A Shared Victory on Einstein

[kevincrispie]

My initial thoughts were posted here: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1476178&postcount=11


I also wanted to mention that I'm excited that such a strong community of teams has emerged in California. We have a lot of good teams out west, and everyone is working hard to make themselves and each other better. 1678 and 1671 definitely are a huge part of that. Because of this strong community, I feel that the quality of competition has increased substantially in the last few years in California. I love working with, competing with, and talking to both these teams at the events we all go to, and I really like seeing two of California's hardest working and nicest teams winning the World Championship.

I haven't had any interactions personally with 5012, but I hope they can build off their successes early in their team's history and become one of California's great teams. It's also great seeing teams like 118 coming out to California. Having visitors makes the California competitions that much more special. I'm glad you guys visited this year.

Steve, it means a lot when you say this is a shared victory. I'm glad that 1678 has benefited from help and inspiration from 971 and so many other great teams. I know that a lot of people from 971, myself included, also look to 1678 for inspiration. 1678 builds great robots but even more importantly, they are a great team. You guys work so well together and put in so much effort. I hope that your team continues to be inspired and continues to inspire others to higher levels.

I wish all these teams good luck in the future, and congratulations on a well deserved win!

[Mark Sheridan]

Congratulations to 1678, 118, 1671, and 5012.

A special congratulations to 1678. I had the privilege to be part of the alliance that got 1678's first blue banner win. I was the drive coach of 766 at the 2011 Sacramento regional. I remember my team having a tough few days getting to robot working. I am happy to say 1678's enthusiasm and positive energy was just as prevalent as it is today and brought our spirits up. I remember thinking that 1678 was a team going places. To see them grow year after year has been inspirational. To me 1678 is one of the most important success stories. It brings be great joy that 1678 finally won the big one.

Of course 118 continues to blow my mind year after year. i thought you were long over-due for a win.

As for 1671, I think I called you guys a dark horse or a sleeper last year. This year, you guys were for sure the biggest sleeper draft pick of the tournament. I think scouts will be talking about this for years to come.

And 5012, this team is growing fast, they made some slick robots in the off season last year ,this year is no different. I am sure many more great things will come.

[MrTechCenter]

Originally Posted by DampRobot

Let me tell you guys a story.

When I was a freshman at my first regional at Davis, everything went wrong. A mechanical system on the arm failed, so instead of continuing our record of success in 2010, we sunk to the last pick of the first alliance. We were so excited to be picked by teams like 1323 and 1388, and thought we had just got our pass to CMP stamped. We were devastated when we were eliminated by a red card in semis, and the number two alliance, with 1868 (a NASA team), 766, and a local team no one really knew much about ended up winning the blue banner. The local team had a good minibot, and a working auto, but was so janky I didn't think very highly about them. Anyway, their team number was too high for them to be any good. That alliance must have just got lucky, I thought, as we drove home.

That was a very memorable year, also my freshman year. I would say that was a huge turning point in NorCal FRC. A lot of previously "decent" teams rose significantly that year and the years that followed, including 1678's huge rise.
Also, sorry about the red card...

[Treebeard]

Hello Steve, and everyone else. I almost never post on Chief Delphi... but I just had to search for you to express my overwhelming gratitude for what happened this weekend. For years it's been my dream to ally with 1678 to win a regional (yes, folks, we always seem to find a way to NOT win a regional) or just to have fun. Ever since 2012 I've looked to your team as a role model for ours. The Circuits build robots that are both awesomely competitive and yet possible for a team like ours to build "if only we had thought of that." Your kids are wonderful and you and the other mentors are friendly and encouraging and very very smart.

One piece of advice we at 1671 took from you this year was to "strive to get significantly better between each competition." You witnessed how we took that advice to heart by our dramatic improvement from the Central Valley Regional to the Sacramento Regional. We more than doubled our average score. We carried that same spirit to Champs. We knew we needed to be more than a one trick pony... three stacks of six is a nice trick... but not good enough for Champs. We tried to develop a can grabber, but couldn't find the weight. We thrashed around desperately for a couple of weeks, but finally settled on attempting a three tote autonomous. With our practice bot, two nights before we had to ship our 30 lbs of stuff into the trailer for a four day trek to St. Louis, one of my wiz kids, Patrick (yeah... you know Patrick) came up with a slick little wheel to spin that that second recycle bin out of the way. It looked promising, and at 3 AM we actually got it to work 4 out of 5 times. BUT... we ran out of time... we never tested it with the rest of our game plan.

