2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

We have some great news about the Microsoft Seattle Regional (March 26th - March 28th, 2009). After touring the facility with the production company ShowReady and tweaking the layout, we will be able to accept additional teams. I don't have the exact numbers yet, but start making plans to attend our event in KeyArena.

Come to Seattle, home of the worlds finest Airplanes, Software, Online shopping, and of course Coffee.

It will be a great event.

Kevin

FRC Regional Committee Chair

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

Which is worse... posting a duplicate thread, or reviving a five-month-old dead thread? In my mind, this was the lesser of the two evils.

Let's see some excitement for this regional, eh?! The West Coast needs some love too!

Quick facts:
- There are 64 total teams signed up for Seattle, a vast expansion from last year; this makes Seattle one of the larger regionals.
- 40 of those teams are attending Seattle as their only regional. The other 24 have been to one other regional (21 of those are Portland, plus one each from Florida, SVR, and BAE). No team is attending three regionals.
- Location, location, location: 2 teams coming down from Canada, 1 from California, 7 from Oregon, 3 from Idaho, 1 from Montana, 47 from Washington... and the interesting ones: 1 each from Florida, New Hampshire, and Turkey!!!
- Of those 64 teams, 28 are rookies. 23 of these rookies are from Washington. The others are the three Idaho teams, 2898 coming up to play again after Portland, and the team from Turkey.

Should be an interesting field; twill be interesting to see how all the rookies do. 1318 and 1983 are coming back from our win in Portland, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is a different style of play this time around compared to Portland. 360, 488, 948, 955, 1510, 1778, 2046, 2147, 2471, 2850, 2865 are all teams that made it to elims in Portland. Faraway guests 945 (NH) and 1280 (CA) also made it to eliminations in their own home regionals. 1280 was particularly impressive; it took the Cheesy Poofs to stop them from winning the regional. I'll be watching that team, definitely.

Any more thoughts?

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

The most amazing statistic is that there ARE 47 Washington teams. If I remember correctly, in 2006 there were only 12 FRC teams in the whole state. I don't know if youth robotics is expanding faster than this anywhere in the country.

I'll be sitting at the scorekeeper's table for three days. If you're on the field make sure you wave!

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

And credit to the FIRSTWA folks for finding a way to cram everyone in. I think we're going to have to do a last minute redesign of our pit area to simplify construction so that we aren't clogging up the narrow passageways any more than necessary on Thursday morning and Saturday afternoon. (edit: EVENING, Saturday EVENING... I hope we're not packing up on Saturday afternoon!)

We spent a couple days over spring break working on our software and should be ready to hit the ground running. We found that our traction control algorithms running on our testbed robot result in approximately twice the pushing force of what we would achieve with wheel spin... and, for what it's worth... we can track the vision targets in our shop. I understand doing it on the field is a slightly more challenging task due to the lighting.

It's going to be hard keeping up with some of the teams who've already got some Portland experience under their belt, let alone the many brilliant rookie teams that I am sure will be making impressive debuts this weekend, but we're looking forward to the chance.

See you Thursday,

Jason

P.S. Reviving the old thread is much better... especially when it is short, sweet, and relevant. It reminds others of the importance of "search before you post".

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

Feelin good about this regional, I hope that's the correct emotion.

As this is my first year doing something that may or may not cause the robot to blow up during tele-op *cough* I'll have to be hands-on in the Pit Area, a place where I had only taken photos and gotten in people's way before. I probably still will, considering the sheet number of teams there.

I'll have to deliver programming updates like new tires are delivered to race-cars. VEX has given me some idea as to what kind of fortitude is necessary to spot, adapt to and fix problems when there's only 15 minutes before the next match.

Also, my dad would like to see a live webcast. :)

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

Hopefully the live archiving isn't too far behind, I'm hoping to watch my team from home (945, Orlando FL).

It's a fairly young regional but like someone said earlier 1318, 1280, and 1983 are the favorites here, I wouldn't count out 488 either. They always have a good robot every year.

Good luck to all the teams attending this event

P.S. If there is something other than the live archiving.... ie a webcast, please let me know

(if the regional is being broadcasted on public access television or something like that, please contact me so i can tell you how to stream it online :D )

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

As for video... I know that for Portland, 360 set up a website with video, but it was delayed a few matches. They're coming to Seattle too, so perhaps this will be available for those who want to watch?

