2011 Palmetto Reigional *New Location*

[goldenglove002]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

Can you tell us about the problem you were seeing and what the cause was?

It's an issue we'd been having since about halfway through the Peachtree regional where the left side of our drive train would go out abruptly on the field. Every time we brought it back into the pits and onto the practice field to test it we would have no problems.

We started with the Power Distribution board and found that some FOD had found it's way inside of it. Replaced it. 2nd board wouldn't supply power to the CRio. Replaced it again. We also suspected damage to the digital sidecar and replaced that. With the robot stripped down to nothing but the drive and control system we were able to get it working before packing it into the crate for Palmetto.

After re-assembling the robot and getting out to practice on Thursday, we realized the same problem was occurring. Suspected a bad jaguar but every test we did in the pit showed no issues with any of them. Decided to start overhauling the wiring of the PWM's and power to the CIM's. Still nothing. Re-wrote code. Nothing. Swapped CIM motors. Started getting desperate. Swapped CRios. Nothing. Just completely baffled.

After some more testing in the pit we finally noticed the signal light wasn't changing on one of the jaguars. Changed it. Figured that the jaguar had been going bad all along and was just evading telling us at all the wrong times. Changed it, figured we had just had some really bad luck. When I made that post on Friday it looked like everything was working.

Nope. At this point we really have no clue what the issue is, but the season is done. We'll (hopefully) figure it out once the crate gets back to our shop.

Congratulations to all of the winners at Palmetto!

[ebarker]

It was the most frustrating technical issue we probably have ever faced, this losing full control of the left side drive train. We tried it with DS version 1.05.11.00 and 02.27.11.00, cRio image V28, with no success.

We went through 2 cRios's, Nada, 3 PD boards, 2 sidecars, and all new PWM cables. We never did change out the DB37 pin cable. Always seemed to work tethered in the test field, but not in competition.

Sometimes it would run a while, then give trouble, then recover, almost like a breaker was cycling. So we changed all the breakers.

The only thing we didn't change was the driver.........hmmmmmm..

Congrats to the winners at the Palmetto ..... and the folks that didn't get a formal award too, you are all winners in my book !!

[Warren Boudreau]

It has been too long since SPAM was able to come up and visit with our South Carolina friends.

Bilfred, thanks for helping us out. The data said that y'all were the best choice and we were ecstatic when you were still available for our second pick.

Triple Helix, you guys are great. The qualifying match was fun, but not nearly as much fun as the elimination rounds.

Congratulations to Gene from 343 for his Woody Flowers recognition.

MORT, it was rough seeing your alliance get that red card. I hope the Chairman's Award soothes the pain a bit. Congratulations, you are a great group of people.

And I have to give thanks to the folks from Purple Haze and Exploding Bacon for helping out with our scouting effort. The data came out right on target.

And finally, I want to congratulate the Palmetto Regional Planning committee and all of the volunteers for pulling off a great regional event.

[mwilbur]

Team 2363, Triple Helix, has so many teams and people to thank for our Palmetto Regional experience that I don't know where to begin.

For starters, let me thank the many volunteers and organizers that made the event so pleasant for us. Everyone that I spoke with had a smile on their face and was most helpful even if they didn't immediately know the answers to my questions. We definitely recognize that there would be no events like these without your efforts, and for that we thank you very sincerely.

As for team 180, SPAM, and team 2815, Los Pollos Locos, thanks so much for partnering with us in the elimination matches. Things didn't get off to as great a start as we had all expected, but we got steadily better as an alliance as time wore on. For us it was something truly magical, and we are truly thankful for our first FRC win. You will be honorary Triple Helix members for the rest of your lives!

To team 1902, Exploding Bacon, we are truly humbled to have received your Most Valuable Pig award! We had seen you for years on the streaming video, but to have experienced your team in person was truly special. Thanks for the nod of confidence with the MVP award!

To team 1319, Flash, many thanks also for the Flash-E Chassis Robot Design Award. The awards from our peers are in many ways more special than the Excellence in Engineering design award that we received on Friday evening.

To the many teams that came around to study our robot, Genome Gamma, from every angle and asked how you could build a minibot deployment mechanism as consistent as ours, thanks for the vote of confidence! I don't know that we did an adequate job of answering all of your questions, so feel free to ask some more if you didn't receive the help that you were looking for. We will freely admit that we never expected to play 16 matches and have 16 successful minibot delpoyments -- most for 30 points -- so we were as caught off guard as any of you.

