Galileo 2010
 

Some of these teams might be removed or a few might be added but it looks like this is what the division is going to look like:

51 56 63 68 78 79 85 100 107 188 217 228 230 263 271 292 348 365 379 433 503 548 648 649 694 702 714 744 752 900 957 1002 1058 1086 1259 1261 1305 1367 1403 1446 1466 1474 1517 1522 1577 1584 1625 1657 1696 1714 1717 1735 1739 1771 1816 1983 2016 2036 2056 2067 2077 2108 2122 2130 2283 2429 2437 2467 2468 2486 2500 2834 2839 2990 3006 3132 3138 3158 3164 3204 3310 3318 3335 3352 3364 3381

Lets start the madness
GALI

Re: Galileo 2010
 

LEO lol :)

Post 381, loved your 2008 robot!

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Where does this come from? I don't see the Division lists on the FIRST web site yet, and there are eleven teams attending the Championship having numbers less than 51.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Can't wait to get started!

Here comes 2016! Ready to play with some new improvements.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Can you say STACKED???

51, 63, 78, 79, 188, 217, 230, 365, 503, 694, 1086, 1625, 1714, 1717, 1771, 2016, 2056, 2834.... and that's off the top of my head.

And of course, the one, the only, the cheese head alliance is not impossible this year!

Re: Galileo 2010
 

It's only their predictions. My guess is that they are running algorithms based on something they think is correct, or even the last post of divisions.

Cass

Re: Galileo 2010
 

https://my.usfirst.org/frc/scoring/i... sion=Galileo

According to Bill's Blog this may change as team sign up or drop out. Final Lists will be out soon.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Yes soon, what I would like to know is when is soon. I hate how they have to keep us guessing with this. Why can't they just say ok on the Wednesday before Championship at 5:00 pm or something. Wait why am I even asking this question, it's FIRST. lol

Cass

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Well after I saw bills blog i figured the list wouldn't change much. I couldn't restrict my excitement so I started the thread and figured I'd change the original list if and when teams get added and removed.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

The Team List has been posted with the Divisions identified.
http://usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/...nt.aspx?id=432

Galileo specifically.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Wow, Galileo is packed with veteran and rookie teams! Can't wait till the Championship event now!!

If the matches are balanced for most teams, coming in the 1st place is going to prove the most difficult task.

By the way, does anyone know who the MC is going to be?

Edit:: OMG!! Only 3 Canadian Teams. :eek:

Re: Galileo 2010
 

All I know is Mark Leon is doing Curie, so that rules him out.
He told us in Hawaii.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Oh how interesting this will be... This makes things way more exciting for the coming events. I think my FIRST flu just got worse.


I can't wait!!! :D

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Team 79 is ready to ROCK!!!!! :D

We cant wait to play with and against all of you guys!!

WHAT TIME IS IT!!

Re: Galileo 2010
 

12:61

Re: Galileo 2010
 

YAY! Can't wait.



-Go Frogs!

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Can't wait to compete on Galileo! Never dreamed we'd be back so soon! =)

Re: Galileo 2010
 

I can't wait for another week! I am extremely excited to be playing on Galileo this year. The teams here are all competitive and this will make for interesting qualifying and elimination matches. Hope to see you guys out there! Go 2834 :)

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Hello Michigan from 548!

We are looking forward to joining 51, 68, 85, 107, 217, 503, and 2834 to take on the world......or a quarter of it anyway! Did I miss any Michiganders?

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Looks like a great division!!! i cant wait to get down to Atlanta!!! and for the 3rd year in a row...there is the possibility of the cheese head alliance! :yikes:

good luck everyone! cant wait to get started!!

-Alex

Re: Galileo 2010
 

I can't wait, Galileo 2010 is going to be amazing! I can't wait!!! Our team leaves on Monday. We can't wait to see you in less than a week!!!!!!!


Aussie, Aussie, Aussie...

OI, OI, OI!!!

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Blair is usually the Emcee for Galileo.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Interesting - things must have been shaken up a bit. Chiniqua did Curie last season.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Wow this is going to be a very interesting division.

Team 188 is excited to be able to come down to Atlanta once again. We are looking forward to playing with all the teams that we couldnt normally compete with, and also all the teams we did compete with over the past few weeks. Man cant wait for our awsome but extremely long bus ride down!

See you all there...
Parth

Re: Galileo 2010
 

I can't wait!

