NEforecast: Rhode Island Event - March 24-26, 2016
Coming to a new location this year is the 2016 Rhode Island District Event or RIDE as it is called. Of the 36 teams venturing down to Providence, only six of them are competing for the first time and with three of them being rookies. With only six teams in Rhode Island this year, its central location brings in an attractive crowd from many regions in New England making it the most diverse lineup of teams before the region descends on Hartford for the District Championship next month.
For 29 of the teams this weekend, RIDE marks the final push for points to help elevate them in the New England rankings for a spot at the District Championship and eventually the World Championship. Every ball scored, defense crossed, and tower scaled can give a team the slight edge it needs to move up a few spots in rankings. For a few teams RIDE is their last qualifying event, but not their last stop before Hartford or the Championship with
190,
1058,
1768,
2067,
2648, &
4473 all competing at a third district event in the upcoming weekends. With five banner teams from event wins and DCAs it will be an exciting weekend.
With match play intensifying and more boulders cycling through the human player stations, any leverage an alliance can build up against their opponents will be an asset as long as they can remain consistent. Scalers who can manipulate boulders effectively will be key players if they find their way onto an alliance that can also manage a breach & capture. With a few of New England’s best shooters in attendance, whoever finds themselves on the #1 alliance will not have an easy time making it out on top.
TOP TEAMS
125 With one blue banner already under their belts at the Arizona North Regional, The Nutrons have hit FIRST Stronghold running and is ready to take on their first of three New England district events. Wielding an accurate catapult they lift up high and a robust drive base, you can expect this team to hold its’ own in Rhode Island this weekend despite its tiny size. Looking to expand on their shooting performance with improved vision code and faster scoring, plus a more expaned use of their outer works shot, expect them to be one of the top seeds at URI.
2648 Their high powered batter shot and efficient cycling made Infinite Loop the top pick of the WPI event ending with an unfortunate series of breakdowns in the semi-finals. With plenty of weight and experience of re-building at events, it can be expected that some additional mechanisms will be making their way onto the field to manipulate defenses as well as improved reliability of key functions. If they can keep their robot operational on the field it will be hard to stop 2648 from demolishing opponent towers. Infinite Loop ranks #29 in NE with 51 district points after WPI.
228 Five extremely close semi-final matches against the #1 alliance at Waterbury didn’t finish in a cinderella story for Gus but gave them plenty of experience before the head into this weekend. Defense crossing was their primary focus in the elimination rounds with their utility arm serving them well allowing their machine to traverse some of the more difficult defenses with ease. Given the time to tune and practice their boulder game should have improved for this weekend in both the low and high goals.
1768 After winning WPI Week 2, The Robo Chiefs have been getting ready to take on Rhode Island. These Industrial Design winners have an impressive retractable flywheel shooter that is not only fast and accurate, but shoots from a distance. This efficient team has a 8 wheel pneumatic drivetrain that can fly over B and D defenses, making them nearly unstoppable. With improved vision and driver practice, you can expect to see this team in the Top 8 at RIDE.
1058 is currently the #2 rank in New England for teams that have only played one event with 70 district points, a close second to only 558 (73 DP’s) after Waterbury. The PVC Pirates have a super-fast 10 wheel drive, extremely reliable and quick sub-10 second climber, efficient low goal intake that helps with the A defenses and possible addition of a shooter later on. With more action in the top goals they might need to rely on their climber to keep pace.
4761 Even though their shooter was a late bloomer at the Reading event, the Robockets built a beautiful robot for Stronghold custom detailed like a Robonaut machine. Their Saturday strategy focused on the Outerworks while their Sunday game focused more on tackling the Tower with an automated turret that worked in unison with their intake. Given the additional time to prepare for UNH, this Chairmans award winning team will remain in the hunt to seed high at at end of qualification rounds.
2067 A well packaged lifting wheeled shooter on top of an effective drivebase from Apple Pi. While some teams might have to reconsider some aspects of their machine, practice and consistency are their main concerns to continue shooting high to overcome quick low goal strategies.
4048 A simple catapult and low bar cycles helped propel Redshift into the finals of some of the most competitive eliminations in New England during the WPI event. If this rising, young Massachusetts team can improve their time to lineup and shoot they can leave their mark on UNH..
Honorable Mentions in no particular order:
1277 Even with no way to control boulders, this team was a breaching specialist at WPI and ended up as the 3rd seed overall.
5112 The ultimate 3rd round pick at the UMD event with an autonomous high goal starting in the neutral zone.
3719 Solid low goal scoring and defense crossing will see themselves in a few captures during qualification rounds.
1735 After two less than ideal runs during week 0 and week 2, 1735 will be looking to reap the rewards of lots of practice going into Rhode Island.
2836 With a short elimination run that ended in the Quarter-Finals at Waterbury in week one, can this team’s custom track drive base power them to victory?
4473 Delta Prime, an up and coming team from Farmingdale, Maine, is certainly a dark horse, and can surprise with top notch defense, and is capable of playing into the afternoon on Saturday.
Special Rookie Shoutout to teams
5846 Southcoast Corsairs,
5958 Blue Wave Robotics,
6153 Blue Crew,
6172 Team Jupiter, and
6224 The Saints.
CHAIRMAN’S AWARD
Locks
1.
125: Obtaining a Regional Chairman’s Award in 2015 at South Florida and a District Chairman’s Award in 2014 at Pine Tree, it will be no surprise to see 125 with their outstanding mentoring and assisting of teams through their quick build, offseason event, & STEM pipeline to come home with their third Chairman’s Award.
2.
1058: With their first Regional Chairman’s Award win in 2012 at GSD and two others at UNH 2015 and Northeastern 2014, 1058 has become an unstoppable force. Through their numerous demonstrations, the NH Alliance FRC Page, and student leadership, 1058 shows great potential to receive the Chairman’s Award this weekend.
Darkhorses
1.
228. With an EI award at Waterbury in 2015, an EI in 2014 at Groton, and last Chairman’s Award win in 2011, 228 is hungry for their first Chairman’s Award in 5 years.
2.
2067: Winning a District Championship Chairman’s Award in 2014 and winning the Engineering Inspiration Award at the New England District Championship in 2015, 2067 has continuously showed the public that they have reached the standard of being a role model FRC team.
Previous Recipients
3.
190 Gompei and the HERD: Chairmans at GSR in 2006 & 2007.
Continue to submit updates about your team's progress throughout the season to us via Chief Delphi PM!
What good will it do to have 10,000 teams who barely have a clue and are just scraping by versus 2,000 teams that are actually sustainable? - Cory [more] 
Hybrid Mode