To teams 343, 1287, and 2751, thanks for putting the pressure on in the finals. Our team philosophy is that you have to beat the best in order to be the best, and your performance kept us performing at our best to the very end.

Finally, to team 11, MORT, thanks so much for showing us what a great team can do. To have won four awards, one of them being the Chairman's Award, is truly an outstanding accomplishment. Your alliance in the elimination matches was amazing, and everybody on Triple Helix knew that we were going to be in a dogfight if your alliance made it through to the finals. To be honest, we didn't know whether to feel bad or be relieved about your alliance's red card in the semis. In any case, how fitting it is that you qualified for the Championship with your Chairman's win. You are truly a team with great class, and Triple Helix aspires to be just like you. Thanks for setting such a shining example!!

On a side note, for those who are interested, Triple Helix has devloped and now tested an Android tablet scouting software package. It seemed to work well for us at Palmetto, and our scouting results matched up well with those of team 180's when we were discussing alliance partner selections. We plan to release the software to the FIRST community soon. It will run on virtually any Andrioid device and includes a Java program to sort the results. We will announce the release of the software on Chief Delphi.

For now, we are looking forward to the Virginia Regional and our first trip to the Championship. What a rush! I can still hear the strains of "We are the Champions" running through my head!! It's time for somebody somewhere to pinch me so that I can know whether this is real or not...

[JLenhart]

FIRST team 2614 had a blast at the Palmetto regional.

We really appreciate the Engineering Inspiration award. We work so hard to spread the FIRST spirit all through our state. Whether it be walking dogs, giving presentations, open houses, to drawing coloring books.

Thank you to. . .

11: You guys had an amazing machine. It was great to work with you guys. Your team is fantastic and it was great sitting up there with you. We really shined in that last match. We were able to show what we could throw.

The red card was a bummer but that kind of thing happens. Considering the field could barely be seen from all of the tubes on our alliance wall. Shake it off. You guys should be proud. Congratulations on the Chairmens award. I will be sure to say hi to you guys there!

1293: You had an amazing robot for defense. We are very glad we managed to get you into our alliance. It would have been terrible to have to compete against that amazing defensive machine.

I hope to see you all very, very soon.
Thanks again,
Jake



"We came to be inspired. We stayed because we were. We will become the inspiration."
2. 6. 1. 4. WE ARE. . . HARD CORE.

[Josh Drake]

I guess I'm from the bad guy alliance, that got our way into the finals on a technicality. We were getting our back sides kicked hard, and standing on the side lines, I knew we were done. To add insult to injury, we had lost comms. and 343 tried to deploy their minibot, and missed the pole. That's when 11 had gotten the 30 point minibot and drove into 343.

I don't know what to say except that we knew it was an uphill battle the whole way. We got into the semi-finals, and I looked at the match-up between us and the #2 seed, and knew we would have bring our A game to have a chance. When we won the first match because of the 50 points in minibots, I had a good feeling, but told the drive team that the #2 seed would change their strategy. We were truly beat the next two matches.

In the finals there was another incident with a robot hitting another robot while trying to deploy. We won on another technicality, but felt good that the raw score was still good enough to beat that great #1 alliance. But in the end the better alliance prevailed, and a big congratulations to 180, 2363, and 2815.

We now look back at what could have been and look forward to North Carolina. We will try to make improvements (if that Banebot stuff will ever get here). We were very pleased with the outcome, because we are a third year team, and last year's robot was a B.L.T. (brave little toaster).

See you in 10 days!

[Thermal]

Originally Posted by DRAKE2751

I guess I'm from the bad guy alliance, that got our way into the finals on a technicality. We were getting our back sides kicked hard, and standing on the side lines, I knew we were done. To add insult to injury, we had lost comms. and 343 tried to deploy their minibot, and missed the pole. That's when 11 had gotten the 30 point minibot and drove into 343.

I don't know what to say except that we knew it was an uphill battle the whole way. We got into the semi-finals, and I looked at the match-up between us and the #2 seed, and knew we would have bring our A game to have a chance. When we won the first match because of the 50 points in minibots, I had a good feeling, but told the drive team that the #2 seed would change their strategy. We were truly beat the next two matches.

In the finals there was another incident with a robot hitting another robot while trying to deploy. We won on another technicality, but felt good that the raw score was still good enough to beat that great #1 alliance. But in the end the better alliance prevailed, and a big congratulations to 180, 2363, and 2815.

We now look back at what could have been and look forward to North Carolina. We will try to make improvements (if that Banebot stuff will ever get here). We were very pleased with the outcome, because we are a third year team, and last year's robot was a B.L.T. (brave little toaster).

