2011 WPI Regional

[Ken Streeter]

Congratulations are due to the winning alliance of 40, 195, and 2370 at the 2011 WPI Regional!

We were glad to see that after being the #1 pick at the Granite State Regional and having arguably the best robot at GSR, team 40 was able to lead the #4 seeded alliance at WPI to a well-deserved victory. The final matches against the alliance of 177, 3125, and 1100 were exciting to watch, even on the webcast!

Congratulations are also due to team 228, which earned the Chairman's Award in a difficult field of high-caliber teams.

From the 1519 members that went down to watch the Saturday matches, it sounded like WPI once again hosted an excellent tournament -- hopefully some year the schedule will allow for us to attend both the WPI regional and our "home regional" (the BAE Systems Granite State Regional).

PS: I couldn't find an existing 2011 WPI Regional thread, so I started this new one -- hopefully I didn't just miss it in my searches!

[Mike Betts]

I would also like to congratulate Al Motherele as the WFA winner. For the last 17 years, Al has been the foundation of Team 177 and a leader in the promotion of robotics in education in the state of Connecticut.

In my opinion, it is a recognition long overdue!

[O'Sancheski]

Yes,
Congrats to team 40, 195, and 2370 on your well deserving victory. Also congrats to team 177, 3125, and 1100 on an amazing run in the finals. Those finals matches were the best I have ever seen. Even better than Champs last year.
And the most deserving congratulations is to Gus. You guys did an amazing job in all your matches and are a good contender for the Chairmans award at champs this year.

For all the teams that came from out of the country and Hawaii, I hope you had an amazing time at WPI. You guys were respectable and I hope to see you guys at another competition in the future.

To all the teams that were there, thanks for an amazing weekend.

To 358, 190, and 2473. You guys played amazing defense on us in the quarterfinals.

Can't wait for the Connecticut Regional.

[George Nishimura]

Congratulations to 40, 195, and 2370 for their victory, and 228 for the Chairman's.

We had a great time at WPI, the refs were easy to talk to, the volunteers were absolutely brilliant, the judges and other teams were friendly, helpful and welcoming.

Thanks to our alliance partners 3205 and 1772 for being brilliant, and to 177, 3125, 1100 for producing a great quarter-final and making it to the finals.

We can only afford to go to one regional a year (although our sponsor will give us extra funds if we made it to the Championships), and we've gone to a different regional every year. I can safely say for me personally, this was my favorite out of the four I've been to.

[Kingofl337]

Team 40 would like to thank 195, and 2370 for being awesome partners and helping us get into St. Louis.

To teams 177, 1100, and 3125 you guys were great, it was a both a pleasure and an honor to compete with you in the finals.

Congradulations, to 228 for Chairman's you guys are a great team!

We'd also like to thank everyone at WPI for putting such a high quality event that gives students a chance to visit such an outstanding institution.

[BWaksman]

Congratulations to teams 40, 195 and 2370 for becoming Regional Champions. And congratulations to team 228 for earning the Regional Chairman's Award.

Also, on behalf of team 177 I would like to thank 2370, the iBots, for providing us with dinner on Friday night. We greatly appreciate your generosity.

Lastly, thank you to teams 3125 and 1100 for being great alliance partners and working with us to become Regional Finalists.

I can't wait to compete again in CT in 3 weeks!

[caltemus]

Good job to teams 177, 1100, and 3125 for a difficult final round, and a thanks goes to team 40 and 2370 for being great alliance partners

I can't wait for the Hartford regional and look forward to meeting team 40 at St. Louis

[BrendanB]

Congratulations team 40, 195, and 2370 you guys worked hard for the win! I was very happy to be there for 40's double ubertube auton which was a treat that isn't the same in a webcast and was better in person!

WPI had some intense finals and a lot of great alliances! Can't wait to play with some of these teams in St. Louis and I look forward to Battlecry!

