2013 Connecticut Regional

WOW, just getting back to reality. If there needs to be proof of inspiration, look at 4134. Many thanks to 2067 and 230 for having a little faith in a second year team. Reflecting back on our 2012 rookie year we wondered how we could ever compete in the same league with teams like the Gaelhawks , Apple Pi, Grasshoppers, CyberKnights and the Rocketeers.

There is much more to this than building a robot and 4134 RoboRams have been fortunate to learn from some of the best teams in the world. The 4134 kid's have experienced something they will not soon forget.

Thanks to all of the teams and Volunteer's who have allowed us the opportunity of a Lifetime.

This is a Pic of the 4134 Bumper Crew with some new hardware.

[loyal]

NRG 4055 will first thank team 839 Rosie Robotics for picking us. We were more shocked then everyone else was. We also thank team 558 Robo Squad. We could not over come the awesome assault of the winning alliance 95,195, and 20. But if you noticed we did have the only affective way to deal with 195. Look at our second and final match with them. It was totally unintentional and unfortunate for 195 but hands down that looks to be the only way to stop them. (I say in jest)

Congratulations 20,95 and 195. Very well done.

[dsmoker]

Originally Posted by loyal

NRG 4055 will first thank team 839 Rosie Robotics for picking us. We were more shocked then everyone else was. We also thank team 558 Robo Squad. We could not over come the awesome assault of the winning alliance 95,195, and 20. But if you noticed we did have the only affective way to deal with 195. Look at our second and final match with them. It was totally unintentional and unfortunate for 195 but hands down that looks to be the only way to stop them. (I say in jest)

Congratulations 20,95 and 195. Very well done.

NRG, you guys were a pleasure to play with. Very impressive for a second year team. I sense great things for your team's future. I hope you guys are planning to come to the CT Championship on May 11. We look forward to hopefully playing with you again there!

[Bill_B]

Originally Posted by loyal

NRG 4055 will first thank team 839 Rosie Robotics for picking us. We were more shocked then everyone else was. We also thank team 558 Robo Squad. We could not over come the awesome assault of the winning alliance 95,195, and 20. But if you noticed we did have the only affective way to deal with 195. Look at our second and final match with them. It was totally unintentional and unfortunate for 195 but hands down that looks to be the only way to stop them. (I say in jest)

Congratulations 20,95 and 195. Very well done.

In Q62, 2170 blocked at least four of 195's full-court shot attempts before 571 came to the rescue by knocking us over. You can also see the blocked shots in 195's on-board video, link posted elsewhere. We were back five matches later for a 50-point climb in Q67. I cannot say I was sad to see 195 topple, but I certainly hope that 571 did not intend ours.

[MamaSpoldi]

I want to add our congratulations to the accolades for the winning alliance 20, 195, and 95. You were a trifecta that was difficult to beat although we did our best. You deserved your victory. Also a shout out to our alliance partners 2067 and 4134. It was great working with you and much thanks to Apple Pi for choosing us. I think we all made a great team! And to 4134... I think you were a great 2nd pick... you really contributed to the team.

I would also like to thank everyone for the kind words regarding our winning of the Chairman's Award. We are truly thrilled and appreciate being recognized. I also want to give a shout out to Tyler Tallo, our student who was a Dean's List Finalist winner. The CT regional 2013 was truly magical for the Gaelhawks!

Lastly, I would like to share a quick story of Team 20. Part of their team happened to be sitting behind our team on Saturday... you see, they have very large contingent of students, parents, etc that come to cheer them on at their regional events and they were both next to and behind us. Although we have a fair sized team, we can't rival their cheering ability. However, this team happily lent their voices to cheer for us during our matches all day long. And when we found ourselves facing them in the finals, we recognized that we would be cheering for opposite alliances (but they still cheered when our team was announced . Anyway, when congratulating them after their victory they indicated their optimism that we would win Chairman's and be in St Louis with them. You see there were lots of conversations shared by the 2 groups between matches over the course of the day. When we were announced as the Chairman's winner, I think they cheered even louder than we did. It is such a great feeling to meet up with teams that really understand what Coopertition and Gracious Professionalisn are about. We hope to see you in St Louis!

