It's finally over...
 

Well, tonight we put out bot in the crate, dragged the thing across the mall, and left it at the FedEx Shipping pick-up site. The build season, for us at least, is finally over. We still have a few loose ends to fix up in the next 48 hours, nothing really major, but the bot itself is gone. Six weeks of hard grueling labor, the last few days of which have been the hardest. And now...

WE'RE FINALLY DONE!!!

Now I'm just going to sleep for the next few days. So what was it like for you? Packing that bot up, that you spent 6 weeks and countless hours of your life designing/building/wiring/programming/etc. ? I feel just like I left a part of me behind, packed inside a crate that I won't see for another month.

What were you thinking when you packed up your bot? What are you looking to in the next few weeks of relative relaxation? Post away.

Re: It's finally over...
 

As a senior, I was thinking how much I was going to miss doing this next year with 573.

<sentimental> This year especially, it was amazing how well the entire team worked together; we had an extremely persistent group in general and a very open communication between all the different sub-groups. Not only did the team as a whole learn plenty, we also formed many friendships in the process. As we were packing the robot, I felt like we were packing away a symbol of all that hard work and communication. </sentimental>

(My coach told me that she was shipping the robot during school, so as to prevent any sad feelings.. Lol)

At any rate.. Relaxation? What's that? :p

Re: It's finally over...
 

As the robot was going in the crate, all the memories I have had with the team just flashed back in my mind. Tonight was the last night as a student for me on the team. I realized how much I am going to miss my team and building with them. This is the best pitcrew I have worked with.

All those yelling, frustration at each other wont be happening again. The fun time as a student is just gone. Life goes on as time passes by... but it was definitely the best chance I have had as a high school student. Its a weird feeling.

-Arefin.

Re: It's finally over...
 

I'm not gonna know what to do with myself...I will have so much extra time...until atlanta (I might not be able to go to the regional due to a boy scott activity the same weekend.)

Re: It's finally over...
 

As I strapped our bot in today...I couldn't stop thinking of all the programing we're going to have to do on Thursday of the competition.

And i was kind of depressed that we signed up for our comp on the last weekend of competition and we only have the money to go to one. It's gonna be a long 6 weeks until we compete with that thing.

It's alright, I'll be at the Killer Bees' comps to root for them.

Re: It's finally over...
 

we have packed ours into our crate, waiting for fedex to pick up at lunchtime, when me and about 10 others will have to carry the crate from the electronics lab to the lorry at the front :(

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Bah! It ain't over till it's over buddy.

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Our robot is packed tools and parts are packed shop is still a mess because we left at around 11:30 last night. It is hard to see this build season go so quickly and with me being a Senior I hope this isn't my last. 9 days to rest and then to drain all I have gained in 3 days and define my last 6 weeks, yeah thats FIRST.

Re: It's finally over...
 

:( its gone...
will be flying over to you in the usa from stansted tonight

Re: It's finally over...
 

oh it's yesterday was my last night offically building during build season at our pit--i'm actually very sad about it-- 6 years w/ s.p.a.m. has been a great time and i've learned so much-- i was sad that i couldn't stay to put the new bot in the crate-- my mom wouldn't let me since i'm sick so i couldn't stay long-- all well-- 3 competition and then it's offically over so it's not over till it's over. i'm glad i had great mentors like warren, eric and dillard and many others that just made this time fly by with tons of fun. thanks guys a whole bunch. it's weird to think it's the end but hey no worries right we'll be back helping other team as mentors.

enjoy all!
to every senior out there--just make the rest of this year the best and the time of your life-- i know i will be

Re: It's finally over...
 

Even though I was not as involved with the build this year as I have been in my last 2 years, I was working on chairmans and awards stuff, I will miss the build season alot. I was not there to watch the robot get packed up because some of the sub teams wanted to make some corrections to it before it went in its box. No matter what happens at the comps this year I will make sure that I enjoy every second of it and never forget the great people who have mentored me and those That I have met through FIRST.

Good luck to all teams this year, and good luck to all the seniors on our way to a new stage of life.

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Yeah, except that when Fedex came to pick it up the rest of us were in lessons so only about 2 people were there to carry it! :ahh: Luckily they had a trolley... or so I am told. I was one of those unlucky enough to be stuck in a lesson (Computing, if you really wanna know) at the time.

