Regionals are the events that take place all over. The first ones were this past weekend. If you go to www.usfirst.org and click on "events" you will get a list of the events. The ones that have already taken place will have "results" and some will have video available. If you watch some of the video you will understand how the game is played a whole lot more. You will also gain insight into what kind of strategies work for this year's game. Each week the robots get more sophisticated as teams learn from the previous events.
We will go to Silicon Valley Regional at Event Center at San Jose State March 13-15. This is considered to be one of the most competitive regionals and some of the top teams in the nation will be there. Some teams come specifically to try to beat Team 254 (the boys who meet at NASA too). They have won SVR every year they have competed except one. See their impressive collection of blue banners about the lab.
Thursday is set aside for making improvements on the robot we shipped (putting cables on the elevator, swapping the claw, completing wiring, programming, etc.) There are also practice rounds so we can put our robot to the test. All day Friday and Saturday morning are the seeding rounds. Saturday afternoon the best 24 robots (out of about 48) will go head to head to choose the best alliance of 3 teams . The top seeded 8 teams each choose 2 other teams to be part of their alliance to win the championship of the day. It is a very complicated process and often the top 12 teams become choosers. Our first year we were seeded 5th which is unheard of for a rookie team! Last year we were 47th out of 48, so we expect to be on our way back up.
During the seeding matches there will be 4 girls (including Krystine) serving as the drive team running the robot. Several more will be madly working in the pit between matches as the robot will undoubtedly need repairs, tuning up, replacing the battery, etc.
The rest of the team will be scouting the other teams. Sila is our head scout, and she will work with the drive team to determine the information that will be helpful to know about each team. Pre-match scouting is gleaning whatever information you can from the internet or by talking to others. Pit scouting is what you can learn by walking around the pits and looking at other teams' robots and talking to other teams about their strengths and weaknesses. Match scouting is what you can learn from watching the matches. Hopefully this year we will be able to compile the information in a way that it is more useful to the drive team during the matches. Scouting information becomes vital if you are seeded in the top 12 or so as you may have to choose alliances that will complement your strengths; if you are chosen, your information will help your alliance to plat strategy against the opposing alliances. Scouting goes both ways; the image our team projects to other teams may well affect how we are perceived and could determine if we are selected for an alliance. We want to be seen as competent (don't dwell on the negatives), cooperative, honest, and fun to be with -- do not exhibit obnoxious or overbearing attitudes.
There are other awards in addition to the ones for the winningest teams. Perhaps the 2 most important awards are the judges' award and the chairman's award. Our rookie year we did not win a single match at the championships, yet the girls were still incredibly upbeat and eager to help each other and other teams. The judges noticed this and also the fact that all of the girls could answer their questions confidently and correctly. They also realized that we were truly a girl-driven team. We won the judges award at the championship! The chairman's award recognizes extra effort beyond FIRST -- if we enlarge our commitment to the Lego robotics team(s) from EPACS, combined with our work with NASA and Girl Scout events, we will have a chance to win a future Chairman's Award!
The motto of FIRST is "gracious professionalism". You will quickly discover that the games are highly competitive, yet teams are very willing to share parts and expertise with any team that asks.
There are also many aspects of a sporting match including team mascots dancing together or leading cheers for their own team. We are inviting area Girl Scouts to join us. Talk to Lilian about the fun of wearing the Cookie costume and leading cheers.
The Championships are similar, except the best teams from the world are there and teams are divided into 4 divisions. Each division chooses a champion alliance and then those alliances go head to head for an overall championship.
Diane
