2014 Greater DC Regional

[Oblarg]

Rough game this year; 4464's roller arm is currently out of commission (the shafts of the PG188's we were using to actuate it both sheared clean in two following an impact in one of our matches), but we're enjoying playing hard defense while we work to get it operational again. That match against team 56 was exhilarating! The front of our AM14U also has a nice curve now, as well; no idea when that happened or what actually caused it.

[mrmummert]

I don't see why they didn't set this up like they do at VCU. Each pit row could have been shallower, but they could have made more rows...or they could do it
the way the do pit rows at the NC regional. This way they could have turned the field to face the other way.

[scooty199]

Visiting my former team today, the space definitely seems cramped. It feels tight and not easy to move at all. Seating isn't awful, but some views are bad and seeing the board is an issue. Also the proximity of the field to the audience is an issue from what I've seen. There were matches where high speed thrown balls ended in the stands hitting people.


I do love that it's just a nice ride down Rt 123 for me though.

Siegel Center at VCU I believe is bigger than the Patriot Center, but pits could be reworked.

[KevinG]

3650 has had their share of issues too. Programming, a bad motor, a bad Jaguar, controller issues, it's all been a mess. Fortunately everyone is having a good time.

[mizscience]

Alliances:

1. 225 1731 4464
2. 587 449 2849
3. 2912 612 4541
4. 339 3419 1758
5. 2068 116 686
6. 1418 1885 2537
7. 4242 56 614
8. 2377 2642 2640

1418 declined 2912

[bearbot]

Good luck to all the teams who made the elimination bracket. Its nice to see 2849 and 2537 from Howard County made it to the elimination round.

[mikewagar]

Originally Posted by bearbot

Is their a webcast of the event

goo.gl/8Fizga

[Safety Sophie]

The obscured view was definitely something I heard many complaints about. Otherwise, it was a great regional! I saw more defense being played here than at the NC Regional. We actually switched out our drive train(designed to be an easy and quick swap between mecanum and 2 2" traction wheels/2 omni wheels) to give us more traction because of all the defense being played against our bot.

[Oblarg]

4464 had a fantastic time at the Greater DC regional. A few things we'd like to say:

Firstly, a huge thank-you to teams 449 and 1915; without your generosity over the course of build season and at competition we would not have had a working robot on the field. Thanks, as well, to teams 4456 and 1885, and any other team that donated parts during the emergency rebuild of our roller arm after our 4th match (and to the NASA machine shop guys for all the work they did). The support and generosity of everyone we approached for help was astounding, and we are indebted to you all.

To teams 225 and 1731: That was amazing; I have not had so much fun on an alliance ever before in FIRST - see you at St. Louis!

To teams 1885, 1418, and 2537: Those finals were a nail-biter, and could have gone either way; you played great.

[JesseK]

This was a fun event.

Thank You 1418 & 2537 for your amazing partnership. It was truly an all-around effort with 3 very versatile robots. 1418's bot was the key to how well offense in the Finals went. The strategy ideas both of you had in order to win Finals is what made them so much fun.

To 1731 & 225: I am now a believer of the 2-bot assist cycle. The speed at which you two could complete a single cycle was unparalleled. I came to the realization that the only way to come close to a win was to slow everything down. To you and 4464, congrats on your win! We will see you in St. Louis.

Some tidbits:
- The 3 northern Virginia teams in the finals were the 3 teams who were up and running great at the Chantilly Week 0 event.
- 1885 drove all of Saturday on 3 CIMs. We noticed we were sluggish but couldn't figure out why until the timeout between F-2 & F-3 when we noticed a cold CIM. This is why we couldn't fight through what had been pretty easy-to-get-around defense.
- After the event we found that the left rear drive train talon was dead. That's our first dead talon in 7 events.
- Big shout out to Silu Tang, who's amazing 'drive straight' routines kept our 1-ball autonomous going magnificently, even with the initial swerve of a 'dead' wheel on the left side. She's our lead student programmer and one of our Chairman's speakers.
- If your robot is shiny, it will be a defense magnet. In our match replay sessions, teams would defend us even though another bot was putting the ball up in the high goal.

