Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

For me it's quite simple. Judging at an FLL event, we were handing out the trophies, and it came to the trophy where 2 teams get a half of the trophy. I go to pick it up, and as I do, the trophy wobbles and falls to the floor and explodes. :eek: The person who put the trophy together came running out and quickly put it back together. The worst part of it all was that we were in front of an audience in an theater. So all the parents and kids saw it.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

At least my top three most embarrassing things were being witness to un-GP behavior. One was a drive team member with the field crew, one was in the pits within a team, and one in the stands. I don't know the names, and wouldn't call them out here if I did. I'm glad that none were representing 3946.

Appended: To refine the question a bit, the most embarrassing thing I ever did at a FIRST event was actually something I let slide about several weeks previously, about two weeks into build season. The game was 2013, Ultimate Ascent. It was my first year as a real mentor (though I had thrown out some ideas and done a few calculations to support the team in 2012). Our second year of competition was the only time we actually ranked in the top 24 at Bayou, but our robot was so incredibly inconsistent that no one would pick us. I later identified the malady as TRS (Twitchy Robot Syndrome). We had several matches in which the pneumatic exhaust valve was left open (can't shoot, can't climb, and with our 2-wheel CIMPLE box drive, can't play much defense), and a number of electrical glitches. But the problem that had us down hard by the end of seeding (so hard that we would probably have turned down an alliance selection had it been offered) and that we did not fix for over a year was my fault. I had help in the poor decision, but it was ultimately my fault not to push harder for correction.

Our frisbee launcher had two pneumatic wheels in series along a linear track spun by ungeared CIMs; we had the first one spinning about 70% of the speed of the second, which both theoretically and by listening seemed to put the same amount of load on each CIM. During a design meeting, mechanisms more and more complex were suggested for the "trigger" that would lift a CIM into the first wheel, and the conversation seemed like it would go on forever. I disengaged from the conversation and built an aluminum "finger" which would ride on the front of a 3/4" pneumatic cylinder, extending into the bottom of a frisbee to lift it, and which would (by its shape) automatically ratchet back behind the next disc. I "cut" 3/4" aluminmum bar by metal fatigue, bent it by hand, drilled it with a hand drill, and pipe-strapped the cylinder in place. (Reasonable prototype techniques, but keep reading.) Long before the argument discussion was over, I had something that worked for several shots in a row. I argued that the bar needed to be rebuilt, but the general mood of the team was that it was "good enough", and after a couple of rounds, I let it pass. We did change the mounts, but we literally competed with a part that was formed by metal fatigue. By the end of competition, the back end of the tongue was completely jammed inside the 1" square tubing that was just supposed to keep it oriented the right way. I worked feverishly with another mentor and three students from the end of seeding to about match 6 of eliminations, and we were little closer to fixing it than when we'd started. I should have been more assertive about doing things right several times that year, but especially on this one.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

I have 2 stories.


1) 2007 at the championship was the first time I had my segway at the event. During opening ceremonies I was on the floor of the dome over by the cueing area event standing (on the segway). Right after the ceremonies we over I turned to speed off the field on the other side of the dome and hit one of those electrical bumps too fast and at a bad angle. I had a colossal wipe out and was thrown over the handle bars of the segway and onto the floor. Since this was right after opening ceremonies there were tons of people in the stands to witness the event. :o


2) In 2009, my rookie team 2775 qualified for the championship through winning the rookie all-star at their regional. The students on that team were so excited and engaging that we had quite a few judges coming by through out the event. At one point there were 5 students, 2 judges, and myself in a small huddle near our pits, talking about the team. Really great conversation and then the team driver's let one rip....SBD style. Everyone who has ever been to a regional know that there are some interesting smells that you encounter in the pits, but this was particularly bad :yikes: The huddle went quiet and then quickly disbursed, and we all had a good laugh about it. We didn't win the Rookie all-start at champs that year and I am not saying the fart was the reason....but I do always tell me students it is important to make an impression, maybe I should have been more specific to the methods.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

You probably don't want to hear this, but I remember that one... :)
You scrambled up pretty quick and brushed off help.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

Meh....I'm over it. I always wondered if someone had photos or videos but they never got back to me. Fortunately this was before most people had smartphones so probably none exist...thankfully.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