We've been in Galileo last year (both 47 and 65!) and had a great time competing against some of the biggest powerhouses. My old team (65) had the honor of being picked by the famous team 71, and had a great time in this alliance (even though we didn't get too far). I look forward to competing in Galileo again this year! :)

GALI-

P.S If we have that emcee with the roller skates (Blair, I think), I wonder how he will be doing it this year :ahh:

Re: Galileo 2010
 

I hope we do have Blair he is my favorite MC. The roller skates are just super awesome and he hasn't been the MC at an event we've attended since galileo in 08.

Galileo has some of the coolest bots in the nation. I can't wait to compete with and against all of the teams, especially 217, 1717, and 2056. For those three I'd prefer with.

I also can't wait to see some of our Jersey friends on 2016 and 56.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

-LEO!

This will my 2nd (and hopefully not last) year in ATL, Last year my team competed in Curie. When you walk down that .5 mile into the Georgia dome and enter through that little entrance, everything opens up it's crazy Big!

Re: Galileo 2010
 

I am very sorry to tell you but this will be your last year in Atlanta...next year is St. Louis

Re: Galileo 2010
 

http://instantrimshot.com/

This is going to be a really interesting division to watch (with seven MI teams! Oh boy!). As jblay said, Galileo has some of the most creative bots in the world, and I can't wait to see what comes out of it.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Galileo is going to be great! We have been in Newton for the last two years, and are really looking forward to be in this Division. We luckily dont have to deal with 469 or 1114, but that is no reason to back down or slack off. The competition will be tough, with hardy teams like 217, 2056, and many others I can't list off for time's sake. Blue Cheese will be there in full force and ready to do our best!

Best of Luck to everyone!
Sincerely,
Petrie
Blue Cheese 1086

(BTW in North Carolina Blair had a new outfit that didn't include the classic rollerskates... hes allot of fun and hopefully we will see him again in Galileo!)

Re: Galileo 2010
 

I think that he'd be better off (and safer!) with Moon Shoes. What a great way to use that energy :P

Oh, wait. That was last year's game...

Re: Galileo 2010
 

What if he jumps on someone accidentally because of those shoes :eek:

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Or what if he jumps on a robot because of the Moon Shoes!?!?!??!:yikes:

Re: Galileo 2010
 

What if he jumps on the platform and scores 2 points because of those Moon Shoes?? :eek:

Re: Galileo 2010
 

I believe he does that without the shoes. If you have seen him jumping around the field this year he goes from platform to platform when asking who wants what alliance to win.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Similar to what I did in previous years, I ran through 200 simulated qualification match schedules (all 144 matches, using the FIRST match generator). I used each team's average opr for their contribution to a match. I calculated the standings for each of the 200 simulated qualification schedules, and then looked at some statistics from the aggregate results.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Joe,

Thanks for the data. Did you use the average or weighed average?

Ed

Re: Galileo 2010
 

I really hope im not spoiling any surprises (sorry Hadi if i do) but our robot is completely different so any simulations with us in it are pointless. First we took off the ramp. The only way that it won matches was because it caused penalties. Second the kicker is no longer winch driven but pneumatic driven (if we can fit it i dont know how). Third we are putting on an (unproven) arm lifter.
The only thing that is staying is the drive system (mechanums). (re doing the last 2 weeks in 6 hours should be fun)

Re: Galileo 2010
 

It was your weighted average.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Our team here probably is actually going to use our arm at Galileo so it probably skews our prediction too. Then again what is FIRST Robotics Competition without something always going wrong:rolleyes:

Re: Galileo 2010
 

TEAM 107 is looking forward to meeting all the teams in Galileo and making new friends. It’s been a really long time since we have had the chance to compete with 188 I personally look forward to that. We had a great time working with 1002 last year hope you guys are doing well?
Safe travel to all!!

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Just like the two above we've completely redesigned for about the 6th time I think. So our's should be alittle off too.

Anyway, this will be team 1522's second time down in Atlanta, we're excited to see everyone there. Good Luck to all the teams out there!

Re: Galileo 2010
 

With so many heavyweight teams like 217 in this division, I cant see why it is being doubled, even tripled by other divisions threads! Lets get some spirit here, people!
GAL-

Re: Galileo 2010
 

ILEO :D

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Based on the previous post we are all too busy updating and modifying our robots to post on this thread but thats all about to change.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

18hrs to go... or something like that.... 2016 is looking forward to being on galileo.. should be fun :)

it will be good to some friendly folks from 56, 694 among others and looking forward to hoping for a match with 217 since we played with their twin already seems appropriate we should at least get one match with them. :P

on a more serious note.. i think the division as a whole is being undervalued by some of the other divisions and it will be tougher than expected. I dont see any point in listing teams as all the teams have been mentioned and we have several multi regional winners and finalists here...

