Rolling Thunder Blog of Wonder

For the longest time it looked like I would be unable to give to you Crystal's perspective on the final day of the Boston Regional. But she has pulled it together for me!  I will interject here and there on this one! 

Day Four – BREAKAWAY!!

While the event is a blur in my head now, and no longer fresh in my mind, I’ll still try my best to fill those empty spots in.

It was about 7-7:05am when everyone met down in the lobby with all their belongings that they had brought with them. We all wheeled up on our bus and drove for the last time, through the busy Boston traffic.

The day started just like the morning before; getting our bags checked, waiting 15 minutes in the lobby, cheering for the staff and other teams. The storm had already hit the arena. This time, there were no hair up-dos, no spiking, and certainly NO straightners!

Opening ceremonies were very brief on Saturday, and the final qualification matches were underway quickly.  Kristina and Mentor Sharon took the time to prepare the team awards - our camo decorated inflatable soccer balls. 
Our award recipients:
Goal Tender - Best Defense - Team 97
Striker - Best Kicker - Team 2084
Upper 90 - Best Lifter - Team 1403
MVP - Favorite Alliance Partner - Team 467
MIP - Most Improved - 2888
Dribbler - Best Under the Tunnel - 2590
Halfback - Best Bump Climber - Team 3148
Rookie - Favorite Rookie - Team 3280
A large contingent of students, accompanied by Mentor Bear as the photographer, headed to the pits to distribute the awards.

We started the day in first place, but wavered throughout the morning based on other teams results.  After our final two matches, we were seeded 2nd and Theo was selected to make the alliance selections. 

Everyone was nervous throughout the day for the upcoming awards ceremony, but when the Thunder and lightening struck on the field with several successful wins, everyone’s minds were drawn to cheering and shouting to support the team! We even had alumni Rika Lee and Mark Mascadri join us!

It was phenomenal for our drive team to make it all the way to Finals! Alliance Captain, Theo Matt directed the alliance selections. 1511 allied with Brazilian team 383, and a Maine team, 2648! (We lost our first Final's match by one point - unfortunately Thunderfoot had not climbed to his full height and we missed out on bonus points.) Our last competing match was a score of 12 to 11 favoring the opposing alliance. It was an intense last match as the scores climbed and climbed.  Congratulations to the winners: Team 88, Team 1922, and Team 1768!

That wasn’t the end of our day though. For sure, we knew we had the Regional Finalist medal coming.

The crowd went quiet as our emcee re-appeared in a tux. He welcomed us to the regional awards ceremony, and called Dean Kamen to the podium. Dean, spoke to us about our future, his vision. He told us about the new Dean’s List award, informed us of his family story.

Then the awards ceremony proceeded…. With many poems. It was silent… and there wasn’t a squeak in the room until team after team was called.

The team was called for the Top 3 Safe teams (Mike H's record as safety captain is still perfect - Top 3 at every regional!), Cooperition Award (tied with the 1st seeded alliance, HYPER Team 69), and Regional Finalist Award. 

And then came the first moment that the team was waiting for – not Chairman’s just yet, but the Dean’s List. The arena was quiet… and 1511 members had their fingers crossed. From there, everything was a jolt as they called student leader Crystal Vongnaphone as one of the Dean’s List Semi-finalists!!! The team jumped in excitement and tackled Crystal in the stands until she dashed down to receive her certificate from Dean and Woodie themselves! (My version - The team erupted!  I couldn’t really see Crystal at first but by the time they got her to the aisle, she stopped, put her face into her hands and started crying.  Then as the team started cheering, CRYSTAL! CRYSTAL! CRYSTAL!, she bolted down the stairs (with our photographer trying to dash after her from about 5 rows up).  When she got to the entrance the other winner, a young man from one of the teams from our finalist alliance, Blake Bourque, Team 2648, was waiting for her.  They congratulated each other and she let him go first, which was good because when she got to Dean they seemed to have this very long conversation.)

