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FIRST Robotics 2010

I never cruise this forum much, and it's the first time I've really noticed this topic.

It's a shame when you do something like this and have to mention visiting a theme park to get any response. That being said, I'm aware this stuff pretty much goes over the head of most people.
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I agree, but not everyone is super interested in robots. I mean, personally I'd never want to join a robotics team because let's face it, I'm horrible at this sort of thing, but I definitely commend anyone who actually has the patience and the skill to make such a fab robot.
 
Actually, due to the scholarships offered by the FIRST organization as well as talking to team alumni, I'm quite aware of how good this is going to be for college and careers. Our coach and many other people have made sure that the idea really sank in. It's pretty exciting, and I'm grateful for it.

Also, thank you for interest. It's nice to know that members are reading and enjoy the input.

My friend found a photo sometime today, and every time I look at it, it makes me smile:

4479456495_3887a43f2e.jpg


Also, here are my photos from the MI State Championship on my Facebook. I didn't have time to upload them to Photobucket before I left for Easter Break:


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... =657583153
 
When the balls are scored in the goal, they are placed on those rails above the field. They roll down to the towers and fall into the middle zone. The 469 robot parks into the tunnel and unfolds it's chutes, and when the balls rolls to the end and falls, it falls into the chutes instead of the center zone. They have a switch where they can switch the direction of the ball depending on where robots are. There is also a curtain on the top of the chute so the opposing team can't see which way the switch is positioned. It's a brilliant design, I must admit, but it manipulates many rules and isn't a fair robot. Here's a video of it in action:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ8q9_Lirig[/youtube]

Actually, four of those six robots are the best of the best. The one that is defending against them(217) is a two time world champion. The one who is paired with 217 is the reigning world champion, who ironically beat 217 in the finals to win the world championship last year. 469 has also been the world champion in 2003 and the team that 469 was paired with was the number one seed in this past state championship.
 
I think I remember hearing about that. It's very sad.

I've been trying to do some research on other teams around the nation and see how they match up compared to Michigan teams. So far, it's looking good for Michigan.
 
It's finally time. We leave tomorrow and we're extremely excited. We can't wait to get down there. We have high hopes, and hopefully we can live up to them.

By the way, if anybody wants to watch live stream of the competition, you can at this link:

http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/robotics/

We'll be on Curie field. Look for team 573 and root us on!
 
As some of you probably know, I am back from Atlanta. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Even when we weren't working our asses off during the competition, it was still a blast to hang out around the hotel and around the park. During our time there, we went to the Georgia Aquarium, World of Coke, Ted's Montana Grill, and other places, but most of our time was spent at the Georgia Dome and the Convention Center. Here are pictures:

Yeah, it was pretty sweet:
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Michigan teams loved us this year:
Atlanta2010038.jpg


We have quite a reputation to live up to next year:
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This is the long tunnel running underneath the Convention Center into the Georgia Dome. It was quite a hike, but pretty sweet:
Atlanta2010052.jpg


FIRST Lego League World Championship was also there. Here's their past games:
Atlanta2010054.jpg


Us with the world championship finalists this year, Team 1114, Simbotics, from St. Catherine's, Canada:
Atlanta2010073.jpg


Our view from the Omni:
Atlanta2010088.jpg


The crowd and three of the six fields:
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Michigan alliance:
Atlanta2010093.jpg


We started a "Michigan!" chant and we ate their souls. Because of this match, our team won the Unity Award from Team 27, Rush Robotics(Clarkston, MI):
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One of the rich members of the team got thundersticks as promotional items:
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Walking through the park:
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Aquarium:
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We were quarterfinalists. We should have been semifinalists, but we got screwed by the field attendants. We were a sea of orange for a short period of time though:
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Probably my best photo of the robot:
Atlanta2010224.jpg


Fireworks at the FIRST party after the competition ended:
Atlanta2010234.jpg


Outside World of Coke:
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Playing ninja in Centennial Olympic Park:
Atlanta2010266.jpg


Overall, this was our best season. We competed in the eliminations at every competition we went to. The last time we were in the elimination rounds in Atlanta was during our Rookie year in 2001. We won plenty awards and a lot of recognition from other teams from around the country. Honestly, I can't believe that 3 and 1/2 months went by so fast.

We have a lot of work to live up to. Next year is our 10th anniversary, and we plan on making it special. We're hoping to have a great robot again next year, as well as more sponsors, more team members, more spirit, and more awareness around our school and community. I can't believe I'm saying this, but is it January yet?
 
