The Central Illinois Regional Competition in Peoria was definitely interesting for our team. Our robot, named Spud, had some issues throughout a few of the rounds. Luckily though, our mechanical sub-team is absolutely awesome and was able to pull through and fix things up for tomorrow's quals (qualifying rounds).
Yesterday, part of our team drove down early to drop off all of our pit setup, supplies, and tools at Bradley University's Renaissance Hall. They wheeled and carried everything into the gym, set up all of the cabinets, and sorted some tools. Spud was hanging out outside of the pit while everyone finished setting up. It was definitely chaotic because most of the 40 teams attending this competition were also setting up their pits at the same time as us, which is usual for drop off day. Not only did we have to watch out for our teammates and our surroundings, but also other teams and their surroundings. This portion of our team made sure the pit was organized for optimal performance during repair times. The setup was finished around the same time the Hall closed for the night.
We started the day off with reuniting the whole team together outside of the University building, waiting for the doors to open. It was shockingly comfortable weather outside for 7am. We talked about our strategies for the day, joked around to relieve some tension, and talked about the day we had ahead of us. One thing we were talking about is how our team is half rookies. We had three experienced students, and three rookies. Our mentors are awesome though, and coached us through everything.
Today marked the beginning of practice matches. We participated in two matches, but we ran into a few issues both times around. Only after a lot of frustration and fixing were the mechanical and build sub-teams able to pinpoint and fix the problems. Our drive team performed incredibly well during these matches. They were learning how to operate the robot on the official field, figuring out how to score the cargo into the upper or lower hubs.
The marketing and media sub-team was busy taking photos of the team and the robot on the field. They were also posting constantly on social media to make sure family and friends who were not able to attend the competition could watch the stream live online. Many amazing photos were taken today, and we are looking forward to seeing what the photos look like tomorrow!
For lunch, one of the mentors got pizza for everyone. Because it was so beautiful outside, the team decided to get some fresh air while eating outside. As usual, this was a fairly quick lunch. The build, drive, and electrical sub-teams had to get back to working on the robot.
The day is over now, and we have made it back to our hotel after a mess of a dinner at Culver's. The parents and mentors went to settle in for bed, while us students when to swim and hang out in the pool! We had a blast talking, strategizing, and messing around. We stayed until the pool closed at 11:00pm. Some of us wanted to turn in for the night, while one part of the team stayed up even later to have a meeting about scouting for tomorrow's busy day.
That's about it for the first day of the CIR Competition here in Peoria! Stay tuned for the next two days worth of blogs!
Written By:
A.O.
Marketing & Media sub-team
Rockford Robotics 2039
(3/17-19/22)
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