Thank you Cirque Du Soleil (Awards)

[BornaE]

After reviewing the dvds of this year’s competition we have a final result for the winners of the Cirque contest for FRC 2010.

The main body of the competition as you know was to judge the most creative ways in which the teams attacked this year’s challenges, and as I was on the Game Design this year, I was especially interested in how the teams approached the concepts.

We were looking particularly at a unique approach, and creative solutions, as well of course as entertainment value.
It was exceptional to see the number of teams that competed at a high level, and to be honest I wish we had more than 3 prizes to give out, because we saw some fantastic innovations. However, 3 it is, and here we go.

1st prize $5,000 Team 25 New Brunswick Twp High School, NJ.

This team competed at all levels and had one of the quickest hang mechanisms on the floor. Their agility was superb, and their ability to score from any zone in autonomous and teleop was fun to watch. They really caught us though with their Ball control mechanism. The use of the fan system to grab a ball and control it, allowing for balls to be scooped up from any direction was not only innovative, but deadly effective.

2nd prize $3,000 Team 39 Highland High School, Gilbert, AZ.

Again, a very competitive robot with an amazing kicking system that was effective everywhere on the field. We especially liked the ability of this robot to play offense, while competing defensively in the oppositions goal zone. On more than one occasion we watched this robot successfully defending the oppositions goal while scoring in its own from long range. We were also very drawn to the unique suspension system for tackling the speed bump challenge, which lessened its chances of tipping over, thus keeping it in the contest at all times.


3rd prize $2,000 Team 3009 Boulder City High School, Boulder City, NV

We really liked how this team had tried to compete at every aspect of the challenge, and even though they had different levels of success in those areas, they had clearly devoted a lot of time and energy. What we particularly liked with this machine was the agility through the use of independent wheels. Seeing this robot immediately change stance from offense to defense in the blink of an eye, was always exciting and entertaining. We are really looking forward to seeing what Boulder City does in the future. As a young team in FIRST we hope that this money will help them compete again next year where I am sure they will be a force to reckon with.



There are special mentions to other teams such as Team 4 and 2429, whose tape measure rigs we were always rooting for. 254 whose hang mechanism was so fast you were afraid to blink, and of course our dear friends at 987, who remained an incredibly strong presence and were missed in Georgia.

Please let me know if you need any more information,

All the best,
Calum

Thank You

[BrendanB]

Congratulations 25, 39, and 3009!

Just out of curiosity, who/what is this organization?

[gvarndell]

I'm a little confused by this post -- who is being quoted?
As a HUGE Cirque fan, I am thrilled to see they are involved in robotics.
Wow, who'da thunk it?

[JamesBrown]

Originally Posted by gvarndell

I'm a little confused by this post -- who is being quoted?

Calum Pearson Cirque du Soleil Tech Director and GDC member

[kjolana1124]

I've never heard talk about this award ever. Congrats, teams!

Is there a place where other teams can find more information?

[NickE]

Originally Posted by kjolana1124

I've never heard talk about this award ever. Congrats, teams!

Is there a place where other teams can find more information?

It was a judged award for teams attending the 2010 Las Vegas Regional.

[gvarndell]

Originally Posted by NickE

It was a judged award for teams attending the 2010 Las Vegas Regional.

Hhhmmm, 1629 will probably never go to Las Vegas.
And I guess the truth is, we wouldn't do anything differently then we do now in pursuit of a Cirque award.
But it sure would be cool to have that on our resume.
Did I mention that I'm a HUGE fan?

[Cory]

Originally Posted by BrendanB

Congratulations 25, 39, and 3009!

Just out of curiosity, who/what is this organization?

Cirque Du Soleil. It's a fancy circus basically. Their shows are pretty awesome.

They have been involved in FRC for a few years and I know they sponsored 987 in the past. Don't know if they still do. They support the Las Vegas Regional and this year introduced a design award for the Las Vegas Regional, which is described here.

[JB987]

Originally Posted by Cory

Cirque Du Soleil. It's a fancy circus basically. Their shows are pretty awesome.

They have been involved in FRC for a few years and I know they sponsored 987 in the past. Don't know if they still do. They support the Las Vegas Regional and this year introduced a design award for the Las Vegas Regional, which is described here.

987 wasn't officially sponsored by Cirque the last two years. We won top prizes for local design/essay/presentation "contests" available to Vegas teams and included their logo as a way of thanking them for their support. Calum and his crew decided to spread the wealth to outside teams as well this year in part to encourage strong outside teams to continue (or start) to join us for what consistently has been a competitive regional. Congrats to 25,39 and our local second year team 3009 by the way...all great teams.

[kjolana1124]

Originally Posted by NickE

It was a judged award for teams attending the 2010 Las Vegas Regional.

Ah, that would explain it.

Well...I was born in Las Vegas. I could've been a High Roller! Does that count?

[JB987]

Originally Posted by kjolana1124

Ah, that would explain it.

Well...I was born in Las Vegas. I could've been a High Roller! Does that count?

Never too late to become a High Roller, Kelsey...UNLV has a good engineering program and we have several of our alumni that are in their program and still mentor for us.

[waialua359]

Joe,
That's great that the LV regional did this! Perhaps other regionals can learn from this and offer other similar type awards.
Definitely bringing it up at our future Hawaii RPC meetings...

See you at IRI?

Glenn

[JB987]

Originally Posted by waialua359

Joe,
That's great that the LV regional did this! Perhaps other regionals can learn from this and offer other similar type awards.
Definitely bringing it up at our future Hawaii RPC meetings...

See you at IRI?

Glenn

Hope you guys can offer financial enticement to lure more competitors to your regional. The $ incentive might be enough to draw more entrants. Regarding IRI, it doesn't look good for us right now, but will know next week. Now, had we won one of the Cirque awards...

[kjolana1124]

Originally Posted by JB987

Never too late to become a High Roller, Kelsey...UNLV has a good engineering program and we have several of our alumni that are in their program and still mentor for us.

I'm actually highly considering UNR. My dad graduated there, I have family living around there and going there, and I love a lot of their programs and whatnot.

For 987...worth the plane ride