Thoughts and Analysis of the 2009 Connecticut FIRST Robotics Competition (#FRC)

There's perhaps no place where I feel more at home than a FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) event, even after the 10 years since I was an active member of my original team. Part of it's the shared interest, part of it is the friends, and of course there's the robots.

I guess I would liken my experience attending different FRC events to seeing different parts of a family. Everyone in FIRST is the same family but there's extended family and immediate family. If FIRST in California was part of the extended family, familiar but you don't exactly know them all that well (maybe there's even a crazy uncle who dies his hair some weird color or something), then FIRST in New England is definitely my immediate family. So many familiar teams, familiar robots, familiar faces. Perhaps it is no surprise then that my home coming to New England in general just happened to fall mere days before the premiere FRC event in New England, the Connecticut FIRST Robotics Competition Regional.

What keeps me attending these events? I decided it comes down to two fairly simple things: friends I don't get to see elsewhere and the robots. For as much as I personally believe that Dean, Woodie, and the FIRST organization have done what they can to de-emphasize the robots and what happens on the field in the Post-'01era I hail from a time when FIRST was very much about the robots, never exclusively of course, but the emphasis on the robotics, machines, and design of them was greater in that earlier time. Directly because I'm a product of that now bygone era, for me FIRST is still very much about the robots.

With that in mind if you showed up today, or yesterday for that matter, at the FRC Regional in Connecticut looking for some robot action you wouldn't have been disappointed, at least I certainly wasn't. The finals were amazing and full of surprises some jaw dropping and some heart breaking. Perhaps the first such surprise came as 1100 was knocked out of number one seed as the result of a loss in their final qualification round of the event. I didn't see that one coming.

With 1100 now number two seed and 121 having clinched the number one spot this left them free to pick team 649 who had put on a show for much of the qualification rounds and even managed to score in autonomous during one of them. Enter the first heartbreaking surprise when in one of the finals matches their robot failed to move at all. Unfortunately it seems that for reasons I'm not sure of they or their side of the field were plagued by technical problems for the remainder of the finals and despite a time out they were never able to get the autonomous mode working. 121, 649, and 173 are all great teams and the old school of the old school, I respect them, I've watched them for years and I truly expected them to be mixing it up at the end of the day. What can you say really other than it happens sometimes and when it does it's never fun.

The alliance of 126, 1155 and 1902 came roaring out of their quarter final round and it was evident some kind of fire had been lit under them. Perhaps it is was the 121, 126 rivalry I can't say for sure but whatever the inspiration they were firing on all cylinders and then some. The number 4 seed defeating the number 1 seed and earning a spot in the finals. Don't get me wrong I have enormous respect for all the teams involved but it is something like this that just makes me shake my head in wonder at how 126 manages to put these alliances together and execute time and time again when it really comes down to the wire.

Coming off what I can only imagine had to have been a pretty big high from their semi-final fight against 121, 649, and 173 it was hard for me to see how the 126 alliance wasn't going to take it all home and in fact they just unleashed in the finals with everything coming together when it counted. They would go on to best the very impressive number two seeded alliance of 1100, 175 and 243. For all the criticism that has been heaped on this game I can honestly say it was some of the most impressive play I've seen from an alliance of really top notch teams, and the stars just seemed to align for them.

Of course the win had little to do with any stars and a lot to do, at least in my opinion, with two main things: the make up of the alliance and driving skill. First off the Gael Force drivers seemed to excel at avoiding the opposing robots wherever the other alliance wanted them trailer they weren't and it was just that simple. They seemed to have perfected this slick little trick where they'd power slide and then spin or whiplash the goal out of the way. Of course it is an alliance made up of three other robots all of which had a vital roll to play as well.

This alliance seemed to prove the old adage that the best defense is sometimes a good offense. It certainly applies here where they managed to assemble an alliance of three very effective perhaps even dominant offensive teams. This year pinning is such a widely used strategy that one of the best things you can do is assemble an alliance that forces the opposing alliance to sit there and ponder, "Well heck who do we pin?" That's exactly how it played out here, no matter which team you might decide to pin you're still left with two deadly scorers out there roaming the field and eyeing your trailers. So in the end with three really good offensive teams 126 and company were able to neutralize the pinning strategy as much as they possibly could.

What's so interesting about that approach here is that while the 126 alliance managed to effectively neutralize the pinning strategy from being used against them they used it themselves to great effect!! In the actual finals 1902 ended up pinning Buzz Robotics 175 in a corner and I'm not sure what magic bacon's got going on under their robot but it may as well have been welded to the playing surface, Buzz was stuck and meanwhile you had 126 and 1155 executing in flawless fashion and filling goals every time you turned around and combining that with impressive driving skill to keep their trailers away from looming opposing robots at the same time.

I'm very grateful I was able to witness the action in Hartford in person this year and there's no doubt in my mind that the field of robots was among, if not, THE best in FIRST this season.

Given some field issues, some tense moments of robots not working in the finals I think it is more than worth a special shout out to the FTA and score keepers in CT. You couldn't pay me personally enough money to be FTA at an event this season but from everything I saw,at least from up in the stands, it looked like they kept their cool both in the face of technical and attitudinal obstacles and that deserves special recognition in my book.

Well done once again to all the volunteers, the regional committee, teams, etc. If there was only one small complaint I had it was that at times, and this was more of a personal thing for me I think, the crowds seemed to just crush in upon you up in the bleachers. However my own personal issue with that should no way take away from my main point here that CT is the best event in New England. I think it has a lot to do with the incredible tireless amount of dedication that the planning folks put in as well as the depth of experience represented by the planning committee that works on Hartford.

If you're anywhere near Hartford next year make sure you stop in for the 2010 FIRST Robotics Competition Regional...It'll be another great one I'm sure!!