Re: 2010 Philadelphia Regional!
 

Yep. pumped.

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Regional!
 

I spy a twin robot!! :P Good to see 2753 make the recommended upgrades and kicking along...

56... well this looks nothing like we faced in NJ...

seems like everyones having a lot of fun, c ya guys tmrw.

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Regional!
 

Awesome first day of competition guys! It looks like a pretty even field to me from what I've seen fieldside - should make for a very interesting finish to qualifiers and an even better eliminations.

Speaking of fieldside, I also want to give a shout-out to the entire field crew - not only the awesome people I work with on reset, but our queue-ers, FMS people, field supervisors, MCs and announcers, and FTAs. Between the hard work everyone's putting in and the cooperation of the teams, we ended matches two and a half minutes EARLY! And finished awards before five! I've never seen it at a regional before. Hopefully we can do it again tomorrow - see everyone bright and early!

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Regional!
 

So the team was very excited today ending up where we were. If we had figured out our drive problem quicker it would have been easier to play better. Although, I was very impressed and excited while driving today and yesterday. The team and myself are going to be improving on our bot with some minor enhancements but nothing to effect the basic functions. The team and I really enjoyed playing in the regional. Everyone did excellent and that was something that really made me excited about the matches. The next match was always a new feat we would have to overcome but, on behalf of the team, I would like to make a few statements.

Team 2729 - Storm Robotics

Storm, you guys were great out there but the real help was with the battery situation we had on Friday. It was awesome that you guys had the software to check the highest voltage readings. *NOTE: Contact them if you are having battery trouble!

Team 639 - Code Red Robotics

Code Red, you guys were awesome to play within match 42. Not only that, you were well organized and only made our strategizing time quicker. The quarter finals with you was extremely tough but very exciting. I am looking forward to playing with you guys in the future. Also, thank you for the Sportsmanship Award. We thought that was awesome that you guys gave us that! :D

Team 341 - Miss Daisy

CONGRATS ON THE WIN & CHAIRMANS AWARD! Also, we loved playing in that 18th match with you. We truly had a strong alliance there. You guys are really strong and have a lot of heart. Finally, thank you for the Ingenious Design Award you gave us. That boosted our spirits and we are truly happy you guys gave us that! :yikes:

Along with 341, congrats to all the teams who made it to and past the quarter finals!

Team 87 - RVR

What a beast drive system guys! After seeing your robot at CDR about a month and a half ago, we truly weren't very impressed. You guys one uped us on that one. We were all stunned at the grudge match that went down in the quarter finals. We were not expecting that guys, keep it up.

Team 816 - Westech

You guys really did great getting back out there after you were just plagued with problems. I know the smoking pwms and the shot cRIO didn't hold you guys back. I really hope to see you guys competing in Atlanta with full force. Dustin, if you guys need any help we're here. Hit up DiVinecenzo and we'll get you anything you need.

Alliance Teams - Team 433 & 484

I know it's not the outcome that we wanted but we did our best and that's what counts. I enjoyed playing with you all and hope to do the same in future events. Thanks for being a part of the alliance and joining up with us. It was our first time choosing alliances and we struggled but we managed to come out with a decent team. Cheer up we got other years guys! :)

All Teams

Congrats guys! Philly is a very difficult regional and I'm happy we all made it through with big accomplishments. We all know more about engineering and how to apply it now. Everyone continuing on, good luck in the next competitions. Everyone else, we will see you next year!

Staff, Judges, Refs & Volunteers

Thank you for making this regional so great! Not only that, thank you for allowing our mentor to receive the Woodie Flowers Award and our team to receive the Industrial Design Award! I hope to see all of you there again next year!

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Regional!
 

I'd like to thank and congratulate a number of teams and individuals for a wonderful weekend.

816 and 709:
You guys were terrific alliance partners. We gave the #1 seed a serious run for their money in the quarters, and I don't think anyone outside of our alliance really thought we stood a chance. Our team wasn't pleased with our qualification performance, and didn't really expect to be picked, and playing with you guys (and gals) in the eliminations lifted our teams' spirits.

To Shaun McNulty. Thanks for the help in developing the strategy in the elims and the extra pair of eyes off of the field. You were a big help for our shot at almost taking down the #1 seed.

341, 365, and 486:
We couldn't have asked for a better set of opponent's to lose to. Congratulations on taking the win (3 in a row for MOE!), and being incredibly gracious and spirited competitors. Daisy's magically repairing drivetrain was incredible to watch in F-3 (did you manage to shake the chain all the way loose or something?).