Ah well. It's on its way, so we've met the deadline. Panic over. :) *sigh* And now we have to wait a month before we get to see it again... :(

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It was a sad moment putting our loved one in a crate. Our chief mechanical officer wanted to be shipped with the bot to insure safety but finally listened to reason. The rest of the team seems a bit dazed and confused; their calendars are empty for a couple of weeks. They will catch up on sleep and maybe even do some homework.

Re: It's finally over...
 

Someone wise once told me:

"The tough/fun part is over... now onto the fun/tough part."

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I can't believe six weeks flew by just like that. i also have a scout activity this weekend but the team work. :( Our regionals is almost here. its next week

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Last night we all said our goodbyes. We threw a little party with pizza and drinks. Our parents came in for the first and last glance they'll get, except at VCU. It feels so strange not to be worrying about staying after school. WHat to do with all the time?

Re: It's finally over...
 

i was like "finallllllly we get rid of that sucker!" actually :P i love the bot, we spent alot of good time working on it. but i had to go home and finish animation which i just got done uploading. stayed up all night puting that junk together.

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Our team had a countdown clock that was visible from everywhere in the room that told us to the second how much time was left in the build season...Every day as I watched time whittle away, I thought about how much thought, effort, teamwork and determination went into building this robot. Now that it is finally over, It is amazing to see what our team has put together.

Even though our first competition is 16 days away, I honestly dont have a clue as to what I am going to do with my time until then. :eek:

Re: It's finally over...
 

At this point, I'm really looking forward to doing laundry, eating a square meal, and getting to bed at a reasonable hour.

Re: It's finally over...
 

this was my official first and last year with FIRST. im a senior on a rookie team with only 10 kids. most of which didnt know what we were doing until three weeks ago. its been a good experience and i hope it keeps going. we packed up the crate last nite wiht a robot weight of 118 lbs! lots of hard work and feelings went into the crate as well as around it. unlike the other teams, we work in a warehouse of the Cooley group, so they were able to forklift our crate to their shipping dock, and its currently waiting for FedEx to come pick it up

Re: It's finally over...
 

I had this kind of sad feeling. Then last night I had a nightmare that someone stole our robot out of the mail... :eek: It was horrible.

Re: It's finally over...
 

We all learned a lot these past 6 weeks mechanical and programming

We also learned that a robot can be your best friend and worst enemy at the same time

FIRST has given us a great experience and Tourettes Syndrome at 5 in the morning ship day :)

Re: It's finally over...
 

As an animator I had the joy of showing the video to the rest of the team and pumping my fist in the air as they cheered.

I’m dang proud of what I’ve done the past few weeks. And just as admiring of the rest of the team for the work that they’ve completed.

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You say it's been 6 weeks???? Well, yah I guess it has...sure hasn't seemed like it! Well we just shipped the bot out 45 minutes or so ago. Now we can count down until the regionals! LET'S ALL GO NUTS! ROBOTS! ROBOTS!

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They took 6 weeks of our lives and all the emotions that went with them and put them in a box...not to be seen for a while :(

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We just shipped our robot eight minutes ago - talk about pushing things right to the limit! The FedEx truck with our bot in it contained only robots - our crate was right next to 104's crate, and there were three or four others behind ours. Looks like FedEx has a rather specific cargo today.... :D

Now it's time for sleep, homework, and a resumption of normal life.

*rotates Chief Information Officer hat (which currently has the "Lead Programmer" side in the front) so the "Head Scout" side is facing front*

Wait a minute, I still have to pull up all the information I can on the other 55 teams competing at the Chesapeake Regional!

*gets busy again*

Re: It's finally over...
 

As being the manager of the Varisty Volleyball team I sure did miss being after school sweeping the floor, setting the net up and filling up the girls water bottles. Well last night we had a demostration for the parents and than we put the robot up into the crate and boxed it up, I missed it when we had to put it in there so much that before we put that last piece on the box we had to follow our captains footsteps and kiss the robot one last time before it left. We have a picture of the captain kissing it one day that we were practicing and that like is below:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/pi...&quiet=Verbose

Re: It's finally over...
 