[Banderoonies]

Originally Posted by Bill_B

In Q62, 2170 blocked at least four of 195's full-court shot attempts before 571 came to the rescue by knocking us over. You can also see the blocked shots in 195's on-board video, link posted elsewhere. We were back five matches later for a 50-point climb in Q67. I cannot say I was sad to see 195 topple, but I certainly hope that 571 did not intend ours.

Unintentional topple on the part of 571. If you watch the video, they bumped and pulled back...which is done all over the field...they did not push and continue to push. I think it was just positioning that caused the topple and totally unintentional by 571. The blocking was very effective.

[donnie99]

On behalf of Team 237 Black Magic, we'd like to congratulate all of the teams at the CT FIRT regional this year. This competition has always been my favorite and this year just proves why. Congrats to 20, 195, and 95 for winning such an exciting regional and bravo to all the teams that competed against this powerful alliance and providing some intense matches. Congrats to 230 for winning the chairman's award this year. It's a testament to all you have done when a regional who has had a repeated chairman's winner (congrats to 694 for previous wins) has a new one after a few years.

Team 237 would like to personally thank Team 20 The Rocketeers, for giving us a personal award for our creative design. For those of you who don't recognize our bot by our team number, we designed the flip bot. Although we didn't win a technical award, congrats to those teams that did.

To our alliance partners throughout the day, thank you for being patient with us and supporting us as we flipped to the top and put on a show for the regional. Woodie came up to me smiling after our last match when we made our final climb of the regional. Hopefully our team will be able to put out some videos for everyone to see, and hopefully show off some of the other amazing bots at the regional this year.

To the CT teams, hopefully we'll see a lot of you at the CT State Championship May 11th. I think this is going to be just as competitive as the regional this year, and produce just as exciting matches!

Good luck to all the teams going to the championship and other regionals, you have the support of Team 237 Black Magic.

[Damiaen_Florian]

Now that was intense. In all my years of being at and competing in FIRST events I've never seen a regional that matches to this ones character, level of intense play, and sportsmanship. Not a single elimination match was given to any alliance easily making the elims a true spectacle to watch.

First off on behalf of all of Team 195 I would like to thank our alliance partners 95 & 20. 20, it was a true honor to be able to work with you guys for the second year in a row and it's always impressive to see that even after 22 years you guys are still pumping out a quality machine, your intake method has to be one of the best ones throughout FIRST, combine that with a precise pyramid shooter and an almost seamless last second climb and I can promise that you guys will give all of championships something to watch out for. And 95, we are truly blessed that your value may have not been seen by the other alliances, for what you added to our alliance can simply not be overlooked, you contributed to that win equally as much as anyone else. We look forward to seeing both you guys down at championships and hearing about how well you'll be doing. We would also like to congratulate Team 230 for their chairman's victory! How you guys manage to do so much in your community and still find the time to build an incredible robot is truly inspiring. To the finalist alliance of 4134, 2067, and 230 I would just like to say that you had an incredible alliance and you should be so proud of your efforts, you sure didn't make the finals easy!!

I would also like to give a huge thank you to all the volunteers, judges, and refs that were able to make it this weekend. All of your constant upbeat attitudes and helpful nature are what makes this regional what it is. And of course let's not forget our master of ceremonies Angry Eric, who seems to have become somewhat synonymous with the Connecticut Regional itself.

I would also like to give a shoutout to a few teams starting with 4134, I would've guessed by looking at your robot that it was built by a team with much more experience in FIRST, but to hear that you are only a 2nd year team coupled with your winning of the Judge's Award, I would say that you have a serious future in FIRST and look forward to your other developments. It was also great to see all the teams that came to our scrimmage at our practice field do so well in the Hartford competition, it's amazing to see that we could help the other teams perfect their driving skills and robots.

