Week Six Already?

It’s hard to believe, but the final week of build season is already here! It’s an exciting time for every team, one full of challenges and achievements, one full of undertakings and overcomings. One full of successes and failures.

The Hitchhikers have had a mixed bag of all these in the past week and on Saturday. On February 10, we met for our first officially extended meeting of the season, staying two extra hours. Drafting of both Chairmans and the Woodie Flower Award submissions were begun from the outlines our outreach team made, the robot’s tower was assembled, and the frame for the shooter was finished.

Saturday saw the longest workday of the season thus far (over thirteen hours!) and the compilation of the qualities each team will see. Progress was made, but not as much as many would have wished to see. The robot’s base and tower were nearly completed and the shooter was finished.

Unfortunately, the shooter made for the robot was not as successful as the prototype developed by the team. Due to a variety of factors, it does not shoot the ball as far. Immediately after the shooter was experimented with, revisions were worked on it to procure a better result. At the end of the night, results had improved.

After several hours of work Saturday morning, the first drafts of the Woodie Flowers and Chairmans awards were completed just before lunchtime. Afterward they were sent through an initial revising process and will continue to be edited and perfected until they are submitted. Teams, these awards are due on the sixteenth! Don’t forget and miss the deadline!

The Hitchhikers have now registered for two regionals. We will be attending both the North and South Carolina competitions. Those are coming up in little over five weeks.

Countdowns:

• Award Submissions: 2/16 (4 days)
• Bag and Tag/Ship: 2/21 (9 days)
• SC Regional: 3/22-24 (39 days)
• NC Regional: 4/5-7 (53 days)
• Championships: 4/28-30 (76 days)