assigned times to gauge interest.
Questions?
• Explore the website and then feel free to ask. jbeatty@usfirst.org is the best way to reach me.
• Major Mark Tingle (410-293-6183) with any questions about vehicle passes, parking and the USNA
.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Team 624 CRyptonite from Katy Texas will be in Chesapeake this year for the first time, and we are really looking forward to it. I've heard from various places that everyone always has a blast, and after interpreting some of the personalities in this thread, I can understand why!

Don't know what the chances are, but if any teams going to Chesapeake are going to the Lone Star in Houston two weeks later, we would love to talk with you about it (Lone Star is our "home" tournament)

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

As of today, slim to none. :)
But there is always next year. You need to talk it up.
I see you have another rookie London team coming to Houston. A different group than the two teams from London coming to the Chesapeake.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Whoa Team 1446 is siked to be at the Chesapeake Regional again. Last year was my first year and I had a blast everyone was so nice even the teams from the UK. Hope to see everybody there again

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

All the way from Texas! Exhibit B of the jetlag regional.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Chesapeake looks like will be the ONLY regional I'll get to attend this year. :(

Oh well, I wanted more, but I'm still excited to go back to Annapolis!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

There's an Exhibit C from California and an Exhibit D from Anchorage. No wonder why we call Annapolis "Naptown" :D

It's all the fun they come for! There's so much to do. Need help? We're always willing. If you guys want to do anything in "Naptown," just visit our website.

That's what we do, as the proud, outspoken co-hosts of this wonderful regional. (And I said, cohosts.)

*This competition should be in an Annapolis sequel. It's that good.*

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

It's in Halsey?! Woah, huge venue...

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

How much space does a team get at the regional? It was 10x10 last year, right?

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

It was. We have 9 more teams this year. Haven't gotten the floor plan yet so don't know if we will have to modify from last year.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Yup. It is awesome. The regional needs some more funding so we can get two fields. :D

Wetzel

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

yeah, that's what it's supposed to be, but remember that there's new this year is a 10' height limit.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

I hope that in the future some of the funding can go towards a team social. Maybe ice skating at Dahlgren Rink? ;-)

I just think it would be nice for the teams to bond after a great day of matches. Maybe next year.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at Chesapeake!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Al, We would love to find a sponsor for a team social but it hasn't happened yet. No money=no social. Send suggestions!
My dream-all teams and invited VIP guests sitting down together for pasta in King Hall (seats 4000, this is where the middies eat).
Maybe next year....

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Maybe we could put some thought to this in the off-season. A team social would enhance what is already a great regional!

Thanks for all that you do.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Check to see if the Glee Club is performing during the Regional. That is always a great treat! Many different styles of music, from traditional sailor chanteys to rock and roll.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

You too! We enjoy having you all here. If you want to do something in Annapolis, just contact us or visit our website.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Team 175 :) will be going to Annapolis and we are excited. (not just because 7 hour bus rides provide a lot of "team bonding") This year when we were talking about regionals we all agreed that we had to go back to Chesapeake. Come visit me in the stands, I will be the person in yellow frantically trying to get papers into a file box. My scouting team should be able to tell you your scoring average if we are doing it correctly. Good luck to everyone, can't wait to be there. :)

P.S. 007, excited to see that you are coming back this year! :)

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Can't wait to see you all again! It was wonderful being alliances with you last season. Hope we can team up once again. ;)

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

We will be there with 768 and are looking forward to meeting all our CD friends and seeing old friends as well - anyone game for getting together on Friday? There are great restaurants and shops....lets get together. We can introduce our new Alaskan friends to Maryland crabs! :-)

Robyn Needel
Team 768 TechnoWarriors
Woodlawn High School, Baltimore

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

I sent an email this morning from one of the teams to all the main and alternate contacts for the 64 teams coming to the Chesapeake, looking for other teams to hang out with on Friday.
I can't help coordinate anything, but would be happy to pass on any information to the entire group.
Email me at jbeattyFIRST@aol.com

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Sounds cool. Hopefully, our captains and Head Mentor all have received the memo. I wish I had it, but because I'm right under the captain, and not the captain, I won't get it until Monday. If the team has it, however, they can send it to me at my e-mail address in my profile or over AIM.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

After visiting the NJ regionals and watching the week 1 & 2 webcasts, I noticed that almost all the fields have the big screen along one side of the field. However, last year at Annapolis I remember the screen being behind one of the alliance stations.