357:
You guys are a terrific team and it was a pleasure for me and the students to associate with you guys all weekend long. It's a shame we never got to be on an alliance together, and even more of a shame you guys didn't take home any team hardware. Just because you didn't win, it doesn't change what you've accomplished as a team, and you have every reason to be extremely proud of both your efforts and your results. Thanks for all the help you guys gave us, and congratulations to Kyle on his Dean's List selection.

To Pete Kieselbach, Jess Finkowski, and the rest of the volunteers:
I don't think I've ever had to delay for time during the eliminations because we were ahead of schedule before. It was incredibly how quickly you had this event running, and it was truly an awesome experience to work with all of you. Thanks for everything. I truly think Pete is the best FTA in the biz, and given how many I've competitions I've been to and my friendship with FTA's like Jeff Wetzel, that's nothing to be taken lightly.

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Regional!
 

What an awesome three days.

So many people to thank, so many stories to share.

Drexel University: I am starting to realize that the venue itself is often a very underrated contributing factor to my enjoyment of a FIRST event. The DAC is just a wee bit too small for the people and energy inside, which is PERFECT. The entire building rocks all day.

Pete Kieselbach and the field crew: Thank you so much for making this what I believe was the best run FIRST event that I ever been to in my 10 years of involvement. When things are working great on the field, it spreads a sense of calm into the pits and into the stands, and everyone's day goes better. We brought plenty of rookies, parents, spectators, and new sponsors to this regional, and you really helped to make FIRST look great out there.

Lockheed Martin: Thank you for your new involvement and support of FIRST in the Philadelphia region! By supporting our team and many others at the regional (not to mention FIRST itself), you truly ensured that the program could reach as many students as possible. We hope our team made you proud! It is awesome to be able to go into work on Monday with the knowledge that my employer truly "gets it".

Team 87: Your robot is a heat seeking missile! We are so glad you guys were able to make it out there for SF 1-2, and you defended us as well as anybody has all year. We will wear the dents and bruises you gave us with pride!

Team 816: You guys really did have us on the ropes in the quarterfinals. See you in Atlanta!

Team 272: Sitting next to you in both the pits and the stands is an absolute privilege. You are one of the favorite teams of both myself and many of my teammates because of your spirit and enthusiasm, and the great and unique bots that you bang out every year.

Team 365: We did it (again!). Your robot's mid-zone sniping was the perfect compliment to our striking, and we bailed each other out time and time again. Miss Daisy had some chain problems early, but MOE was able to pick up the scoring slack. Later, when MOE was flipped, our drivers went on a rampage to empty the near zone. Good things happen when we are together. Thanks to John, Bob, Joe, Brian, and all the other MOE mentors that are an inspiration to us every year.

Team 486: You may not have been the flashiest robot on our alliance, but you were the most consistent. Your defense helped to open up the whole field so that MOE and Daisy had room to operate. And many thanks for helping get Miss Daisy back on her feet after we were hit by the rocket that is Diablo.

What happened in Finals Match 3: Early on, our driver noticed that the left side of our drivetrain was completely locked up. We had either jammed a chain, or rattled the axle on our input roller loose and into a wheel. Our driver - a rookie who is an absolute star in the booth - never gave up and tried everything he could to get it working again. Eventually, by thrashing the drive forward and backwards, he got the problem to rattle free - just in time to dive into the near zone and close out the match.

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Regional!
 

First off, a huge thanks to teams 2729 and 1391. 2729 took a chance on us even after having robot issues for a good part of the regional. We came out in our last qualification match and had a great run with them.

The first elimination match with 1391 showed how this is truly a game of ball control and what happens when you have two robots that can pass balls effectively. 1391 - your vertical hanger was simple and effective, up there with the best. It's a shame things didn't work out for us, but I couldn't have been more proud of our alliance.

Thanks Sean. I was immediately impressed by the friendliness and maturity of 1712. This being my first year with 357, I was proud to see the students not being discouraged even after a rough two days of competition. Kyle Tress receiving one of the Dean's list awards made everyone's day; it was great to be able to celebrate as a team through his achievement.

Thanks to everyone who made the Philadelphia regional a successful event.

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Regional!
 

I must say, being a rookie team, everyone at the philly regional made it a great experience for us. Whenever we needed help (which was pretty often) a team was always there to lend a suggestion or a tool or whatever. Thanks again!

I felt we did pretty well, despite being the only rookie team to not win an award. We just had some mechanical errors at the worst possible times (our chains broke at the master link when we only had 1-2 matches to repair it. Turned out our frame had gotten bent. Then in our final qualifier a PWM cable came out of our spike relay so we had no compressor and therefore no kicker.)

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Regional!
 