When we got to champs we knew we were taking a big risk. The 3-tote auton was not ready. But our student leadership would not play it safe. They came to Champs hoping to win Newton. And thus... Thursday was a disaster. We only got the 3-tote auton to work once. It totally messed up our game plan and we looked like a total mess (we were). We got back to basics on Friday, but a couple of driver errors (dang humans ) and robot glitches held us back from our Davis performance. Still we, climbed from 49 to 25 in the ranking. But the impression had been made on teams who don't know us well. Based on our Champs performance we were not a reliable pick, and I got up Saturday morning fully expecting that our tournament was over.

At the risk of escalating the drama... my students have informed me that a couple of knuckleheads on Chief Delphi have implied that we sandbagged. Let me put that nasty little rumor to rest. We worked so so so hard to try to put the best robot with the best chance to win that we could on the field. We played every match the best that we could. Thursday night my team was depressed. And Friday night we were despondent.

I can only try to describe the overwhelming relief and joy we felt when 118 and 1678 entrusted us with the role we ended up playing. To win it all, to go from near despair in the morning to ultimate satisfaction in the evening, and to win it with friends like you after these last several years... well... it's like a corny after school special... only it really happened.

So... again... thank you Steve, and to all of you at 1678. The genius of FRC is that it always seems to find a way to make great friends out of fierce competitors.

[billbo911]

Steve, Mike, and Paul,
I can barely find the words to express how incredibly excited I was for you when I saw you move on to Einstein with a 1.66 point advantage over what could easily be considered the ultimate alliance at Worlds in 2015. Obviously, that argument has been put to rest.
Then you powered through two matches to achieve the goal you have been working towards for years! Yeah, I had tears in my eyes as well.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Steve and Mike,
I look forward to working with you over the next few months as we plan the next great event..... CCC.

(Sorry, I do not man to exclude 118 from my comments, I barely know them, but hope to remedy that soon!)

[Poseidon5817]

As Mr. Lake said, we took a huge risk with an autonomous that had a relatively low success rate in the shop, and implemented it on our robot in the hopes that it would improve our chances of winning by seeding higher. With no sensors (except a gyro) to guide the robot, the sequence failed 80% of our Thursday matches, and after every match we could be found at the practice field desperately tuning it. Thursday night we chose to scrap the wheel system due to it significantly restricting our scoring capabilities and reverted to our Sacramento strategy of "stacks on stacks". We performed better on Friday, with our average around 50 points higher. However, we still did topple 2 stacks in our last 2 matches because our tote-stop mechanism was crooked and would not retract properly. We could not find the problem before our last match because we only had a 7-match break. We did fix it upon returning to the pits, but by then we had already dropped 84-points worth of stacks. Friday night we were worried that we would not be picked at all, seeing as we were really inconsistent and also took a yellow card with our unique feeding strategy, and could be considered a liability. We were luckily picked up by 1678 and 118 at the end of the second round, and the rest is history.

[PayneTrain]

I'd go through and multi-quote this love fest but I agree with so many people here I'll just say my piece and then watch the love pile on some more.

I woke up Saturday morning around 9AM eastern (a small benefit of not attending championships this year) to see alliance selections play out. While some people like to high-five themselves over correctly predicting obvious #1 machine on the division with obvious #2 machine, I love looking at those second round picks back up the serpentine. I remember physically laughing aloud at 610 falling to where they did in 2013, and immediately put them ahead of 118/1114 combo on Galileo, which probably meant they would win Worlds (I didn't see the other three fields that much, but I knew we had a stacked field). Looking at the page of selections, the first thing I noticed was that 1671 fell to the 16th pick in the draft. We worked with 1671 on Archimedes last year and they were consummate professionals in such an intense game. Then I looked over at the two lucky teams to get such a ridiculous steal:

118 and 1678.

