Ever since winning the Oregon Regional back in February, the Flaming Chickens had been anticipating the FIRST Championships. So on the morning of Wednesday, April 16th, we all arrived at the airport bright and early a bit bleary-eyed, but still unable to contain our excitement for the coming competition. We landed in Atlanta in time for dinner on Wednesday night, and after scoping out the location, we headed off to bed in our hotel rooms looking forward to the coming day.

Just like at the Oregon and Las Vegas regionals, Thursday was a practice day, and we made good use of it adjusting to Nemo's new arm. We had decided that the satellite dishes, while stylish, simply were not effective at picking up the trackballs, so we replaced them with a nifty new metal claw. After our drive team got used to the change, it was clear that the new arm was a definite improvement. In addition, Thursday proved a great opportunity to look around the pit areas and meet teams from all over the country--and the world! One of our neighbors in the pit, Team 1576, hailed from Israel. There were also teams from as far away as Brazil, New Zealand, and Singapore. Wandering through the pits really showed us the incredible scale of FIRST robotics.

On Friday, of course, the real excitement started. The opening ceremonies commenced with speeches from such esteemed figures as FIRST founder Dean Kamen and FIRST national advisor Woodie Flowers. We were also surprised by an appearance from former President George H.W. Bush, who created an instant meme by describing FIRST as "like the WWF, but for smart people!" After the opening ceremonies, it was time for the qualification matches to begin. The Championships were divided into four divisions, each of which functioned like its own regional. Team 1540 had been placed into the notoriously competitive Galileo division. Our first match wasn't until late in the morning, so it gave us an excellent opportunity to observe the earlier matches and get started on our competitive analysis. We performed reasonably well in our matches, but some minor malfunctions and unfortunate mishaps caused us to not do quite as well as we hoped on some occasions. Nevertheless, our hopes for the rest of the competiton were high as Friday drew to a close. We were also given the privilege to tour the Georgia Aquarium--the largest in the world, we were told--on Friday evening.

On Saturday, we were all excited for the final qualification matches, followed by the eliminations for each division, and finally the final rounds that would determine the 2008 FIRST robotics Champions. Even though Nemo performed excellently in our two matches on Saturday, the Flaming Chickens were not chosen as a member of one of the final alliances. So our drive team packed up our crate, and the team settled down to enjoy the nail-biting final matches from the stands.

One team we had competed with at the Oregon Regional, Team 1983, Skunkworks, made it into one of the final alliances and played very well in the quarterfinals. In addition, Team 368, Kika Mana, our partners from our winning alliance in Portland, made it to the final competition round for their division, Curie. They were allied with another team that had competed at the Oregon Regional, Team 100. We would like to congratulate our friends for performing so well in the incredibly competitive Championships!

Once the champions of each division had been announced, the focus shifted to the fifth field, Einstein, where the final elimination matches would be held. After several nail-biting rounds, interspersed with inspirational speeches and awards from Dean Kamen and others, the 2008 FIRST Robotics Champions were announced. Much to our delight, the winners came from our division, Galileo. Congratulations to teams 1114, 217, and 148 for your amazing performance! Everyone at the Championships tried their hardest, and for the most part, the spirit of gracious professionalism was honored. After much cheering and confetti-throwing in the Georgia Dome, everyone swarmed into the neighboring park for one incredible blowout party. Fun, games, and food abounded, and many of us even got Woodie Flowers to sign our team T-shirts!

We all left Atlanta understanding what an incredible experience the Championships had been. Team 1540 had the amazing opportunity to compete in the Georgia Dome with some truly skilled and impressive teams. We will never forget our experience at the 2008 Championships, and we cannot wait to come back for more in 2009!

View more pictures of the 2008 Championships here.