Wow. Absolutely awesome and I'm glad you had a great time. Also,

rollerdude said:
Playing ninja in Centennial Olympic Park:
Atlanta2010266.jpg
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WIN! :P

But still congrats and this was really really cool.
 
I haven't posted any videos from Atlanta yet. Our photographer/film maker has finally started uploading videos to our Youtube. Unfortunately, he's incompetent and he has only uploaded a couple videos of us. Instead, he has been uploading videos of other teams in the finals. It's great to have a team Youtube and have only a few videos of your team on it...

[/rant]

Ok, this video I'm sharing is one of my favorite matches of the entire season and my favorite match in Atlanta. This is us paired with two other Michigan teams, and we destroy the opposing alliance. Be sure to watch with sound, because at the end, you can hear the distinct "MI-CHI-GAN!" cheer echoing through our corner of the stadium. We start in the center and stay in the center for most of the match:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stXE3mPLU1k[/youtube]
 
It's not over yet! The team decided to attend three offseason invitational tournaments. One of them will be in Indianapolis, so if there are any CFers in the Indy area and want to see a robotics competition, let me know!

Also, here's another of my favorite videos. During this match, we were in the right place at the right time and kicked in five balls at once:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajT9tVaTupQ[/youtube]

I will continue to post updates throughout the summer for those who are interested.
 
Once again, pretty damn cool. Don't know how many times I can say it but I guess I just have to keep saying it.
 
Our next competition is in five days and we're really excited. I get to drive and I'm bringing an entourage. This competition will be different though because it will be outside under a tent. I'll bring my camera, but I probably won't get many pictures because I'm driving but I'll try my best.

My dad and I built new holders for our banners. I can't wait to see the banners on them.
 
No replies, no surprise...

Our team did fine, but our partners screwed us over. We finally ended up with 469, but we ended up losing...Typical. I got to drive this time, and I had a lot of fun. It was very fast paced and the competition was fierce. I can't wait until the next competition.
 
Don't be discouraged by no replies, people are just dicks :wink:

Sucks you lost and you were screwed over but at least you had fun!
 
The first day of the Michigan Advanced Robotics Competition was today. Once again, we're getting screwed by our partners, but we're still up there in the rankings. After the qualifying rounds, there was a mentor tournament, and our mentors ended up winning. It was very exciting, and we ended up making a lot of good friends with a few other teams, which is very good for us.
 
We just finished MARC. After watching our mentors win last night, we were excited about the elimination matches today. We ended up on a pretty good alliance, but we were up against 469, the world championship finalists. We split the first two and lost in the third, but we blocked 469 all three matches. Our first match was a disaster, but we came back in our second match and won. Our third match was bad luck. We lost 6-8 and we shot probably ten balls that bounced in and out. We outplayed the opposing alliance and kept 469's threat level to a minimum, so they were lucky to win. Even though we were quarterfinalists(again), we still had a ton of fun. This was one of the best competitions yet. Here's some photos:

Striking in the near zone:
MARC2010038.jpg


MARC2010044.jpg


Our mentors skirted up as well:
MARC2010058.jpg


Probably my best picture:
MARC2010062.jpg


1918, the #1 seed; 573, the #5 seed; and 1718, the #7 seed at the Michigan State Championship. We were stacked:
MARC2010064.jpg
 
IRI starts tomorrow! We're so pumped. The match list has been released and we have some wild matches. They also revealed a photo of the trophy:

34652_406016093229_183701158229_4488418_5953658_n.jpg


It's regulation size and made out of stained glass. The base is an 8" wheel.

If anybody is interested, here is a webcast to watch the competition:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/IRIevent

And here is a match schedule so you can find when we are playing. Just search for 573:

http://www.indianaroboticsinvitational. ... hedule.pdf

I'll probably post an update tomorrow night. I will be driving this competition too.
 
I'm back from IRI. We had a great time and we performed well. We ended up 14th seed out of 78 teams. We were 5-2-1 and we had some awesome matches. We broke our team's high score when we were with one of the world champions, team 67, and we won 20-12. We also had a great match where we were with the powerhouse 217 against the world championship finalist 469. We ended up winning 14-11. We also had a match where we were against another world champion team, 294, and we were with another championship finalist, 1114. 1114 ended up losing communication and we won a two on three match 12-11. Yet after all of this, we weren't picked for eliminations, which insulted us. We're starting to wonder if we were mixed up with team 537, who ended up in dead last. The event was still awesome.

Here's a video of our match with 67. Our robot is the red one on the left that kicks the first shot. I'm driving:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca4hJx-RHs0&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
 
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