See you in 10 days!

I don't think anyone considers your alliance to be the "bad guys" or downplay your alliances achievements in any way for making the finals due to a red card. I know I certainly hold no ill feelings towards 343, 2751, 1287, or even team 11 for how SF Match 3 went. Rules in FIRST exist for a reason and they cannot be ignored just because the score is an unreachable gap. I was wholly bummed seeing your robot go without comms in that final match then pushed out of the way by 343 to try and clear the way for more scoring. It's a circumstance that seems to happen much too often in the elim matches. I remember in 2009 when our alliance in each QF match had a robot dead in the water to start the match (Horsepower FRC801, then the Minotaurs FRC1369). In 2010 the roles were flipped in the semifinals and it was us who was floundering on the field with comms issues and the CRIO resetting, costing our alliance a possible finals trip. It's a real unfortunate way to end a series but it happens and it cannot be faulted.

I can't lie about not being disappointed in being unable to hang our teams first finalists/champions banner in our warehouse, but theres always next year and many more after that. I am thankful for being given the opportunity to compete in the elimination rounds because of MORT and MARS, and I cannot ask for any more than that.

[Josh Drake]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. 343 hit us to try to get us going again, but it didn't work.

All in all definately a fun time in N. Charleston.

[thedries]

I would just like to thank everyone that participated in last weekend's regional; from the teams, the mentors, the volunteers, the judges and the referees. It has been quite a while since our last visit to Palmetto (2006), but I don't know why didn't return sooner, everyone was a nice as could be and it was great to just be a part of the fun. Plus the weather was amazing! It was a nice reprieve from the snow & hail in NJ.

It was a roller-coaster of highs and lows for us, this regional was truly a unique experience. We are humbled by the reception we received, and I am so amazed and proud of our students, who put in countless hours since last season restructuring and streamlining all the processes behind the scenes. We are excited to compete at St. Louis for the Chairman's Award and are relieved that the pressure is off for Virginia so we can just go and have fun.

180, 2363 & 2815: You guys were are a great alliance and worked really well together. You all showed us the importance of reliability and consistency in your performances over the weekend; you guys deserved to win. We were looking forward to competing against you, but alas, it was not in the cards. Hopefully we will see you again in St. Louis, and we look forward to seeing 2363 also in Richmond.

343, 1287, 2751: We certainly don't consider you guys the "bad guys" at all, the rules are there for a reason, and we are glad that everything went by the book. It's a shame you were having so many problems with communications, after the first match against us you really showed us what a team that worked together could do. We bear you no ill-will for continuing on to the finals and wish you the best of luck in the future.

2614: Thanks for picking us! You guys are an amazing team and we are so glad to have worked with you and 1293. We knew this was your last regional this year, and were devastated when we couldn't help you get to St. Louis, but we were overjoyed to find out that you didn't need our help at all! Congrats on EI, it couldn't have been given to a better group of people! We look forward to seeing you in St. Louis!

1293: You guys were a tough bot that complimented us and MARS very well, thank you for joining us in the eliminations. We hope to work with you guys again soon!

We are also incredibly excited about all the friends we made down in Charleston, 2614, 1293, 180, 2363, 1902, 1319 and I know I'm forgetting so many more. Thanks again to everyone for a great weekend and we wish you all the best.

[team1102a]

I’ve have announced the Palmetto for 7 years, and I have to say, this was the best one yet. We have moved the Palmetto from Columbia (with the steep steps and cramped pits), to Clemson (with the smaller arena and outdoor practice field), to North Charleston. This venue was perfect for the game (though a little small for the pits), but the viewing angles were perfect. Everyone felt like they were close to the field. The energy was contagious.

The 43 Teams from 7 states brought friendship and professionalism like I have never seen. Ted Creech, the MC, and I could not believe how much fun everyone was having.

Every team had some success to take home and be proud of. I saw broken robots return to life in later matches, and some incredible strategies play out for the most exciting matches I can ever remember.

It started with the girl’s chorus wearing SPORK’s red blinking LED safety glasses while on the field singing the National Anthem (did anyone get a photo or movie of them?), and ending 31 hours later with 3-match Semi and Finals rounds with numerous scores over 100 points. We had it all: a match with 4 scoring mini-bots, 4 sets of logos on one end of the field, 4-tube autonomous scoring, and even a Coopertition minibot score during the elimination rounds. By my accounting, the alliance high score was 102 in Quals and 122 in QF3. And a high combined score of 176 in Finals3. Terrel and the refs made the right calls and there seemed to be little if any scoring or penalty controversy.

