2008 Wisconsin Regional

[RyanJK]

Wow, I would just like to say thank you to all of the teams who helped out team 2526 at the regional. You all helped create an amazing experience for my entire team at our first FIRST competition. There were so many times where if oher teams hadn't helped us out, we'd be screwed, but whenever we asked, multiple teams were at our pit ready to help in minutes.

The whole experience was amazing, from the euphoria of winning a match, to the anger of losing a match. The worst part of it all was ranking 16th, but not getting picked, we're all past that now though.

And those were some amazing finals! What really surprised me was that 1625 and 1730 didn't win. As soon as Winnovation drafted Team Driven, I thought it was all over, the victory banners could be given out then. What a bummer that 1625's robot broke.

Well, once again, thanks to all the teams who helped make this regional an experience of a lifetime.

(And now I've got to wait a whole year before I can go to another regional! Ahh, the plight of a low budget rookie team!)

[Laaba 80]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

I would like to congratulate John Wanninger. The Hilltoppers must be absolutely delighted.

I met John at the 2007 IRI when I turned in my 2007 IRI Word Search for a prize. I selected a Hilltopper teeshirt. John and I spent some time talking about what it means to be a mentor on a FIRST team. His passion for working with teenagers and helping them develop into young role models in their own right was so evident. In a pit filled with hustle and bustle, noise, and hard work, this wonderful conversation unfolded, even though he had to get back to his team. As I was leaving the gym at the end of IRI, I saw John and went over to spend a few more moments listening to his wisdom. As I walked to my car, I had tears in my eyes, thinking about the impact this quiet man has on those whose lives he touches - even for a few moments.

I had tears in my eyes again today. They were of joy and celebration.
Congratulations again, John. All the best to you and to the team.
Jane

I would like to congradulate him also. He was the reason I got into FIRST. When I was in 4th grade he found out about FLL. He got a group together and we started a team. He was the lead mentor of 2 teams after the first year, and for 3 years in a row, an FLL team he mentored made it to the world festival. If John hadnt found FLL, I think the amount of FIRST groups in the Milwaukee area would be completely different. Great Jobb!
Joey

[Sunshine]

My favorite robot at the Wisconsin Regional was from Team 1730. I especially liked their Mortar. We were fortunate to be situated across from the practice field and was able to watch all teams checking out their robot. The 1730 robot was cool to watch. The mortar idea was great with the surgical tubing and ball screw. I saw them using a sensor switch that automatically closed their gripper when the ball was positioned correctly. That was a great idea. Their ball removal idea was similar to ours and very effective. They were well deserving of the Delphi "Driving Tomorrow's Technology" Award.

As far as arm bots vs shooter bots............... I agree that there are enough threads on this site concerning the discussion. My only observation is that I believe the highest scoring points in a match at Milwaukee came from 2 arm bots. It was 118 points I believe.

[Aren_Hill]

Originally Posted by Sunshine

As far as arm bots vs shooter bots............... I agree that there are enough threads on this site concerning the discussion. My only observation is that I believe the highest scoring points in a match at Milwaukee came from 2 arm bots. It was 112 points I believe.

thats when 2 good bots were together and functioning congrats on 112.
our team almost alone got 98, us and 1730 both functioning at the same time could've blasted 112 away, sorry

[hillale]

Originally Posted by Sunshine

As far as arm bots vs shooter bots............... I agree that there are enough threads on this site concerning the discussion. My only observation is that I believe the highest scoring points in a match at Milwaukee came from 2 arm bots. It was 112 points I believe.

Matches can not be compared. There are so many variables going into each match, even one consisting of the same robots. Congratulations on your win, however events would have transpired very very differently had our alliances bots performed through the end of the day.

[Sean Schuff]

Congrats to all award winners at the 2008 Wisconsin Regional! There was a rich field of very deserving teams at the competition and I can only imagine the judges' decisions for who to acknowledge were not easy ones!

It was tough to come in second but to lose to 171 (a team that now has two NEW Apple Corps alumni on it) and 2062 (who's field coach is a visionary educator and a FIRST mentor to keep an eye on!) was not all bad. Kudos to both of your teams along with 2549 for winning the 2008 Wisconsin Regional! It was a ball playing against you in the finals!