Edit: It amazes me to look at two of the statistics I posted, both having to do with halves... just over half (13/25, because 948 was replaced) of the robots in eliminations in Portland will play again in Seattle... and just under half of the Washington teams (23/47) are rookies. The OSPI money caused a veritable explosion of robotics in Washington. I hope these teams continue to do great things (even though I don't think the money made it back into the budget this year :()

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

Combined with Boeing's shaky finances, I think funding FRC teams is going to be hard next year in Washington. That's OK, though, since some teams will stay in FRC and others will convert to FTC or VRC. All students can still have a access to STEM competition programs as long as they and their mentors remember the key slogan of creative planning: semper gumby, pseudoLatin for "always remain flexible." Our 40-student VRC/FTC program has been a blast this year, and it's one we can run for $150 per year per student if we had to trim expenses. FRC can be an amazing experience, but it's not the only path to the goal.

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

We have a few upgrades planned for Thursday... I just hope that we get in some practice matches.:rolleyes:

That said, I would like to remind everyone attending (especially rookies) that SWAT will be in force. If you need help just ask.:D

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

The Skunks are excited and will be out in full force come Thursday. We have tweaked our drive code, implemented target verification and developed an upgrade for our shooter to increase our accuracy. Our scouting plan has been updated and we will be posting our data for everyone’s benefit during the event. Be prepared for Friday, not only will the Skunkworks be cheering, but we will be backed up by 400 Aviation High School students!!!

WHO IS READY FOR SEATTLE!?

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

The Skunks would like to welcome everyone to the regional!!
Please let us know if there is some way we can help you out.
We will have extra bumper making materials if you need them for any last minute changes. We also have access to other materials if you need them.
Just ask... we like to help.

In regard to funding, Boeing has pledged 4 million over the next several years in order to help both FRC and I believe FTC progams. I would imagine that more information will be forthcoming on their program Boeing seems to understand how these programs can begin to help turn the country around and produce a new group of "the makers of things" as President Obama has so eloquently put it.

We will be bringing our school again on Friday... and our new sister Highline Robotics team 2942 "ER" from Evergreen High School will be bring their entire freshman and sophomore classes also. So we should have over 600 Highline school district students at the event on Friday!!


Skunkworks is anxious to Play Robots again!!

We look forward to making new friends. Good luck to everyone.

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

Our scouts have been nagging me to ask y'all if you'd be willing to share a dump of your finalized scouting data from Oregon. We're curious to see how our data stacks up to yours. Any chance that can happen?

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

I'm quite disappointed to not be able to see the skunks in action in Seattle this year! I was so happy that it worked out for me to come back and watch you guys in Oregon. I know the 400 AHS students and 200 EHS students will cheer you on for me. (That is going to be quite the cheering section!!) Congrats again on the win in Oregon, and also to 1318 and 2635. Good luck, and I'll see you in Atlanta!!

A big thanks, again, to team 360, who I believe will have their website up and running again for this competition. I will DEFINITELY be watching, and I expect frequent phone updates from some of you skunks about how things are going!

Best of luck to everyone attending the Seattle Regional this weekend!

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

Madison, I will talk to our head scout and try and get an email to you asap.

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

Like Will said, SWAT will be in Seattle at full force. Any rookies that need help with anything from technical to non-technical questions, feel free to ask. We'll be located right next the pit admin table, so we're easy to find.

We'll be making an announcement during the driver meeting on Thursday as well as hopefully during the opening ceremonies on Friday. Any teams that want to offer out help, come visit our table and write your name down, team number, and area of expertise. We'll be sure to contact you the people signed up if we need the help.

Seniors! If you want to be part of SWAT next year, in either Washington or Oregon, we'll have a sign up list. We love to see people staying involved and providing help to all the rookies and needing teams during build and competition season.

Can't wait to see all you guys there!

~Caio

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

It is so strange to me that the group is called SWAT. Especially since there was a SWAT team from UW/Roosevelt high just a couple years ago (that I was on for a couple years before they lost funding and the lead mentor had a kid). I still wear SWAT shirts around and people approach me saying they were on the team before my time. Every time I see someone walking around the Seattle event with the SWAT stuff I have to double take.

