Power Players at the Regionals

[coldfusion1279]

I haven't heard any 1279's... are we overlooking this #1 seed at the VCU regional? (yes we did have one more match than most other teams with an 8-1 record but still). The misfortune of being shoved into a tetra and a goal in the corner of the field led to our demise, but we will be back at the Trenton regional and we are also looking into open spots for nationals. Although this is my team, I really must toot our own horn, capable of holding 2 tetras while driving without tipping and capping an easy 9 feet.

BTW...Hows our buddy team 1403 holding up this year aroon? Let me know and I will see you at Trenton.
All I'm saying is watch out for the robot confucious from team 1279.

[slickguy2007]

Originally Posted by coldfusion1279

BTW...Hows our buddy team 1403 holding up this year aroon? Let me know and I will see you at Trenton.
All I'm saying is watch out for the robot confucious from team 1279.

Congratulations at the VCU regional guys, you rocked!!! You are certainly one force that we will all be watching out for. At Brunswick Eruption and Frenze Finale we picked you, but at Trenton hopefully you will consider picking us when you become the #1 seed again. I am happy with the way our robot turned out and I can't wait for our first competition at NJ. Congratulations again 1279!!!

GO 1403!!!

[GORD]

I would just like to say that I was really impressed by team 56. Their capping system was easy and effeciant......props to them

[Peter Matteson]

From BAE I'm surprised that no one mentioned 88 yet. They had a strong bot and a good alliance, they just met up with the 121, 126 alliance in the semis rather than the final do to seeding.

[Hokie4Life]

I was impressed with the capping system of 122. They were our alliance partners, and our 2nd pick at VCU. While they could not stack on the center goal, they could stack extremely well on the other goals on the field. They were extremely efficent at taking tetras that were loaded onto them at the human tetral loading station, turning around, and putting the tetra on a goal. They were a team that had some bad pairings at the regionals, and were ranked low, allowing us to pick them in the second round. We could not have won without them.

[Zach]

Originally Posted by Hokie4Life

I was impressed with the capping system of 122. They were our alliance partners, and our 2nd pick at VCU. While they could not stack on the center goal, they could stack extremely well on the other goals on the field. They were extremely efficent at taking tetras that were loaded onto them at the human tetral loading station, turning around, and putting the tetra on a goal. They were a team that had some bad pairings at the regionals, and were ranked low, allowing us to pick them in the second round. We could not have won without them.

I would like to begin by thanking team 401 for picking us to join them in the finals at VCU. Team 401 and team 435 were awesome partners in the finals, and it was only because of their skill that we were able to win the regional.

Team 401's antonomous was able to cap the corner tetra every single time which saved us in 1 or 2 of the rounds. Their robot and especially their arm were very well built to do their task efficently.

Team 435's control team were very skilled and amiable during the competition. Their tactics in the game were great and they were able to pull off some gutsy moves.

Both teams robots were capable of picking of tetras quickly and together were able to hold the middle row against the offensive opposing robots. One time (I believe it was 405) we were capable of capping a corner tetra of the opposing team which gave us the 2nd highest score of the regional.

We had some intense rounds in the finals, but with teamwork and great strategy we were able to pull off a win. So congrats to 401 and 435, we hope to see you at nationals.

P.S. In response to Squeaky, we did seem to be alittle overlooked at the regional. We have a smaller team than some of the other veterans. We only had around 15 people this regional and will only have around 8 I believe at Annapolis and Nationals. Also, whenever we played our team was right behind us and not in the stands so they wern't cheering as loudly as some of the other teams. I guess you can say that Team 122 speaks softly and carries a big stick

[team1611]

i think team 801 was an especially good team at the Peachtree Regionals. they were the number one seed throughout most of the competition. when allied with us, they did their job very well and used strategy effectively. their only loss came against us in the final match of the qualifying round but they managed to beat us in the semifinals.

CONGRATULATIONS TEAM 801... GOOD LUCK AT NATIONALS

[Devin L.]

at the BAE regional, The teams I thought were very good were of course our alliance partners 121 and 350. The teams that we payed close attention to and considered them as good possible picks were teams: 1027 excellent caping ability, very quick and clean. I also enjoyed talking with your team. 133 caping the center goal in autonomous mode opens up so many strategies. 157 also a great quick capper. 549 good robust robot, great caping ability. 42 can stack and obtain tetras quickly.

I would pay close attention to all the teams I mentioned above. They all will not go down without a good fight, and we know that. I can't wait to see the teams atending UTC. Most of which are good veteran teams.

[kjohnson]

Team 401 (won VCU with 435 and 122) are fast cappers and have a great autonomous program but tip somewhat easily as 539 showed everyone. They also lose the tetras somewhat easily - I was able to stop them from scoring on the center goal by barely touching their red tetra with my blue tetra.

[Anthony Kesich]

At Sacto, 245 was pretty scarry. They're quick, accurate, high-capping, and their arm won't break.

610 is quite the defensive robot since they're small and wedge shaped. You don't notice them until they're right on top of you. The only downside is they attract a lot of loading penalties.

56 has an awesome autonomous that never fails and can work with or without the starting tetra.

[whakojacko]

actually 610 was quite good about not drawing penalites when i saw them. They didnt keep a bot cornered for long periods of time and also backed away when people went into loading zones

[Koko Ed]

Who were the ones that dominated on the field at the regionals?
217.237. 191. 494. 229 (it's not thier fault they had a target on their back)
Who should we all watch out for at nationals?
217. 237. 191. 494.378.1126 (who will be much better after they play at Buckeye)1511 (once they get more matches under their belt they will play even stronger)
Who has the best autonomous?
237. 1126. 494. 191.
Who had the best strategy?
494 was able to play effective offense and play smart defense which makes them effective.
What were some cool plays that you have seen?
I would say the Division by Chicken pissing contest and of course the last match which will proably go down as one of the greatest matches in the history of FIRST.

[Squeaky]

Most people overlooked 122 at the VCU regional. My team, Team 401, #3 seeded alliance captain was able to select them during the second round of selections. 122 doesn't have an auto mode and can't pick tetras up off of the ground, but they consistently stacked tetras every round. They also have excellent drivers and a drive train that no one noticed.

My team, team 401, has an automode that works every time in which we stack a tetra on a back corner goal, knocking down the hanging tetra. We also have a turret design which allows us to pick up tetras and stack them on goals when our robot isn't perfectly aligned. A previous post said we drop tetras and flip easily, but I was shocked by this post. We dropped a couple throughout the competition, but we're able to right our mistakes in a matter of seconds. We flipped once, but the ref's disabled 539's robot so they must've seen some malicious intent. We don't flip easily, and we are able to play great defense as shown in the one round where our chain fell off our arm's sprocket. We drive with 2 4 inch treaded wheels at a possible 14 fps. We pushed one robot sideways away from a goal to prevent them from ruining our middle row. I can't wait till national's to see how we compare with robots from around the nation.

I was also surprised by 1610's automode in which they came the closest to picking up a green tetra and stacking on the center goal. I never expected a rookie team to come that close.

Thanks to teams 435 and 122 for helping us win the VCU Regional... never could have done it without you guys.

[slickguy2007]

As usual I heard that 254 did a magnificent job. Great job guys, when I saw your robot I had some flash backs to 2004.

GO 1403!!!

[rocknthehawk]

Team 126 is a force to reckon with. They have an extremely good robot.

Thanks for the kind words. The only damage our robot suffered the whole weekend was a spring clip on the master link snapping (we were still able to drive) and after being hit from the side by team 58, the hub on our wheel snapped, but that problem was fixed within 30 minutes.