Winning the Engineering Inspiration award was a complete surprise!! We do what we do becuase we know it is the right thing to do and it is good for our students, our community and our future. I had tears in my eyes as I came out of the judges line to the chants ("Schuff! Schuff! Schuff!) of our team members and felt embarassed that so much attention was given to me. Just to set the record straight, the NEW Apple Corps is all about its 38 students, 22 mentors, numerous sponsors and parents who support us every step of the way. While I may be the most public face of the team (my officially assigned task at the WI Regional was "schmoozing") we would not be the team we are without the countless hours of dedication, nearly bottomless well of patience, and technical expertise of all our mentors who so willingly share all of this with some of the most phenomonal students I have every known. This season has been one of the most memorable in my nine years with Team 93.

A special thanks to Fondy Fire for doing as we asked. Last year while we mentored them they asked what they could do to repay us for our help and our only request was that they pass on what we had given them. They certainly honored our request by mentoring Lancer Robotics Team 2437 from Honolulu, Hawaii and helped get their pit placed right next to ours in Wisconsin so we could both lend them a helping hand. Fondy Fire, in only their second year in FIRST, already embodies what we should all be trying to do - get the word out and inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and technologists.

Finally, thanks to John Budish and the rest of the planning committee for thinking of our team when it came to selecting someone to speak during the VIP luncheon. It was an honor to represent the teams at the regional in trying to convey to this group how powerful the impact of FIRST can be and why we keep coming back for more. FIRST is an experience like no other and I can't get enough of telling people about how it has changed so many lives, mine included.

We CAN change the world!!

Sean

[benbrown197]

well on behalf of 1730, we'd like to thank all those on 1625 and 1675 for all of the hard work. hard breaks just happen sometimes, that's life.

and in reply to the shooter vs. arm debate,
if you look at the stats of the shooters and the arm bots, the shooters where scoring more (1625 with 6 hurdles), and more consistently. just my 2 cents.

[Shyguynate64]

My heart goes out to all those that broke down in the elimination matches, believe me I did not want to win with your robots like that. It would have been awesome to see how the matches would have gone if these unforseeable events had not happened. But i also believe that robustness is a big part of a great design.

Originally Posted by benbrown197

hard breaks just happen sometimes, that's life.

I couldnt agree with this more.
The trick to getting through life is to learn to roll with the punches.

I personally like arm robots because not only can they hurdle, but they can also place, knock down, and potentially block shooters shots (not sure if this is legal though). Just my 2 cents...

[BigJ]

Originally Posted by Shyguynate64

My heart goes out to all those that broke down in the qualification matches, believe me I did not want to win with your robots like that. It would have been awesome to see how the matches would have gone if these unforseeable events had not happened. But i also believe that robustness is a big part of a great design.


I couldnt agree with this more.
The trick to getting through life is to learn to roll with the punches.

I personally like arm robots because not only can they hurdle, but they can also place, knock down, and potentially block shooters shots (not sure if this is legal though). Just my 2 cents...

It's legal if the shooter isn't lifting the ball or moving towards the Overpass... then again, you still gotta be ale to take the hit

It was a great regional, thanks to 1625 and 1730 for the pick, and congrats to all the other teams at the regional. It was a blast.

[XaulZan11]

Originally Posted by benbrown197

and in reply to the shooter vs. arm debate,
if you look at the stats of the shooters and the arm bots, the shooters where scoring more (1625 with 6 hurdles), and more consistently. just my 2 cents.

I think that is a big claim to make without bringing any numbers (besides 1 match) and looking at the teams. According to 1732's scouting numbers, 1625 and 1730 were #1 and #2 in hurdles per match. 1736 was #6 and 141 was #10. Also, all of those four teams are not your average teams. Without looking at thier robots, I would have expected those 4 teams to be near the top in scoring. So, was it that they built shooters or because they are just good teams? Its like having 111, 233, and 1114 build arms bots and compare those three robots to three rookie shooter robots. I would bet that the arms would be better, but just because they were built by better, more experienced teams.

I would have liked to see an alliance against the 1625 and 1730 alliance slow the match down, keep the scores low and attempt to win it at the end by placing.

[cz2062]

Originally Posted by Sunshine

My favorite robot at the Wisconsin Regional was from Team 1730. I especially liked their Mortar. We were fortunate to be situated across from the practice field and was able to watch all teams checking out their robot. The 1730 robot was cool to watch. The mortar idea was great with the surgical tubing and ball screw. I saw them using a sensor switch that automatically closed their gripper when the ball was positioned correctly. That was a great idea. Their ball removal idea was similar to ours and very effective. They were well deserving of the Delphi "Driving Tomorrow's Technology" Award.

As far as arm bots vs shooter bots............... I agree that there are enough threads on this site concerning the discussion. My only observation is that I believe the highest scoring points in a match at Milwaukee came from 2 arm bots. It was 112 points I believe.