On another note I am very excited about competing this weekend! I think there are a lot of good teams. We have some of the nicest, most helpful and selfless mentors and students that I think will help make it hard to believe the percentage of rookies we have attending the event. I have already seen some very impressive rookie machines that I am eager to play with. Its going to be a very strong event this year in the Key!

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

Hey, does anyone know if they released a match schedule for the Seattle regional before the pits closed tonight? Our scouters were hoping to do some preliminary analysis, but it seems that no one remembered to pick up the schedule!

If anyone has a copy of that I would really appreciate it if you could post it in this thread or email it to me at kylecorbitt AT gmail DOT com. Thanks.

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

They generated them really late, Kyle. We didn't get a copy until about 7:15.

Luckily, they're also up on the FIRST site: http://www2.usfirst.org/2009comp/eve...edulequal.html

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

There was a qualifying match schedule generated and printed right after lunch. After it left the Scorekeeper's hands we don't know where it went. It's entirely possible that the FTA did a new one after we left at 6:15, but I wouldn't now why, since there were no team changes that I know of.

What robots impressed you in practice? I thought some of the usual suspects were quite good (1280, 488, 1983, 1318). I have a piece of paper with some of the more impressive (to me) rookie teams, but I left it on the scorekeeper's table. 2865 is the only one I can remember offhand.

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

The FTAs have to activate the schedule to get it to print, that also post it to the FIRST Web Site.

I just went and looked, the only ones for this week that weren't up by tonight was Colorado and Long Island (don't know why NY wasn't up).

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

If I wasn't clear before, I'm one of two Scorekeepers at this event. I sat at the table when the schedule was generated and we printed the first 70 copies. I even got to see the "out of paper" message on the computer screen. :)

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

The Seattle Regional is over, and it was a smoothly-running machine. We finished Friday six minutes early, and everything Saturday was running on rails. We had one field crash Saturday morning that caused a 3-minute delay, and during Finals 2 (of course it was the last match :rolleyes: ) the start button bounced and went from "off" to "start" to "pause." This caused about a 1-minute delay while the robots (which had moved about a foot) were rolled back into place and the match was restarted.

Alliances featuring 1280 and 488 made it to the finals, where 488 managed to win the clash of the Big Dumpers. Personally, I think it was smart defense that won the event for 488/1425/1569. 1294 and 2660 were not quite as good in their supporting roles (this time). If these two alliances played these finals ten times, I think there is a good chance they would go five-and-five.

It's such a pleasure working at an event that ran so smoothly. I <heart> the FTA team (three people) at this event, and the other volunteers were just great. Not as much dancing as some other FRC events I've attended, though, as there was very little reason to use up time.

If you like to watch the action, volunteer to be a scorekeeper. We are busy BETWEEN matches, but don't have anything to do during the competition except watch the robots. :)

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

Congrats to our friends 488! A well deserved and long time coming win for you. Good Fortune ;) must have been upon you...

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

Congratualtions to teams 1425, 488 and 1569 for their hard fought competition and winners of the Microsoft Seattle Regional....it was great to watch! I look forward to seeing you all in Atlanta....hopefully one or more of the teams on the same field!

And thank you to all the volunteers and everyone at the MSR....the competition ran smoothly,...although it would have been nice to have a couple of bleachers from last year for added noise...hahahaha...just kidding! I had a lot of fun and it was great seeing so many rookie teams doing so well. I look forward to seeing them next year when they are seasoned veterans...can we squeeze any more teams into Key Arena???

Connie

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

Congratulations to the winning teams 488, 1425, 1569!