I could see the sincerity within each and every judge and refs eye. I knew they were watching me, and I knew they had kept a close watch. The entire day, I was just so nervous thinking about it at every minute. When they actually announced my name, I could not believe it! I was in tears! My eyes just flooded as I went down and shook each and ever person's hand. Dean, gave me a hug and that moment was captured by both mentor John Hall and teacher advisor, Mr. Weisbrod! Thank you!!

Little did Crystal know, she’d be joined by her team as soon as she got to the top of the stairs…
By the time we got her back upstairs, as we were in the nosebleed seats, she had time for a quick photo with her Mom and just a few hugs before they started the Chairman’s announcements.  A poem...

“We all know FIRST's a marvelous thing,
That gives us each back more than we bring.
The many fine works of this fine team
Show all who see what FIRST can mean.

They teach, they strive, they ignite the sparks
That spread FIRST’s message in widening arcs
Across the globe, and around the corner.
This team attracts great awe and honor.

A robot could be nuts and bolts,
But inspired by sponsors, kids and coaches,
This team's power can reach so high
That their energy can light the sky.

Now, if this poem has made you wonder,
Just wait, and you will HEAR THE THUNDER."

Midway through, you could begin to hear the sobs of our team members and the enduring squeaks that just wanted to become screams of joy! There were many shedded tears of joy as the team jumped up and hugged each other. We could even hear the echo of our Thunder in the stands next to us as the Duct Tape Bandits cheered for us.  After they announced our team, we went up to the main hallway to get to the next down stairway and in the hall way we were just a jumble of piles of hugs.  It was a cool almost private moment before we all entered the arena again.

Mr. Weisbrod thought Crystal might have been in some serious shock having cried so much over the team’s success and her own, knowing that all her hard work has been rewarded in the highest honor possible!

The team will now go to Atlanta with high hopes of Chairman’s at Championships, a kickin' robot ready for more competition, and for Crystal, the chance of becoming a Dean’s list Finalist!

No one wanted to go home, or leave the arena. No one wanted to stop enjoying the wondrous time we will remember – no one wanted to leave Boston.

Dean, Woodie – Thank you!

The bus ride was long, and everyone slept. We didn’t get home to about 2am. We stopped and had McDonalds, salads, sandwiches and pizzas.

Before leaving the school we draped the Chairman’s banner over Mr. Brewer’s desk, and placed our trophies beside that blue piece of pride that we hold our heads high for.

A thanks is in order to all our friends, family and alumni who were able to capture these amazing moments in time, and were able to support us throughout the entire trip!

We hope to have a great competition in Atlanta,

And signing off until then…

Is your Head Communications Director…AND

Dean’s List Semi-Finalist now,

Crystal

Thanks to Crystal, you are truly getting a day in the life of Rolling Thunder at competition!  Here is her perspective on Friday evening.  This is as close as it gets to downtime for the team and as you will see, it is anything but restful and relaxing!

Day Three ... Part II

So the team had a wonderful time exploring the museum and having dinner.

What did we have? The food ranged from chicken tenders with french fries to salads and sandwich wraps!

Everyone split up in groups and checked out many of the exhibits, including one in honor of our own founder, Dean Kamen! There were also exhibits focused on lights, electricity, personality, and well.... physics.

A lot of the big kids took over the kiddie play room. Yeah, that was a lot of fun! We even met with a few of the Duct Tape Bandits and toured with them!

After the museum we returned back to the bus to have our team meeting before we got to the hotel. As Mr. Weisbrod gave his talk, we passed through the "Big Digg"-- a giant road tunnel that was just completed as of this year. Upon arriving at the Marriot, everyone made a run to the only two guest elevators in the entire hotel.

The hotel has 15 floors.

Do you know how long it takes just to get up and down? And imagine the looks on business people's faces when they saw a mohawk, red camo, and a bunch of kids. Some might have said it was priceless, and others were just curious.

While most kids went to bed, strategy crew: Matthieu, Kyle, Jason, Crystal, Becca, Theo and the amazing mentors Kim, Larry, Jeff, Leann and even Tom and Cynette came!

From approximately 9:40pm to about 12:45am, the team ranked and ranked robots and observed them for their top teams selection list. It was a long night, but everyone got some amount of sleep.

