2009 Greater Toronto Regional

[IntensifiedAmp]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Norris

Kevin Reid from 2609 brought his equipment and was able to record Saturday morning, his recording of the afternoon didn't end up working for some reason... Hopefully someone else has a recording of the afternoon.

I was too busy getting my team ready for GTR and didn't bring my equipment.

I'm assuming he'll post these up soon?

[dani190]

well i have a copy of it and i will be cutting up this and waterloo as soon as i have the time. Hopefully il be able to start soon.

[IntensifiedAmp]

Originally Posted by dani190

well i have a copy of it and i will be cutting up this and waterloo as soon as i have the time. Hopefully il be able to start soon.

Thank you VERY much : ) I'm sure a lot are excited to rewatch the experience.

[Gaurav27]

GTR 2009 proved to be once again, one of the most competitive regionals in FIRST.
GTR's first clarification announced by Karthik before qualification matches was that there will be NO REPLAY matches and they stood by it all weekend which was really good to see. GTR's Head ref. & his asst. refs also did an amazing job at keeping all matches fair.

After the completion of all 79 qualification matches, there was an almost even split between every win-loss record (ex. 2056: 8-0, 2386 7-1 followed by 8 teams with 6-2, 10 teams with 5-3, 18 teams 4-4 ...etc.). This happens almost every year and shows how competitive the regional really is. (Teams can easily jump up or down in the standings)

2056: Best bot I've seen from them in all of their years. They're 6/6, winning every regional they've ever attended. Nothing else to say about them.

188: They left me speechless this year. Coming back from no regional win since 2003 (i think) to winning ALMOST both of their regionals. For this, i truly congratulate them for. Everyone makes mistakes that costs them matches. That is just one of them. Trust me 1241 knows and i'm sure other teams have been there. 188, all the very best for Atlanta! Good Luck there and we hope to work with you guys in the future.

1114: Congratulations 1114 on the RCA and Regional Win! You guys worked hard for the regional win. This team consistently makes robots that just win games. Overall, 1114 is a team that creates an electric atmosphere whenever they're on the field! This team sets the example for everyone and motivates other teams to do that much better. Good Luck in Atlanta Simbotics!

2185: "New Kids on the Block" in 2007. Well guess what, this team has consistently proved to be the best defensive bot out there. When they need to, their robot has the capability of shutting down other bots and played a crucial role in eliminations. Congratulations 2185 on your 2 banners! Good Luck in Atlanta!

1334: Thank you for picking us! You guys were amazing to work with. 1334 is always visible with their red devil head "thingy's". You really shut down our opponents through pinning them for long periods of time. It was awesome to work with you. We were so close to finals! Anyhow, we look forward to working with you in the future. Congratulations on your Waterloo Engineering Inspiration Award @ Waterloo and Good Luck in Atlanta!

854: Iron Bears as always are a pleasure to work with. Awesome bot and congrats on the Driving Tomorrow's Technology Award!

1241: Woot! Imagery Talking about my own team is kind of awkward but i am truly proud of each and every member on our team. Being semifinalists at both FLR and GTR we tried our very best to win both of them. Using strategies almost impossible to carry out, we used these to win crucial matches. Our 2009 bot also one of the simplest we have built, carried out every task required for Lunacy. From running empty cells to scoring moon rocks, it could do it all.

Thanks to all the teams, volunteers and organizers at GTR for making this an extremely memorable event!

2009 being my graduating year, i look forward to mentoring this team and helping out at the 2010 Waterloo & Greater Toronto Regionals! See you there!

Lastly, GOOD LUCK TO ALL CANADIAN TEAMS ATTENDING WORLDS! BRING HOME THE WIN! I HOPE TO SEE A LOT OF CAN TEAMS ON EINSTEIN

[2056isaac]

For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. That’s what FIRST is. It is not to do with what goes on on the field. It is to inspire youth to be science and technology leaders in a competitive, but professional environment, and I want to start by thanking the people who “get it.” You guys are people who we as students should look up to. Thank you.

GTR Crew. Thank you to the crew that made GTR possible. Thank you to the judges, referees, volunteers, and the others that we would not be able to have such a great time without. To Karthik and Charles. You guys made the place alive and I can’t thank you enough for creating such an amazing environment to play this unique sport. Thank you.

Teams. You guys deserve as much thanks as any. You took the challenge and overcame it. Thank you for the friendships and intense matches. Thank you to 188/610/1305. I know that I do not thrive off the fear and your brilliance and incredible strategy made it an amazing nail-biter. Thank you.

Team 1114 and 2185. Thank you for working with us. Without 2185’s power defense and 1114’s miraculous scoring, we wouldn’t be where we are. Thank you to 1114 for all the help they have given us. You have helped us in every aspect of FIRST and you guys are awesome. I hope our symbiotic relationship holds fast. Thank you.