Rob - As always, it was a pleasure working with the Iron Devils to help you out with your battery problems. After all, you did loan us some pistons early on to help us get our kicker going during the build-season. Storm Robotics is proud of our sister school team and its success this past weekend, make sure you spread that word to the other Iron Devils. Remember, we're a few miles away if you ever need anything!

From Team 2729, a HUGE thanks to both 357 and 1391 for being such wonderful members of the alliance. 357 - after that last qualification match, we knew that we could rely on you to be our striker and you definitely pulled through. 1391 - Holy cow (or moose), what a boot from that far zone, a clutch hanger, and a great moving robot. Ryan, you are absolutely right in saying that we couldn't have been more proud of that alliance. The best part of that alliance was that you were all awesome people to work with, it was easy for all of us to communicate and we had a TON of fun back there.

TO ALL OF THE TEAMS
Thank you for being the awesome teams that you are. Yes, the arena is tight, but everyone totally demonstrated class and gracious professionalism throughout the entire competition. Keep up the good work Philadelphia! You always continue to impress and raise the bar of excellence.

TO THE VOLUNTEERS, REFEREES, AND JUDGES
Thank you for working with all of the teams provide them with the best experience imaginable. You know you're doing an awesome job when we need to slow the competition down a little bit because we're moving to fast :D

BEST OF LUCK TO EVERYONE this next year. I am looking forward to seeing you all in the future!

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Regional!
 

Well I’m finally home from Philly, my feet hurt, I have no voice…but I would do it all again in a heartbeat.


First a few thank you’s:

Pete: You are by far one of, if not the best FTA in FIRST. You fix every problem before it starts and keep the field running smoothly. It is an absolute privilege to work an event that you are at.

Mike/Ducky: Great job at keeping the scoring table going, and letting me do my thing to build up the suspense. I had a blast talking to you all weekend.

Team Queing: You had those teams running smoother than I can ever remember. You helped keep the flow going and made sure the party didn’t stop.

Field reset: You are often overlooked but you have an amazingly important job, without you, we wouldn’t have done as well as we did.

Jess: Amazing job supervising the field. One of the tightest ships I’ve been on and it showed! According to Pete we had the fastest average reset time of any competition to date, and we had so much time we let the audience dance!

The refs: You have an absolute nightmare keeping track of all the action, but you did it with poise and grace. Anyone who has a problem with your calls should try reffing an event themselves then they will realize that your job IS NOT EASY.

Carol Kaufman: Thank you for giving me my shot at Philly, and inviting me back every year. Philly won’t be the same without your smiling face and energy

My partner in crime: I don’t know when it happened, but is seems like Chiniqua and I have taken over the Mid-Atlantic region. She’s one of the classiest women I know, and it is an absolute joy to work with her every year.

The audience: You have the most spirit of any event I go to. The time flies by and even though it is hotter than hades in the gym, you make it fun. Thank you for keeping the energy up and for putting up listening to my droning on for 2 days.


Now the congrats:

341: #1 seed, RCA, and winners? Not to shabby for a weekend’s work. Plus you showed the epitome of GP by using your time out to help your opponent (whether it was in the rules or not)

433: RCA at Pittsburgh and EI at Philly, you’ve always been a favorite team of mine, and now your hard work is starting to pay off.


341/486/365+103/56/1143: Those were some of the most intense finals matches I have seen. You definitely gave the crowd something to cheer about.


That’s all I can think of right now, thank you to those that I missed, and congrats to those I left out.


Philly has become my favorite event to go to, and I’ll be sure to come back year after year as long as you’ll have me.

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Regional!
 

We complemented you guys perfectly: You guys could bounce balls to us, and we could strike them immediately back into the goal! It seemed like the only match where your awesome trampoline worked to its full potetional was when we were with you! I still can't get over how fast it deployed and went down.

I would like to thank 341 again for that amazing time-out that they gave us to help get 87 working again. The last match we played with you was great, with us losing due to a flap coming loose, and a penalty being assigned.

I would also like to say WOW another time to 365 for the amount of midfield shots they made with their truly awesome targeting system. We cant wait to play with you guys next year!

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Regional!
 

On behalf of Team 56 Robbe Xtreme, I would like to comngratulate teams 341, 365, and 486 for their win this weekend. You guys sure put up a great fight in the finals and made it really exciting.

I would also like to thank teams 103 and 1143 for working with us in the eliminations tournament. We made up a great alliance on and off the field, and it was a pleasure to play alongside you both.

[b]341[b]- Taking the #1 overall seed, Chairman's, and the regional title was very impressive. It was a lot of fun to play against you guys in the finals. We tried to play some defense on you, but you were too good. Congraqtulations and we can't wait to see you and hopefully play with/against you in Atlanta.