If you truly think about how much thought, time, blood, frustration and elation were put into your robot, then it really is a truly special thing. It isn't just a robot: it was life for six weeks.

What makes me really sad, however, is not the physical robot being shipped. It's that I probably will barely talk to my friends on the team anymore, since there are none in my grade. A lot of them are graduating this year, which means that I will probably never see them again. I'll really miss the chance to talk to them, and sort out my life while doing it. There is competition, but no more late meetings, no more jokes to laugh over for days, no more companionship of the greatest people that I've ever met. That is really what I miss the most.

Six weeks isn't enough time to be in the companionship of my teammates, my friends, the most wonderful group of girls I have ever met. Thank you all.

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I know exactly how you feel. It didn't hit me until a few minutes after we shipped the robot, this is my last time. I'll certainly return as a mentor for as along as I can, but this is truly the last time as a student. Wow, tear-jerking almost.

Re: It's finally over...
 

Packing up the robot seemed like a blur - we had girls running out between break, lunches, (unimportant classes too..with permission of course) to help put it in the crate aftwe we did some extremly last minute tweaking :ahh: . I left school seeing the crate on our driveway awaiting the fedex truck. It wasn't until I got home that I realized wow, its over. This is so trite, but geez, it amazes me how fast those 6 weeks went by. Now we're just going to prepare for events,which is important, but not nearly as time consuming. We were trying to think of what we're going to do now with all this spare time ::twiddles thumbs:: :confused:

Re: It's finally over...
 

Today was bittersweet. The fact that something that I spent counless hours and days on and the blood I shed for it made me feel like Wow I am letting this go. but it is good we are done on good terms and can start the real fun!!! see you at regionals !

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psht! relax?!? yeah, right. Now that the robot's done, we have to do all the team spirit stuff, aka swaps, cheers, banners, posters.... *shudders* lol :]

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argh, I didnt even get to see the robot get shipped today...had to go to my PESEOP classes. :(

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We packed it yesterday evening.. Today, it felt so weird- it's been a while since I got out of school before sunset.. =P Again, it felt that I was leaving a part of me with that robot- which I won't see until Atlanta, maybe... all this free time also made me a lot more introspective, and realized that next year is senior year.. and I'm going to miss being a student on a FIRST team- it's just not going to be the same. It's been a great building season though, and am looking forward to competition to check out all the other robots..

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I have had a wonderful experience this year with robotics so far. We started off with a very well-planned game. The game leaves plenty of room for strategizing and demands new techniques.
I am pleased with the aid provided in terms of drive train because it allows well seasoned teams to focus on more advanced features and assists the rookie teams with getting a working robot running so that they too will be ready to participate at the next level in the future.
Somehow, it seems like the teams have even better spirits than in the past. This shows, IMHO, the direction in which FIRST if going. People are happy and really cooperating with each other and having great fun. There of course are the required bumps in the road, but it sure seems like we are working together to get past those with greater ease.
My team hosted teams 851 and 1669 in our shop this year. What an example of the dead-horse saga "the more the merrier!" These two teams helped make my build season more interesting by keeping company. So many good times chatting with happy faces, positive thoughts, and cordial people--good music was a definite plus! I hope you will engage us in helping you all out in the near future! See you in competition.

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Since I am the head of Marketing for Team 104, it is not over until after we compete. We still have to make up team cheers, work on team spirit, and work on the mascot costume. We also still have to do some more research and planning for the trip...

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Well, it was mixed feelings for me. On one hand, it feels great, less stress, I get to see other people.... Ya, free time... don't really know what to do with it.......... One part of me is sad, that this will be my last year to do FIRST as a student. Part of me was happy to put that thing in a crate. I put the last screw in, with a slight ammount of malice, but it felt like ya. It was kinda nice, though I'm going to miss the good times at 2am... the midnight spades game waiting for some people to come back from the shop with parts... ya... good times

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Yeah I know. It been a week and a day since we boxed ours up. But yesterday I just felt as if I was suppose to be back at school build our bot. It means no staying half school to wait to build. No free dinners by other people. But for me it means less times with my friends and our little flying pig. Six weeks together. It just don't feel the same anymore.