That's it for day three in Boston, part II!

So signing off is your Head Communications Director,
Crystal

Once again, Thanks to Crystal, I can publish a team update! This is really great, since I have very limited computer acess and it would be Monday or Tuesday until you heard anything from me!

Day Three - In the heat of Competition (Friday - Qualification Rounds Begin)

It was a day of excitement for the enthused Rolling Thunder! We departed from the Marriot hotel, our temporary home at about 7am! We all got on our awesome bus and it took us about 15 minutes in the crazy Boston traffic to get to the Agganis arena.

From there, we headed for row 107 to claim seats for Duct Tape Bandits and ourselves so that we could coordinate cheering! We even ended up sitting with other local NY teams, Devil Tech from Victor and Division by Zero in upstate NY, Potsdam.

At that point, the pits flooded with people in capes, duct tape, and even inner tubes! What you see at competition, is always something not like any other! I find that the most interesting thing about the regional is how differently it compares to other regionals and the ranging difficulty.

Half of the primary drive team upon arrival were taken right into practice mode for the Chairman's presentation at our time slot of 10:15am. So part of the secondary drive team helped to fill in! The first match was a loss, but we know we wouldn't back down!

The Chairman's team returned within half an hour of their presenting time and brought great news and gossip! The judges loved our presentation and are really impressed with ourt eam. Great job, Chairman's team!

From that point on, there were many matches of success! Thunderfoot's awesome mechanical and electrical work has kept our scores constant and amusing! Many spectators throughout the day came into our pit to view our newly implemented hanger, including Dr. Woodie Flowers! Funny enough, our pitcrew had about a five minute long conversation with him as he inspected the red protruding mechanism that was designed in between regionals.

1511's seeding went up and down as matches carried on throughout the day. Dropping down to as low as 11, the Thunder brought on the storm when they won their final qualification match of the day with a score of eight to four! This put 1511 into the position of seeding number one! By the end of the night, 1511's ranking remained and Thunderfoot went to sleep with it's new bumper blanket created by awesome team Mentor, Cynette! (Our team was quite bummed with the new bumper rule assigned this year, but that didn't mean we couldn't still have camo bumpers!)

The team did not receive any awards today, but as Woodie would hope everyone will do and has, is we have all made our grandmothers proud!

We are currently loaded up in our bus and heading off to eat dinner! Do you know how difficult it is to fare in Boston traffic and roads? You either have miniature cars sneaking up right in front of you and cutting you off, or you have people walking across the street!

Tonight, some students will be going to the museum, some will be scouting, and others will hopefully be resting for tomorrow! Everyone is to pack when we get back home in preparation to leaving Boston tomorrow evening after the awards ceremony.

Our team has high hopes for top seed, Champions, Chairman's and even Dean's list!

Ditching you for the sights of Boston, is your head Communications Director,
Crystal

P.S.: I'll let you know what we eat later and how late night strategy goes!
Till then, don't forget to smile

Thanks to Crystal, we have an update "Day Two – Let’s get it on!"  This covers the first day of the regional - Thursday, Practice day.

It’s day two of being in Boston with the drive, pit and back up team. Most of our students (even the ones back home) woke up at regular school time hours to get ready for our arrival at the Boston Agganis arena!

We set off from the hotel at 7:30am after waiting for everyone to get their meals and head off. Everyone piled in cars, and we drove over to the parking garage which was $10/person! Kind of unfortunate, really, but oh well!

The arena was already really crowded with pit setup, stands flare, and even laptops! Everyone had their own special items, like the Duct Tape Bandits – one of our favorite teams.

Did you know that you cannot bring food or drink into the venue? You can’t even walk in without having your bags checked! But it’s got to be best for everyone!

What we had for lunch? At the arena concessions you could find anything from pizza, to pretzels, to even crab cake sliders! Talk about variety! Many of us decided to eat out though at the Qdoba’s down the street, or Chicken restaurant that appears to be favored by quite a few of our team members!