Is there going to be anything done to allow the team with their back to the screen to see the current score? It would be really inconveinant for the coaches and drivers to have to keep turning around to see the score. I noticed in the rules FIRST mentioned that something would be done, but I was wondering if anyone knew the specifics yet?

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Team 1524 will be attending, and to the person who posted before me, at the UTC Hartford, the jumbotron was behind the red alliance side, but we didnt have any live scoring.

If anyone would like to meet me, please click in my sig.
I'll be looking forward to meeting anyone. You must know though, I am UBERLY OBSESSED with cars, but it usually doesn't come out till I see something cool. (Read:Volvo 850's, GMC Syclones, Toyota Corolla GT-S, Nissan 240SX, etc, etc.)

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

wooo Maryland blue crabs! Aaaand OLD BAY. Oh yeah, more OLD BAY!
when I was really little, I was a little shocked that there was no Old Bay outside of Maryland.

P. S. Team 888 just got back from the Pittsburgh Regional. Just three days until Chesapeake, and we are exhausted and ready!!!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Disappointed to report that it appears there will be no NASA TV or webcast this year at the Chesapeake.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

I'm very disappointed that I can't be in Chesapeake this year - we had the BEST TIME there last year - I know the planning committee has been working hard to make this a terrific time for all of you attending, so ENJOY and GOOD LUCK!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

less that a week :ahh: :yikes: :) :eek:

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

What! No webcast or tv? How sad - we had our vcr all set to record, especially with the guest announcer coming in all the way from Manchester! ;)

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

what? AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Hey guys, I'll bring my iPod with recording attachment to the regional for some interviews for FIRSTcast. If you want to be on the show, I SHOULD be in my 384 uniform. If not the 384 uniform, I will have a 384 hat on.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Does any one going to the regional play a game called Flames of war? im curious if i should bring my army or not for a quick game.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

I would appreciate it if people going to chesapeake would participate in this thread. http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=45396

Chesapeake Land of Utz and Old Bay
 

bowling? interesting...

The Annapolis regional is always a ton of fun and team 888 cant wait to get there.

It looks like we've gotten most of the work done on our robot so if anyone needs help with electronics or autonomous feel free to stop by and ask for the Dude in the hat.

I would like invite all teams attending Chesapeake to go curling with the Team 888 curling team. The Potomac Curling Club will be having an open house at 7:00 on Thursday night. As Skip of the Glenelg Varsity Curling Team, I am challenging all the other teams to a night of stone throws and broomstacking.

Good luck to all teams, especially the rookies!

-Skip Dr. Cole "The Dude" H.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Team 1524 should have some PS2 onlinage, maybe, ToCA Race Driver 3, ToCA Race Driver 2, and whatever my buddies bring. I will be bringing GT4 however, so anyone in the Best Western(I think, will update Wensday morning for correct place) in Annapolis, feel free to join us!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Flames of war is a company level WWII miniatures game that uses 15mm size miniatures. I figure at a collection of nerds as big as this :yikes: someone else has to be a war gamer

www.flamesofwar.com

Also, are we allowed to keep our ship crate for a work bench? I know we were last year.


Curling is always facinating to watch during the olympics so i might just convince my team to go.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Sorry, I know this is redundant, but I feel it's very important to reiterate.

Hey now... one catchy soundbyte echoes in my head: "life's not fair, and neither is FIRST." I'm saying this even though it was my team that suffered because of some other people's errors. We're going to put up with a lot of crap from a lot of idiots in the real world; frankly, I'm just greatful to have experienced FIRST, where idiots and crap are at a minimum.

Having cleared that up, I can say confidently that team 888 had an overall pleasant, positive experience at the Pittsburgh Regional, despite the frustrations. To any individuals who made our acquaintances, please understand the team's frustration and try to look at it from our point of view--you were there too. The situation simply outraged us. This does not excuse our team's rants, but perhaps the rest of the FIRST world could borrow a little bit of perspective.

To tell you the truth, on Thursday, we felt that a few other teams were absurdly aggressive towards us, both in and outside of the arena. We were even subjected to repeated "speed screenings" because "other teams reported" that our shooter violated a velocity regulation. After three intermittent screenings, absolutely no breach of regulation was found. We were suspicious and a bit insulted, but we beared it.