It's impossible to overstate the effects these two teams have had on how I have tried to direct 422 since I started taking on more control in 2013. These are two teams that are so different in their makeup, their history, their resources, their popularity... but these are two of the 5 or 6 teams that I look to when I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing with my team. These two teams are incredibly inspirational for my team.

After getting shut out of a second event in the immediate southeast for the 2014 season, I pushed for a huge financial risk for my team: we registered for the Week 1 Alamo Regional in San Antonio, Texas. This team has never been to a non-championship event more than 7 hours away. We shipped all of our gear, including an unfinished robot, to the Lone Star state for one reason: not to win, not to get some Week 1 time with our machine, not to travel somewhere not snowing, and not for the BBQ (well, the BBQ was awesome). We went there to get our butt kicked. We went there knowing we would not win the Regional Chairman's Award there (congrats to 624!) We knew we would not win the event. We knew we would probably bat .500. And we knew we were going to get our doors blown off a couple of times by 148 and of course, 118.

The greatest experience in my FRC career is helping pull 422 out of the dumpster so many people tried to leave us in before and earn our first ever RCA in 2014. The single match we played with 118 at Alamo in 2014 is my #2. (#3 is beating the glass with Jim Zondag at champs last year after no one signaled for a G17 that when called, won us the match over 1538). What an incredible team. Just recounting how incredibly well done the whole operation of the Robonauts was floored me and the mentors on my team. I don't remember how well our match went (it probably wasn't great, but not as bad as an alliance HP at Alamo not watching the field when we trussed a ball to him and it hit him in the head) but the attention to detail Mason and the whole drive team put into going over everyone's scouting data led to how intricate their launcher was which was overshadowed by how insanely well trained their human player was. They may not know it, but that experience (and talking to 624 at Alamo) changed us.

We've never had the chance to play with 1678 before (one day, we hope!) but if there is one word that applies to them, it's "fighter". At the end of the day, 1678 rose to win the World Championship with pure willpower. There is so much passion and heart on that team that anyone can easily witness. They fought against everyone who turned them down on Archimedes in 2013, and won. They have made it to the Einstein field 3 years in a row. They have thundered up the contentious California ladder to almost match the current global dominance of 254. And they all did it with passion. In 6 years they went from perennial early exiters at Sacramento to a perennial world championship contender. 1678 is a team that exemplifies achievement through enthusiasm. The passion Michael Corsetto has for FIRST as an alumnus of the program is something that I know I take notice of, and something everyone all the way up to the FIRST Board of Directors should know of. As an aside, your awesome logo inspired our not as great but new logo, and your media team is also inspiring.

To 1671 and 5012, congratulations on not just winning world championships, but getting an exclusive hold on such an incredible memory you will never forget. To 1678 and 118, you are what FIRST is about. Two inspiring teams earning something they have deserved for so long. Not to make this a political statement, but it's heart-wrenching to know that next year may be the last shot we have to learn from you all in person.

Thanks for everything.

[Doug G]

Let the love fest go on some more....

1678
I really liked how [DampRobot] recapped the past 5 seasons for 1678... It has been a perfect progression of success. We all know many of the famous powerhouse teams in FIRST history to make it to Einstein, a few come to mind are 67, 71, 111, 148, 175, 177, 217, 254, 469, 968, 1114... Well 1678 joins 175 and 177 with the Einstein hat trick accomplished these past three seasons (175, did it once and 177 did a double hat trick!! - Thanks Joe and Peter for fact checking this). THREE consecutive back to back appearances on Einstein ! This accomplishment is a testament to not only how hard the Citrus Circuits work, but how smart they work as well.

Mike Corsetto (yes, I remember you as a student on 114 back in the day!) and Steve Harvey are not only tremendous mentors and leaders of this team, but are very humble about their success and do a lot to encourage all teams in our area and at competitions. I was so elated that Steve was recognized with the WFFA at Sacramento. They truly embody what Woodie and Dean talk so much about, they are gracious professionals. They share their success with everyone and truly want all FRC teams to be more competitive. They share knowledge and advice whenever and wherever. On many occasions, they have made a point to make sure that while on their way to winning, they win the right way. These two are always upbeat and positive and it transcends to their students on their team. What an inspiring duo.

