Watch the 2020 Game Teaser!
Or watch the entire Twitch stream below
…and no, it's not a water game…
Originally posted at gnsrobotics.com
SBPLI #1 Regional 2019
Again, “What a regional!!!!” Not only did our alliance win the regional, but we also took home two awards, met some great people, and had an incredible time. It all started on Monday. By the time we finished competing at the Finger Lakes Regional a couple weeks prior, our drive team had already gotten lots of driving practice in. Our drivers were more confident than ever, and after playing a few practice matches on Monday, they were ready to take on the quals. And they really were ready. On Tuesday we finished our qualification matches almost undefeated, and secured our place in the #3 seed. Match after match we were able to consistently place cargo in the ship, complete the lower rocket, and climb to level 2. By that point it was almost certain we would stay as alliance captains, so once we got back home the scouters and strategists went right to work examining our data and choosing possible robots to pick. It really was the real deal here — we were going to have to form our own alliance, and do it right. After Skyping from around 10 PM to 2 AM, our scouters and strategists formed a (mostly) complete pick list, and we were ready to take on whatever would come our way that final day. We finished off our remaining qualification matches Wednesday morning undefeated, which secured the #2 rank for our team. Before we knew it, it was time to form our alliance. We selected team 1468, the Hicksville J-Birds, as our first pick, and completed our alliance with a defensive bot from team 6911, the SO BOTZ. After a quick lunch break, our alliance was re- energized and ready to face the playoffs. Our alliance competed hard in the playoffs, especially against a few skilled defensive bots preventing us from scoring. But before we knew it, it came down to the finals. Our alliance was against a very strong alliance, and we knew we were in for a tough few matches. After winning our first intense finals match by a mere 5 points, it finally came down to the end. We just needed to win one more match. Just one more. Three! Two! One! Go! Da-da da-da da-da! And we were off. This was the start of the most intense 2 minutes and 30 seconds of our lives. All throughout the match, both alliances were neck and neck. Blue alliance was winning. Then red. Then blue then red then blue then red! It was anybody’s game. However, by the time the buzzer rang, the opposing alliance finished the match 8 points ahead of us. We knew that that score is never right, but to gain at least 9 points could be a tough thing to do. After a match review that seemed like an eternity, the final scores came up....and as that blue rocket soared into outer space, we knew it — by a single point, our alliance officially won the competition!!!! It was truly an incredible experience for us and our alliance partners. In addition to the regional, we won the Safety Award and the Entrepreneurship Award, two awards in which we work tirelessly for and we couldn’t be prouder to have earned. Fun fact: we were also the fastest robot there, as reported by the Zebra Technologies DART System. Although we would have loved to stay at Hofstra for the next competition, it was unfortunately time to go. After hopping on the bus, singing a few songs, and having a special little awards ceremony to congratulate each and every member of the team, it was time to call it a day. What a season it has been. And it’s only just the beginning. See you in Detroit! Note: These photos will take 1-5 mins to load…please be patient! Team Pics Awards Arena The Winning Alliance Other (Misc.) Pics Our Reaction to Winning the Regional ✅Play a sport ✅Eat dirt ✅Touch a worm ✅Get a sense of urgency ✅Drive the robot like champions and win the regional!!!
Finger Lakes Regional 2019
Like we said last year in our SBPLI Regional blog post, “what a regional!” Our team had an amazing time at the 2019 Finger Lakes Regional, both on and off the field. We began our journey Wednesday after school, where we spent part of the bus ride upstate watching “The Brave Little Toaster,” a favorite amongst the team members (it’s an inside joke, don’t ask...). The next day at the practice matches, we practiced driving the robot and fixed some major issues. We were having a few struggles with the climbing and cargo mechanisms of our robot, but after a day of hard work, we were able to fix most of these issues. We finished off the night at Dinosaur Barbecue, where we happened to meet Andy Baker, the co-founder of AndyMark! What a special surprise! After a quick scouting meeting, we (tried) to get some sleep before qualification matches. The next day, the drive team started their day off strong dominating their first match. However, for the next few matches, we weren’t quite able to keep that up. We had a few issues with our robot, but we worked through them and were able to solve them. We finished off our matches for the day strong, scoring many hatches and cargo in match 50. The Chairman’s team, Miriam, Amal, and Sebby, also presented our Chairman’s award in front of the judges (more on that later), and we continued inspiring other teams with our safety leadership. We once again finished off the night with a delicious dinner, this time at Macaroni Grill. After another (longer) scouting and safety meeting, we fell fast asleep and prepared ourselves what would be a truly amazing next day. And here is was. The day was here. Although we didn’t know it at the time, this day would become one that we would remember forever. We started the morning off with our last few matches, where we continued to excel in our cargo, hatch, and level 2 climb. After match 80, it was time for alliance selections, and we got picked by the #7 seed, team 378, during first round picks. Our alliance was completed with team 217 during the second round picks. Although we played really strong during our two quarterfinal matches, we lost by ONE point in our first match, and lost by a close margin in the second match as well. But that wasn’t the end for us...no, not at all... During the Awards Ceremony, we erupted into cheer when we won the UL Safety Award! We as a team take huge pride in winning this award, as we work tremendously hard on teaching not only our team members but also members from other teams around the globe our safety techniques and principles. From day one we have been dedicated to safety, and we couldn’t be prouder to have won this award every year for the past 11 years. But that was only the beginning...and soon a little limerick-esque thing began to be read, belonging to a little something called the Chairman’s award... “ Judges met with students who all talked and stood Yeah yeah yeah yeah Students all convinced us that their team is good Yeah yeah yeah yeah This team was inspired by their total reorg Yeah yeah yeah yeah [Wait a minute, this year we totally reorganized our team too] Girls who can code is the new new norm Yeah yeah yeah yeah [Hold on, our team started a Girls who Code club this year too...hmm] Now judges did you hear about this one Their outreach is out of this world China Costa Rica and Turkey [Omg, wait, we literally hosted and/or helped teams from China, Costa Rica, and Turkey, wait, could this be us?] Hey Gold Coast are you having fun [Ok, ok, OK!!!! This is definitely us!!!! Gold Coast Alliance!!!!] If you believed they put the man on the moon If you believe they’ll do it safer than you [That gave it away] Then this team is cool Congratulations, team 2638 ” And there it was. We won the Chairman’s Award. Wow. It’s truly incredible. We work so tirelessly and so hard on the Chairman’s Award, and we are so incredibly happy and proud of ourselves to be worthy of this award. It was truly a team effort. After watching our Chairman’s Video, our mentor Motch handed us our medals, and we headed back home to Great Neck, singing the whole ride home. This was an amazing regional. It really was. Note: These photos will take 1-5 mins to load…please be patient! Team Pics Pit/Robot/Judges Awards Scouting Arena Dinners Meeting Andy Baker Bus Ride Other (Misc.) Pics Our Reaction to Winning the Chairman's Award Our Reaction to Winning the UL Safety Award