2630 In Washington DC Regional

[Gronich2630]

Over the last weekend team 2630, Thunderbolts from Emek Hefer, made history by being the first Israeli team that competed in two regionals in one season, and in a regional outside of Israel, in Washington DC. I want to share this experience of mine as a team member and as the team's coach, and to say few word in the name of the whole team.

The first three matches were awful: in two of them our robot didn't move at all, and in the third one it worked for the last 40 seconds of the match. We were unable to connect to the field because of noisy wifi enviroment. We understood that the field can't solve it, so we had to adjust our robot code and debug. This couldn't be done without a big help from Chuck Harris, the control system adviser - he deserves a big thank!

We also want to thank our good friends from team 1731, Fresta Vally Robotics for helping us the whole time, on and off the field. We were very happy to hang out with you and to meet you again - you guys are amazing! We also want to thank team 116 for their help and support.

The next qualification matches went really good: our robot Spitfire scored and won the matches (except one tie). We was seeded 23rd as a result of the first three loses.
We were honored to be invited by team 612, the 3rd seeded alliance captain, to join them to the elimination round. I was really happy to see that their team's captain is Israeli and I could speak in Hebrew with her during the alliance selections.
Together with them and with team 1735, we got to semi-finals. They were great alliance partners, and too bad we lost the third semi final match. In this match our robot didn't work for almost the whole time because our battery disconnected (this is the first time it's happening to us. The red connector is stronger than diamond and we can't figure out how it got loose).

I want to mention team 4464. They showed a gracious professionalism of a veteran team, even though they are rookies. Congratulations on being the 1st seeded alliance captain and on winning the Rookie All-Star award!

Even that we were thousands of miles away from home, we felt convenience while competing in Washington DC. The volunteers were nice and professional, and we are proud that one our team membres could volunteed as the FTA's assistent. The event had a great atmosphere, we got warm compliments from everyone and made new friends.
Personally, I was excited when teams, among them strong and well known teams like 79, 379 and 2415, came to me after the finals and told me that we have a great robot and they are glad that we could meet again at the champs.

I would like to congratulate teams 79, 379 and 383 for winning the regional as a great alliance. I think you were the strongest alliance in the competition and I was afraid but excited to play against you. Too bad it didn't happen.
Also, congratulation to teams 1885 for winning the Chairmen's Award, and team 116 for winning the Engineering Inspiration Award.

At last, we are happy about this experience. We learned a lot, more than we thought we will, and I think it was the best practice that an Israeli team can get before the championship in St. Louis. Again, we thank everyone who helped and supported us!