I'm sure there are many stories about amazing mentors like this across FRC, but this is one I know and wanted to share.

118
We all have followed the amazing machines coming from these team for over 10 years. I can clearly remember my students and I watching their 2007 Reveal video one day in class and our jaws dropped! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3l6Xqts4to
A few weeks later we would play against them at the Bayou Regional, where they just barely beat us in the semifinals. Since then, our paths hadn't crossed much until this season when we played against at Sacramento and at Lone Star. I must admit, we were very intimidated by them, but at Lone Star, they showed us what wonderful folks they are. They took time to talk with our students, lent us a pneumatics solenoid, and Lucien even made us some new intake wheels for Champs. Definitely a class act and I hope that our paths cross again in the future.

1671
Each year, this team and their robots get better and better. Their Chairman's and outreach work is inspiring and their robots become more and more competitive. They have transformed the Central Valley region along with 1323 through a myriad of outreach activities. It was thrilling to be there at CVR when Paul received the WFFA and then mixed feelings when their 6 stack fell over at the end of their last semifinals match, which meant we got to the finals and picked up the 254 wild card. Then at the Sacramento regional, more mixed feelings when they didn't get into the finals, but still happy for them as they won Chairman's. Paul and his students are amazing and I so look forward to seeing them at competitions.

Congrats once again to these teams and 5012 as well.

[JB987]

How soon people forget...177 had SIX consecutive Einstein appearances from 2006-2011. And two banners, 2007 and 2010 IIRC.

[MasonMM]

I joined The Robonauts in 2002 and winning a World Championship is one of the most, if not the most unbelievable experience I’ve had since then. It’s something we have been chasing. We are driven by the experience of competition and it is our number one tool and developing young minds to be inspired by science and engineering. Typically I keep my opinions close to my chest, but I’ve been overwhelmed with emotions this week that I feel I have to give some recognition publically. We have a tradition of making shout-outs to those that have worked hard. Consider this my long, rambling shout-out.

First off, I want to recognize my incredible team. In a year that involved moving shops, was full of last minute robot iterations, and had plenty of reasons to throw in the towel, this team of students, mentors, school sponsors, and parents stayed the course and never showed discouragement. In the face of adversity and engineering obstacles, this team persevered and never-ever-not-once stopped working full steam at the problem for four long months.

Because of them, I have one of the easiest roles at a competition. Each step in our process was critical for our World Champion run. Each person focused on their task, which overburdened no one, but allowed the team to do incredible things. As the on-field coach, I had the unique pleasure of watching this magic happen each and every match from beginning to end.

-Before and after every match Logan Farrell, Anthony Lapp, and Cuando (our student Chief Engineer) led our pit crew through an exhausting test of the robot’s function. No matter how beat up or torn up Empire might be, this crew swiftly and calmly restored our robot to full functionality every single time. When Empire started entering zombie mode on the field and presenting connection problems, Ross, Jodi, Bill, and ChrisP diligently troubleshot every line of code to find the error while Gavin and Katie swapped the roboRio and Driver Station. This pit crew had everything thrown at them this season and even through the excitement and stress of Einstein delivered a perfect robot to the drive team each and every time.

-Scouting Captains Marcus and Buvi ran a tight ship in the stands diligently gathering data and delivering complete information to the strategy team before every match. Mitch had next level data visualization at the list making session on Friday night. Ethan sprinted around the convention center and competition fields capturing high-speed video of almost all of Newton’s can grabbers. Our scouting team is almost entirely student run and this team is integral to our on-field success.

-The strategy group led by our Strategist Romil and Justin Ridley were unparalleled by anything I’ve seen before. After every single match we watched video of Empire, debriefed with the drivers on where to make improvements, and with scouting data, launched into the plan for the next match. Each member of this group took responsibility and action which allowed us to split up and talk to everyone playing in our match about co-op, noodles, human players, auton plans, and scoring zones. We never played a match without everyone on the field knowing the plan and the backup plan, and I think that showed in our results.