Also, very large congrats to team 360 for their well deserved chairman's award! Wish you guys the best of luck in Atlanta :)

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

Even though i wasn't there, i enjoyed watching the arhive-cast

Thankyous

360- From what i heard about how you guys got a team from Turkey to come to MSR... my hat goes off to you guys, you guys truly deserve the chairmans award. I look forward to seeing you guys in atlanta, on and off the field

To teams 1318 and 2865: thanks for picking my team (945) to be part of your awesome alliance. It was great watching the alliance work together to get to the semi finals (and bring that semifinal to four matches)

To teams 488, 1425 and 1569: congrats on the regional win, as soon as i saw the alliances on the FIRST site, I looked at your s and said to myself... honestly, this is the best alliance at this regional, i would be scared if i was facing down dump by 488. I look forward to seeing all of you in Atlanta

A thanks to Madison from 488: she Sort of kept me informed of what exactly was going on at the event. what you couldn't see while watching the archives... my hat goes off to you

a thanks also to my team 945: Thanks for keeping me informed and for enjoying yourselves while you guys are out there, the regional is half the fun, the travel, visiting the mountains, seeing snow, and checking out the space needle are just a few bonus's of Seattle... oh and Coffee...you can't forget that.

To everyone else, it looks like this event ran very smoothly, considering you guys were consistently ahead of schedule... you guys must have been doing something right

I look forward to seeing all of you guys in Atlanta.... (i'll be volunteering)

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

Thank you everyone for your comments. I think anyone that was there could tell you, the Seattle regional was an amazing event. There were so many teams, and so many amazing rookies that really makes me believe that the northwest will become a breeding ground for some powerhouse teams in the very near future.

I remember looking at the match schedule, saying that the current match was supposed to start at 10:36 or something like that, only to look at my watch, and it was 10:36! Sitting in the stands all day scouting and watching the matches was so much more pleasant with the event running so smoothly. For that I applaud all of the volunteers that made it happen.

The strategy and aggressive defense really impressed me. All of the wins were hard fought and there were more incredibly close matches than I thought was possible. Pure scoring ability did not equate to wins and all of the machines got to spend some time pinned in the corner.

To 1318 and 1983, We remain afraid of you guys and STILL would much rather play with you than against you! I have not seen a better auto than 1318 and the skunk swerve is an amazing achievement that made it impossible for us to chase you down in Portland. Maybe in Atlanta we can show the rest of the country the power of the PNW!

To 1280, 1294, and 2660, I have the utmost respect for you guys. 1280 was an amazing machine, and for all the simplicity we were trying for in our design, you guys put us to shame. I felt guilty taking a design award, and not giving you guys some credit. I have to say, you guys could unload an epic amount of balls. 1294 really flew under the radar until I started seeing our scouting sheets coming back with 10-15 balls being scored by you guys. I loved your simple and efficient spiral hopper construction, and the accuracy in which you could put those balls into a trapped hopper was impressive. I didn't get to see to much of 2660, but after winning rookie inspiration you guys came back with an impressive seed, and put together an amazing team.

To 1425, and 1569, you guys were amazing. When we had some tough defense and missed a big dump in our first quarter final match. Near the end of the match after watching our machine intently, we were quite pleased to look up and still see the huge score our alliance had put up - right then I believed we could go all the way. 1425 handled the super cells with amazing speed and helped us put some big points up on the board, two high scoring records in the elimination matches! When you guys snuck in and delivered an empty cell right by 1280 when 1569 was holding them in the corner... it was a beautiful move. 1569 was a true jack of all trades, playing the empty cells, running some amazing defense, keeping robots off our back, and still putting an impressive number of balls in at just the right time. We couldn't have done it without you guys, and we all managed to keep our cool, and go undefeated in the elims despite some very tough matches.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone, and go Seattle!

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

I think it is easy to say in behalf of the team that we had an AmAzInG time at MSR, regardless! Everything went smoothly, and a lot of rookie teams were able to look up to you guys! We were glad to see you guys win, you definitely deserved it!

Oh and by the way, What time is it?

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

If there has ever been a more unanimous choice for Chairman's than 360, I doubt I've seen it. I think every team there had to admit that the most deserving team had won.... and honestly, you were a serious threat to take the Championship, too.

From the moment I saw video of the Xbots big blue machine on youtube, I couldn't help but think, "Dang... I wish I'd thought of that. What a beautiful machine." Now it has a beautiful trophy to sit next to it, thanks to some great play alongside 1425 and 1569.