[b]365[b]- Getting back together for another run at it this year would have been fun, but there is no other team we would rather lose to than you guys. These finals were some of the most exciting matches I have ever seen, but knowing that we lost to the best alliance there helps ease the pain. Congratulations on yet another Philly win and we can't wait to see you in Atlanta.

[b]486[b]- Trying to play defense on you in those final three matches was tough. You put up such a great and powerful fight that it was tough to hold you back. Congratulations on such and incredible win!

[b]103[b]- Working withthe Cybersonics this year was incredible. We put up a great fight in those final matches, and didn't make it easy for them. It was a pleasure to work with you and we hope to see you in Atlanta.

[b]1143[b]- Working with you was great. You were technicians in that home zone with just pushing every ball in that was fed to you. We had loads of fun working with you and we hope to do it again soon.

Congratulations to all teams on a great competition this weekend. We had tons of fun playing with and against all of you this weekend. We wish all of you the best and good luck to those who are making the trip to Atlanta in a few weeks. Great job teams!

We would also like to thank all of the volunteers and organizers of this weekend's competition. You made everything run smoothly and made it fun and enjoyable. This would not have been able to happen without you. Thank you!!

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Regional!
 

I learned that problem (and the solution) the hard way during the NJ regional. Just hot glue 'em in and it works like a charm ;)

anyway, I had a great time at the Philly regional, and would like to thank everyone there :)

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Regional!
 

On behalf of everyone on MOE 365, we want to thank everyone involved with the Philly Regional for yet another memorable experience. We are privileged to call Philly our home regional and to have the support of our family and friends at this event.

Many of those we appreciate have already been thanked in previous posts, here are a few that deserve another shout out?

Carol Kauffman - you have been Philadelphia FIRST to us since day 1. We will miss you greatly. Enjoy your "retirement!" Don - we look forward to working with you more. We know you are a class act (and we want to see more of your hats)!

Miss Daisy 341 - thanks for picking us. You had a number of terrific teams to choose from. We are grateful that you selected us. With 486 as our third partner, we learned over the course of the eliminations how to utilize our collective strengths as an alliance. We love cheering with you guys! Also, congrats on all the awards, especially the RCA. Best of luck in Atlanta!

Drexel - Philly wouldn't be the same if it wasn't hot, crowded, and loud. That's what makes it exciting and vibrant. However, if it weren't for the Gracious Professionalism of all the spectators and team members, it would not be as enjoyable as it is. Thanks to everyone who waited patiently in crowded aisles or walkways for bots or others in the crowd.

Volunteers - What makes Philly great is the long-time relationships that are built and nurtured, especially among the volunteers Thanks to everyone who spend a few days of their lives giving of themselves, so many of us could reap the benefit. From announcers, emcees, FTA, pit empress, queuers, inspectors, crowd control, and everyone else. Thank you!

To those teams finished for the season, don't forget all the local off-seasons in our area - PARC, Battle of Baltimore, Monty Madness, Duel on the Delaware, Brunswick Eruption, Ramp Riot, and others. Our local off-season is really like a second FIRST season. Take advantage of the opportunity!

For those teams headed to Atlanta - all the best and safe travels!

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Regional!
 

I've finally found the chance to get my thoughts together from this past weekend and I believe some thank you's are in order.

Team 1712 - Thanks for stepping it up in Elims and for being so willing to try out some interesting strategy, we were close to toppling the number 1 seed. It was also awesome that your team was cheering so loudly for us throughout our elimination run.

Team 709 - You were my favorite defender at Philly. I never saw you gals get a penalty and your Defense was amazingly effective, we would've never pushed it to three matches without you.

Team 341 - Thanks for giving us a bunch of PWMs and offering to help after our robot went up in smoke. Congrats on the win, you definitely earned it.

Shaun McNulty - thanks for coming down and helping us out. It was awesome to have your assistance throughout the weekend. See yah at the Championship.

Brian Lucas - Thanks for helping us with our cRio issues, I doubt we would've gotten back out there Saturday morning if you hadn't helped us.

Pete Kieselbach and the Entire Field Crew, thanks for keeping the event running so smoothly and Saving our Robot by stopping the match when it started to smoke, and thanks even more for letting us fix it right there on the field so we could play the match out.

The Referee Team - Thanks for explaining all of the calls you made towards us, and helping us work through them so that it wouldn't happen again.

Finally, thanks to 816 for giving me this opportunity to Coach and making things so fun. You guys continue to get better as the season progresses, and now we've only got one place to go from here... The Championship. :D