Overall this has to be one of the most exciting regionals we've had the fortune of being in and we hope that it will go down with remembrance as the last Connecticut Regional before we move onto districts next year.

[davepowers]

First off, congrats to our good friends 195, 20, and 95 for taking the regional win. It was pretty cool seeing so many frisbees flying through the air at once. And a big shout out to Damiaen, 195's driver for staying calm and driving it like he stole it. I just wish I had an opportunity to go toe to toe with you guys again!

Congrats to 230 on a much much much deserved Chairman's win. You guys have an incredible thing going and you're going no where but up. I can't wait to see what you guys do for the community in the coming years!

To our alliance partners, 263, 3104, and 2168. Thanks for making our three matches some of the most insane I've ever experienced in the 10 competitions I've driven. It stinks we had to go out the way we did, but it is what it is. I enjoyed the ride and it was awesome.

To our friends on 2168, thank you for everything. Josh, Justin, and all of the other mentors and students it was awesome going through a rebuild with all of you and I hope we can keep the bond close and put out something even more incredible next year. You guys ooze inspiration, and after seeing you build an entire upper structure, shooter, hanger, and all in one week, I can now confidently say nothing is impossible. You guys have a team that is well on it's way to becoming an elite and I can't even imagine what next year holds. You better kick some bot down in STL, I'm glad one of the siblings is going down to compete.

To the volunteers, you all did an outstanding job. I have rarely seen a regional run as smoothly as it did in Hartford this past weekend. The energy level in that building was so high is was hard to keep up with!

I'm very excited for the CT State Championships, it should be awesome. Good luck to everyone competing down in STL in a couple weeks!

-Dave

[bkahl]

Originally Posted by Damiaen_Florian

Now that was intense. In all my years of being at and competing in FIRST events I've never seen a regional that matches to this ones character, level of intense play, and sportsmanship. Not a single elimination match was given to any alliance easily making the elims a true spectacle to watch.

First off on behalf of all of Team 195 I would like to thank our alliance partners 95 & 20. 20, it was a true honor to be able to work with you guys for the second year in a row and it's always impressive to see that even after 22 years you guys are still pumping out a quality machine, your intake method has to be one of the best ones throughout FIRST, combine that with a precise pyramid shooter and an almost seamless last second climb and I can promise that you guys will give all of championships something to watch out for. And 95, we are truly blessed that your value may have not been seen by the other alliances, for what you added to our alliance can simply not be overlooked, you contributed to that win equally as much as anyone else. We look forward to seeing both you guys down at championships and hearing about how well you'll be doing. We would also like to congratulate Team 230 for their chairman's victory! How you guys manage to do so much in your community and still find the time to build an incredible robot is truly inspiring. To the finalist alliance of 4134, 2067, and 230 I would just like to say that you had an incredible alliance and you should be so proud of your efforts, you sure didn't make the finals easy!!

I would also like to give a huge thank you to all the volunteers, judges, and refs that were able to make it this weekend. All of your constant upbeat attitudes and helpful nature are what makes this regional what it is. And of course let's not forget our master of ceremonies Angry Eric, who seems to have become somewhat synonymous with the Connecticut Regional itself.

I would also like to give a shoutout to a few teams starting with 4134, I would've guessed by looking at your robot that it was built by a team with much more experience in FIRST, but to hear that you are only a 2nd year team coupled with your winning of the Judge's Award, I would say that you have a serious future in FIRST and look forward to your other developments. It was also great to see all the teams that came to our scrimmage at our practice field do so well in the Hartford competition, it's amazing to see that we could help the other teams perfect their driving skills and robots.

Overall this has to be one of the most exciting regionals we've had the fortune of being in and we hope that it will go down with remembrance as the last Connecticut Regional before we move onto districts next year.

I couldn't have said it better myself

[cjl2625]

Definately was an awesome event.
Those semifinals against 177's alliance were really intense

I'm still pretty surpsised of how great our alliance was; we made it to the finals despite being the #6 alliance! So thanks 230 and 4134 for being awesome partners

Slightly off topic, but since it was mentioned earlier, what are these district competitions for the 2014 season? I'm assuming that they're just mini-regionals, but how do those work?