Perhaps one of my best memories of the event (aside from getting to present the WFFA to Mike Criner... I'm willing to bet he's still in shock...) was the rendition of the Turkish national anthem on Saturday morning. I never did catch the student's name, but that was simply the best rendition of any national anthem I have seen at any FRC event. I'm sure hoping the Sultans of Turkiye will be back next year.

I have great empathy for 2927 and 2922, the #9 and #10 seeds. We have ranked as high as 12th and not been picked, but to be one or two steps short of the top eight, and then not make it to the eliminations must hurt that much more. Take heart... eventually this structure pays you back... three weeks after seeing 12th and NOT being picked we seeded 65th and WERE selected for the playoffs. It is weird and inexplicable sometimes, but it does work out pretty well over time.

To our wonderful alliance partners, the Flying Hedgehogs, who have a bodacious machine that truly lives up to their audacious name, and the tough tank pusher from 2944, it was great to play with you. We have absolutely no idea what caused our machine to become partially paralyzed after autonomous in our second match. We hadn't changed anything before the match, and when we hooked it up after the match it worked fine in the pits. The only weird thing, the drive team tells me, was a DS reset right before the match, but the captain spoke to the field officials and they didn't notice any comm errors during the match. In any case, I can still picture emtpy red trailers passing by our machine, our hopper loaded and ready, but the robot unable to move or dump. Hopefully we have paid the karmic debt to the glitch-gods for all three of us for the next few years, because it just was not to be on Saturday afternoon.

Most importantly, however... thanks to Kevin, Deb, and the hundreds of volunteers and sponsors that put this event together. The ride back home was filled with lots of chatter about "next year".

For those of you heading on to Atlanta, congratulations and good luck. For the rest of us, "next year" starts now.

Jason

P.S. And how could I forget to thank the Skunks for sharing their scouting data? I spent more time looking at that than I did at the match results, I think.

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

It was great for my team to see what a team with some serious spirit was all about (945). Our guys were bananas for your team from early on. We're rookies and learning FIRST but some of my team is learning about how a TEAM works for the first time as well. We had a great run in Portland as a rookie and an even better run at Seattle but the best opportunity was being in a position to form alliances in both Seattle and Portland with some fun, gracious, exciting teams. I look forward to seeing all of the teams we've connected with over the past few months (working with and against us) 1983, 488, 1318, 945, 360...some I only know names...Cyberwolves, Yak-Attack, Robo-Idaho, AmmoKnights...probably forgetting too many but really wanted to thank the teams, the coaches, and the mentors for those teams for making this such a great experience for myself, our team, and our sponsors. Good luck in Atlanta, maybe we'll see you all there in 2010!

Sal Lorenzen
Mentor/Coach FRC #2865

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

I want, foremost, to not only thank, but recognize teams 1425 and 1569 for the tremendous performance they gave in MSR elimination rounds this weekend. While our robot may be big and blue and flashy, 1425 and 1569 were the driving force in making our victory possible. They did everything right -- from developing a strategy that relied on converting empty cells into super cells and executing it flawlessly to playing some of the smartest, most effective defense I've seen in eleven years. I am extraordinarily impressed by them both and can't wait to see what they'll do in Atlanta.

Even after eleven years, this weekend was my first regional win and I'm tremendously thankful for all the well wishes and congratulations that my team and I have received in the last few days, but just as our team didn't win the regional alone (or even do a majority of the work in winning the regional, for that matter), my success is only possible because I work with a fantastic bunch of mentors and students that are more passionate and excited about this stuff than any others I've ever seen.

I'd be lying if I sometimes didn't wonder if I'm too heavily involved in our team and in our robot -- I feel compelled to make sure the kids have the best robot we can muster on that field for each and every match and that means that I micromanage everything. I'm getting better, though; I promise. After a tense moment when they announced that our alliance had been penalized and then learning we won the final match anyhow, more kids than I knew were on the field rushed me and our drivers and lifted me up into the air. I was thrilled and so appreciate their excitement, but I didn't do anything but scream (graciously and professionally, of course ;) )at the real stars of our team -- both at the competition and all throughout build.