Couple of years ago I face planted on the field during tear down. I was pretty tired and I caught my foot on the side bar as I went over it. No harm done: I am not getting any more pretty anyway :p

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

This year at the PNW Wilsonville event I was feild reset. They kept warning teams not to go over the step. During lunch right as every on was getting back I tripped and face planted because I had not listened.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

When I was a senior in high school, I was the president of my team, and therefore the alliance captain. This was fine because I had also been the drive coach that year. My team was the number 1 seed at the Chesapeake regional, and when I went to choose my first alliance partner, I accidentally called the wrong team! Luckily the team I chose was not competing at that event, and I was able to fix my flub. But, then when I went to call the second team (this was before serpentine draft so it went 1-8, 1-8) the head referee, who at the time was Dr. Browne, we went to pick the second to last team. No one but my team and this other team knew we were even thinking of picking a team ranked in the 40s or 50s, but we saw potential in them and knew what they could do, so we helped get their robot going. The problem was, the field personnel didn't print the rankings that low, or had missed the last sheet, so Dr. Browne and the emcee both thought I had goofed again and were confused and looking at their sheets when up walks the team I had called. It was one of those moments that just sticks with you from your days in the FIRST® Robotics Competition. (Also, this was back before the scoring software had the team numbers in it for alliance selection)

End "Back in my Day" story.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

When I was volunteering at the 2014 Southfield district in Michigan I was field reset and during a match I didn't know that a ball was just scored and I accidentally gave it to the human player near me and I didn't know I committed a field fault till after that match I don't remember if we replayed that match :p

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

A few that come to mind:

Palmetto 2007. 1618's robot, then known as "What robot?", was powered by a CIM motor geared down not nearly enough because that's what we could interface with easily and cheaply. The arm was about 5' of PVC pipe with a window motor on the end for a grabber. What could possibly go wrong? Well, when the operator bumped the joystick with his butt in the pits and I was standing in front...

I apparently went slack-kneed for a moment, my jaw was sore for a week afterward, and the robot was immediately renamed Uppercut.

SCRIW 2014. After a joke about my lack of flying jump kicks while acting as the emcee, I decided to channel my inner Karthik during Finals 2. Never mind that I'm probably most of 100 pounds 45 kilograms heavier than him or that he seems to practice this way, way more. I finish the red alliance and start sprinting towards Blue 1. Duck the truss, avoid the robots, upppppp!

Apparently the coefficient of friction of my shoe on the diamond plate is higher than the coefficient of friction of my sock on my shoe. My foot immediately slips free of the shoe and I very nearly go headlong into the player station trying to stick the landing. I called Finals 2 and did teardown with a very funny walk.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

FTC North Super Regional, 2015 I was running Tinker Field 1 as an FTA. A robot started doing a spin out from brick/motor lock (not uncommon at all with the old system). Despite having been an FTA for FTC for two years I completely blanked on how to turn the robot off. My FTAA had to step in and do it for me. He still brings it up anytime we talk about volunteering at events.

IRI 2011 (logomotion) My last event as a student and I got to drive coach for most of the event. The drivers had the type of blind obidence that is arguably a good thing to have and in our match with Wildstang I told them to put the logo up in the wrong orientation. Which I didn't realize until we heard Raul shouting "who put the logo on backwards!?!"

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

All Five Career FLL Events- All those times running the wrong program. :o

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

FTFY.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

At the 2006 Palmetto regional I was on Drive Team. All of Drive Team plus a couple other students and a mentor went to Carolina Wings for lunch. They were particularly busy that day and service was understandingly slow. Unfortunately it was so slow that we ended up being there almost an hour longer than we intended. And there was only one mentor there to drive us back.

By the time we got back to the Arena we rushed in to see 4 other younger members of our team on the field driving the robot. We completely missed the match and proceeded to get a very deserved ear-full from our head mentor about our responsibility to the team.:o

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

This match
http://watchfirstnow.com/archives/62472439

Count the robots on the blue alliance, count them again once the match starts.
We managed to get a -4.2 OPR that regional.

What I would give to play the 2013 game again...

