Team 2826 WAVE Robotics

[AlecMataloni]

Normally around this time, most of the attention of the FRC community is directed at the champions and the teams who played on Einstein. While there's nothing wrong with this, I'd just like to direct some of the attention to one of the coolest stories and one of the best teams we've had the chance to play with this year. The team I am referring to happens to be team 2826 Wave Robotics from Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Ever since the Wisconsin Regional (where they were our alliance partners), many of my teammates and I have had nothing but praise for this relatively new, but powerful addition to FIRST. At this year's Championship in St. Louis, their prowess continued to be displayed as they performed very well (in a powerhouse filled Curie, no less) and ended up pairing with our friends team 71 and team 103. In the division finals, they faced off against the High Rollers and their alliance. Unfortunately, team 71 was having some issues and the match ended up a 2v3; however, both Wave and Cybersonics stepped up their game further in order to put up 108 (correct me if I'm wrong) points as a 2 team alliance, losing by a very tiny margin. Now, that's incredible. I did not see the match as it happened, but I wish I could have witnessed it. I would have loved nothing more than to face Wave and their team on the championship field, but it's no disappointment that they managed to place second in their division. Wildstang is very happy that they performed so well this season, and we look forward to seeing 2826 as a perennial powerhouse in both our regionals and at the championships. Obviously, if they left an impression on our scouters (believe me, it's a tough crowd), then they are definitely doing something right. So congratulations to Wave Robotics for a phenomenal season, and I look forward to seeing you next year.

P.S.
To the two Wave kids who stopped by our Hall of Fame booth for our QR scavenger hunt, I appologise for whomever stole our clue from the FIRST store and ruining the fun for you guys. Hope you enjoyed your wristbands.

[Chris is me]

I'm happy to echo the above thoughts. 2826 is a phenomenal team, winning two regionals in three years and just a few inches away from Einstein this year. I expect their success to continue well into the future, and look forward to competing with them again someday.

[Adam Freeman]

2826 was without a doubt the real deal this year.

I knew they were very good, but I was constantly asking my scouts if the scouting data was correct. They were on the same level (or above) as 987, 2056, 67, 1717, and 71 in the Curie division.

We were fortunate enough to get to play with them in one qualification match and the drive team was awesome to work with.

Unfortunately, we had to face the great 71 and 2826 in the Semi-finals. Our defense was completely ineffective playing against these guys and we could not put up enough points to offset 71's minibot.

Once we were beaten, I thought 71, 2826, and 103 were a lock into the Final round on Einstien. With 2826's amazing scoring ability, 71's minibot, and 103's tube stealing skills....they were going to be tough to beat.

That 3 v. 2 match was awesome to watch. Can't remember all the details...but I know 2826 was throwing tubes up left and right.

Congratulations on a great season. Hopefully we will see this robot around the off-season circuit.

[Jimmy the Kidd]

As a first-time attendee of the champs, but a longtime watcher, these kids are ridiculously good. Team 364 didn't have the honor of playing with or against them, but my scouts had nothing but praise for them, even pushing me (almost literally) to get them as my first pick if we ended up first. Keep it up, Wave Robotics. That blue champs banner would look good on your wall.

[Katie_UPS]

UPS is a neighbor (and now friend) of Wave. We carpooled with them to the event and worked jointly on scouting. After meeting some of the kids, its obvious that they work REALLY hard to get to where they are. I'm glad they're getting formal recognition for their accomplishments (although I think all the Wisconsin teams knew they would be a powerhouse back when they started). Kudos to them!

They're also pretty helpful (as well as letting our incredibly tiny team scout with them, they got tarps for both teams after realizing that uncrating was going to be awful).

[BigJ]

Originally Posted by Katie_UPS

UPS is a neighbor (and now friend) of Wave. We carpooled with them to the event and worked jointly on scouting. After meeting some of the kids, its obvious that they work REALLY hard to get to where they are. I'm glad they're getting formal recognition for their accomplishments (although I think all the Wisconsin teams knew they would be a powerhouse back when they started). Kudos to them!

