Stan Sheriff Center
University of Hawaii at Monoa
1355 Lower Campus Road
Honolulu, HI 96822For more information click here.
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Hawaii’s third annual FIRST Robotics Regional competition took place at the Stan Sheriff Center for a three-day event on March 25-27, 2010. There were a total of 28 teams, 24 of them local high schools from the Hawaiian Islands, two from Alaska, and one from both Louisiana and New Jersey. For the “Hawaiian Kids,” it is our third regional this robotics season so far, being regional winners of both San Diego and Arizona. Hoping to defend our title, Team 359 is ready to “Breakaway” once again. Arriving at the Stan Sheriff Center at 7:30 am, we waited anxiously till the doors opened to secure seats for our team. Heading to the pit were the pit crew members and mentors, who unpacked our crate to set up our tent, banners, tools, and the robot. Later, students on the scout team worked their way through the pit, obtaining valuable information from the many participating teams such as the functions of their robot. Many visitors visited our pit that asked questions, observed our robot, and conversed with our team members while many received team buttons and lanyards. Throughout the day, Team 359 repeatedly checked our robot, making a few minor changes to ensure that it was working well. While the driver’s team went onto the field for practice matches, our construction and programming mentors assisted other teams, whether it was loaning materials and tools, or taking a look at the teams wiring. It was truly a successful day for the Hawaiian Kids as all went well.
It’s day two of the Hawaii Regional and the Hawaiian Kids are ready for today’s upcoming events. First on the list was the opening ceremony, where two students from Team 359 were selected to pass out leis to special guests. One special guest included Governor Linda Lingle, who gave a brief speech. Entertainment consisted of hula dancers, student dancers, and fireworks. It was very entertaining, especially for those from the mainland. It was time for the qualification matches to begin. Team 359 once again assured that our robot was working, as our first match was match number 4. Winning our first match of the day gave us an excitement! All day long, Team 359 repetitiously checked the robot, queued up for our next match, talked to the many visitors as well as judges, scouted other teams, and documented throughout the entire event. It was indeed a long day for all. For our team, though, it was a very successful day. We were able to hold a spot at number 1 on the board with the highest seeding score and we were able to use our arm for the end game bonus in nearly all the matches. We ended our first day of the competition participating in eight out of twelve matches, winning all of them. During the award ceremony, Team 359 was awarded the Engineering Excellence Award sponsored by Chief Delphi and the Woodie Flowers Award. During dinner, all teams went to the Hard Rock Café for a robotics social where all students, teachers, and mentors ate dinner and socialized with one another.
It’s the last day of the regional and the day has already began with our team once again securing seats in the middle of the stands and the pit crew members getting right to work, checking the robot before our first match of the day. Team 359 continued to score in high numbers during our matches, racking up our seeding score and cooperation points while maintaining a number 1 spot on the board. With a total of 56 qualification matches with each team participating in 12 matches, it was time for the alliance selection. Team 359 was the number 1 seat, selecting Team 368 (Mckinley High School), and Team 2467 (Campbell High School). After alliance selection, all teams were given time to check their robots before the elimination round. Team 359 were up first, challenging the number 8 seat Team 1548 (Highland Tech High School), Team 3008 (Kalani High School) and Team 2477 (Waipahu High School). During the match, Team 359’s robot was in the scoring position, while Team 368 played the middle zone, and Team 2467 played defense in the blue zone. We were up against tough defense while Mckinley High School continued to kick balls onto our zone for us to score. At the other end of the field, Campbell High School played defense only allowing a few balls to be scored. During bonus period, Team 368 was able to suspend their robot as we attempted to hang. As the match results showed, the red alliance score was 5-0. For the second match, we repeated the same procedure, Waialua in the scoring zone while team 368 continued to feed us balls, and Team 2467 defended the blue goal. The match result was 11-0, with the blue alliance eliminated from the quarter-finals. Next Team 359 and our partners headed to the semi-finals, challenging Team 2504 (Farrington High School), Team 2443 (Maui High School) and Team 2438 (Iolani High School). The first match in the semi-finals, the score was 12-9 and the second match was 13-2, eliminating them as we headed to finals. Team 359, Team 368, and Team 2467 challenged Team 2090 (Punahou High School), Team 2455 (Honoka’a High School), and Team 2437 (Sacred Hearts Academy). It was indeed very overwhelming as the Hawaiian Kids waited till the final matches began. Before the final matches started, our opposing team called a time out, giving both sides extra time to inspect their robots to ensure that everything was working. During the first match of the finals, our team, along with Campbell and Mckinley High School, were able to outscore the opposing team with a score of 13-6. In the next match, hoping it was last match of the regional, we scored 6-2, winning the entire Hawaii Regional! Various teams were screaming, as our three alliance team cheered in victory. It was indeed a very successful regional, not only being the regional winner, but also winning the Engineering Excellence Award and Woody Flowers award. Now, Team 359 is preparing for the championships which will be held in Atlanta, Georgia in April.