-I’ve had the pleasure of coaching extremely talented drivers as the Robonaut’s on-field coach the last five year, and this year’s flight team is no exception. Kevin took his role as human player seriously and reliably did everything that was asked of him this season… and we asked him to do everything. He came to the table with new techniques and sought continuous improvements including being an expert noodle thrower, tote karate chopper, noodle into scored stack stabber, tote dragger, penalty avoider, tote prepper, and coach to all other human players. Danielle, our copilot/team captain, and ChrisP, the best one-eyed driver FRC has ever seen, were an unstoppable unit. They had the upmost commitment to training five days a week all competition season long. They found ways to get better every single day. They made Empire do things I could never imagine were possible. They could not be phased by anything… even zombie mode or a can stuck to the top of the robot on Einstein. Danielle grew into a role as a second coach and by the end, beat me to the punch on where to go next and what to watch out for on the field. By the end, these three could coach themselves and play the game at the highest level just fine. Every drive coaches dream.

-This whole system finds its origins, spirit, energy and attitude from our head coach Lucien Junkin. Without his input and oversight, The Robonauts could never be the team we are today. He is by far the most unique, upright, incredible, and genius people I’ve ever worked with. He brings out the best in everyone he works alongside.



There are so many more people who make the program we run possible that I need to thank.

- Johnson Space Center for allowing us to set up shop in middle of a professional robotics lab / astronaut training facility.

-Luis Medina, Candice Campanelli, and Clear Creek Independent School District for making robotics education a priority at all grade levels.

-All of the Robonaut mentors, students, parents, and alumni from the last 19 years who all played a role in building this epic program.



Outside of our team, I want to give a lot of the credit to this big win to 1678. Steve, Mike, and crew are running a class act of a team. Working with the Citrus Circuits at the Sacramento regional this year left a lasting memory in my mind. I never fathomed getting to do it again on an even bigger stage. I’m so excited that you were our partners on Einstein. Having a joint scouting meeting on Friday night was a highlight, it’s not often to get to work behind the scenes with another team. Mike, it was an honor to coach next to you and learn what it means to bring real energy and enthusiasm behind the glass.

1671 was a rock. They built two stacks every single match of our playoff runs. 118 and 1678 dropped cans, but 1671 was always perfect. They were the allstar of the world championship alliance. Our teams became friends at Sacramento and playing with friends is always the best.

5012 was part of our cold war strategy. We had the underground nuclear weapon cheesecake waiting in the wings, two arms donated from 118, two arms donated from 1678. Even though we never played them, they were a great team and asset to the alliance.


We couldn’t have had the season we had without all the relationships of the #TeamTexas. Winning two regionals with 624 was unbelievable, I really feel we bring the best out of each other and get better the more we work together. All of the Houston teams, including The Robonauts, get better every time we have a joint practice session together. To John, James, Jay, George, and crew up in Greeneville, you guys force us to push ourselves more and more every year. Your robot was scary good this year and playing against you brings out our best as we step up to the challenge.


The field side staff and technical support was flawless on the practice, Newton, and Einstein fields. The Newton head referee and her crew were fair, firm, but extremely courteous in all interactions with our team. The FTA’s held a strong belief that no robot would be left behind and bypassed on the field. Mark Koors and the bearded-kilt-wearing-FTA-who’s-name-I-never-caught were absolutely fantastic with their capacity to accept delay and troubleshoot our repeated connection issues. When Empire started mysteriously entering zombie mode during matches, the NI support crew flooded our pit to help and checked in all weekend long. When Empire had connection and zombie-mode problems on Einstein, Mike Copioli, Omar, and many other “orange hats” were determined to find a solution. Even the crew at the practice field were taking their best shots at helping clear up our connection issues. The volunteer crews made The Robonauts’ team experience was phenomenal. FRC will be on the right track if these folks share their philosophy with volunteers everywhere.