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

2014 Waterford District Event: My rookie and sophomore year. I had a drawstring bag where I kept my scouting and strategy stuff, and a water bottle. It was immediately after opening ceremony that a lady started yelling at the top of her lungs "YOU'RE LEAKING!!!" non-stop! I ran to a trash can as quickly as I could to dump what water remained in my bag and bottle. I also spent 15 minutes in the rest room blowing everything off under the hand dryer. :o

2015 Southfield District Event: I was the team representative for alliance selection. I had done it before so I wasn't shaking at the legs like I had been my rookie year, but I was still somewhat nervous. I lost track of which teams had been selected, and requested an alliance with one that had already been taken. I recovered quickly and selected an available team. I've seen a lot of others make that same mistake, so at least I'm not alone. :D

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

i know that feel

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

In 2008 I was kicked out of the pits for wearing Keens, and I didn't have any other shoes. I had to coach from the stands.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

Don't feel bad - whoever (read: me) placed our robot on the field for one of our matches in 2014 placed it the wrong way and would have wound up with a penalty for going into the other alliance's area in autonomous as well. Thankfully, there was a completely unrelated field fault and the match was replayed! You can be sure we got it right from then on out! :)

In finals 2 of an off-season competition I was driving. It was a 2v2 game and our alliance partner had some issues and wasn't moving. (Some driver station mode thing). We were capping and they said it would only take a second to get moving so we noodled 3 bins and put them on the scoring platform to prep. The other team then regained control and made a stack. I then proceeded to try to pick up a bin and knocked it over. Tried another knocked it over. Went to the third and knocked it over. Turns out picking bins off of the scoring platform is not our robots strength.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

2014 The Bloomfield Hills Girls Competition: We were selected in the alliance selections and I had the team mascot's shield. I went out to accept and I was going to say 'you have our shield' but it came out as 'we have a shield'.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

2015 Centerline District: Friday night, a handful of volunteers stayed behind after pits closed to build a castle out of totes and RCs, because these are the important things we do as volunteers. At one point we ran out of totes on the field so I went to run and grab a few of the spare ones, and as I ran I tripped over the step and wiped out. This resulted in a sprained ankle and a lot of rug burn on my legs (I was wearing shorts).

Luckily not many people saw it because the castle was blocking their view. Unluckily my girlfriend was one of the people who did see it. To this day every time we go to go down steps she feels the need to make a comment.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

After our first finals match at Mount Vernon this year I needed to talk to the ref and the fastest way to get there was across the field. I stepped onto the field before immediately realizing the lights weren't green yet. Got a yellow card and the team made sure that I knew not to step on the field again. Apparently after over 300 matches as coach I still didn't know not to step onto the field...

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

What about that one drivetrain of yours in '03 or thereabouts? Something about window motors?

That's a relatively new one, but it's still important, especially this year.


I've been a casualty of the field rail a few times.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

We may or may not have done the exact same thing at Battle of Baltimore 2014. Our coach ,after double checking with a programmer, set up the auto and the match started. Consequently, the robot, instead of driving into the zone, took off full speed in the opposite direction across the length of the field. It then slammed into the opposing side's alliance wall then backed up about a foot, and then did it again and again and again till auto was over. Not our finest moment.

You can ask just about any of the 2014 students about that event and they'll deny BoB ever happened that year. I can however vouch for the excellent event quality, if not for our particular performance quality at the event. :D

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

I think mine would have to be having a CIM motor go up in smoke right above my head and being one of the last people to notice. North Bay, 2015.

The motor in question was powering our forklift for tote stacking so it was positioned at the top of the frame. The forklift was strapped down tight for transport and we were assembling, checking, and getting things ready for competition. Someone powered on the robot to check out the pneumatics, the robot tried to home the lift carriage, which would have been fine, except that by grand misfortune someone* plugged in the encoder cable the wrong way, which caused wonky readings, which told the software "hey, the lift's not in the home position, better move it there"...

I smelled burning. I looked down to see if our RoboRio or any of the control boards or drive motors were smoking. Nope. I started calling out to the teams in the pits adjacent to ours. "Hey, something's burning. Is it yours?"

Then I realized everyone was staring. Then I saw our coach running and waving frantically at us. Then I looked up. :ahh:

Burning CIM motors stink.