Phounsouk, Andrew and Vy are our driver, operator and human player, respectively. Phounsouk, though he's operated our manipulators in the past, is driving a robot in competition for the first time while juggling his responsibilities as a class officer, member of the school's tennis team and as a high school intern at Microsoft. Phounsouk's patience and nerves of steel are not a benefit for operating "IX," but a requirement and he brings them in spades. He's managed to get himself out of some sticky situations and has shown amazing prowess and decision-making on the fly. He's picked up more balls in a single run down the field than most teams can hold in total.

Andrew is a senior and has been a member of the team since beating me in a Halo 2 tournament when he was in the eighth grade. He shadowed me as coach after acting as our team's robocoach in 2008 and stepped it up as operator in 2009. While our machine may seem simple, some of y'all might have noted that you cannot see into our hopper at all. That means that Andrew must keep count of every ball we've collected while paying attention to everything else happening on the field and that he must be certain not to overfill the robot and jam up the works. It's not an easy job.

Vy joined the team late in the build season and demonstrated fantastic ability to score moon rocks anywhere on the field. Despite being naturally talented, she's strived to improve at every opportunity, even practicing on the practice field during our down time. My experience has always been that it takes new students a year or two to really get into what we're doing in FIRST and develop the drive to improve, but Vy caught on in an instant. Her perseverance made me want to do and be better.

Our mentors are almost too numerous to name -- Donna and Ed Lew, Ryan Lew, Justin Lew, Mike Sinclair, Pat O'Dowd, Chris O'Dowd, Don Senior, Fred Sayre, Bryan Munro, John Gilbert, Thomas Wise, Rebecca Lee, Cassandra Lee, Amit Bhardwaj, Keynan Bailey, Ben Leclerc, Tim Johnson, Jeff and Nancy Wells, Dave and Elise Mattson, Robin Yim, Jan Habowski, Michelle Graf... the list goes on and on. I draw pictures on a computer, but these are the folks that work tirelessly with our students, sometimes over and over again until they meet my demanding standards, and really show them what they can do. Thank you all for really turning our team into a family and for sharing your expertise, your homes and your food with all of us. :)

I'd be remiss if I did not also congratulate our opponents all throughout the elimination rounds -- I had not realized we'd been undefeated until Blair mentioned it and it was surprising to think about. Particularly, congratulations to the finalist alliance, teams 2660, 1280 and 1294. You all played Lunacy fantastically well and, to be perfectly honest, I thought you'd destroyed our alliance in both of the finals match. I agree with Rick and think that either of our alliances could have conceivably taken the victory and both deserve the recognition. Also, like Fred said, for as much as we tried to achieved simplicity in design, 1280's machine really shows how it's done. Your robot is gorgeous and deadly.

Congratulations to team 360 on your well-deserved Regional Chairman's Award! I was shocked to learn that you'd never been honored with it before, so I have to say that it's about time! You all have done so much for FIRST in the northwest and as a result of your efforts, it's no wonder we're developing teams that are set on dominating the world.

Thank you, too, to the volunteer and field crew. Y'all did what I thought would've been impossible this season in getting the field running reliably and on time. Way to go!

Oh! Finally, I want to give a special bit of recognition to team 2925. They showed up with a beautifully airbrushed, amazingly overweight robot that needed to lose 63 lbs. in a matter of hours. FIRST teams did what FIRST teams do best and, after literally cutting their robot in half, students and mentors from 360 and 1983 were able to get them underweight with room to spare and help them through inspection. All throughout what might've been a trying ordeal, the students from 2925 were helpful and in high spirits. I laughed quite a bit when, while navigating through the crowded pit lanes sometime Friday afternoon, I heard one of their students yelling, "Half a robot coming through!" :)

I know for some, winning a regional is sort of run of the mill, but for my team it's a big deal and we're so thrilled and so tremendously grateful for the outpouring of support. Personally, to "coach" the team to a win after eleven years and to be recognized with GM Industrial Design award is enormously gratifying and is a little bit affirming that, maybe, I'm not wasting everyone's time while trying to be a mentor and role model.

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

Well,
All I can say is ITS ABOUT TIME!!!

I cannot think of a more deserving Chairman's Award winner than Team 360!!
One only has to look at the number of 360 alums giving back to FIRST to see the effect that this team has had on the region. EVERY TIME we attend an event ANYWHERE in the PNW we see 360 members. You simply CAN'T get away from them!! You guys are terrific and its a pleasure being in a region with teams like you.