[Bill_B]

Originally Posted by cjl2625

...

Slightly off topic, but since it was mentioned earlier, what are these district competitions for the 2014 season? I'm assuming that they're just mini-regionals, but how do those work?

I think the only official information is and will be posted at nefirst.org .

[Bill_B]

Originally Posted by MooreteP

What a great Friday in Connecticut.

One great story is the rookie team 4812, Crosby Robotics, with a paltry crew of maybe five students and mentors that felt like they had bit off more than they could chew. The team was created in December.
On Thursday, they were desperately trying to make their bumpers so they could pass inspection, which they didn't until after their first match. Teams jumped in to help, among many, 4134, Amsterdam, who with a staple gun and hammer, helped them to complete the job. 4812 team was so forlorn at this point.

Then the day began.

In their third match with 228, GUS, they were asked to go after 2170, the Titanium Tomahawks, with their climber dumper, and hit them as they transported their red disks to the pyramid. Crosby's driver did, they lost their cache, and the match was won by only two points.

No question that they are being carried. Nonetheless, they are ranked 12th (losing the first match by DQ) and are theoretically undefeated.
When asked about scouting, they seemed to think about camping.

They are in for quite the ride tomorrow, and may not even see eliminations, but the spirit of FIRST is alive and well in Connecticut this weekend.

I was also one of the assisting bumper builders with 4812. I brought over my electric scissors so we could trim their u-shaped bumper covers. I also demonstrated a folding technique that got them going. I was then distracted by the notch in their backing board. Discovering that the reason for it was the extreme extension of their drive axle bolts beyond the frame, I pointed out that they needed to reverse those bolts so the head was on the outside and put the nut and extra length on the inside.

About that match assignment: Our driver claims that a driving error had him hit the wall diagonally to jar the red disks out of the bucket. Streaming video does not show either theory of the loss of those disks.
My review of video of Q21 split from 230's live stream follows.

• at 113 left 2170 and 4812 do indeed meet with 2170 on the way to pickup disks.
• Both go out of frame as cameraman is distracted by 173 interior climb on the red pyramid. at 103 sec left.
• 92 sec remaining - 2170 approaches feeder to load disks, 4812 mid field between blue pyramid and center line
• then 4812 engages 230 emerging beside pyramid - 230 escape by 86 second mark, camera angle zoomed in on them so 2170 not visible.
• camera follows 230 to shooting position at pyramid corner and zoom out during shots to 77 second mark.
• 75 sec shows 4812 still on centerline and red disk already spilled
• 72 sec - 2170 continues to red pyramid and tries alignment.
  bothered by white disk on the floor.
• start climb at about 32 or 31, climb finishes but only 20 as 2170's ladder portion not raised out of zone 2 - red alliance gets 40 climb points.
  red alliance loses match by 4, so even one of those 4 dropped red disks would have won it for red. I'd still like to see a better video of the match just out of curiosity.

I have to agree about it being a great weekend. Many thanks to 1218 for picking us to play in the elims (eventually ) It was our first time for Saturday afternoon playing. We hope you found your trip from Philly was worthwhile. Best of luck with South Florida and the MAR district championship. Thanks also to 1071 MAX for energetic participation. It would have been nicer to have kept the pesky 4134 out of our path to the pyramid in QF4-2. At that point we had a pretty big target on our backs anyway. We did get the disks to the top but then proceeded to punch them right through the bottom of the pyramid goal.

[plnyyanks]

Kind of off topic, but has anybody actually found information regarding the State Championship? I know it'll be on 5/11, but does anybody know of an official press release with registration info and the like?

[esquared]

Originally Posted by plnyyanks

Kind of off topic, but has anybody actually found information regarding the State Championship? I know it'll be on 5/11, but does anybody know of an official press release with registration info and the like?

All I got for details to announce was 5/11 at the Hartford Armory, sorry

Also, I located a rarely dancing alumni for you Überbots!