The Regionals Start

Well, we had to get up around 6:30AM and be at breakfast by 7 so that we could get some people there by 8 to begin unboxing the robot. During the beginning of the practice competitions, we sent a few people around to meet and greet all of the teams, and had a few more in the audience to observe and take notes on all of the robots so we could more easily formulate a plan of attack. We had 2 practices before lunch, of which we attended neither, ate outside, a nice meal of Subway, chips, and a drink, and then went back to getting our robot finished. In the afternoon, we had 2 more practices, but we didn't have it ready to go on time, so we skipped the first one. Bu the second we had a "working" robot, but it pretty much just got onto the field and twitched a bit... We left a few members to finish working on it so it would be ready by the next day, and the rest of us went back to the hotel so we could walk down the strip and then get dinner. We at the the Excalibur hotel, and then split into 2 groups, one going right back to the hotel and the other walking to a few more hotels and then making it back to the hotel around 12:30. A short video of our day can be found here. (File is a QuickTime Movie)

View pictures of Team 1548 Competition!

Off To The Regionals

After boarding a plane at 1am and then switching planes in Salt Lake City around 7am, we finally got to Vegas around 9am Wednesday. We checked into Circus Circus, and then went to our rooms to settle. We had Lunch around noon at the buffet, and then went promptly to AdventureDome, which is the indoor amusement park that is part of our hotel. We spent our time playing games, riding the roller coaster, and shooting each other in Lazer Tag. That was fun until around 5, when we went to dinner at the local pizzeria, followed by an evening of our choice. Some people decided to go back and rest in the hotel rooms, others went back to the AdventureDome. A few of us even went to the Palms hotel to see 300 in their IMAX theatre. Curfew was at 9:30, though there was a small exception for those that went and saw 300, as we didn't get back until after 10. Sleep ensued...