The practice day consisted of our students pit scouting, exploring or being in the pits mounting on all the new robot designs that were completed as of 4pm! We have a new hanger that effectively works and flips our robot up successfully! However, we are currently working to “up” our status on there because we don’t quite clear the tower base (or whatever name best fits here).

When it came time for everyone to stop practice rounds our members took their time packing everything up for the pit. A majority of the pit crew went right back into their working zone, while some returned home to the hotel to rest, or attended the team social that served free pizza and ice cream! Held in a gymnasium, half of it was used for movie viewing of The Terminator, and the other side had food and games! The hosts were collecting jigsaw puzzles that would be donated for an Alzhimers cause.

In a nutshell, there were many series of unfortunate events today, but everyone is here now, and our Thunder is still rolling

We look forward to a great day tomorrow and lots of cheering!

Signing off again for take two is your head Communications Director,

Crystal

The Boston Regional Starts tomorrow and runs through Saturday March 27.  The trailer is packed and the advance crew heads out later today after school with the rest of the team following tomorrow after school.

The team has been busy for the past several weeks, and there could have been a lot to report out, but I've really enjoyed my several week hiatus!  Refreshed and ready to blog again, let me talk about a few of the activities!

Chairman's presentation preparation:  The presentation team was selected.  Shauna, Becca and Kyle have been busy at work developing and practicing this year's Chairman's presentation with coaching from a variety of mentors. Shauna and Becca were presenters last year, but Kyle is the new member of the team. Last night during the team meeting, the team got to hear the presentation for the first time, and Shauna and Becca got to see how Kyle would do with a large audience.  Smile Kyle, smile!  The presentation was wll done and does a great job of highlighting some of the important activities of our team.  Doug Hitchcock's red camo tuxedo jacket has been borrowed and new ties have been made by Andrea B. (alumnus Collin's mom), so the presentation team is sure to look sharp!

Chairman's video:  Last night we also got to see the finished Chairman's video.  Crystal has been working very hard to gather interviews and select photographs to put together this year's video.  It was great, especially the awesome Theo monologue that accompanied it!  Well done Crystal! It should be posted soon and I'll include a link here at some point if you would like to see it.

The Button Maker has been smokin'!  Almost everyone has been getting into the act of making the oodles of buttons needed tor trading at Boston and hopefully a head start on buttons for Atlanta.  In addition, 5 special edition Regional Recognition buttons have been made for the Boston Regional to be used as recognition awards by all the teams in Boston. We can now see the bottom of the bottomless - or so we thought - box of button parts and will definitely have to restock the supply soon.

Rochester Rumble:  Last Saturday, we hosted the Rumble for the FLL teams in the area.  I missed attending, but it sounds like it was a sucess! I heard that there were 5 teams in attendance and that Thunderplucker was working again and was tossing orbit balls and rolling around.  

Rolling...speaking of rolling, both our cart and our tool box had some work done on them to keep them rolling smoothly.  It was especially noticible on the well loaded tool box as it was moved out of the shop last night and loaded on the trailer. 

Thunder...our robot, Thunderfoot, is getting some upgrades when we see it next at Boston.  The robot subteams have been hard at work redesigning the lifter mechanism and planning some other tweaks to enhance performance.  Part of the process included building a light frame mock-up which was dubbed Thundertoe.  This week, in what has been called Build Season Week 10, the new lifter has reached a point where it will be able to add some WOW to our robot!  Alas, the lovely piece of netting that made our robot so photogenic at the FingerLakes Regional will soon be obsolete, but after seeing the lifter in action, even I can say that the trade off of pretty vs "DID YOU SEE THAT?!" will be worth it.

And now that I've mentioned "did you see that?!" the Boston Regional is scheduled to be webcast on Friday and Saturday at http://www.thebluealliance.net/boston10/.  You may also be able to find a webcast on the NASA site at http://robotics.arc.nasa.gov/events/2010_frcwebcasts.php.  Keep an eye out for the “red camo” and see Team 1511 in action!  (Thanks, Val for the links!)

Time to hit the road!

Photos of the day...well, photos of the interlude...

Introducing Thundertoe!


Getting ready to grip the tower!