The competition in Florida was intense, the game was better than ever. We began with the practice rounds, and found ourselves barely able to move. Our original design was a bridge blocker, but with a lack of finished arms we had to go without them. Our rounds on Thursday went pretty well, our robot worked exceptionally well. On Friday we woke up to rain, the normally nice Florida weather turned to thunderstorms. Our pit area was outside under a poorly secured tent. FIRST had moved our equipment so it wouldn't get wet.
Our first 3 rounds gave us problems, the drive train's key had moved it self out, leaving us motionless for 2 matches. After our 3rd match, we discovered our main problem. Our operator interface was shorted out, it had been rained on, we had to borrow a replacement. After that we did well, but were already in last place. Our 40 AMP breakers blew every few matches, but we had them replaced. During the 49th match, we found our calling. While pushing a box out of the scoring zone, we jetted forward and hit the bar. The box in front of us disappeared under the bar, impossible I thought. When we hit the bar, most of us made it through. We were originally a 4 foot tall bridge blocker, but in the matter of seconds we became a 14 inch tall, 15 fps, shooting bullet. The stands exploded in an uproar, and we finally started winning our matches.
The next day came, and we were flying high, in little less than 20 minutes we had an autonomous program written and tested. It worked, it shot up the ramp and took out 3 stacks at a time. We were doing great, on our final qualification match, much to our objection, we worked with the other teams to give us the 3rd highest Qualification Point score in the nation. In the course of one match, we shot from 40th place to 29th place. When it was time for the announcement of alliance partners, I was getting ready to pack up, and sit in the stands. The choice of the partners was basically choosing the team next to them, grouping together the top seeds. When they went back around to announce the selection of the alternates I couldn't believe my ears. Team 762, Lake Brantley High School, and Team 147, Deep Thunder, the 1st, and 2nd seeded teams choose us as the final alliance partner. When the selection was announced the section of the stands exploded where Team 6 was sitting. The alliance had a very useful, and critical meeting on the stairs for a half-an-hour, discussing strategy, and the teams. We got our robots ready for action, and went out in the quarter finals, and just decimated our defendants, beating them by a margin. In the semi-finals we weren't as fortunate, the other teams had a strategy were weren't counting on. They lost their first match with us, and made sure their own score was low. Then in our next round (we were spectating), they beat our alliance by a small amount. We could have won, but didn't have the time to make our score lower. It was a big upset, but we didn't expect to make it as far as we did. We packed up our robot later after, and then watched the award ceremony. We were sure to have had the website award won, possibly even chairman's, but more upset. Next year, we will take it to the next level, and will go all the way. Thanks to Teams 762, and 147 for their selection of us as their alliance partners. Pictures of the event are in the Image Gallery.
- AJ Quick
Our first 3 rounds gave us problems, the drive train's key had moved it self out, leaving us motionless for 2 matches. After our 3rd match, we discovered our main problem. Our operator interface was shorted out, it had been rained on, we had to borrow a replacement. After that we did well, but were already in last place. Our 40 AMP breakers blew every few matches, but we had them replaced. During the 49th match, we found our calling. While pushing a box out of the scoring zone, we jetted forward and hit the bar. The box in front of us disappeared under the bar, impossible I thought. When we hit the bar, most of us made it through. We were originally a 4 foot tall bridge blocker, but in the matter of seconds we became a 14 inch tall, 15 fps, shooting bullet. The stands exploded in an uproar, and we finally started winning our matches.
The next day came, and we were flying high, in little less than 20 minutes we had an autonomous program written and tested. It worked, it shot up the ramp and took out 3 stacks at a time. We were doing great, on our final qualification match, much to our objection, we worked with the other teams to give us the 3rd highest Qualification Point score in the nation. In the course of one match, we shot from 40th place to 29th place. When it was time for the announcement of alliance partners, I was getting ready to pack up, and sit in the stands. The choice of the partners was basically choosing the team next to them, grouping together the top seeds. When they went back around to announce the selection of the alternates I couldn't believe my ears. Team 762, Lake Brantley High School, and Team 147, Deep Thunder, the 1st, and 2nd seeded teams choose us as the final alliance partner. When the selection was announced the section of the stands exploded where Team 6 was sitting. The alliance had a very useful, and critical meeting on the stairs for a half-an-hour, discussing strategy, and the teams. We got our robots ready for action, and went out in the quarter finals, and just decimated our defendants, beating them by a margin. In the semi-finals we weren't as fortunate, the other teams had a strategy were weren't counting on. They lost their first match with us, and made sure their own score was low. Then in our next round (we were spectating), they beat our alliance by a small amount. We could have won, but didn't have the time to make our score lower. It was a big upset, but we didn't expect to make it as far as we did. We packed up our robot later after, and then watched the award ceremony. We were sure to have had the website award won, possibly even chairman's, but more upset. Next year, we will take it to the next level, and will go all the way. Thanks to Teams 762, and 147 for their selection of us as their alliance partners. Pictures of the event are in the Image Gallery.
- AJ Quick
