Registered teams to date trophy count includes:
5 Regional Chairman’s,
25 Regional Championships,
16 Regional Finalists
Championship Finalists - 2 Newton, 1 Galileo, 1 Curie, and 1 Archimedes
Championship Division Winners - 1 Galileo, and 1 Newton.
The inaugural CIR is shaping up to be a great looking, competitive event! 
Are those the stats from just 2013, or is that all awards from previous years?
Previous years.
I expect the accolades of registered teams to escalate when we add in the teams coming to Central Illinois with their 2nd event registration on October 24th.
All awards from previous years. However from the 2013 Season I’m seeing
2 - Double Wins (Chairman’s and Regional Champ):
Team 525 (10000 Lakes), and
Team 1208 (St. Louis)
1 - Triple Champ:
Team 1986 (Hub City, Oklahoma and Kansas City)
1 - Double Champs:
Team 525 (10000 Lakes and Northern Lights)
1 - Newton Division Finalist:
Team 1986
2 - Regional Finalists
2 - Engineering Inspiration
For the first round of an inaugural event, this is exciting . . . More to come Oct 24! 
Rockford Robotics is excited to be competing. It will be fun going to a brand new event.
A bunch of teams have been starting up in central Illinois over the past few years. Its nice to get a regional nearby.
Also the event is in an inflatable dome. Neat.
http://www.avantisdome.com/images/phocagallery/thumbs/phoca_thumb_l_dome_front-1.jpg
http://www.avantisdome.com/images/phocagallery/thumbs/phoca_thumb_l_dome_full-inside.jpg
I…was not expecting that. Interesting.
Wait…whaaat! That certainly is…interesting…:yikes:. Is it heated/air conditioned? What is the floor space? And max ceiling height?
EDIT: Well, got most of my answers from their site: The Dome itself sits on a 33 acre complex that includes the 76,000 square foot “Dome” that is climate controlled.
Also, are their food options nearby? I found this from the site too:
On the event side, the Avanti’s Dome can handle weddings from small intimate affairs up to 2,000+ guests. This includes ceremonies, receptions, and catering not only inside the “Dome” itself but also our beautiful “Zeller Banquet Center” with our highly regarded catering that can feature Avanti’s Pasta or a personalized menu from pork loin, to vegetarian and even vegan options. The Avanti’s Dome & Zeller Banquet Center are also available for numerous types of banquets, meetings, expositions, car shows, trade shows, etc…
But other than that…?
bah, ninja’d
Pekin is a decent sized town. There will be food.
Here’s some nearby restaurants
I hear the judges are going to be extra stringent on R09: Protrusions from the ROBOT and exposed surfaces on the ROBOT shall not pose hazards to the ARENA elements or people. 
Edit: Regarding actual questions about the event location. Our team is located approximately 6 miles from the venue. The choice is intriguing to say the least and I’ll be interested in hearing more from the powers at be regarding the event!
They have steak n shake so this is already off to a great start. JK, I think the depth of this tournament is going to be awesome way to kick off in central Illinois.
There certainly looks to be some logistic issues with the place. I don’t really see how they can hang anything like speakers or screens. It also doesn’t look like they have permanent seating either (meaning some rather uncomfortable bleachers). Pack your seat cushions!
Also, the lack of a hard floor scares me.
My dauaghter had a cheerleading competition a few years back in there. There is a air lock that a few people can fit into when leaveing or entering, you MUST have one of those doors closed at all times. If someone has both open everyone in the food court area gets a nice blast of air! It will also blow all the pictures off the wall!! (didn’t do it, just was there when it happened) So yes, moving stuff in and out is going to be a pain. But there maybe some larger airlocks on the side of the place, that we can use. - from what I can remember.
ALSO, this place, since its air pressure that is keeping the dome up, it will affect your ears. chew gum.
There is a much larger airlock on the other side of the building. However, you still have to go through the process of loading the airlock full of stuff, closing the outer door, waiting for the airlock to pressurize, and then opening the inner door into the dome. Should make for an interesting load-in. :eek:
I wonder, depending on what the game is, whether the higher pressure inside the facility will affect robot performance. I suppose pneumatic systems work on gage pressure, rather than absolute, and should be ok. If the game object is lightweight, the increased air resistance could be significant. I’m sure someone has done studies on the effect!
-Nevermind- Just found a resource that says typical inflation pressure of domes is 1 inch of water, or about 0.037 psi. That still would be over 200 lbs across a 6’ x 7’ door, though!
(emphasis mine)
You all know what this means …
We’re hoping to be able to get in when the second event registration opens up. This regional will have 1) a bunch of great veteran teams that our team can learn a lot from during that first week and 2) is less than 3 hours away from St. Charles. A straight shot up 55 and we’re there. Plus this gives us some nice preparation for the St. Louis regional occurring a few weeks later.
Found this video on the facility: http://youtu.be/2HPtrp1_qa0 They’ll figure something out, kind of reminds me of the old huge tents that Epcot had.
Agreed. I saw some photos on their site of a wedding there, and even then the field wasn’t covered, though I guess it will have to be for the regional. But the fact that it will be a temporary hard surface on top of soft AstroTurf will be interesting…
I’ve never seen a hardtop on the Dome’s surface but I assume that option has to be available somehow. Unless the game is going to be a version of football/soccer/lacrosse played on a grass surface and they are going to add astroturf to all the other regionals
All signs are pointing toward a football game
It all. Makes. Sense.