*not me, I swear

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

ninja'd

The programmers very clearly stated that the low goal auto goes backwards. This incident did inspire better practices on our team though, we now tape copies of an auto mode list to a the laptop (and the gurney, and the corkboard)

Good thing our programmers got to redeem themselves at Ramp Riot...

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

2015 Northeastern Event- Trying to find my friends in the hotel and running through it for an HOUR AND A HALF getting looks from the janitors and security guards at 9-10 at night...

2015 District Champs- While creating a light-saber conga line with my team and some people from other teams, my mom and grandmother unexpectedly walked in to the event. I'll never forget the look of surprise on their faces (Since I am usually somewhat quiet at home)

I also managed to trip on my Jedi Robe and fall down half a set of bleachers. :)

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

For me, saying "landfill" instead of "beacon repair zone" as a game announcer in the local FTC qualifier. :p

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

My first year on Team 449, our second match of the 2008 Trenton Regional quarterfinals.

After a huge upset win against the top-seeded alliance in match 1, the whole team was amped. Our inter-match maintenance routine involved checking our drive train with a flashlight - this was the first year of AndyMark's 6'' mecanum wheels, and they required a lot of care as they had a tendency to pick up crud from the field and were made of fairly thin metal that would bend in on the rollers and prevent them from turning. One of our team members, after finishing this job, left the flashlight sitting in the robot next to a wheel on the cart.

Well, you can guess what happened next. The flashlight remained in the robot as we placed it on the field, and proceeded to jam itself in one of our drive belts and render us immobile for the whole match. We lost the third match, and the rest is history.

Among various other incidents, this has entered our "team folklore" and all of our new students hear about it at some point or another.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

2004--1293 didn't exist in 2003. (And I don't feel one bit embarrassed by that, because that really was all that team could get to drive. You kids don't know how good you have it thanks to JVN and Copioli and a bunch of people in the background getting together to make FIRST realize a "kit drivetrain" that required welding 2x4 box aluminum and careful assembly of drill motors that may or may not puke their guts onto the floor wasn't gonna create positive outcomes.)

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

At the MI Troy district in 2011, I clipped the top of the field wall while throwing a tube. The entire alliance wall shook so much that a tube fell off the opponents rack, earning a red card.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

Being a bit too overzealous about our pedistal not lighting up during a match in 2014 at the St. Louis regional. I became way too vocal and the volunteers thought I was yelling at them when really I was just yelling to get the situation resolved. After a fun talk with the FTAA I've since taken a bit more laid back approach to coaching. :]

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

During the Montreal regional in 2013, we had a robot shooting from an end of the field to another... I was the copilot, controlling the turret (which could turn 270 degrees and go up and down...). While loading, I needed to turn the turret perpendicular to the side of the field... During a match, I forgot to slow down the wheel used to shoot and while turning the turret, a frisbee launched and hit a volonteer right on the wrist. After this event, none of the volonteers ever ventured again past the safety net during our matches... :)

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

Well, several announcers have been calling the debris "litter". They finally got the name right in the wrong game.

I don't know exactly how embarrassing it was, but this past weekend I fell on the base of the bleacher stairs at the Petoskey FTC event trying to go up them, and my shins still hurt a week later.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

One time one of my friends was caught off guard and walked down the up escalator. I thought it was hilarious until I did the same thing.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

This year we feild a robot that had three of the four rivets on one of its tote gathering arms sheerd. That lead to us nor being able to intake totes correctly. While not many noticed it when we finally found the problem it was embarrassing. Luckily the match after we sheerd them had to be replayed. However all rivets must be 3/16 or larger now, 5/32 has brought great shame to its kind.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

IGVC 2012 - Nobody on the team was paying attention, until we heard "last call team 68" over the speakers. This was made worse by the fact that the field was less than 30 ft away from the pit and we were wondering where the 6th robot for the match was at. :o

IRI 2012 - 469 had asked us to join their alliance at MARC with a parody of Call Me Maybe. While waiting in line for alliance selections, a mentor came up and gave me our own parody of Call Me Maybe. Reading that in front of everyone still haunts me to this day.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

While 5/32nd rivets can absolutely be used properly and with much success, I'll never use them again when 3/16th rivets are so much more idiot proof and so much more easily available. Weight savings isn't worth it.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

My team was competing in the Las Vegas Regional elims in 2013 but as the 2nd pick on the team, we were asked to play some hard defense during our rounds.