Re: Galileo 2010
 

I think that everyone is being underestimated in this division, not only by others, but also by teams within our division. I know for a fact that a couple of teams, who have not been mentioned at all, are making extreme changes. Changes that could rocket these teams into eliminations.

- Sunny

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Galileo is surprisingly intense. I mean, it's obviously not the strongest division, but do a little prescouting and the talent near the top should impress you.

Can't wait to see countless old friends on this division, while making some new ones too. One more time in the 1714 colors for me...

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Anyone have a link for the match schedule? They're not up on usfirst.org

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Team 365 we have your window motors. Repeat, 365 we have your window motors. I will drop them off tomorrow morning asap.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

?

Anyways, I am rooting for 365! GO MOE!

Re: Galileo 2010
 

188 has a hanger now?

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Pics of it didnt happen.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

I was just wondering, because I saw on the standings that they have 2 hanging points. I'm stuck in Toronto, couldn't make it to Atlanta this year

Re: Galileo 2010
 

That means someone from their alliance get elevated.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

I'm not 100% sure if it is working or not, (i haven't seen it work yet) but they have installed a hanger.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

wow Canadian teams are all over the top standings on Galileo right now, 1305 3rd, 188 4th, and 2056 6th. All this with 217 sitting 8th, going to be an interesting alliance selection.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Galileo Alliances

1. 1086 217 2429
2. 78 51 2122
3. 1625 2056 3138
4. 263 1717 271
5. 1305 230 1714
6. 188 2016 1058
7. 744 79 365
8. 85 1771 2130

I think I got all the numbers correctly for the teams.


EDIT: Rookie team is going to Einstein! 3138 congratulations you earned it.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

We made it to Einstein!!!

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Exciting matches to watch. Congratulations, and good luck!

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Was the match with us (379) Krunch (79) and 1717 (name slips my mind). The highest alliance score of Galileo? (23-9).

Re: Galileo 2010
 

I really wish that there weren't connection issues on our field, especially during Q72, it was our (1058) only chance to play with 217, and some of us on 1058 were predicting our highest match ever.

Q72 had three non-communicating robots, including us and 217, along with one robot on the opposing alliance. To make it worse, one of the opposing bots was on its side for the better part of the match. Is there a single person who doesn't think that ought to have been a redo?

Re: Galileo 2010
 

D'Penguineers

Re: Galileo 2010
 

I had a ton of fun this year on Galileo! I got to see some really cool designs and playing techniques that everyone had. I really loved the incredibly large amount spirit everyone had on Galileo! I especially loved 79 with their giant letters used to make signs for practically everything! You guys rock!
Congratulations to 1625, 2056, and 3138 for the division win! You three were very impressive out there and on Einstein.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Hey Guys!

I would like to personally congratulate teams 1625, 2056, and 3138 for making it all the way to Einstein! It was great playing with you guys! Also another congratulations is in order for the Einstein Champions 67, 177, and 294, you guys gave us a set of final matches that, by far, outclasses anything I have ever seen before!

It was amazing working with Team 217 ThunderChickens. Your robot was innovative and your drive team was efficient. It was an honor to work with such a highly regarded team, and I hope to be able to collaborate again in the future.

You were our second pick, but 2429 showed more coopertition, agressiveness, technical skill, and driving skills that I would expect from any typical 2-3 season team. Keep it up!

1305, It was great to meet you guys and work together in that one qualifier! I felt like we really got to know each other and make new friends, while at the same time we did play each other in the Semis, in which I have to congratulate you guys for getting that far, and seeing as you did that it is kind of obvious how your robot and drivers functioned: as one impressive team.

365, or more commonly known as MOE, congratulations for doing so well! As with many other teams this year, I feel as if we made a great relationship and have hopes of working together in the future. When I see your team walk around, and especially when I see your drive crew, I cannot help but to think of my own team.

It was amazing to hang around with 1676 and 1902, and almost emotional to see both of them do well in either of their divisions after we worked together in the regionals. We all know a strong bond was forged between our teams, and I cannot wait to see you all in the coming years. OINK! OINK! BOOM!

