2011 Peachtree Regional

[Billfred]

Surprised nobody's started this thread yet--I know there are quite a few Georgia teams floating around ChiefDelphi.

This will be 2815's first trip to Peachtree (and my first since a day trip in 2006). After coming up short to 1771 and 2415 in the Palmetto finals in 2009, we're eager to try and return the favor.

Who else is coming? Any crazy plans developing?

[Vikesrock]

3573 will be there! This will the first Peachtree regional for both the team and for me so I am definitely looking forward to it.

We've gotten sneak peeks of 1771 and 2415 here on CD. I can't wait to see what 2815 will be putting out this year.

[nighterfighter]

1771 will be ready to rumble.

Our team consists of mostly freshman this year, save me and 2 other members, so it will be exciting for them.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Vikesrock

We've gotten sneak peeks of 1771 and 2415 here on CD. I can't wait to see what 2815 will be putting out this year.

One thing's for sure: it's been an interesting year for 2815. For all our struggles this year*, I think this robot has come together quite nicely. It's not quite as shiny as its predecessors, and we still have a few things to work out, but I think it'll hang with the best of them (in both senses of the word) at our events this year.

I'm reminded of a restaurant just across the street from USC's historic Horseshoe, a little sandwich shop with about six tables in it called Beezer's. A staple of any Gamecock's diet since they stay open until 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, their restaurant is lined with various sports quotes. One of them: "Adversity causes some men to break...others to break records!" We're aiming for the latter, and might've hit it; no arm I've had this much of a hand in designing has worked this well! (That little factoid scared our head college student.)

I don't have a photo of the robot yet, but hopefully I can get a couple of good snaps before we crate up tomorrow night.

*New faculty advisor, new lead college student, our outreach projects coordinator left mid-build, limited shop access, limited purchasing card availability...oh, and our lead mechanical designers are a sophomore computer engineering undergrad and a guy with a marketing degree.

[alicen]

1379 will be there again, and from what I've seen of photos and videos, should be another good year.

Good Luck to everyone at Peachtree!

[martin417]

Originally Posted by Billfred

....... "Adversity causes some men to break...others to break records!"

If that's the case, then records should fall at Peachtree!

1771 lost Mike Reilly (the team faculty sponsor, and the one person most responsible for the team's success) to a new high school in the area. Sean Cantrell, a college mentor and drive-train expert, decided to mentor a school closer to Ga Tech, our sponsor that has done our laser cutting in the past got behind due to the snow storm and was unable to cut our material (which we found out in week 3), the new faculty sponsor assigned to us by the school hasn't been seen since kickoff, parts got ordered so late that some have not shown up yet as of the day before ship, our team consists of three dedicated students that show up every day, two college mentors, a parent mentor, and myself.

I watched the Robo-Wranglers video with envy, not for the great bot they created, but for the room full of kids working in every shot I saw. If I had that many kids working, learning and excited about engineering, I would consider it a success regardless of the resulting robot.

After some scrambling, we found another laser cutter that would burn our stuff for us (thanks Lasercraft), and we have to make calls and beg every time we want to get into the school and work, but we seem to be working through the issues. I am proud of what the students have been able to accomplish in spite of the adversity, and expect to have a decent bot at Peachtree. I sure hope the Banebots parts show up this week, but even if they show up today, we won't be able to ship the manipulator. We will have to bring it with us and install it on Thursday (I always hate having to do that, it never turns out as well as taking our time at the school).

I think I have aged a few years in the past 6 weeks, but I also believe the kids (and myself) have learned a lot. Whatever happens, I plan to have fun at Peachtree, and look forward to another great competition. Good luck to all the teams!

[ttldomination]

All I can say is that this year will be one hell of a ride at Peachtree. Usually the field at Peachtree doesn't go too far. There are about 3-5 top tier bots, and then it falls off from there.

But there are some very veteran teams like 2415, 832, iHot, SOUP, 1002, Kell, Forsyth, 1771, and more, who not only have mechanical experience to pull off excellent designs, but they also pull from 2007 experience.

With that knowledge alone, I expect the field at P'tree to be deeper than ever before, and finals will be one hell of a ride.

- Sunny

[santosh]

We feel into the same situation because Sean also made that connection with said cuting company who had to initially back out due to snowmageddon. this led to me personally calling over 100 machine shop in georgia as well as Alabama and south carolina.
When none of that worked, the kids did a complete redesign of the robot and we built 2 of them only to have the initial laser cutter offer to do the parts in week six. We got the parts this past Friday and went all out and assembled and got the whole thing working in 23 hours.

Thank god for these dedicated kids.

[santosh]

This is team 2415 working at scrimmage at Kimberly Clark.
This was the first time the drivers drove it and they were on 4 hrs of sleep since Friday morning. this was Sunday evening. Also our drivetrain was stuck at 16fps. Not conducive manueverability.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN_TCM8zj0A

[ghostmachine360]

@santosh

You guys really did well at Kimberly Clark; I was surprised at the speed for you to put up the game pieces, and the ingenuity of the arm & drive train. Amazing work.

1002 is ready to do some work. Had a bit of trouble due to Snowmageddon, but we're good to go. In terms of crazy plans, I'm treating the game like we're playing NBA basketball; plays, hardcore training & conditioning, and some other stuff up our sleeves. Really savoring matches against 2415, 1771, and 2974 (for school rivalry's sake) . Can't wait to see everyone there.

Also, would anyone be willing to collaborate with me and some of the CircuitRunners Robotics members on a large-scale scouting database for Peachtree teams to use? We're planning to integrate it with the CyberCenter that we bring with us, along with some other equipment.

[elemental]

2655 is really looking forward to Peachtree!
I can't wait to see what some teams have!

Originally Posted by ghostmachine360

Also, would anyone be willing to collaborate with me and some of the CircuitRunners Robotics members on a large-scale scouting database for Peachtree teams to use? We're planning to integrate it with the CyberCenter that we bring with us, along with some other equipment.

I'll ask my team about that and I'm sure we'd be glad to help! We are trying to reduce the amount of paper we use and the stress of having our smallish team scout. Your offer sounds awesome!

[ghostmachine360]

Originally Posted by elemental

2655 is really looking forward to Peachtree!
I can't wait to see what some teams have!


I'll ask my team about that and I'm sure we'd be glad to help! We are trying to reduce the amount of paper we use and the stress of having our smallish team scout. Your offer sounds awesome!

Awesome! Just PM me here on Chief Delphi, or find me on Facebook (Kyle J. Fender), and we can discuss it more in detail.

[goldenglove002]

Our robot's in the crate and ready for p'tree. Can't wait, we think this may be our best bot yet.

Good luck to all!

[chmconkling]

Team 122 with be there

[davidalln]

Finishing up the code for our bot right now. Can't wait to face off some great teams this year. I'm glad this got moved out of a week one regional, hopefully the extra time for FIRST to work out the game's quirks will help better showcase Georgia and the rest of the southeast's teams.