After several rounds of hard hits (and with just 1 match left to play in Finals) our L-brackets connecting the bumpers to the chassis finally gave way and snapped in half.
Because of their orientation, we simply had no time to find or make new brackets that would fit during our short time-out. Of course, we were not allowed to compete without bumpers nor could we merely place them on the bot and let them fall off mid-round.
In a fit of desperation and hundreds of people watching us on the field (while mascots danced as a time-out distraction), we grabbed as many zip ties as we could and zip tied the entire bumper back into place. In the process we somehow broke 2 ziptie cutting tool blades and teammates (and their parents) were scrambling over to the field with pocket knives or whatever else they had handy in the stands to help clean up the ziptie excess that was extruding from the frame perimeter.

With just seconds left before we would have been forced to remove the bot, everything was finally in place and the refs allowed our patchwork for the final round. Definitely breathed a sigh of relief after that, and went on to win the final round.
Definitely something I'll always remember...

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

My first (and last) experience as official event Master of Ceremonies - I was struggling with team flags during team intros. I didn't realize I could just drop them off to a volunteer between the red and blue sides, so during some matches I was manhandling six giant flags at once.
One of the teams had a legit flagpole, complete with a bronze eagle on top. I didn't realize it had fallen off the pole during my manic flagwaving.

The crowd did.

They let me know, in no uncertain terms. But their message didn't sink through my skull before "3 2 1 RUSH!"

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

In an off season event we were a selecting alliance. Instead of picking order based on rank the top teams pulled numbers out of a hat. Our team rep drew the a 6 but was convinced it was a 9!::rtm::

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

What event was this at? I remember a few instances where flags were left on the ground when matches started at different events... You aren't alone.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

1) Who HASNT had a segway wipeout on the dome floor? :\

2) I'm adding this story to my judge training. :)

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

Our 2007 robot had a gripper on the end of a pivoting arm that would extend out to pick up the tubes and place them on the hooks (in the rare instances when it actually worked).

The robot was on blocks on the table in the pits at the Purdue Regional, and we were working on the arm. Some unfortunate, middle-aged guy who was wandering thru the pits had paused to look at our robot just as we operated the arm. It proceeded to reach out and grab him right in the crotch.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

During the finals of the 2015 MN 10,000 Lakes Regional, I rolled my ankle when dancing in front of the arena to YMCA and fell to the floor.

Of course everyone was watching... :ahh:

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

Saying my own team number incorrectly during alliance selection.... twice. :o

I was nervous and hungry and I stuttered.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

Not my embarrassing moment, but my son's during an off-season event a few years ago.
He was the driver and captain of the team at the time, (he's in his third year of college studying electrical engineering now, and he still brings this up)

It was one of those off-season events where teams bring more than one robot and have rookie teams (or non-official teams just starting out) drive the spare robots at the event for exposure, experience and practice.

One experienced team brought a spare robot that was just a driving chassis and bumpers, it didn't do anything else. The numbers they stuck on it was a mix of the experienced team's numbers, so if the experienced team number was (just for example): "1234", the spare robot had a number like "1324".

A rookie team just starting out was driving "1324" during the competition doing the best they could, but was seeded last.

When my son was picking the alliance for finals, he wanted to pick "1234" but picked "1324" instead, and realized his mistake when picking was done.. we held our own for a while, but I don't think we got past quarter finals.

In his defense, alliance picking started at lunch time, and the rest of the team went to get lunch, so he had no help with picking, and he was picking on the fly.

He made the best of it, he still had fun at the event, but like I said, he still brings up the "Team Brick" debacle.

Re: Most embarrassing thing to happen to you at a FIRST event?
 

During MSC for the 2013 season, we were in the middle of the semi-finals against a higher seeded alliance. We won the first match and were noticeably excited. Before the second match we had our alliance meeting and then had our standard "just us" pep talk with myself and our drivers. Right as I finished saying whatever it was that I said, I looked up at the time left in the match before us and caught an errant full court frisbee straight to the safety glasses. Luckily that was the time that Detroit Public Television was there but they missed it.

I didn't quite coach as loud as normal for the next match, that frisbee rang my bell pretty good and my glasses split the bridge of my nose open a little...