As we all do, I am probably forgetting allot of teams out of the many that were able to go to what was possibly the last year at Atlanta. Therefore, I am going to give a shout-out to all the teams we had the honor to play with, all the teams that came along from Virginia, all the teams that got awards (we know from experience that getting a national award is no small feat), and all of the teams we got to meet and create relationships with.

A final thanks goes out to all of the supporters, volunteers, mentors, parents, and alumni that give their valuable and precious time to our cause and helping to give Atlanta a great competition it deserved.

Had a Blast in Galileo!
Sincerely,
Matthew Petrie
1086 Blue Cheese

Re: Galileo 2010
 

They spelled out our drivers names, sooooo epic. And they also spelled sharks! Such a great freind to our team.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

It was unbelievable that we moved up to 2nd seed from 15th with the seeding points from our last two matches...the 21-7 and 12-11 games in a row were perfect.

To 51 and 2122...you guys were awesome. You guys are some of the friendliest and most dedicated people I have met in FIRST. Replacing and re-imaging a cRIO in 15 minutes? insanity.

I had a great time in this division, how about everyone else?

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Vance.

MOE agrees with you about replay of match 72. Obviously, given our strategy for that match, which included a "score for the opposing alliance: autonomous which worked great, we were counting on all your bots functioning normally. We also agree that the match could have been a very high scoring one. :D

Does anyone know if a replay was even considered and, if not, why not?

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Thanks for picking us, Brad. We had a great time. The way your team showed your dedication to us during the cRIO incident was a large topic of our team meeting that night, and it really made our team happy. Thanks again for having us on your alliance - it was an honor.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Chris,

The honor was really ours. The oportunity to work with you was one of the hilights of our season.

We honestly had no clue if you would be able to replace the cRIO and reload your code in time - especially when we realized halfway through that the cRIO needed to be imaged as well. It was a huge gamble but it really payed off for us. I am VERY glad that your pit crew got the opportunity to show how exceptional they are. When they sprinted to the field and dropped the robot on with less than 10 seconds left on the countdown it struck me that moments like that are what this program is about. It took everything you guys had to get it working and the teamwork and intensity can't be simulated or matched.

Although we did not make it past the Semifinals, the vicotry for our alliance was seeing your pit crew triumph over the balky control system. Dumping the bot on the field untested and then sprinting to the drivers box and going on to win the quarterfinal round with the highest score in the Galileo division elims (21-7) is not something we will never forget.

In retrospect it could have backfired and been a huge mistake to not bring in the replacement robot. What happened to our alliance on Saturday afternoon reinforces that there are potential rewards that are worth the risks. If we had replaced you we would have forever wondered "could that repair have been done in time?" We rolled the dice, and the result was amazing and inspiring. That moment made our trip to Atlanta special. Thank you for being a part of it!

Also, 2122 was great to work with and very cool under pressure. This is a team on the rise. I hope to see you folks again in St. Louis!

Rob

Re: Galileo 2010
 

I was sitting up in the stands with my team, and we were worried that we were done for. It happened two times before (as 65) where our robot broke beyond repair and took us out of eliminations. In 2005, a wire came loose on a potentiometer in our robot's arm, causing the arm to go ballistic and break a solid steel shaft in half. In 2007, in the finals of our division, a plastic sprocket supporting our robot arm broke into pieces, and the team didn't have anything to replace it with.

The amount of anxiety we felt in the stands was immense, and watching the time-out timer count down without seeing any signs of improvement was only adding to the stress. We were literally jumping, screaming, hugging each other, and crying when we saw the drive team running onto the field with the working robot with little time left to spare.

The pit crew did a tremendously fabulous job getting this together. I was especially impressed by Chris Hibner, who had the daunting task of re-imaging the Crio and downloading the program while hoping and praying to everything imaginable that it will work. This has to be one of the best moments I have ever experience throughout my time being in FIRST.

It was also an honor working with 78 and 2122, and I really loved 78's hanging mechanism to the point where I went down to their pit just to take a picture of it :D . Congratulations on such a great season to everyone! I hope to see everyone again next year in St. Louis!

Re: Galileo 2010
 

That 21-7 match helped us out a lot as well. Our losses on Thursday and Friday put us down in the forties and fifties for seeding, but it really was that match that sealed us in the top 30.
Honestly, for me at least, it was the only match I was worrying about losing during qualifications. I wasn't sure if we'd mesh well with Thunderchickens, and we already knew you were a very strong robot (we didn't pick you in Baltimore for nothing).