I feel it's also important to acknowledge that there were individuals who were notably courteous and pure-intentionedly helpful to us as well. They made gestures that were more typical of FIRSTers.

most importantly:
I'm ready to put all of this behind me so that I am completely unburdened to look forward to the Chesapeake Regional. I can only ask and hope that everyone else feels similarly. After all, each day is fresh with no mistakes in it [yet].

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

I expect that to be fine. I saw teams do it at Pittsburgh this past weekend. You're on the Carroll County team, aren't you?

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Yep,

you guys were our mentors last year weren't you?

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

That would be up to the event organizers. Sometimes they let you - especially if you made your crate so that it doubles as a workbench. But if they are really tight on space, they may want to remove it. A few teams did it in Pittsburgh, but with only 24 teams, we had lots of room.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Well, I (I cannot say about the rest of 1111) casually invite you all to an incredible Improv Show at our school on Friday at 7:30 PM (in South River's auditorium). Tickets are $5 and do not go to 1111. Trust me, these guys are hilarious and everyone will have a good time. Plus, snacks will be served...so you don't have to go hungry. The show goes until anywhere between 8:30 PM and 10:00 PM at night, if you want an idea of the time.

I thought it would be a good way to provide some good entertainment outside your hotels, Annapolis Mall, and Medieval Times (though I'm liable to go to either one).

If you need directions, just browse our team website or PM me.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Updates! We want updates! :)
How's the game going? Who is cheering the most?

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

How's Buzz doing??

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

rank list as of a min ago
175
1629
56
614
341
293
181
225
888
1727
612
237
836
399
303
602

etc...it is hard to type when you are doing play by play announcing

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Standings at End of Friday (jess jank typed her fingers off for this and i stole the credit):
1629
56
7
181
293
614
888
175
612
1647
237
341
303
602
1727
1111
225
1051
709
484
1748
399
686
836
1218934
1904
224
611
1123
1823
103
1719
334
615
1886
1184
1389
1820
1507
1524
1597
203
122
768
1656
1895
316
1933
1418
165
1894
1446
1900
1849
1544
1449
1791
1168
1464
1195
449
624
1915

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Greg,

Be careful of getting too close to Jess ... others have been irreversibly harmed by her enthusiasm ;)

Tell her to type the Friday award winners, we want them too :)

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Award Recipients (I stole the computer from greg... and plus he needed to announce the winners):

Volenteer of the Year: Rob Taminelli
Imagery: 1791
Radioshack Innovation in Control: 1629
Xerox Creativity: 709
Delphi Driving Tomorrow's Technology: 237
Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers Entrepreneurship: 103
Judges: 1597
Website Design: 1895
Woodie Flower's Award: Jeremy Skene (612) (I hope to read this entry and those of other regional winners soon!)

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WINNERS!!! Good luck to everyone tomorrow!!!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Thank you Jess!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Can anyone post their impressions of the robots at Chesapeake, I am interested in seeing what people think of the various robots here.

From what I have personally observed this regional is not as deep as the NJ regional, and there are a lot of teams that this is their first regional. There are a lot of shooting robots, but only a few are very accurate, and score consistantly. Anyone want to give their top 5 picks? Please share some thoughts.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Hahaha real nice Kres... now I can see why you are so disturbed... :D
And all you had to do was wait one more minute and I'd have had it up for you. No patience... ;)
The internet access has some issues at the venue but we'll try to keep you updated. I've been Greg's helper monkey all today after filling in for him during practice matches on Thursday and have gotten a little practice in myself as a game announcer, which is a lot of fun (though I still need lots of practice to get as good as Greg and all the other fantastic announcers at Regionals. The competition has been tons of fun so far, filled with great offensive and defensive action. Who knows what will happen tomorrow. Again, congratulations to everyone so far! Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow. Good luck to all!

Oh, and don't ask about the boy's bathroom thing... Greg added the message below his name and mine and he simply doesn't know what he's talking about...