Lastly, to all of the community members who came up to me, my team, or posted online and gave a congratulations, THANK YOU. All the nice things folks have said about The Robonauts is unfathomable. To hear so many team leaders, mentors, and engineers that I have admired for years give team 118 words of praise has left me speechless. I can’t accurately describe what it has meant to me other than that it has meant the world to me.

[Peter Matteson]

Originally Posted by Doug G

... Well 1678 joins 177 with the Einstein hat trick accomplished these past three seasons (177 did it 6x!! - Thanks Joe for fact checking this). THREE consecutive back to back appearances on Einstein ! This accomplishment is a testament to not only how hard the Citrus Circuits work, but how smart they work as well.

3rd ever hat trick.
Buzz (175) was first, from 2002-2005.

[JABot67]

Originally Posted by Peter Matteson

3rd ever hat trick.
Buzz (175) was first, from 2002-2005.

I think the hat tricks may be undercounted. 67 did it 2008-2010, making finals each time. There may be more!

[Coach Norm]

Originally Posted by Treebeard

...
One piece of advice we at 1671 took from you this year was to "strive to get significantly better between each competition."


When we got to champs we knew we were taking a big risk. The 3-tote auton was not ready. But our student leadership would not play it safe. They came to Champs hoping to win Newton. And thus... Thursday was a disaster. We only got the 3-tote auton to work once. It totally messed up our game plan and we looked like a total mess (we were). We got back to basics on Friday, but a couple of driver errors (dang humans ) and robot glitches held us back from our Davis performance. Still we, climbed from 49 to 25 in the ranking. But the impression had been made on teams who don't know us well. Based on our Champs performance we were not a reliable pick, and I got up Saturday morning fully expecting that our tournament was over.

At the risk of escalating the drama... my students have informed me that a couple of knuckleheads on Chief Delphi have implied that we sandbagged. Let me put that nasty little rumor to rest. We worked so so so hard to try to put the best robot with the best chance to win that we could on the field. We played every match the best that we could. Thursday night my team was depressed. And Friday night we were despondent.

I can only try to describe the overwhelming relief and joy we felt when 118 and 1678 entrusted us with the role we ended up playing. To win it all, to go from near despair in the morning to ultimate satisfaction in the evening, and to win it with friends like you after these last several years... well... it's like a corny after school special... only it really happened.

Anyone who had done some homework knew you were a serious robot capable of three - six stacks capped coming into the tournament. In our team discussion on Friday night, we discussed how you had indeed tried to add your auto and had taken a chance to show a new added feature. I admire your deciding to go for it. As JVN says, iterate iterate iterate. We felt we were in the exact same scenario as you - no auto and no burglars after our last regional. We did have the weight for burglars but we could not get them to work as we wanted on the practice field.

As selections went, I kept wondering when you were going to be picked. We were picked by FRC 3130 and the discussion on the field was that we needed a consistent can burglar. The discussion with 3130 was the need for cans before we needed more stacks. Teams that were looking for a consistent stacker missed out on picking 1671 that is for sure. I could not believe you stayed on the board for so long. I am sure that 118 and 1678 were ecstatic when you fell all the way to them.

Congrats to you, 118, 1678 and 5012 on rising to the challenge and bringing home the Championship to Newton.

[Citrus Dad]

Originally Posted by Coach Norm

Teams that were looking for a consistent stacker missed out on picking 1671 that is for sure. I could not believe you stayed on the board for so long. I am sure that 118 and 1678 were ecstatic when you fell all the way to them.

Congrats to you, 118, 1678 and 5012 on rising to the challenge and bringing home the Championship to Newton.

Ecstatic is putting it mildly. But being able to team up with our buddies on top of it made it so much better!

BTW, in retrospect we could see how 1671 slipped through as they weren't quite the right fit for most of the alliances ahead of us after the first pick round. Still was amazing they were available.

[Peter Matteson]

Originally Posted by JABot67

I think the hat tricks may be undercounted. 67 did it 2008-2010, making finals each time. There may be more!

You are correct. I know better than that because my team was eliminated by 67on Einstien in 2008 & 2009 and won with them in 2010.

I checked my history doc and realized I was thinking of 233 who also missed Einstien once in that 4 year span (2007-2010) but didn't get the hat trick because of it.