They're also pretty helpful (as well as letting our incredibly tiny team scout with them, they got tarps for both teams after realizing that uncrating was going to be awful).

Hey, Ultimate-Wave Tent City was awesome.

[AlecMataloni]

We love UPS as well. =)

[J93Wagner]

Originally Posted by AlecMataloni

So congratulations to Wave Robotics for a phenomenal season, and I look forward to seeing you next year.

Ditto that.

And one more thing, they are relatively new compared to other long established teams in WI (like us, Team 93, for example) but they have had fantastic success which we, with our long history have only just about got it matched, IIRC. Just about the only thing we do have that they don't have, yet (and yes, I do believe they will get them eventually in one form or another ), is a lot of Gracious Professionalism awards from WI and 10,000 Lakes. But other than that, they have built fantastic robots over the past few years. We definitely have things to learn from them on building awesome robots.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Alec really hit the nail on the head with this post. I agree Wave will join some of the greats from Wisconsin and become another of the Midwest powerhouse teams that we all come to fear. Besides that, they have some really nice and friendly mentors. Good Luck guys!

[ehochstein]

WAVE is awesome. Back in 2009, team 2470 had the luxury of playing on 2826's alliance at the 10,000 Lakes Regional and we were speechless. I was on the drive team and even in their rookie year they had an amazing scouting system. I remember thinking "Why don't we have this, it is our second year!"

[Tyler Olds]

All,

Thank you very much for your kind words. It brings great joy to see that Wave has made a positive impression on the community. We as mentors try to teach our students that this program is much more than a high school science fair; that we are part of something much bigger and better and that the best thing is that the more a student puts into FRC, that the more they will benefit in the future once they hit the real world.

Wave is very lucky to have both very dedicated students and mentors who display an immense passion for the program. Old people like myself who have been in the program a long time know what this program means and how it is changing our society.... but to see a new student, mentor, or parent finally "get it" and have the light bulb turn on is a truly what makes it worthwhile.

A big shout out to all the teams that helped make a difference this year to Wave: 93, 1675, 111, 2702, 1675, 2194 and many others that I am sure that I am missing. It is as a community that we come together and improve as a whole.

We hope to see you all at IRI and at the EAA AirVenture this summer!

[Chris Hibner]

WAVE Robotics were absolutely awesome all weekend. This was the first chance I got to see them this year and I was blown away.

When 1717 picked 67, I thought the fate of Curie was sealed. Then when 71 picked 2826, I thought to myself "holy crap, this is going to be crazy".

Congratulations on an amazing robot and a great team. I hope to see you at IRI.

[waialua359]

2826 is certainly the real deal.
I was there to witness the 2 vs 3 match and thought it was going to be a blowout without 71, especially since they had the fastest minibot during that round.
Boy was I mistaken. 115-109 IIRC?

[J93Wagner]

Originally Posted by waialua359

Boy was I mistaken. 115-109 IIRC?

Eh? Something like that.

And I have a random question to ponder: is it Wave (not all caps) Robotics or WAVE (all caps) Robotics? I've seen it both ways.

My personal guess is Wave (although the announcers usually make it sound like WAVE), though I don't know for sure. Would someone from 2826 say for sure?

[XaulZan11]

Originally Posted by Adam Freeman

2826 was without a doubt the real deal this year.

Wave has been the real deal each of their 3 years. Its been fun to watch this team grow over the past three years. Each year they have built technically advanced and impresive robots, but this year they took the next step and became elite. I'm not sure if they just completely fine tuned this robot or learned 'how to win', but they were dominate this year. From what I know about their team, Tyler and the rest of their team has built a team for the long haul, opposed to just a one year wonder. I'm looking forward to competiting with them in the future (but, please don't come to Midwest next year, its hard enough )