History of the Wolves
The journey of our team began in late September of 2011. We were only a few freshmen with no idea what we were doing. We didn’t have a clue who our new team members were, prior to robotics we had never talked to each other. We didn’t know that all of us together would become such a tight family, that even when we are not in robotics we only want to be with each other.
Our journey did not have a very smooth beginning, but when we realized how crucial it was to finish our robot, we all huddled down together, created a strategy, and built our robot again from scratch. After two months, spending night after arduous night, building, disassembling, and rebuilding, we felt satisfied and confident we felt our robot would survive the Frozen Frenzy qualifier. Unfortunately, we were let down round after round as malfunctions began to appear. We found out that our robot programming code was not able to be read by the FTC field system. The blood, sweat, and tears we put into our hard work were gone to waste. In the end, it was the creativity and artwork of our Engineering Notebook that got us into state championships, via the Think Award.
After this unexpected victory, we became more energized and learned from our previous mistakes. Our next competition was Snowday Showdown and the scrimmage at Englewood. Even after practicing with our robot on home turf, our programming, wiring, and building failed to coordinate with each other. Both of these competitions were extremely frustrating moments for the team.
Our final competition for last year’s season was the State Championships. Our robot’s overall design and abilities had improved greatly since the previous meets and qualifiers. We were able to effectively move the bowling ball and place the racquetballs in the crates. However, when we were finally called for the matches, our robot experienced some problems with the connection. This was an extremely heart-breaking moment for our team, because we had spent countless hours fixing and refining the details of the robot, which seemed to work just seconds before. After this, when the other teams began packing up their belongings, our team experienced a literal life-changing moment. A man named Jeff Steele, who works with the Lab View Company, met with our head programmer and team captain and sat down in order to explain our programming errors. He taught our team the common mistakes that teams usually make and how to overcome them and prevent them from reoccurring.
After the knowledge that we learned from Mr. Jeff Steele we fought to find another state completion that we could attend in order to make the World Championships. We finally got a confirmation from Kentucky to attend their event to have another opportunity at making the World’s. Although we had worked hard and finished up our robot, we lacked one aspect of the game, driving. The team had not had a chance to practice driving, which in the end was our downfall. At the end of the event we ranked at eight but we had no alliance to continue to try to qualify for worlds. The experience from Kentucky made us learn the importance of drivers practice, understanding of the game, and importance of scouting and making sure the other teams know who we are.
Even though our season was over for all intents and purposes, we came away with full knowledge on how to commandeer Lab View. This newfound knowledge, along with the thrill of the experience during the previous season encouraged our team to participate in FTC again. Despite the tears and frustrations of the other events, we decided to persevere and try once again.
We began this year’s season with the Bridgewater-Raritan meet. Since this was a practice game, not many teams showed up. However, we were still able to get a good look at all the other teams. Our scouts gathered detailed information on the strategies of the other drivers and the basic abilities of each robot. Scouting was an aspect we were lacking last year, however, we have learned from that mistake now. We discovered that while the other robots seemed to be more sophisticated, their designs were far too complicated for the game. Although our design was small and simple, it was able to effectively displace the rings from the side dispensers and place them on the pegs. Our drivers also had a strategy in place, and after our scouts talked to the other teams, we were able to coordinate our movements with our alliance teams. In the end we finished in ninth place out of twelve total positions. After this we realized that while our claw was extremely effective, we would have to make it sturdier in order for it to survive the head-on collisions from the other robots.
While we are continuously working on ways to improve the design of our robot, we are simultaneously working on the programming and other aspects as well. This year we have ensured that every member is aware of the rules and regulations of the game, as well as the basic aspects of the robot’s design. This has efficiently brought our team closer together and more like a pack, guaranteeing us a prosperous season ahead.
Our journey did not have a very smooth beginning, but when we realized how crucial it was to finish our robot, we all huddled down together, created a strategy, and built our robot again from scratch. After two months, spending night after arduous night, building, disassembling, and rebuilding, we felt satisfied and confident we felt our robot would survive the Frozen Frenzy qualifier. Unfortunately, we were let down round after round as malfunctions began to appear. We found out that our robot programming code was not able to be read by the FTC field system. The blood, sweat, and tears we put into our hard work were gone to waste. In the end, it was the creativity and artwork of our Engineering Notebook that got us into state championships, via the Think Award.
After this unexpected victory, we became more energized and learned from our previous mistakes. Our next competition was Snowday Showdown and the scrimmage at Englewood. Even after practicing with our robot on home turf, our programming, wiring, and building failed to coordinate with each other. Both of these competitions were extremely frustrating moments for the team.
Our final competition for last year’s season was the State Championships. Our robot’s overall design and abilities had improved greatly since the previous meets and qualifiers. We were able to effectively move the bowling ball and place the racquetballs in the crates. However, when we were finally called for the matches, our robot experienced some problems with the connection. This was an extremely heart-breaking moment for our team, because we had spent countless hours fixing and refining the details of the robot, which seemed to work just seconds before. After this, when the other teams began packing up their belongings, our team experienced a literal life-changing moment. A man named Jeff Steele, who works with the Lab View Company, met with our head programmer and team captain and sat down in order to explain our programming errors. He taught our team the common mistakes that teams usually make and how to overcome them and prevent them from reoccurring.
After the knowledge that we learned from Mr. Jeff Steele we fought to find another state completion that we could attend in order to make the World Championships. We finally got a confirmation from Kentucky to attend their event to have another opportunity at making the World’s. Although we had worked hard and finished up our robot, we lacked one aspect of the game, driving. The team had not had a chance to practice driving, which in the end was our downfall. At the end of the event we ranked at eight but we had no alliance to continue to try to qualify for worlds. The experience from Kentucky made us learn the importance of drivers practice, understanding of the game, and importance of scouting and making sure the other teams know who we are.
Even though our season was over for all intents and purposes, we came away with full knowledge on how to commandeer Lab View. This newfound knowledge, along with the thrill of the experience during the previous season encouraged our team to participate in FTC again. Despite the tears and frustrations of the other events, we decided to persevere and try once again.
We began this year’s season with the Bridgewater-Raritan meet. Since this was a practice game, not many teams showed up. However, we were still able to get a good look at all the other teams. Our scouts gathered detailed information on the strategies of the other drivers and the basic abilities of each robot. Scouting was an aspect we were lacking last year, however, we have learned from that mistake now. We discovered that while the other robots seemed to be more sophisticated, their designs were far too complicated for the game. Although our design was small and simple, it was able to effectively displace the rings from the side dispensers and place them on the pegs. Our drivers also had a strategy in place, and after our scouts talked to the other teams, we were able to coordinate our movements with our alliance teams. In the end we finished in ninth place out of twelve total positions. After this we realized that while our claw was extremely effective, we would have to make it sturdier in order for it to survive the head-on collisions from the other robots.
While we are continuously working on ways to improve the design of our robot, we are simultaneously working on the programming and other aspects as well. This year we have ensured that every member is aware of the rules and regulations of the game, as well as the basic aspects of the robot’s design. This has efficiently brought our team closer together and more like a pack, guaranteeing us a prosperous season ahead.