2363 figured out something no other team could do -- use their camera for active target tracking
from the key. The jumbo screen and lit advertisements behind the backboards prevented the possibility until Triple Helix figured out a workaround. They fixed it between Friday and Saturday and hit a hot streak. Being 3rd seed, I was worried 1st or 2nd seed noticed. We basically summarized and shortened our Friday lists, then started re-capturing data from scratch Saturday morning. About halfway through Saturday matches, we knew we wanted them and didn't look back. All of us were very glad we were fortunate to partner with you for a second year in a row. Teams in NC should watch out
Thanks to 1793 for coming through in the clutch for a heart-stopping last second double balance. We were slow to get to the bridge due to a spring-assisted lowering arm that was off its chain and messing with our drive train in QF3. They also had a working autonomous while proving to be incredible defenders.
Thanks to you both for being amazing partners! We were so incredibly close to surviving the shootouts in our 3 QF matches.
Some interesting notes --
- We asked the powers that be to turn off the jumbo tron screen or the lights in the advertisements with no success. To combat this, 2363 found that a brighter camera light combined with an offset scoring position that put the advertisements just barely out of the camera's FOV provided the right conditions for NI's libraries to find the shapes.
- The balls in Quals all had varying levels of ball squishiness ranging from really squishy to WTF squishy. Ironically the first 2 balls we were handed in Elims were as almost as hard as actual basketballs.
- We brought an extra hoop, backboard, pole, and base to calibrate our distances with. Doing this helped quite a bit, and we hope the teams who took advantage of it found it useful. Hopefully other Regional/District events will be forgiving enough to allow the 20'x10' space needed for such a setup in lieu of a full practice field.
- Inspections this year were the smoothest ever. It turned out to be a really great idea to put 2 inspectors in each aisle.
As for the RCA win:
Here's to all of the current students, ILITE alumni, current and former mentors who put in the thousands of hours required to make such an expansive program. You should be proud; it wouldn't have been possible without you!