And, well 488.... 9 years? I can't believe it... In our short 3 years we have always wanted to be on the field with you guys... usually it doesn't work out.
It didn't this year either but you guys were terrific in both Portland and I am so happy that the quality of your team could finally get the reward it has deserved for a long time!! Skunkworks will NEVER forget coming home from Las Vegas 2 years ago and having you guys waiting there to congratulate us on our first regional win. It was an example of gracious professionalism that I will always remember.

Congratulations to you... well deserved...well fought...well done..
(And to 1425 and 1569 !!!)

We would also like to congratulate rookie team 3070 for being the Number 1 seed during the quals. We and especially want to thank you for choosing us to play with you on the Number 1 Alliance. Thanks too to team 2557 for being on the alliance. We all played hard and got beat by a good alliance.

Congrats to EVERYONE at the regional. The field crews and volunteers were terrific..things were ahead of schedule... (I had to actually look it up but I thought that was against the rules.....) lol

Thank you everyone for making it a terrific competition for everyone!

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

Thanks team 488 and 1569 for being such awesome partners at MSR. It was a long and hard fought competition, and everyone filled their roles flawlessly.

Team 1425 would also like to give a special thanks to Skunk Works for their help in repairing our robot prior to the last match.

It may not be well known, but we sustained damage in to our trailer hitch area just prior to our final set of matches. The Skunk Works graciously provided the raw aluminum that we cut, bent, and riveted onto our robot to reinforce the damaged area, so we were able to operate to the best of our ability.

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

Thanks Sal, the same for team Banana, a lot of our team had connected with you guys early on and I just knew we'd have the pleasure of working with you guys in eliminations. We had a great run and came soo close to the finals

Congrats to 488, 1425, and 1569 for the win and for also posting the high score

On behalf of Team 945, we'd like to a HUGE thanks to 2865 for picking us and 1318 for being one hell of an alliance partner. I kinda felt that 1318 wanted to put the loss on their shoulders, but since we win as a team, we also lose as a team. IR.banana.teknix!

Shoutout to 2411 and 1570 for being such a cool team.

Thanks to Nawaid Ladak for always repping team 945 and for all his support.

Thanks for 1346 for naming us The Friendliest and thanks to 1983 for naming us Most Spirited.

And thanks to everyone else I missed for making Team Banana feel welcomed in Seattle!

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

Interesting, I definitely did not notice that. It must of been real intense rushing against the clock to get it fixed. I don't know if many people know this either but our alliance partners 1318 malfunctioned in both our semi-final losses (drive train in third match and conveyor in fourth). It was hectic watching them fix the drive train after the third match but sadly we never got a chance to fix the conveyor. Maybe we could of had our chance at your alliance? ;)
No big deal though because despite this we put up a great fight and I could not ask for better alliance partners (1318 and 2865)


AND, The Seattle Regional thread seems dead compared to some of the other regionals, so let's spread the word about Chief Delphi and get some more posts

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

i must say in the final matches. that huge tiebreaker ball freaked out our drive team. their jaws were practically on the floor! great matches overall. everyone played well and there weren't any setbacks due to static. i know portland was horrible about the static issue.:yikes:

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional
 

Thanks to all the teams that made the event so great. I was working with the field computer system, and trying to make that work. We seemed to get it working to our advantage as we ran ahead of schedule. But I have to say thank you to the field reset crew, and the teams. You guys were great getting the field flipped in hardly no time so that we could run close to our schedule.

I will see you all next year. Have a great off season.

James

Re: 2009 Microsoft Seattle Regional - Congrats 488 and 1318
 

Have just watched the Atlanta divisional matches.

A HUGE congratulations to 488 for their strong showing - Finalist on Archimedes, and to 1318 for their run on Galileo - Semi-finalist.

The Skunks made a strong showing on Curie, going 5-2; 492 was 4-3 on Archimedes. 360 went 3-4 on Newton against tough competition as did 1569; 1425 played well, though the won-lost doesn't reflect the quality of their team and how they played.

You have represented us well, demonstrating that we play robots in the NW as well as anyone.

Sorry if I've neglected some - no slight intended