I want to thank everyone who contributed to this event. You cannot believe the number of unpaid volunteers (including Ted and me) who told me they would come back anytime to help at Palmetto Regional. I’ll be back!.

[Emiller8]

I would just like to thank everyone that has congratulated us. Everyone on MORT was just feeling lucky to get to the regional after a 14 hour bus ride and getting in at 2:30 am on Thursday. Then for us to continue on and win four awards, one being Chairmans, was awesome. I want to thank all the teams, judges, and volunteers for your help. Thanks to teams 180, 1676, 341, 2614, 1293, 1319, 75, 223, 2363, 2815, 281, and any one else I may have missed for your words of congratulations. Everyone on MORT has been working really hard to ramp up our team, and it is so nice to know that it has all payed off. So thank you so much.

[Alex2614]

Originally Posted by thedries

2614: Thanks for picking us! You guys are an amazing team and we are so glad to have worked with you and 1293. We knew this was your last regional this year, and were devastated when we couldn't help you get to St. Louis, but we were overjoyed to find out that you didn't need our help at all! Congrats on EI, it couldn't have been given to a better group of people! We look forward to seeing you in St. Louis!

11 - I can't wait to see you guys in St. Louis! You are a fantastic group of kids and mentors, and the Chairmans Award belonged to you from the start.

1293 - You guys had a fantastic robot, and were a perfect match for us and 11. I couldn't have asked for better results. I'm sorry we couldn't help you earn a spot at the championships this year We really wanted you to get to go. But, don't be discouraged. There's always next year We will definitely see you again!

2363 - While we didn't really have as much of a chance to interact as much in the arena as we would have liked, we were glad and honored to share hotel space with you all. You were overly gracious and courteous, giving us space during our team meetings, and just being polite at breakfasts. I can only hope that we returned the favor

All of the volunteers, refs, judges, etc. - Thank you for throwing such a great party...er, I mean... regional Of all the regionals we have been to, our students had the most fun at Palmetto 2011, so we owe a special thanks for putting on such a great event, being fair and unbiased, and just having a good time overall!
We couldn't thank you more for the Engineering Inspiration Award. It means more than anyone could ever know to the MARS team 2614. We had tears of joy on our faces the entire time after the ceremony.

Thanks to all the other teams for being so gracious and accepting and fun! We had a blast working and playing with everybody, and we hope to see you in the future!

[JohnFogarty]

WEllP we had fun. learned a few things, thanks to team SPORK for picking us we had a tough time going up against the number 1 alliance. We had the minibot that liked to win. but that's about it. WEll come see Atomix our FTC team in St. Louis. As of yet I won't be attending because unlike in FRC where if you're in the winning Alliance you go to championship in FTC you get put into the "lottery" if you aren't the captain. So GForce won but didn't get captain so we didn't get a spot we were told. Soooo oh well. Probably see you all next year.

[Alex2614]

Does anybody know where I can find a video of Saturday's award ceremony?

[cziggy343]

Well, I know that it was a heck of a weekend for 343. We got saved by our solid minibot during the qualifications, but struggled to score on the tubes. We had a totally rookie drive team coming in, and I was their drive coach for this event. Despite the struggles early, I was proud of our guy's performance in the end. They steadily improved all weekend, and did their best work in the eliminations when it counts the most. All in all, very proud of the finalist appearance.

but some other notes:

2751: I know personally I was thrilled with the chance to play with you guys. You guys have gotten better and better, and I was so proud of your performance this weekend. It was awesome to see that you were truly one of the best teams there. You could score on the tubes with anybody, and that was really great to see. After seeing you guys during the build season, I was happy to see the hard work come to fruition. You guys will do great in North Carolina

1287: Ya'll were the perfect third pick for us. Our goal was to get a defensive robot with a good drivetrain and could put up an ubertube. We were thrilled that you were still there for us at the third alliance. You guys did everything we asked, and did and excellent job doing it. Thank you for being just what we needed to compete and keep up with everyone else.

180, 2363, 2815 That was an amazing set of finals. Period. I was elated to see that we could even begin to keep up with two really great teams. You guys were the best and deserved to win, we were just lucky to be close The last match was a game of inches. 66-60 going into the minibot race. Unfortunately, a chain came off the sprocket on one side of our drivetrain and so we couldn't line up, and I believe 2751 lost comms just before deployment. But, you guys were steady, consistent, and played with excellence and 100% deserved the win.