Can some help me by explaining how teams were able to get to the finals?

[jimmythetulip22]

I am soo confused right now...
Acording to The Blue Alliance, there are four divisions of about 85 robots in each division.
But wouldnt that mean that there are 310 robots going to the finals, and if there are only 40 or so regionals, then that would mean that each regional would have to send 8 or 9 robots to final.
However, I thought that the only robots that were able to go to the finals were the robot that either won the finals in thier region or the ones that got the regional chairman's award. So that would only be four robots...?


For example, I was looking at team 1388 and it says that they are going to the finals even though they didn't win the finals in either of the two regionals they attened, and they didn't win the chairman's award in either one.


Can you please help me by explaining this process.

First, what do the different divisions mean?
Second, how can a team be sent to the finals?
And finally, when are the finals?

[Nawaid Ladak]

Per Regional

x41
3x/4x Regional Winners
1x Rookie All-Star
1x Chairmans Award
1x Engineering Inspiration
minus the teams that won multiple regionals or awards
(1114 winning Midwest, waterloo and GTR, winning chairmans at waterloo, or like 1305 winning EI at both waterloo and GTR)

add on teams for open registration, tear 3 sign up and the waiting lists... and welah, you get a magic number like 341

[Michelle Celio]

Originally Posted by jimmythetulip22

First, what do the different divisions mean?

The divisions just make championship more manageable if all 300+ teams were to compete on one field the event would take way more than three days.

The divisions are assigned by number, the teams who are attending championship were put in numerical ordered and then assigned a division by going Archimedes, Curie, Newton, Galileo, Archimedes, Curie, Newton, Galilieo. But that system can change last year it was ABCDDCBA (iirc).

Originally Posted by jimmythetulip22

Second, how can a team be sent to the finals?

I think this is what you're looking for:
When registration opens, teams can choose to sign up for the Championship event. Then 6 weeks of 41 regional produce more teams to be invited to the Championship. If the amount of teams that the championship can hold is not filled by that, then they pull teams off the waiting list.

From the six weeks of regionals
3 or 4 Regional Champions (sometimes a replacement needs to be brought in)
1 Regional Chairmans winner
1 Regional Engineering Inspiration Winner
1 Rookie All Star

FIRST takes into account that some teams may win one or more of the previous awards hence why there are not 20+ teams coming off of the wait list every year.

Or possibly:

Each division holds its own competition as if it were a regional, and the 3 teams who win their division move on to compete against the other division winners on Einstein for the "World Champion" title.

Originally Posted by jimmythetulip22

And finally, when are the finals?

The Championship event is April 17,18,19 and the Einstein finals take place on the 19th.

[artdutra04]

Every fall, there is an open registration for any interested teams for the Championships, which is usually limited to around 150-200 teams. Also, some teams, like the remaining six teams from the 1992 season and the Hall Of Fame teams, are automatically invited back every year.

The different divisions are all completely separate, and teams are equally divided among them as they count off by ascending team number. For most of the completion, the teams only play teams from their own division through qualification rounds, and then elimination rounds. Once there is the winning alliance from each of the four divisions, they move to a fifth playing field (Einstein) and duke it out there for the title of World Champion.

Edit: Wow, Michelle and Nawaid beat me to it by two minutes.

[David Brinza]

Open registration for the Championship was offered to veteran teams that did not compete in Atlanta in 2007.

Those slots filled in mid-January, after which there was a waiting list formed. A few teams got in off of the waiting list after about week 4 of the regionals.

[OZ_341]

Originally Posted by Nawaid Ladak

........you get a magic number like 341

Thanks for saying 341 is magical

[RoboMom]

The system for "open registration" slots has changed many times over the past few years. Be sure to check the criteria posted in the fall for the 2009 Championship.

[Alan Anderson]

This document is the official explanation of elegibility. It should clear up Jimmy's confusion completely.

[grantman54]

Well we (1388) won engineering inspiration award to let us go to Atlanta.