Parents. Karthik always takes time out of the usual FIRST thank yous to thank the parents and he is so right. I can’t even imagine where we would be without your support. To the parents of team 2056, you guys are awesome. Helping with things from engineering to administration to scouting, you have trekked along with us the whole way and you deserve our utmost thanks. Thank you.

Tyler and Mr. Hunter. Without you we wouldn’t be team 2056. Without you two, the students on our team would be sitting in class trying to figure out what to do when in 1, 2, or 3 years, we are going to be setting off into another world that is so different from our current life. Without you, on a Monday night in January we would be sitting in our rooms playing video games. Without you, we wouldn’t have many skills that many employers want so bad, and thank you for all the laughs.


“Great moments are born from great opportunities.” Thank you for the opportunities.

[SpaceOsc]

Who won Engineering Inspiration and Rookie All Star @ GTR?

[Racer26]

EI: 1535, RAS: 2809

[Steve W]

With many thanks to Michelle Celio for hosting my pictures of GTR. There are 686 for Friday and 650 for Saturday.

Fridays Pictures

Saturdays Pictures

Please forgive me if there seems to be more Team 188 pics but I was shooting for them as well.

If anyone wants a picture or 2 at full resolution, send me an email or message and I will forward to you. No requests for Kathik pics without his consent as he owns the copy rights to them.

[d.courtney]

2056, 1114, and 2185: Congratulations on the win, you had a extremely strong alliance, it was amazing being able to watch matches played at such a high caliber. Best of luck in Atlanta. To 2056: Congratulations on your 6th straight regional win! To 1114: Congratulations on RCA, I can’t think of a more deserving team. Thank you very much for allowing me to view the presentation on Thursday, it was very helpful to see a winning submission and quite inspiring hearing everything you have done. Hopefully this year you can bring home Chairman’s from Atlanta!
188, 610 & 1305: Another amazingly strong alliance, it was fantastic to see your alliance improve with each match you played. Finals Match 1 and 3 are amoung some of the greatest FIRST matches I have ever seen, and that is due in great part to the tough competition you provided. Never have I seen such intense and close matches in the finals at a regional. Congratulations on being finalists and good luck to 188 and 1305 in Atlanta.
2200: Again, I am in love with your robot. Fantastic forethought and courage went into designing a robot to focus simply on one small aspect of the game, a very aspect many teams overlooked not only in robot design but also in game strategy. Your robot is one of my favourites this year.
1535: Congratulations on Engineering Inspiration, I unfortunately haven’t had the chance to get to know your team to well, but from the Judge’s write-up it sounds as though you certainly deserve the award. Best of luck at Atlanta!
2809: Fantastic work on taking home the Rookie All Stars. Its true you already fit in with the elite teams from Canada and I only see success for the future of your team. Good Luck in Atlanta!
All the Volunteers: Each and every one of you give up a vast amount of time, thank you for your dedication and for making this regional such a success.

[JakeC]

Thank you everybody, it hadn't dawned on us that we had qualified for Atlanta for winning the Engineering Inspiration Award until after Karen Rosenthal told our team captain she would get our shipping papers ready, we were in complete shock and still cannot believe it.

Congratulations to 1114, 2056, and 2185 On Winning
Congratulations to 1114 for winning the chairmans award

[SprocketGuy]

Steve W,

Those are some amazing pictures you took. Thanks so much for posting them.

[AKaul]

thx steve these are the exact pic i was hoping for!!

[UberChar]

this post has nothing to do with the finals, but if someone from 1305 can answer this for me why take out your gun type of shooter? Ive been wondering that since the 2nd day of GTR, just curious

[Racer26]

I suspect they changed it from that to the box bot they had at GTR because of 2200's success at Waterloo and their flop there. They saw that EC delivery was proving to be an important role, and it was likely this choice that landed them on the #3 alliance to take regional finalist.

[ptan]

Originally Posted by 1075guy

...Thanks Steve. I feel better knowing the head ref is 188 Alum. GTR is, and always has been, my favorite FRC event, and its always very well run. I haven't ever really noticed many bad calls at Waterloo or GTR as far as the reffing goes, I've never seen anything in the Canadian regionals like whats happened at some of the regionals south of the border.

For what it is worth, I was at the scoring table when the decision was being made for the call. There was no pressure or bias either way being put on the head ref by anyone. We all told him that it was ultimately his call. He could have called it either way. I do not envy his position, as I have been in a similar position before. Because of his ties to 188, he had to call it strictly by the book (I had to call it strictly by the book as well, when I was in a similar situation several years ago).