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Hello everyone, this is a programmer for rookie team 1820 here (I'm not sure if anyone else from my team has posted yet). This is our very first competition ever, and so far it's turned out to be very exciting. Things were a little rough at the start, but we've been doing ok with help from our mentors, team 888. Well, good luck to all of you, and I hope to see you tomorrow!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Quite a few good shooters and a couple of good corner goal scorers here. Also a lot of rookies - don't remember exactly, but I think it was 8-12 of them. The teams which seemed to have it together were (in no particular order and my apologies to any I missed):
181
237 (their own bot, not to be confused with the 4 or 5 others they built yesterday and this morning)
175 (strings of 3 pt'ers when it works right)
888
293 (one huge barrier on defense and very good scoring, too)
56 (excellent 3 pt & 1 pt, with a new, lower profile since NJ)
122
341 (got better and better all day)
1449
484 (reliable corner scores, usually good for 10 in auton)
225 (another good corner bot)
103 (lots of 3 pts, except for some turret control issues)

237 has to be the standout team of this event for how they single-handedly put so many rookie teams, which were in dire straits yesterday, onto the field today. Shouldn't be any surprise that they absolutely defined gracious professionalism this week. And they have one strong scoring machine of their own.

The game play has been more defensive than NJ was, but not as heavy on the rough play and ramming as I saw in Pittsburgh last week. Strong shooters usually drew heavy defense, so there weren't any really high scores, with 60 - 80 pts typical for the strong alliances and some single digit vs. teen scores for the weakest. 103 had some problems with their shooter turret mid-day, but came back strongly in their last match today.

My impression is that there are more good robots here than in NJ, but none that are equal to 25 (Lost Wages is in for a treat). Looking forward to seeing what tomorrow brings!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Any private videos of Chesapeake? Love to see them!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

15 rookies, and some teams playing thier first comp of 2006 as well here in Chesepeake.. :ahh: Craziness all around. I like how the rookies are in between 2 novice teams in the pits. Their is a huge pit map in a nice location, but it causes a bit of a delay when you look for a team in numerical order, but i think that was a great move on FIRST's part for rookie support at the event.

Speaking of that...

Thanks Pete. We are more than happy to help. Within our team it's a bit crazy as of now and this has been an interesting weekend to say the least (we got stuck in an elevator at our hotel tonight in one instance among other things :ahh: ) but we'll continue to offer and give help to any team (novice or rookie who needs it on Saturday as well.

I personally think it was our duty as a novice team in FIRST to offer this support for the rookies (or an team at a competition for that matter). As of right now, we have had no major problems with our robot (knock on wood), and that has made it easier to help more teams at this event.

I want to as of right now thank all the people organizing this event for making our efforts to help multiple teams get through inspection on Thursday, and also as early as we could on Friday morning/noon-ish as smooth as possible.

I'll try to get some names to put behind that thank you, but for now. Thank you Chesapeake Regional Committee, and the many Volunteers and other teams for your support in our efforts of supporting some less well off teams than us at this regional.

Oh and just a little side note to Pete. We did end up having a team find us a Flux Capacitor, and when we were done with it, we indeed did give it back. :p

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

This is what I love to hear!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Alright,

Thanks all for the updates, I'm especially interested in how the rookie ref Pat Bogard is handling the pressure. Rumor has it that he's spent so much time in a Hopkins lab that his physical stamina is limited and he has a hard time seeing anything clearly that isn't in a Petri dish :D

As long as Jess feels as though I am impatient ...
How about some alliance pairings, playoff updates, and Sat award winners?

In all seriousness, It's very gratfying to see team alums out volunteering in meaningful ways at events.

(and Greg, I think I'd like to know the boys' room story, but I think I know what happened. When Jess was a student on 103, she was never allowed to eat or go to the restroom for fear that she'd miss something important. It's possible this is her first experience with public restrooms in more than fours years ... you know Jess, when you told me not to comment on this, it was really an invitation to do so ;)).

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Alliance 1: 1629, 175, 1184
Alliance 2: 181, 888, 1218
Alliance 3: 293, 103, 1389
Alliance 4: 614, 1111, 339
Alliance 5: 602, 56, 709
Alliance 6: 484, 341, 836
Alliance 7: 225, 237, 303
Alliance 8: 1647, 399, 624

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Updates on finals results will be posted shortly pending the start of the matches in just a few mins and their eventual completion.

And Kres, while I may have never been allowed to eat or use the restroom while on 103, I can say that I have indeed visited restrooms perhaps once or twice n the past. ;) This was just my first adventure into the boy's room (and was Greg's fault... he led me into it).

