2011 Arizona Regional

[Donut]

Originally Posted by squirrel

I predict that 498 will get the Beach Bots award!

Should be a fun regional. New venue...

Don't tell 330 that! They're undefeated in that category!

We'll see how the venue change goes, I've always had mixed feelings about the coliseum; it was nice to compete in a real "stadium" of sorts and there was a ton of room (once they moved the pits into the exhibit room, was a little cramped with everything on the main floor), but the lighting was pretty abysmal and the food policies were frustrating. With a regional the size of Arizona I am a little worried about a high school arena for it, especially since high school gyms here aren't as large as other parts of the country in my experience. Hamilton is one of the biggest high schools in the state though so if anyone can host it they'd be the place to do it. If anything just think of it as being a more "intimate" regional

Looking forward to this year, my spring break finally coincides with the regional again so I'll get to see all 3 days! This will be my last year doing FIRST in Arizona so I'm going to want to see the whole thing.

[rsisk]

I'm looking forward to making the long drive through the desert to Phoenix, although the landmarks are starting to get familiar (Quartzite for lunch at the Quail Diner, Fraggle Rock, the Colorado, etc...).

Can't wait to see your robots! I won't be judging this year, but I will be inspecting them!

[falconmaster]

I am excited this year! Got a great bot and ready to Rock! Hope we put on a good show!. Anxious about new site, power and space concerns as well as doorways. It is a recession though so I guess we tough it! Glad we still have a regional!

[BHS_STopping]

I think it'll be a lot of fun! I'm volunteering for Robot Inspection this year, and helping with field construction/tear down as well. I think it'll be a great event and I'm excited to see all of the AZ teams once again.

[TheOtherGuy]

Originally Posted by Donut

Don't tell 330 that! They're undefeated in that category!

We'll see how the venue change goes, I've always had mixed feelings about the coliseum; it was nice to compete in a real "stadium" of sorts and there was a ton of room (once they moved the pits into the exhibit room, was a little cramped with everything on the main floor), but the lighting was pretty abysmal and the food policies were frustrating. With a regional the size of Arizona I am a little worried about a high school arena for it, especially since high school gyms here aren't as large as other parts of the country in my experience.

Must be doing something right, 498 looked like the best team at Duel in the Desert (which I need to post pictures and video of... )

The only FRC event I've attended in a high school gym was the Fall Classic in Pasadena, and while the lighting was better, it just didn't have the grandness of the Coliseum... oh well, I'm sure it'll work just as well, without the lighting issue.

By the way, are you in ece 369 at UA?

[Donut]

Originally Posted by TheOtherGuy

Must be doing something right, 498 looked like the best team at Duel in the Desert (which I need to post pictures and video of... )

The only FRC event I've attended in a high school gym was the Fall Classic in Pasadena, and while the lighting was better, it just didn't have the grandness of the Coliseum... oh well, I'm sure it'll work just as well, without the lighting issue.

By the way, are you in ece 369 at UA?

Glad to hear it, too much work to go and see it this year. I'm sure the regional will be exciting as always.

Yeah, I sit about 4 rows in front of you. Last class for the CE minor

[Dr Fritz]

its not cold here so don't bring a jacket lol

[cemkage]

Have been hearing a lot about 498.

[Donut]

Dropped off the robot tonight, it looks like most teams opted to do it tonight rather than bring it in in the morning. The field is in the gym with stands on both sides of the field (drivers now get to hear cheering in surround sound) and is slightly lowered below the stands so everyone should get a good view of the competition. Pits are in the hallways, it appears the numbering scheme alternates between lowest number, highest number, 2nd lowest number, 2nd highest number, etc. so rookies should all get a chance to chat with veteran teams nearby. The hallways are pretty large by my standards and as long as teams adhere to the rule of not having an excessive number of people in their pit traffic shouldn't be an issue (it looks like traffic will all be on one side of the halls with all the pits on the other side).

Regional is tomorrow! I hope everyone is excited, see you there (with my blue hair again)!

[Cascade]

Will there be a web cast?

[SamC]

Originally Posted by Cascade

Will there be a web cast?

http://www.tecbot.com.mx/site/24-hrs/

[Cascade]

Love it! Thank you

[Donut]

I hope the practice day was exciting for everyone! It looks like most teams got inspected though there wasn't too much practicing going on. I spent most of the day helping solve programming issues so I didn't get to see too much of other teams but there were definitely a few that looked intimidating.

And nice to meet everyone on CD who stopped by! I hope I can run into a few more of you over the next 2 days.

[rsisk]

The regional is looking pretty good in its new facility, Hamilton High is a very nice campus, plenty of free parking, the pits in the hallway is working pretty good, the gym looks like it is going to be big enough to handle the crowds, and the food is decent and reasonably price. Just try and find an arena out here that can say the same thing.

Teams have been wonderful with the inspectors. Lots of cooperation and eagerness to make things work. Kudos to Karen from 842 for building us a 5V power supply to run the radios at the WPA kiosk.

Knocked out a lot of issues with radios and software versions. Some teams are trying to use last year's radios. Can't do it, and its tough to tell them they have to find a DLINK and a converter in order to compete, especially when their school is several hours away.

Be sure to have memory sticks with 2.27.11 version of the DS and v28 of the cRIO image available. Had to update many teams' DS software and a few cRIO images.

It was good to meet Andrew, nice to see CA represented by 330, always fun to see the NERDS again and 842 is always impressive to watch. Bienvenidos and buena suerte to the two teams from Mexico, you know this is going to be a loud and FUN regional when you have Fervot (3462), Tecbot (3158), and Orange Crush (1011) in the same room, going to have to dust off my earplugs

Well, suns coming up, time to head to Chandler.

[cemkage]

Originally Posted by Donut

rv rentals arizona Dropped off the robot tonight, it looks like most teams opted to do it tonight rather than bring it in in the morning. The field is in the gym with stands on both sides of the field (drivers now get to hear cheering in surround sound) and is slightly lowered below the stands so everyone should get a good view of the competition. Pits are in the hallways, it appears the numbering scheme alternates between lowest number, highest number, 2nd lowest number, 2nd highest number, etc. so rookies should all get a chance to chat with veteran teams nearby. The hallways are pretty large by my standards and as long as teams adhere to the rule of not having an excessive number of people in their pit traffic shouldn't be an issue (it looks like traffic will all be on one side of the halls with all the pits on the other side).

Regional is tomorrow! I hope everyone is excited, see you there (with my blue hair again)!

good luck