The reason 72 wasn't a replay was the refs didn't deem it a field error, even though it clearly was. The communication error was solved by our programmer; basically the wireless system is connected from driver station to field to robot. The refs only saw that communication was coming in and out of the field - they never verified whether the robot was receiving anything. If you looked at the field, you saw a green light/no blinking light at the plexi, but if you saw the robot it had the quick blinking light. The robot could only do things that were coded into the bot itself, so that's why autonomous worked, and if you were able to see it, our auto-correction actually pushed a robot away on the field.

That lifter was our comeuppance in two of our final matches against them at BAE Granite State. And of course it was their extreme versatility with it that allowed us to get the max out of our 21-7 match with them.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

I had a great time watching that last qualification match tooth and nail for that one point lead. :D

I couldn't believe it myself when the score of 12-11 showing up on the board in the last qualification match :D I thought BOB wouldn't have any chance of making it even to quarter finals because of that devastating red card we got from the wrong robot being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

It seems like FIRST has a lot of those against the clock moments where teamwork really shows.

I had great fun watching the matches on NASA's webcast. I just had to miss all of the award ceremonies, speeches, and the Einstein matches because of a silly internet problem :( .

Let's see what another year of FIRST brings us as we say goodbye to Atlanta :ahh: :]

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Rob, Thanks for the kind words. We had a great time playing on the alliance - the positive approach and teamwork made it fun - and we really appreciated you guys taking a chance on us. The reliability issues that we had with our power system the latter half of the qualification rounds insured that we learned some lessons in Atlanta, that we are planning to build on going forward. Our team is dreaming of St. Louis - and hoping to see you guys there.

Mark

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Our team was very disappointed to not make it to elims.

Regardless, our robot performed exceptionally.

Here's proof.

Lesson learned: Design a robot with a different strategy than 2056, 217, and 1717.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

For what it's worth, if we were a captain we likely would have grabbed you second round. I don't really see why alliances passed you up. Then again, I thought 1714 was a first round pick, so maybe my compass is a little off.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

Thanks for the kind words, Mary - but that was the easy part. The real heros were John, Nikki, James, and Josh for doing the swap. Especially with me badgering them to get it to the point where we could apply power to start the re-image. They did an absolutely perfect job of getting the old unit out, getting the new unit in just to the point where we could hook up cables and start the imaging process, and then they continued getting everything in the rest of the way while working in parallel with me. Truly a masterful swap. It definitely helped that we swapped a cRIO in Detroit so they had practice of doing it once before.

I also forgot to thank members of Teams 78, 40, and a few others who had their laptops ready with the imaging tool. The network port on my laptop is a bit flaky and sometimes causes issues at the most inopportune time. They were standing by ready to image if the imaging process failed. Also, thanks to the NI guys that stopped by.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

There are a lot of teams that I felt could've complimented any of those alliances had they been picked, including my team. :P

I don't know if it's robot politics or simply that our game play didn't factor into the alliance's strategy. But regardless, disappointment tends to feed the flames of motivation. And for us, this motivation is coming with drastic change.

I had fun on Galileo, this year more than others. I look forward to next year.

Re: Galileo 2010
 

WOW!!!!
What happened to Archimedes and Curie stacked and power ranked to come out on top? Newton happened with Galileo pushing right behind!!!!

Congratulations to 67 / HOT and partners 294 & 177 for threading the needle and beating us in Einstein semis in the most competitive series in our recent history, and especially for going on to win in the finals, just an awesome performance in an incredibly tough and level field.

So many thanks to our alliance partners: Tyler and the crew of 2056/OP, the Canadians from Stoney Creek, a great bot (and one of the most talented and professional teams we've had the pleasure to work with) and to 3138 the Innovators from Ohio (I still can't believe you are a rookie bot, especially after the awesome D you played in zone 3 in ADDITION to clearing balls out for our side to score, I did not see better zone 3 play all season!). Tyler, congratulations on your regional Woodie Flowers award, that means a lot!

This alliance was one of the best matched to play this game. 2056 was on the top of our selection list from our first scouting meetings before leaving for Atlanta and stayed there all thru competition. 3138 was at and near the top for both of us for second pick, boy were we glad they were still around! When you can play the game with each bot doing their job so well in each zone that the balls flow without having to zone jump (watch our Einstein semi-finals match number 2) it is just poetry in motion! No robot waiting time, no ball bottlenecks, just constant smooth robot action. If 3138 hadn't gotten stuck in that last match......AUGGGGH!