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Do I read this right? Not a single rookie team in the finals? That strikes me as a little odd.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Does anyone know what is happening right now?

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

(Jess Jank posting as Greg)

Alliances 1, 2, 3, and 4 have made it to the semi-finals. more updates later.

correct. no rookies were picked in alliance selections. great job to all the 15 rookie teams at Chesapeake though!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

finals #1 vs #2

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Whats the current status?

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

going into the 3rd match... 1 win each
~Jess Jank

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Winners: 1629, 175, and 1184
Congratulations to all!

Awards coming up in a bit.

~Jess Jank/Greg Needel

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

ok...so am AM impatient ... anyone have the word on Chesapeake awards?

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Alright, sorry this is REALLY LATE, but I had major internet issues. These are the Award Recipients of the Chesapeake Regional 2006:

Autodesk Visualization: 225
General Motors Industrial Design: 56
Motorola Quality: 484
Johnson & Johnson Sportsmanship: 768
DaimlerChrysler Team Spirit: 399
Judges: 293
Underwriters Laboratory Industrial Safety: 303
Rookie Inspiration: 1894
Rookie All-Star: 1719
Top Rookie Seed: 1727
Regional Finalists: Alliance 2: 181, 888, 1218
Regional Champions: Alliance 1: 1629, 175, 1184
Engineering Inspiration: 341
Chairman’s: 612

Congratulations to all! It was an AMAZING event!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Tons of thank-yous now that I'm home from Chesapeake and actually have some internet access (despite how horrible dial-up is).
First off, thank you to my home team, Cybersonics, Team 103, for taking me with them. I am so very grateful to have had the opportunity to go and have such a great time, plus it was great seeing all the kids, mentors, parents, etc again and seeing the team in action. They did an awesome job (despite a some problems with the system that caused a high scoring autonomous game to have to be restarted and leading to a loss in the semi-finals) and I am truly proud of them. Thanks soooo much! Love you all!
Big congratulations and thank you to all the teams who attended the Regional. There were definitely some fierce matches and amazing examples of gracious professionalism. Congratulations to all of the 15 rookie teams at the event... I definitely look forward to seeing you progress throughout the rest of the season and the years to come!
Of course a huge thank you to all those who made the event possible: all the coordinators, directors, volunteers, etc. You all came together to create a spectacular event. There are so many of you who deserve thanks, and really sorry if I miss or misspell your name (running on very little sleep): Carol Kauffman, Ron Taminelli, Steve Chism, Jeff Seaton (the awesome MC), the head refs Anne Bergeron and Steve Shade, IFI representatives, all the field reset crew and refs (including lots of awesome AmeriCorps people), all the other volunteers... ok too many people to name. But truly, I respect all of you for your awesome work. You are amazing people. Big shout out to Greg Needel for letting me help with the game announcing and taking me on as your "helper monkey." I ended up filling in for Greg on Thursday and was asked to help the rest of the competition. I had a blast working with you, even if you did lead me into the guys locker/restroom (jk...actually we were following so other volunteers to the lunch area and they too a short cut... low and behold it was through the boy's room...).
I was also so excited to get to meet up with some of my close friends who I haven't seen in ages. Dori (007), Meyers (56), Anthony (56), Mike (Leicht)(303),and of course Corey (Balint)(25) and my kiddo Bharat(25). I missed you all terribly, so it was absolutely awesome to see you all again. Big thank you to Brat and Corey for making me a MAVERICK shirt (#9!) and for helping 103 throughout the past two days - you two were truly an awesome aid to the team. Also, I was originally told by Brat that only Corey would be coming down, but Brat pulled another Philly 05 on me(told me he wasn't coming when he really was and caught me utterly by surprise) and once again caught me off guard by showing up. You don't know how excited I was, so definitely a huge thank you for helping to make the event even better than it already was. Love and miss you all and can't wait til I see you at Championships/Off-seasons.
Ok, so thanks again to everyone! Hope you have a great rest of the season!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

I was surprised that no rookies made it through. The two top pool teams for back-ups were both rookies, 1727 and 1719. Both were ranked fairly high; 1727 was 16th, I'm not sure about 1719 but they were definately up there. 1727 was almost pulled up to sub in several times when robots weren't working properly. It's a shame both of these rookies couldn't compete, they were both impressive robots as well as impressive teams in general. (Both are going to Atlanta, though: 1727 won Rookie All-Star at Pittsburgh and 1719 won Rookie All-Star at Chesapeake.)

