The main contacts of teams attending Palmetto received the following from Don Griffith of the University of South Carolina:
Hey, UIS does something besides turn nearly every classroom on campus into a “smart” classroom? Awesome. 
By the way, if anybody’s reading this and thinking “Man, our freshman totally swiss cheesed our flag holder–what are we going to do for Palmetto?!”, 1618’s got you covered. We’ll have a decent supply of 1/2" PVC pipe and end caps in our pit–just ask and we’ll get you on your way to handling R15.
(Granted, this pipe may be painted Capitals Gold…but hey, free is free, right?)
were not going on a bus but close enough
o… we are ready for this!!! of course our trip is only 2 hours instead of 12, but whatever 
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1249 the RoboRats will be leaving WV early wednesday for the 6 hour trip south. Like to arrive early and enjoy. Can’t wait for the team social and Palmetta Pig
i cant wait either
i believe it is about a 4 hour trip for my team
we are leaving right after school Wednesday
Team 538 and 34 are leaving for Palmetto early in the morning WED. for our 6.5 hours drive. I cant wait!!
The trips not that bad for us, ~3-3/4 hrs according to Google. We leave Wednesday night and will probably be arriving in Columbia around tenish, and ready for a competition where we finally don’t have any work we HAVE to do to on Thursday to make the robot competition ready, we don’t even have to lose weight! (We still plan on adding a few things though, like an autonomous selector pot and two more air tanks) That leaves all that time for writing 15 user selectable autonomous modes. (Up from the one monster autonomous mode that we had at VCU, which we never activated to to sensor & feedback problems)
someone can tell me for sure, but there are a total of 6 ramp bots, and 3 are doubles right? and if nobody counts us as a ramp, we are planning on having one ramp.
we have a 4inch platform if needed, also, 337 has a double ramp.
cool, i did not no that.
hey, is any one wlse staying at the embassy suits?
We’re (587) at Embassy Suites
Ah yes, the Embassy Suites. Nice digs, as I recall. (It’s been a few years–family would often stay there when they came to town.)
By the way, for anyone coming from Embassy Suites (or anywhere else that involves I-126), do yourself a favor and ignore Google Maps once you get on I-126. Google Maps will take you to Elmwood Ave., then Assembly Street, then Greene St–this involves a further distance on a street that isn’t world-renowned for its stoplight-friendliness.
Here’s what you do from I-126:
When I-126 ends, you’re presented with two options: Elmwood Ave. and Huger St. (Spare yourself the embarrassment for when you talk to locals about it–it’s pronounced U-G, not hugger or huge-er or anything else.) Take Huger St. This will take you down a ways, past the [strike]BellSouth[/strike] at&t building, and through only two or three stop lights with any real chance of slowing you down. On your left, shortly after passing Gervais St., you’ll soon see a ginormous flag pole, currently flying a South Carolina flag with the colors inverted. About a block and a half later, also on the left, you’ll see Todd & Moore, which has a white sign and green script lettering. This is Devine St.–make a left, but look before you turn! Devine St. takes you right to the Coliseum parking lots*, but you go over a rather busy railroad crossing to get there. A train here will delay you quite a bit, so look before making the turn. If there’s a train, go one block further to Blossom St., then go left here. Blossom has an overpass that’ll let you get past the train, then make a left turn to reach the Coliseum lots.
*The Carolina Coliseum was the home of the Gamecocks until 2002, when the Colonial Center opened as the Carolina Center. The Coliseum still stands, hosting smaller events, some classroom space, and the city’s minor-league hockey team. The Coliseum is all of about two blocks away from the Colonial Center, and shares parking with it and the Koger Center for the Arts across the street, but the parking area and shuttle stop are still dubbed the Coliseum by seniority (and a bit of proximity, since it completely bounds the lots on one side, where the Koger Center and Colonial Center are on corners of the lots).
Team 1626 will be there. Good luck to all 45 teams. And we have an insanely long ride there I heard something like 12+ hours.
woooo
get to leave after school
cant wait
good luck everbody
The TechTigers [team 1251] are in Columbia [after an 11-hour drive] and ready for the regional to start tomorrow! Are any other teams staying in the Comfort Suites [Downtown Columbia Vista District] Hotel?
:]
Hey, that’s not far from here at all! (Well, assuming you mean the one on Gervais St.)
So I found out today that 1875 (Autonomato Autonomatons) and 1368 are official–for some reason, they were jumping on and off of the rosters I saw until today. (And since I’ve seen both crates on the floor in the Colonial Center, I imagine that they’re quite official now.)
By the way, the pit layout appeared to be a little jumbled. Things seemed to loosely follow how they went in Chesapeake, with rows of similarly-numbered teams mixed up en masse, but don’t quote me on that.
Also, you’ll have to take some time out to look around the concourse–this afternoon, I saw Donn Griffith setting up FLL challenge sets for every single year that South Carolina’s been involved–that’s every field going back to Volcanic Panic (and two from Nano Quest)! There’ll also be FVC demos, and quite a bit more that I’m just not thinking about right now.
This, in a word, is going to be awesome.
No, we’re on the one on Taylor Street, which is less than 5 minutes away from the arena by car.
:]
Team 587 going to be there!! It will be our first time there, because we went to VCU all the other years.
We went to VCU this year too.
So, guys, with…maybe 8 hours before things get underway tomorrow, I figured I’d say a few things.
It’s going to be awesome.
I hope to see each and every one of you there, and don’t be afraid to come up to me and say ‘hello.’ I do look just like I do in my WAI, just more…awake.
Good luck to all of the teams competing.
And for all of the long commuters…you are very tolerant. 1293 is within driving distance ( < 30 minutes maybe ) of the Colonial Center. But we are immensely glad to have you in our hometown!
See you folks dark and early.
-Taylor Tsuboi, Programmer, FRC Team 1293 (D5 Robotics)
P.S. Forgot to mention… THIS…IS…ATLAS!