Although there was a 112 point match, there was also a 118 point match by the same alliance, 2 arm bots.
I don't think you can say arm robots are better than shooter robots or vice versa, but rather that it depends on the individual robot. There are shooters that are better than some arm robots; and some arm robots that are better than shooters.

[ZakuAce]

I really liked CORE's arm too. They could run up to the overpass as fast as they wanted and release it without having to worry about falling over but getting caught on the overpass.

[Mark Holschuh]

Fondy Fire also sends kudos to John Wanninger for getting the Woodie Flowers Award. John and his wife Sue have done so much over the years.

Also congrats to More Robotics for winning the Chairman's Award. They have definitely done Dean's Homework. I swear they must be looking for opportunities to demonstrate a robot. I thought it was great when some team in the upper deck started chanting "wicked awesome" when the award was announced.

NEW Apple Corps are definitely our Engineering Inspiration. They have showed us how to succeed since our first kickoff meeting. We couldn't be happier that they won the Engineering Inspiration Award, and also finished in the 2nd place alliance with King TeC, Lakeview Legends, and the Badger Bots.

Congrats to the winners, Extreme Engineering, CORE Robotics, and the Millerbots. Our team shared scouting duties with Extreme Engineering, and they also have one of our alumni as a mentor at UW-Platteville. Your alliance showed how important it is to have a durable robot at a FIRST competition.

Our hearts go out to Winnovation. I was packing up in the pits, and I knew it was bad when I saw one of your team sprint by us carrying an arbor press. We were very impressed with your performance at both the Midwest and Wisconsin Regionals. Team Driven and Chop Shop both came a long way to Wisconsin, and you all have great teams and great robots.

Thanks to the Masters of Machinery and the High Jumps for choosing us as an alliance partner. We gave it a good run.

My favorite play of the day happened in Quarterfinal 1, Match 1, when I believe it was Charger Robotics that stuck up their arm and blocked successively launched trackballs from Winnovation and Team Driven. I can't wait for that video to be posted.

All the rookie teams did great at Wisconsin. Thanks to all the veteran teams that helped the rookies as needed.

Thanks to all the volunteers who made everything possible. FIRST couldn't survive without you.

Finally, congrats to the Lancer Robotics team from Honolulu. Your team was well prepared, you consistently scored 8 points in hybrid, and you never got any penalties. The cost of entering the Wisconsin Regional - $4000. Shipping your robot back to Hawaii - $3000. Airfare, hotel and food for each person - $1000+. Winning Rookie All-Star (and sponsorship to go to Atlanta) - Priceless!

[Chaos in a Can]

Robot Casserole would like to thank NEW Apple Corps for the Supershifter part that brought our robot back to life.
Note to anyone using servos to shift: There aren't supposed to be washers on the shaft where the servo connects to it. If there are, your shifter will grind itself into oblivion, and being unable to move in high gear during a quarter-finals match is not fun.

Another thanks to the Robohuskies for picking us for their alliance!

Also, we heard over the intercom that someone was in need of a plutonium battery. Are you sure that's a legal part?
(Better yet, how'd you get that announced?)

[Kevin Kolodziej]

Thanks again to 1625 and 1730 for giving us a chance to play with the big guns! While it is unfortunate that we were never able to get our lift working, we're glad that our speed and defense did not go unnoticed. In the end, though, it's simply not possible to win an elim match when your alliance has no way to hurdle. This brings an end to the Ultimate Protection Squad's official FIRST season, but we're hoping to make it to some offseason events and show what we can really do!

Also thanks to teams 904 and 2039 for the parts to help with our lift. Sorry we couldn't put them to better use at the event, but know that they will not be wasted!

Congrats to John Wanninger for the Woodie Flowers Award. He possesses a passion and spirit for all things FIRST that can inpsire everyone, from the youngest student on an FLL team to the oldest mentor on an FRC team. It was an honor to present this award. I had goosebumps and had to choke back some tears prior to reading the award after hearing the "Kevin! Kevin! Kevin!" chants in the arena

Thank you to everyone for making this an event to remember. The US Cellular Arena was packed all three days and the competition was intense. It was great to see all my old friends and make quite a few new ones too!

And to all of you waiting for video, patience is a virtue! I have all of it and will be parsing as quickly as I can. I will get the elims posted first and then the qualifying will roll in as quickly as I can. I should be able to get through the elims within a day or two (I have a lot of FIRST time to make up at work now..)