There were two things running through everyone's head: "It's too early" and "This is kind of exciting". It was just before 4AM on Wednesday, April 27th and all the members of Team 2655, The Flying Platypi were getting on a bus bound for St. Louis, MO for the FRC Championship event. After everyone boarded the bus, we started our very, very, very long bus ride to Missouri. Fifteen hours, at least five movies and seven hundred miles later, we arrived at our final destination. After an afternoon of hanging out in the hotel (the pool was excellent) and making buttons, the team had a quick meeting and went to bed to be ready for all the excitement Thursday would hold.
Thursday:
Early Thursday morning the team rode the bus over to the Edward Jones Dome for the first day of competition. It was really incredible to walk into the pit for the first time and see all the FLL, FTC and FRC teams all in one place ready to compete in their respective fields.
After putting the finishing touches on the pit and setting up Archimedes in the stands, it was time to get in line for robot inspection. We passed Godzilla (our robot) and the minibot without too much trouble but we unfortunately were unable to make to any of our practice matches on Thursday morning.
Unlike FRC regionals, at the Championship Event seeding matches begin on Thursday afternoon, instead of Friday morning, so there will be time for ten matches for every team. So, after a quick lunch, the team went back to the Newton pits/stands to que up for/watch our first match. Although we had connection problems and were unable to move for much of the match, we had some incredible alliance partners who helped win our first match of Championships. The rest of the afternoon was dedicated to trying to fix any problems with the robot and do as much "networking" with other teams as we could. It was really a lot of fun walking around and meeting new teams from all over the United States and the world that were represented in our division as well as others. However, the most exciting part of Thursday came in the evening; RoboProm! The team is proud to announce that with just a little convincing, every single member of The Flying Platypi attended RoboProm 2011 hosted by team 399, Eagle Robotics. All of had a fantastic time at prom, everyone talked and danced and a couple team members even had the opportunity to crowd surf! By the time prom ended and we went back to the hotel, everyone was incredibly happy but really tired and ready to go to bed.
Friday:
It was Friday morning, and the Rebecca Black references were running rampant. All the "early bird" team members headed to the Edward Jones Dome at 6:45, so we could be there as soon as the doors opened.
Because it was the second day of the event, all our matches were held in the actual Dome instead of in the pit area. It was really an awesome feeling walking into the Dome with our robot for our first match on Friday. Everything was incredible: the lights, the field, the crowds of teams in the stands...all of it was amazing and it was really exciting to be apart of it.
We had a mix of good and bad matches on Friday; we just couldn't seem to get rid of our field connection difficulties, no matter how many field techs tried to help us. Still, regardless of our robot problems, everyone on the team was having a really great time at Championships.
The best part of Friday was by far the "staged event" featuring the Black Eyed Peas that had been hinted about by FIRST for so long. Because Team 2655 qualified for Chamionships through winning the Regional Chairman's Award, we were given floor seats to the concert, allowing us to be right next to the stage the entire time. It was a great concert and I think I can safely say that every single FIRST team there would like to thank the Black Eyed Peas for coming, we all had a great time.
Saturday:
Early Saturday morning everyone packed all their luggage and rode the bus to the Edward Jones Dome for the last time. We had two seeding matches left but really the whole team was just trying to enjoy the rest of the event. All of walked around and talked with other teams, collected more buttons and had a fantastic last day. After alliance selections for our division were over, all of us went out to lunch and took another trip to the arch. The Flying Platypi had a really great last day and it was nice to enjoy St. Louis. Later, we walked back to the dome to watch the award ceremony and the final Championship matches. After all the awards had been given out and the last of the confetti had fallen, the team had a quick dinner before getting back on the bus for the last time and starting our ride back home.
Going to the Chamionship event was a really incredible experience for everyone on The Flying Platypi. We had the opportunity to see how for we've come in a season and at the same time get ideas on how to improve ourselves in seasons to come. The Flying Platypi would like to once again thank all of our dedicated coaches, mentors, parents and sponsors for their support, there is no question we couldn't have done it without them.
Now, onto the 2011 off-season!
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