I'd like to say that I thought the referees did an excelent job of calling the matches at Chesapeake. I don't think I saw any penalties that were unwarranted, and they made the tough calls that they probably didn't want to make. The entire volunteer staff at Chesapeake was awesome, they kept things moving along great the entire weekend. The field problems were comparatively minor in my opinion, even though there were a few scoring system errors. The one big one that I witnessed was the one jessjank posted, the restart of that awesome autonomous mode.

I want to go ahead and thank Buzz (175) and Cobra Robotics (1184) for the awesome alliance we made in the finals. You guys rock, I'm still trying to let it sink in that we won. We'll see you all in Atlanta!!

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

I had a good time at the regional, it was a little disappointing for us being a rookie team, but I think we did a great job overall. We had our drive chain come off 3 of our first 4 matches, and then in the other match, we had another teammate's autonomous drive the wrong way, straight into us, and pushed us onto our ramp and tipped us over before the end of the autonomous period. By the fifth match we were really getting it together, we made about 2 shots into the main goal and got up the ramp at the end, and in the 6th match our autonomous started to accomplish something. However by these matches, at least one of the opposing teams had a very well done autonomous round and we were consistently in a 30 point hole going into the final 3 rounds. By the end of the regional, we had our autonomous nearly 80% completed and our mechanical difficulties had subsided almost entirely, so in that sense we were pretty happy with our accomplishments despite our pretty bad record.

Also, a tale of serendipity. In our fourth match, we played vs a team with the infamous Team Spike (imo best robot there). One of our drive chains came off in the middle of the match, so we were floundering around the middle of the field trying to spin on one wheel to get our shots off before the game ended. Spike came over and pushed us toward his ramp, and most of the way on it. However with our one wheel we were able to flounder all over the place, ultimately preventing all 3 of their robots to get on the ramp. Spike did push us completely onto their ramp though, so we thought that they would get the points for us being on it. However, a link of the drive chain that had slipped off was the only thing touching the ground, so they ruled us not on the ramp. We still lost the match miserably, but it was still a great ending for us.

Good luck to all the teams going to Atlanta, and hopefully team 1895 will be back next year.

Re: 2006 Chesapeake Regional
 

Favorite moments
• Watching many teams, especially 237, rally around so many teams, assisting with major retooling. At about 4pm on Thursday, we still had 24 robots that had not passed inspection. By 8:30 on Friday all but a couple passed and they were all passed by mid-morning.
• Watching the British and American students sing the national anthems, as a multi-team effort.
• Watching the 15 rookie teams most of whom had never seen a FIRST event enter the arena floor on Thursday morning
• The conga line and all those great mascots.
• Watching the “pit divas” in action.
• The teams who had major lapses in judgment, but made good with genuine apologies.

Least favorite moments
• Dealing with all the confusion about FedEx shipping. There were mentors who had to spend hours on this frustrating task because of what appears to be some glitches in the system, but each of them, as tired as they were, were gracious.
• Asking teams to please not pull their vehicles in the construction zone in the back of the arena and discovering a team did it anyway. I guess their sense of entitlement and judgment calls is more important than our host, the Naval Academy, and all of us working so hard to make this work for all parties involved.


Thanks to
• Megan and Catherine on 888 and Robyn and Jocelyn on 768 for donating their calligraphy skills for a couple of hundred mentor recognition certificates for me.

• Anne Bergeron and Steve Shade and the entire ref crew for making consistent and fair calls, some of which were not popular, but they were by-the-book.

• Greg Needel who is an amazing announcer. He is professional, has a great voice, and has the knowledgeable banter down to a science. He also has a great sense of humor.

• Jeff Seaton who lights up any room he is in.

• The more than 20 Americorps volunteers who worked hard despite having to get up at 4 am each day to travel to the Naval Academy to get there by 7.

• All our veteran and rookie volunteers. They were a great team.

• Lt. Steve Lepper and Major Mark Tingle from the Naval Academy who have been a pleasure to work with.

• To all the great mentors who were so free with their compliments.
• And lastly, all the 64 teams, who chose to attend the jet-lag regional. You were an amazing group. Thanks to all.