[ehfeinberg]

449 had a blast! The elimination rounds were some of the most intense matches I have ever watched in FRC.

To start, big thanks to our alliance partners 587, 2849, and our replacement bot 4456. All of the robots played some amazing defense, and when 2849 went out of commission, we were lucky to have to have 4456 step up and take their place.

To 1418, 1885, and 2537, you guys had an amazing alliance, and we had a blast going up against you guys. We were especially impressed with the 1418 machine being able to shoot while driving. 1885 also had a great robot, I am sure you will be even better at Chesapeake next week. And 2537, you guys played some amazing defense.

And lastly to the winners, 225, 1731, and 4464. What an amazing machine from 225 and 1731. They were able to complement each other so well. And lots of congratulations to 4464! You guys played some amazing defense, like the best I have ever seen. It was great seeing a team we helped this year make it to champs. Lets just say it was a common occurrence for Eli to be like "Are you using this? Can I borrow it then?" Go wreck some robots at champs.

Originally Posted by JesseK

- The 3 northern Virginia teams in the finals were the 3 teams who were up and running great at the Chantilly Week 0 event.

We were there too running around, but we only made semis

[Piecemaker96]

Thanks to everyone who helped put this event together. I know our team (612, Chantilly Robotics) had a fantastic time, and I was really impressed with everyone's enthusiasm and energy. A quick shoutout to our alliance partners 2912 and 4541 as well as teams 3419, 587, and 56 who joined us for food and company. This is the first time our team has gotten to Championship in living memory, and we are super pumped to be going. See you guys in St. Louis.

[Ben Martin]

225 had a lot of fun at the Greater DC regional. Our perception of an event generally goes in line with the quality of the reffing, FTAing, and inspection process, and all three were great here. The event staff were also super friendly. It was great to come south to a capital region event--many of their events are much closer to us than many MAR events, and it was great to play with a different set of teams.

Thanks to 1731 and 4464 for partnering up with us! All three teams on the alliance had never won a regional event before.

1418, 1885, and 2537 -- you guys gave us some tough finals matches. That last match could have gone either way.

Congratulations to 612 for EI and 1885 for Chairman's. Both are top-quality programs that do a ton of outreach.

Also, I was really glad to see 4945 win the Rookie All-Star award! These guys built a great off-season robot for Battle 'o Baltimore, and I'm glad to see that they have continued their success.

[swwrobotics]

Team 2900 had a great time and hopes to see everyone back next year!

Also, all of the eliminations matches have been recorded and uploaded by our team to this playlist! http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...6Sdtmzmuhlpvrn The playlist even includes the stopped match in Final Match 2 when there was an unlit pedestal. All the matches should also be up on thebluealliance soon.

Below are my favorite matches with included highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV2Jf...6Sdtmzmuhlpvrn - Amazing truss shot ball deflection at 2:12!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM7_j...dtm zmuhlpvrn - Amazing catch at 1:22!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY-tY...6Sdtmzmuhlpvrn - Buzzer beater low goal score at 2:36!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI11i...dtm zmuhlpvrn - Team 2537 gets knocked over at 1:35!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6Eqm...dtm zmuhlpvrn - 1418 and 1885 get stuck together at 2:00! (Closeup shot at 2:51)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1BQ5...dtm zmuhlpvrn - One of the most exciting matches at our regional. Back to back truss shots were made at 2:04 and the match ended tied. However there was a foul by the red alliance that was later pointed out for possession of blue's ball at 2:14, making the blue alliance win and setting up a final best of 3 game.

[jasp]

This was a great competition. 2537 had fun in the qualification matches playing with everyone.

Thank you 1418 and 1885 for picking us. For us it was amazing and terrifying for us, having never expected this at our first regional this year. We had a great strategy, worked well together and did our best.

Congrats to 225, 1731 and 4464. You guys were incredible and those final matches were intense.

Hope to see a lot of the same teams at Chesapeake!