2010 Washington DC Regional
 

Team List:

http://frclinks.com/e/dc

Event Info:

http://dc-first.org/dc-regional

48 is Looking Forward to attending this 2nd year event in our nation's capital!

Can anyone confirm a webcast for this event? I'd like to share the link with team family, friends, sponsors, etc.

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

Aces High will be in DC for our second year in a row. Our robot is ready for inspection as soon as it arrives, so many of our team members should be around to help any other teams that were snowed in and need some help finishing up their bots.

See everyone next week :]

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

cant wait for DC ill be watching.:cool:

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

We're very excited to go way out east and compete in D.C.

While we'll need to put back in the electronics we withheld, we should also be good to help teams, and have a lot of fun.

Best of luck to everyone.

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

Received this information from the DC Regional organizers.


*****

February 26, 2010

Greetings! You are receiving this email because you have registered a team for the 2010 FIRST DC Regional, March 4-6, 2010 at the Washington Convention Center.

Information and details are available on our website: http://www.dc-first.org


*** 2010 FRC Technical Notes ***

Charge your classmates early and often.

Update your Driver Station software http://usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/....aspx?id=10934 now. Teams must have the latest software update to compete.

Practice your ball return technique and read the delay of game algorithm. http://usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/Com...DOGMA_RevA.pdf If you don’t get the ball back into play soon enough, the point scored with that ball will be nullified.

Check your bumpers. This year, teams must have a system in place to change their bumper colors from blue to red and back again during competition.


*** DC Regional Details ***

Walter E. Washington Convention Center
801 Mount Vernon Place NW
Washington, DC 20001


AGENDA: http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedfiles..._DC_Agenda.pdf


FEATURING:

· Team Showcase – We invite up to twenty (20) FRC teams to demonstrate a product, to make a presentation on center stage, to show a video, to conduct a charity drive or to give-away cool stuff. Teams will be assigned a one-hour time slot on Thursday March 4, between 9-7 pm, starting on the hour. Each team will be provided a standard 2' by 6' table at a site in the pits. Two teams at two tables will be featured in the Showcase at the same time. Need more teams to sign up for the Showcase!

· Technology Row – BAE Systems, Booz Allen Hamilton, Norfolk State University, Northrop Grumman and more! (daily)[/font]

· College/Scholarship Row – We are pleased to welcome Catholic University, George Washington University and Howard University (Thursday only), DeVry University and Capitol College (daily).[/font]

· FIRST Expo - featuring a JrFLL, FLL and FTC Showcase of local teams (Friday and Saturday).[/font]

Friday, March 5, 2010
Need FLL Teams for morning and afternoon, Need FTC Team for afternoon
7:30 am – 11:30 am (VIP Breakfast) Jr.FLL, FLL – Mount Airy in Action Robotics (display), FTC – ILITE Robotics
11:30 pm – 3:30 pm (VIP Lunch) Jr.FLL - Friendship Public Charter School - Southeast Campus, Jr.FLL, FLL – Mount Airy in Action Robotics (display)
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Need FLL Teams for afternoon, Need FTC Team for afternoon
9 am – 12 pm – Jr.FLL, FLL – Mount Airy in Action Robotics (display), FLL 3747 GiRo (Girls In Robotics) Transporters, FTC – Mount Airy in Action Robotics (High Voltage)
12 pm – until Closing Ceremonies - Jr.FLL, FLL – Mount Airy in Action Robotics (display)

· Field Trips to the DC Regional – We are pleased to welcome local schools and community organizations (Friday and Saturday). So far, 350 students!


ADULT VOLUNTEERS:
We have adequate volunteers for this event.


STUDENT VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES:
Students are needed as VIP tour guides on Legislative Day (Friday, March 5th) and as Field Trip tour guides on Friday and Saturday. Training for Team Ambassadors will take place on Thursday, March 5th at 2:00 pm. Need more Team Ambassadors!


