Only three regionals in the United States this weekend, and we’re one of them. It’s a little weird going as a straight-up competitor again (the last time was 2014, with 4901), but with the robot we bagged running well it should be a nice distraction.
Team List
64 teams, two rookies, and a larger-than-usual Florida invasion. This ought to be fun.
(Also, my PMs are open if anyone wants to collaborate on scouting. Pandamaniacs have seven or eight bodies to throw at the job, so a second team joining in would really help.)
I won’t share details until they do, but I think you’ll see another 900 Machine™. Won’t strike immediate fear like a 148 or 254 machine, but a solid scorer that is continuously iterated on and contains so many trick things in the hardware and software. The only bummer is that the Palmetto robot is invariably going to pale in comparison to what shows up at NCCMP.
Team 108 is excited to return to palmetto after many years. Hoping to unbag a working robot. Looking forward to seeing our friends and making new ones.
I always look forward to meeting new teams and visiting with our friends. Should be an interesting competition since we are missing a few key SC teams and added a very strong FL contingent this year.
We have a few pieces-parts to add but should be rolling in the afternoon.
South Carolina teams skipping Palmetto this year:
343 (Smoky Mountains)
1319 (Rocket City/Smoky)
4533 (Rocket City)
Also inactive: 1876 (what the?!), 6693, 7097
Definitely missing some of South Carolina’s blue-chip teams, but I can’t blame them for going to events that are appreciably smaller in size (52/56 versus 64) and in the case of the Smoky teams closer to home.
Palmetto is an amazing event and we have had a blast every year that we have attended. However, the size of team attendance has little to do with it. For us Smoky Mountains is a closer drive and Huntsville is really not that much further. Both of these being week 3 and 5 and not week 1 is THE reason. If we can get into later events that are not back to back and have a shorter or comparable drive then we will. That break after build is complete and our first event is valuable time for us to rest up and prepare for the next phase which is competition season.
As the strategy lead for our team 7072, we are still fairly new to the scouting aspect of the competitions. Most of mentors will not be there to help guide us through that process, thus we are hoping that we can help relieve some of the load for your scouting team if you can help us on how we need to organize our scouting material.
After 15 years of overall irrelevance (three second-round playoff picks in 2009-2011 and one record above .500 that dates back to the days of sawblade imagery), we finally smashed the ball and at least got a triple out of it. 7-2, 10th seed, and captaining Alliance 7 are all unheard of for us, let alone the fact that our season isn’t over yet. I’m over the moon with how well it went.
I have to thank our alliance partners on 2393 and 4005 for rolling with us in playoffs. Losing to Alliance 2 by the thinnest of margins against the highest scores of the event was tough, but it was a great experience. Special shoutout to 4005 for joining the Cult of Keystone 4337s that afternoon.
Particular thanks to Andrew Schreiber and the mentor from 3490 whose name I’m blanking on for their programming assistance. It’s the place we’re thinnest on 1293, with no mentors and one student trying to keep pace with a lot of new-to-us concepts. The robot runs miles better now than it did when we rolled into Myrtle Beach, and that’s got a lot to do with it.
Congratulations to 1902 on the Chairman’s win, and thank you for being great pit neighbors. (Also, how the eighth-highest scorer of the regional slips to the second-to-last pick of the draft is beyond me.)
More congrats to the winning alliance, especially 4451 for being the lone South Carolina team with a golden ticket so far. Hopefully, we’ll join that list in Knoxville.
Team 379 would like to thank teams 2614 and 3824 for joining our alliance. We had a tough run, made it to the finals, but fell short in the end. We really enjoyed working with both of you.
Congratulations to the winning alliance of 4020, 4451, & 5022. It was an exciting set of finals matches and we knew your alliance was gonna be tough to beat.
Also, congratulations to 1902 on their Chairman’s win! Definitely well deserved.
We would also like to thank the judges for awarding our team with the Engineering Inspiration award! This is definitely something our team strives for in our school, community, and state. Thank You!
Overall, on our first trip down to Palmetto, we found the regional to be a great experience. Not only due to the teams success, but from a location standpoint, plenty of hotel and food options, the venue was awesome, the beach was great, weather was good, and there were a ton of options for student entertainment.
I watched every single match and was cheering on my old team 342. I am blown away with how well 1293 did! Also how in the heck 1902 went so late. I was going to die if they went to 4020 and 4451. You guys did amazing! Can’t wait to compete in Knoxville!
Team 4020 thanks 4451 and 5022 for going to battle with us and contributing so much to our shared victory. It was excruciating to have to make a first selection having talked extensively to class act teams including 1287, 379, and 86 who were very impressive. In the end, though, 4451 performed so consistently well that we felt we had to play with them rather than against them. They completely validated their qualifications performance in eliminations, especially in the finals where they endured the challenging defense of 3824, giving time and space for us and 5022. Speaking of 5022, we were overjoyed to find them still available for the last selection. We had them ranked #9 as an alliance partner in our scouting and could not believe our good fortune. Even better, our schools are separated by only 30 miles or so in Tennessee and we interact with them all the time. They were the perfect 2nd selection for our alliance.
We echo 379’s comments about the Palmetto regional. 4020 loves this event. The location, the venue, and the consistently friendly and helpful volunteers keep Palmetto in consideration for us every year.
We sort of look forward to and sort of worry about seeing many of the Palmetto teams at Smoky Mountains in Knoxville in a few weeks. The rate at which teams like 2614 and 3490 were improving is going to raise the challenge level greatly by week 5. Maybe we’ll be lucky enough to play more with than against teams like this. If 3140 gets their triple climb working, we may all be in trouble.
Best wishes to all the Palmetto teams for success during the remainder of the season.
Just wanted to send out a big thank you to RobotCats 379 for taking a huge gamble and making MARS 2614 their first pick at Palmetto. It was a pick based purely on faith and MARS is so thankful for the opportunity to play with you guys and our good friends HVA 3824. It was a great run everyone!
