January 8th, 2022, was the official FRC Kickoff day! As kickoff has been every other year, this year's kickoff was super exiting. Today we will share with you all that happened for our team during kickoff.
The FIRST Inspires Kickoff Live Stream began at 11:00am. Parents, mentors, and students were gathered around a U-shaped table formation in the main area of the Bot Shop to watch the kickoff. A couple of students who couldn’t join in person were tuning in via an online Zoom Meeting. There was some light conversation going around before the livestream began and everyone was excited to see what this year’s game will hold for the teams.
Around 11:06 the livestream began. Nobody knew what to expect for the game, and many of us were getting a bit restless while waiting. By the time the game reveal came around, everyone had their curiosity on full blast. Then BAM! They revealed all of the game rules, challenges, and the fun new parts. One of the most shocking aspects of the game was the Traversal Rungs, and as the game animation video showed how the robot needs to ascend on the bars to reach a certain amount of points there was a “WOAH” in unison among everyone in the room. We all thought that the Traversal Rungs were a cool, yet difficult, challenge to complete in the competitions.
Another interesting part of the game is that one player can shoot balls from behind the station into the top of the hub. This is only allowed during the autonomous part of the game though. We are looking for the best basketball player on the team to shoot those extra points!
Soon after the game animation video reveal ended, they revealed the code to get into the game rules PDF file. After we were able to get access to the file, we basically muted the livestream and immediately began learning and breaking down the rules so that we would all know how to play the game properly, and what to expect from the game. Everyone had something to look for in the file; someone was writing measurements and important information on the huge whiteboard, and others were talking about strategy for the game. There were conversations happening about what mechanism to use to shoot the balls into the upper and lower hubs, what mechanism to use for picking the balls up off the ground, and more. Halfway through looking through the rules, lunch arrived! We had pizza, breadsticks, and cookies. You know, only the best stuff. The team continued looking at rules and making up strategies while they ate their food.
Once everyone finished eating, one of the new team members presented their idea for a new Rockford Robotics website (which is the website you’re currently reading this on). The presentation consisted of showing a draft design for a new website built and maintained through Wix, with some explanations of the different aspects the website could have.
Today was a very important day for both our team and the FRC teams all over the U.S. and around the world who were also watching the kickoff livestream and looking through the rules just the same as we were. The team is excited to make the robot, design all of its mechanisms and parts, and to see what this year will bring for the team. Happy Official-Start-of-the-Build-Season everyone!
Written by:
A.O
Marketing & Media sub-team
Rockford Robotics 2039
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