SITE INFORMATION & VENUE:
DC Convention Center: http://www.dcconvention.com/

Directions and Parking: http://www.dcconvention.com/Visitors...ttingHere.aspx

Floorplans: http://www.dcconvention.com/Planners...formation.aspx

Washington, D.C. Tourism Information: http://www.house.gov/house/tour_dc.shtml


Wireless networks are not permitted.


Bring safety glasses for everyone on your team. No one is allowed in the pits without safety glasses. Safety goggles will be available for VIP and guest use only.


Power is provided to each pit table. Please do not tap into power anywhere else in the hall, especially while seated in the bleachers.

Scooters, skates, etc. are prohibited.


IMPORTANT PAPERWORK NEEDED FOR THE DC REGIONAL:
FIRST Student Team Members and Parents/Legal Guardians Information System and FIRST 2009-10 “Consent and Release” Form: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...t.aspx?id=8128
Don't forget your special FedEx shipping way bills which you received with your kit of parts. There will be no replacement forms available at the event.


SHIPPING & DRAYAGE:
http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedfiles...C_Shipping.pdf



PIT AREA:
Each team will have a 10’x10’ “Pit” area on the floor. You will be notified of your team’s location in the “Pit” area.



LOAD IN/OUT PROCEDURES:

Information on load in/out procedures will be provided as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience. We completed the walkthrough and meetings with Security staff yesterday afternoon.

FOOD:
Concessions will be available: Food Show, Harry’s Steak and Cheese, Funnel Cakes, Maui Wowie (smoothies) and Rita’s Italian Ice. Do not bring food on the site. If you bring your own food or purchase food from outside vendors/restaurants, do not bring it into the DC Convention Center. Local restaurants: http://www.dcconvention.com/Visitors...COverview.aspx.


TEAM SOCIAL:
Yes, we are having a team social! Nachos! Karaoke! Any updates about the team social will be posted here: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...ts.aspx?id=430


See you in the District of Columbia!

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

There's already been some email blasts sent out about this, but please bring any spare parts, raw material, and TOOLS that you can afford to. Many teams lost significant chunks of the build season to the snow in the area and are going to be building furiously on Thursday, and any spare hardware, tools, and hands you have will be greatly appreciated.

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

FYI Travis, all of the URL's actually link to some Delphi web mail portal login. Copy-paste works great though.

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

We're going a day early - if you see us at the Smithsonian on Wednesday, say hi!

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

Blarrrr I hate that thing. Copy/paste to notepad and back kills the formatting but gets rid of those insidious Delphi links. Should be fixed.

We'll be at the Air and Space Museum sometime that day. We hope to meet with our congressman on the Capitol steps before that.

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

The TechnoKats are splitting into separate sightseeing groups Wednesday morning, touring the Capitol Building around noon, and doing more sightseeing afterwards. I'm with the Air and Space Museum group. I'll be on the lookout for a neighboring-number team. :)

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

5th Gear will be back again, running an informal tournament or two and plenty of individual matches.

If your team has a mascot, start training them for the all-mascot match!

We will be on the same floor as the FRC field this year; probably near Scholarship row and the Concessions. Stop by to compete for glory and (modest:)) prizes, or just to shoot the breeze.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone again and making more new friends.

See you there,
Blake

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

Team 701 is having a blast so far. We flew in from Cali on Sunday and have been seeing the sites for 3 days now. We did the Capitol, House Gallery, Union Station, and some monuments on Monday. On Tuesday, we visited the White House, memorials, Arlington, and the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. Today we went to the National Archives, Holocaust Museum and the Air and Space museum.

While at the white house we just happened to run into the two mayors of the cities from where our school is from.
http://www.vandenrobotics.com/plogge...icture&id=2886

We also ran into the Caveman shooting a Geico commercial.
http://www.vandenrobotics.com/plogge...icture&id=2933

Where's everyone staying? We are staying at the Hampton Inn.

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

Some sightseeing advice and tidbits from a Maryland-suburbs-of-DC native:

1. They got rid of the Foucault Pendulum in the Museum of American History :(
But they do have Stanford's autonomous car from the DARPA Grand Challenge, as part of the "Science in American Life" exhibit :D

2. The legs of the lunar module on display in Air & Space are fake. How can you tell? the real ones would collapse in 1g. Air and Space does have the real SpaceShipOne, however.

