2014 Cary Christmas Parade

Soon after coming back from THOR 2014 as finalists, we only had about a month to modify our robots Benjy, Trillian, and Zaphod for the Cary Christmas Parade. Benjy wasn’t behaving, Zaphod’s code had to be fully rewritten, and Trillian had to be completely reassembled, since she was used at THOR by Cortech, a new FRC team that we recently helped start. Not only did we have to rework our robots, but we also had to build a parade float that promoted both our team and the FIRST program from scratch.

At the parade, we had a few team members driving the robots from the back of a pickup truck and on the float. However, every team member was able to participate in the parade. Some interacted with the robots on the ground while others interacted with the audience by handing out candy and flyers with information about the FIRST program. Although the speed of the parade caught all of us off guard, we were able to quickly adjust and continue entertaining the crowd. The families who attended the parade were fascinated with all of our robots and many wanted to join in on the fun.

Overall, the parade was an incredible experience for the team, and we thoroughly enjoyed being able to spread the knowledge of the FIRST program to the parade onlookers.

Up next: the 2015 season Kickoff!

THOR

THOR (Thundering Herd of Robots) was North Carolina’s first off-season tournament, where FIRST Robotics teams competed with an official field in an unofficial event. We had been looking forward to it for almost a year, so when we finally rolled up to Reidsville High School, we were very excited.

Starting Out Slow

Team 2640, Hotbotz, set up their robot under the climbing tower in preparation
for a match at THOR.
Team 2640, Hotbotz, set up their robot under the climbing tower in preparation
for a match at THOR.

For this event, we had decided to give new students a chance to drive Trillian in competition. This choice, however, did have its trade-offs; Trillian was broken on several occasions and we lost many matches due partially to inexperienced driving.

Picking Back Up

Bethany and Megan enjoying the event.
Bethany and Megan enjoying the event.

In order to better prepare for the looming elimination rounds, we eventually decided to bring out our more experienced drivers. It was amazing; Trillian scored over 60 points in one round!

With this, we had the confidence we needed to finish up qualifications.

Eliminations

Trillian lining up

Our time in eliminations started out well; we won our first match with a score of 42 to 40; however, we had some issues in the second match and we ended up losing. This forced a third match to decide who would enter the finals.

The Final Blow

Unfortunately, things would go downhill from there; toward the beginning of the sudden death match, we ran into a problem. Literally.

As we were driving to the feeder station, Trillian received a bump that knocked her off her trajectory and directly into one of the tower legs.

Due to this, we were unable to shoot for the rest of the match, which eventually led to our loss and elimination.

Conclusion

Trillian hooked on

We had a blast participating in THOR (Thundering Herd of Robots), North Carolina’s first off-season tournament. Though we may not have won, we really enjoyed driving Trillian and reconnecting with other teams.

Robot Demos

One could label a robot demo “showing off with a purpose.” That is exactly what we have been doing for the past month.

With two, high-performance robots at hand, we have traveled to local events such as the BEST FEST in Raleigh, Robot Rumble in Durham, and the SR7B Conclave in Carthage to spread the word about our team and others in our area.

Thumbs Up for SCRIW II!

What is the most fun way to get hyped for build season? By participating in a practice tournament with other *FIRST* teams!

On October 13, we rolled down to Irmo High School for SCRIW II (South Carolina Robotics Invitational and Workshops). This was our second time at the annual practice tournament where we networked and communicated with teams as far away as Florida. This year, we allied with and played against teams from throughout the region, including both of our winning alliance partners from the Palmetto Regional.

This event impacted our team in many ways. First, it proved an excellent way for us to help train new members and introduce them to robotics. Second, we bonded as a team cheering in all of those matches and working together on the robot. But when it started, we had no idea how truly exciting it would be.

The robot performed well. Very well. Despite some technical issues with the wiring to our wireless system, by the end of qualifications, we found ourselves in seventh place. Because of this, we were one of the eight teams selecting teams for one of the eight elimination alliances. After this point, these alliances would battle it out in a best two out of three elimination tournament. The winning alliance would advance to the next round while the losing alliance would be eliminated.

Once we had assembled out alliance, we realized that this was the perfect team to compete with. After all, we were paired with fellow Palmetto winners, the  Hotbotz (2640), and another fellow North Carolina team, the Hedgehogs (587).

Our alliance scored a huge win in the quarter finals, winning the first two matches, but we ran into trouble facing the top-seeded alliance of 342, 1758, and 3489. All three matches were decided by less than five points and each match went down to the endgame, balancing upon the bridges. The first match, our alliance partner balanced and we won a very close match. The second match, we struggled to balance and we were narrowly defeated. Everything would come down to the third and final match. It started rough; we missed our autonomous shots and started the match behind by twelve point, but we made up the difference with some excellent shooting and sealed the deal with a balanced bridge. We here headed to the finals.

In the semifinals and quarterfinals, Wando Robotics (4533), the Iron Wolverines (4083), and the Team PyroTech (3459) had made a series of upsets thanks to the challenging defense administered by 4083, combined with their ability to balance consistently with 4533. If we were to be SCRIW II champions, we would have needed to score a lot of points. That is exactly what we did. Everything in our alliance complimented each other like gears in a well-oiled machine. Our autonomous worked, our alliance scored, and the robots balanced. Even despite losing communication with our robot midway through the final match, our formidable alliance still managed to sweep the final rounds. Team members rushed to the drivers in celebration. We the Hitchhikers, the Hotbotz, and the Hedgehogs were SCRIW II champions! It was a spectacular, unexpected win, but it was not just the matches we won, but also the bonding and learning we won together as a team that made this moment so impactful.

We came out of SCRIW a better team; more ready to face the coming competition next year. Our sincere gratitude goes out to 2640, 587, the other teams, and especially all of the other teams that made this possible!

Thumbs Up for SCRIW

On October 29th, the Hitchhikers took part in the SCRIW (South Carolina Robotics Invitational and Workshops). This is an off-season competition held in Columbia, South Carolina. Off-season events are both important networking opportunities and an opportunity to train new members.

We drove to Columbia on Friday night and were up early and eager to compete on Saturday morning. We had a great day competing with our robot and attended a very informative workshop on team branding. Our old members got the experience that comes with every competition they attend, while our new members got to taste the thrill of competition for the first time and are now better prepared for their first season on the team.

We also had the opportunity to network and interact with other teams from as far away as Florida. This is important as our team sets its sights on attending more competitions and becoming more involved in FIRST. In line with FIRST’s principle of “coopertition,” it is vital that we maintain strong relationships with other teams, as we will likely be working with them at some point in the future.

Overall, our South Carolina trip was a strong success. We all had a great deal of fun, learned a lot, and are better prepared for what the 2012 season holds.