More thank yous:

to 1717, 217, 188, 51, 78 and many others for playing with us and against us well in qualifiers, great teams all (nice lift 1717, love the gas shock)

to 2834 for helping us win one of our toughest qualifiers (I can't believe you weren't picked for the eliminations, one of the best zone one bots out there)

to the pirates from Colorado, it was fun being next to you in the pits

to 148 / 217 / JVN for the best concept for ball aquisition, which we were able to fine tune into a great ball handling system (thanks to Carrington, his dad, and blob tape)

to 16 / Bomb Squad for the inspiration of recycling the 08 track ball liner for our upper roller, another part of our great acquisition system, and for playing well with us in Kansas City along with the Metal Mustangs

Special thanks to 1732 / the Hilltoppers for, believe it or not, playing us hard to the point of breaking at Midwest. If you would not have done so, we in all likelyhood would not have discovered a significant weakness in our robot (chains taking a hike) with enough time to work out a solution before Championships!

to our partner drive teams in our last qualifier ( 2467 and 3352, the Flaming Monkeys ), for playing the game, with its' convoluted scoring system, to best advantage. The biggest advantage was to us, from a position where most would have considered you out of the game you made a decision which had a major impact, and unselfishly helped us to put together the alliance that won the division, no small thing. In anything we do in life we stand on the shoulders of others, some who have gone before us and some who are with us now. In addition to improving the record ranking score for all of us, you made a decision that had a major impact. You both gave us a shoulder to stand on, many thanks for an ultimate example of team play, it will not be forgotten and we look forward to playing with you in the future.

Sorry for the long post.... so much to say and so much left unsaid......(congrats to Chris Fultz on Woodie Flowers! great to see you in the pits UPS/Katy and Kevin!) All of us on Winnovation had a great time, thanks to all, especially FIRST, the organizers, volunteers, ref's and judges.

Look forward to seeing you all in St Louis next year!!!!!!!!!! (robot and other things willing)

Scott Hill

Re: Galileo 2010
 

After 20 hour bus ride home and getting 2 exams out of the way, I'm ready to jump back into the world of FIRST with a look back at an amazing Championship experience.

First off, congratulations to Team 341 on your Chairman's Award win. I've been following your team's activities pretty closely for a few years and like many people on these forums thought that you were more than due for the recognition that you received last weekend.

A hearty congratulations also goes out to Team 294, Team 67, and Team 177 on capturing the world championship. You guys were fabulous and took down an alliance that many people had favoured for a very long time.
That, however, should take nothing away from the incredible way that Team 1114, Team 469, and Team 2041 played. It's hard to believe that an alliance that had, arguably, the two best robots all year were unable to seal the deal. I, along with many others, long to know what would have happened had 2041 not gotten stuck in the goal. (A special thanks to Team 1114 for allowing a couple of our team members, including myself, the opportunity to watch Einstein with your team).

To the Galileo division champions, Team 1625, Team 2056, and Team 3138 (and the alliance that happened to bounce us from the eliminations): well done. You were the perfect synergy of offense and defense working together to systematically pick apart each alliance that you faced. For a while it looked like you had your ticket booked for the Einstein finals. To our Canadian friends, Team 2056, congratulations on finally clinching that elusive division banner, it'll look great next to the other 8 you've got lying around at your school, I'm sure. (Thanks also for working with us early each morning to secure the best seats in the house, particularly on Saturday).

To our alliance partners, Team 2016 and Team 1058, thank you and sorry. Though our run was short, the both of you were great to work with and executed perfectly. For not being able to do the same on our end (with a dead driver's station in the first match and a penalty in the second), we are truly sorry. I've got to take the blame for both situations, first for not having ensured our Classmate battery was secure and secondly for not calling our drivers off the balls when we got one stuck underneath us. Hopefully we'll get a chance to work together in the future, perhaps with some different results.

I could go through and list off all the amazing teams we had the opportunity to play with and against (and even those we only had the pleasure of watching on the field), but that may take a bit too time. I'll finish off by saying that Galileo was a blast. It was cool to meet up with so many of our friends from Curie last year (68, 79, 217, 1771, 1983), but also to meet a whole new set of teams. This year's showcase is over, but I'm already pumped for next year's Championship in St. Louis.