3. Best food at the Smithsonian: Museum of Natural History. They also have a little game where you can simulate smashing asteroids into the Earth (and some pretty rock called the Hope Diamond)

4. Best view: The old post office tower (NOT the Washington Monument). Gigantic windows, and zero crowds.
http://www.nps.gov/opot/planyourvisit/index.htm

5. The rule for Metro escalators is walk on the left, stand on the right. Just do it.

6. And the next time you fly into National, sit in a left hand window seat. If the wind is right, you fly in down the Potomac, past all the monuments. It's an epic view.

See you guys tomorrow!

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

Having an absolute ball in DC. Definitely as good as advertised. Lots of inspirational robots and teams from both ends of the spectrum.
As an aside, we've got lots of old chassis aluminum, 1/4-20 bolts, 12 awg wire, and pneumatics tubing and fittings. If anybody needs assistance stop by 1529 pit and say hey.

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

REX 1727 wants to thank Teams 3123 and 176 for a wonderful Alliance, as well as all the volunteers, judges, referees, and attendees! Thanks to them, DC was a high energy event that we hope to attend for years to come.

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

Congratulations (again) on your win, Rex. You have an excellent bot and team. :D

-----------

A few things I observed in the regional:

• The rumors I heard of people at FIRST painting the soccer balls to make any ball finding algorithms fail is untrue, from what I saw. All balls used were pearl white.
• The supplied target-finding algorithm wasn't the best that could be used. It picked up the target often, but there were times where it got locked on to an arbitrary object. Putting a threshold at the end helped a bit in recognition. (see: If target.score <= 1000, discard it.) [[Note: This should be done *after* the concentric ellipse testing, as it is impossible to get 1000+ for a single ellipse.]]
• Kicking, unless you have a really soft (8- ft) kicker, in the offensive zone didn't work well; we- and many others- ended up ramming the goal to push the ball in.
• Midfield shots were not too uncommon.
• The camera stream was either REALLY laggy or nonexistent for quite a few matches
• If you lose ANYTHING during a competition (see: an omni-wheel :o ), you will be penalized one point unless your robot is disabled immediately after for "intentional detachment of parts".
• Autonomous: We had our balls set up like:
  G
  
  XXO
  XOX
  OXX
  
  R
  
  R: Robot
  X: Spot
  O: Ball
  G: Goal
  
  and turning tapped a few out of the way. In addition, if we set up our balls in the same column, the one that we kicked first was liable to hit the second/third ones. So, for midfield/defensive autonomouses, consider your ball placements.
• A solid near-field/offensive field autonomous with a kick in it can be used for all three fields easily, and is really helpful in most cases.
• Connecting with the field this year is *extremely* easy and quick.
• The max score of the day, I was told, was 9-0.
• The autonomous of "go forward for one second, kick", when used in the offensive zone, gave us a quick point.
• Kicking from midfield sometimes resulted in hitting the small bump that leads up to the goal, and the chain above the goal. Both prevented the ball from going in to said goal.

Thanks for the excellent competition, everyone. It was definitely the most fun I've had in a long time. :D

Sadly, our FRC team won't be attending worlds this year. So, I wish you all the best of luck in getting to- and in winning- the championship. :)

~Buddy

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

Team 176 Aces High would like to give a huge thanks to our alliance. You guys were amazing to play with throughout the elims, and it was a pleasure working with you guys. Our strategy seemed to work flawlessly all the way through. Hopefully we'll see both 1727 and 3123 in Atlanta :cool:

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional - Thanks
 

Team 1370 wants to thank the 2-3 teams that applauded us on the way out of the convention center. It made the extreme effort at helping as many teams as possible worthwhile, and reminded us that a piece of hardware is nice, but the true reward for gracious professionalism is appreciation from other teams, and lasting friendships. We weren't sure if our efforts were noticed and appreciated.

It really helped remind us of the core value of first!