[Drumrkat7]

Team 177 would like to thank teams 1100 and 3125 for great matches this weekend! It was amazing to see a regional come together so well in a few short days. It was like night and day from Thursday's practice matches to Saturday's finals. Congratulations to team 40, 195, and 2370! 177 and all the rest will see you in St. Louis in April

Congratulations as well to GUS for their Chairman's win and to our mentor, Al Mothersele for this Woodie Flowers win!

Also, from the pit crew of 177, I would personally like to thank team 839 for their help in the pit. Without the donation of a solenoid and a Tetrix motor, we would have been in some trouble out there. Thank you very much for your generosity!

We look forward to competing again at the Northeast Utilities CT Regional and in St. Louis!

[Chris is me]

We had a rough weekend...

Thanks 571, 228, and whichever other teams helped us with our programming bugs. We lost robot power for a long time on Thursday due to some mysterious issue, which was eventually traced back to not updating the Driver Station before the regional.

Thanks to 177 for their 1/2" hex broach. That's a pretty expensive toy to lend out but we managed to get it back to them in one piece.

With the newly broached parts, we had new drivetrain belts ready to go, thinking our one-belt system had issues with slipping, but that turned out not to be the problem at all. In our second match, we suddenly lost our entire drivetrain. Andy Grady said something about "very loud grinding noises coming from Shaker Robotics's robot!". We brought it to the pits and found our aluminium driveshaft had actually turned itself from 1/2 hex to 1/2 round. We spent the next 3 matches getting steel shafts machined and installed on the robot. Thanks for all the help - I forget who donated the steel...

Between that and some other programming glitches and me accidentally ruining our replacement parts (whoops), we didn't do what we came to and missed eliminations. We left our A game at home. But in the car ride back, every single team member had a new appreciation for the work we needed to do - and the drive to do it better next time.

So, uh, we'll be doing better at Connecticut. We're pumped. I'm proud of the tubes we put up when we did run, especially given little practice before those matches.

[Fletch1373]

Chris, I'm glad to hear you guys still enjoyed yourselves despite all the issues. Don't worry, your team wasn't the only team with the older driver station causing issues. As one of the FTAA's there, I did my level best to help you and everyone else get their robots working with the field. We had a lot of issues on thursday with the practice matches, but they were almost all the same issue and were fairly easily fixed for the rest of the competition. I can honestly say, I'm amazed at how smoothly the event ran thanks to all the volunteers and the teams(both students and mentors).

I'll repeat everyone else in congratulating 228 on chairmans, 40/195/2370 on winning, and 177/1100/3125 for helping to make the final matches so great. Also a thank you to all the teams that attended for making the entire event a memorable one.

[jwfoss]

2168, the Aluminum Falcons would like to thank our alliance parters 3280 and 236 for a great run in the elimination rounds. Special thanks out to 236 for carrying and deploying our minibot in the first match of the quater finals, it was awesome to see it finally climb on the field, let alone win us the match.

Congratulations to 228 on chairmans, good luck in St. Louis.

Congratulations to 40/195/2370 on winning, and 177/1100/3125 for some great matches against us and fighting hard in the finals.

[Banderoonies]

Team 195 would like to thank Team 40 and 2370 for their gracious teamwork. We loved working with you guys. Thanks for a wonderful Regional and we are so glad that we will see Team 40 in St. Louis. What a wonderful bot you guys have there!

Teams 177, 1100, and 3125 Thanks for three exciting matches. Your bots are awesome this year. What an honor to compete with you all!

Also kudos to Hawaii! So glad you came out to the east and thank you for sharing your culture with us!

[Mark McLeod]

Team 358 would like to thank our partners in the Elimination rounds, Team 190 and Team 2437.

WPI throws a great party!
I can't wait for the new building next door to be finished, with those custom robotics pits...

[jordie228]

More congratulations to 40, 195, and 2370 for their win and 177, 1100, and 3125 for making it to finals!
Also, congratultions to Paige and Tina for their Dean's List awards!
And thank you from GUS228! we hope to see you all in St. Louis.