Thanks so much! It really hit home. ::safety::

Pat Daley
Mentor Team 1370

Congratulations Kil-a-Bytes
 

Congratulations to the Kil-a-Bytes #1024 for winning the Imagery Award.

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

Many thanks to all the volunteers and teams for making the second DC regional another fantastic experience! I was once again impressed by the display of GP throughout the pits in getting robots built and on the field. I think collectively we represented FIRST well in the nation's capital! It was great to see our old friends and make new ones. Congratulations to Chantilly Robotics (612) on winning Chairman's award! You are both an inspiration and a role model for 2068 as well as good friends. Congratulations REX (1727), Wildcogs (3123), and Aces High (176); way to play Breakaway!

Thanks to the Phelps Robotics Panthers (2912) for inviting us to join your alliance and to the Blair Robot Project (449) for being great partners! We made a strong alliance that continued to improve throughout the elimination round. It is always nice making new friends and we hope to see you both at future competitions. For the second year in a row we faced off against the Technokats (45) in the elims, win or lose it is always a great honor to compete against Andy and team. Thanks to Delphi Elite (48), Chantilly Robotics (612), and the Lightning Bots (2010) for loaning our team batteries during the elims. We really appreciated the help and we wish you the best of luck in the rest of your season. Also, thanks to Josh from National Instruments for helping us negotiate a dead CRIO.

Finally thanks to Harry Reid (Senate Majority Leader) for taking time out of his schedule to drop by the competition and show his support. I hope he is able to deliver on his promise to have half the senate turn out next year.

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

To every student, mentor volunteer who was at DC - I had the privilege of escorting a few important guests and of staying in touch with another one - If I can presume to read their minds a bit, all left with the realization that they had just been someplace very unusual, and that they had seen a program worth their attention and investment, and worth expanding as fast as possible.

As I walked through pits or sat and chatted with them I was never at a loss for words because I have so many great stories to tell about years gone by and about events as fresh as Thursday. When I did have the presence of mind :) to be quiet and just let the guests sit and soak in the experience, you guys were making things happen just as they should.

Congratulate yourselves for doing exactly what will carry you and FIRST successfully into the next 20 years.

Blake
PS: After pausing to congratulate yourselves - Go back to having "The hardest fun you will ever have". The season isn't over yet and we aren't finished changing the culture yet - There is plenty more fun ahead.

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

Blake,
It was great seeing you, too. You always do a fabulous job ensuring important guests at events "get it" and this year was certainly no exception.

All,
It was a very memorable event because if the people, as always. So many teams and people helping out those in need of supplies, tools, expertise. With the weather the way it was this year in the DC area, there were more than 20 teams not fully inspected at the close of Thursday despite furious efforts by volunteers and teams. Before Friday was out though, ALL teams had completed inspection and had made it to the field of play - including one team that was nearly totally, entire rebuilt on Friday.

In addition to the robots, of course there are all those teams, mentors, and students changing their communities and the culture for the better who are willing share so we all grow.

Personally, I need to thank all involved with 1712's efforts this weekend. Mentors Paul Gehman and Bob Bellini, staff member Kim Arleth and Sean Lavery from Drexel/NavSea for all you do and have done ... but especially to Delia, Dena, Ana, Murph, Dan, Stan, Jonah, Kris, Alex, Neil, Rachel, and Rowan - you 12 we exemplary all weekend - with each other and others. You make it worthwhile to spend the time on this endeavor and I'm looking forward to the full team being at Philly.

As usual, I'm tired and fulfilled.

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

One of the benefits of attending a regional in Washington, DC is the opportunity to meet with your Congressman at the U.S. Capitol.

Here's a portion of our visit with U.S. Representative Tim Ryan (D-17) at the start of our capitol tour. I've also attached a picture of the team with Mr. Ryan on the Capitol steps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSE6cAhAQ8o

Re: 2010 Washington DC Regional
 

team 2377 had a lot of fun. almost all of our matches (missing match #1) are up on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/view_play_lis...65B171A32F0A54

we got the arm fixed (hopefully) so it should now be reliable, and will fix our wheel for the baltimore competition this week!