I see the usual "there's two weeks to go and we can't move yet!" panic is setting in. Probably about half the teams have gotten their robot to move under it's own power, barely. 75% of the rest of you will probably get there in the next week. It really will be OK.
If it doesn't look like you will be able to move by the end of next weekend (2/9) PLEASE contact a veteran team NOW! We can do a lot to help but we have to know about the problem. Team 1047 should contact Beach Cities robotics team 294 (try a PM to Redhead_jokes) as I think they are supposed to be helping you. They will also know what a drive should sound like.
Now for a few corrections:
The six hour robot was The Fembots at Silicon Valley in 2001. The primary co-ordination was actually done by Gunn robotics, team 192. (maybe because they are so easy to spot in a large crowd?
) They had major help from Team 22, Chatsworth High. Various other teams including 330, the BeachBots (my team), provided assistance as needed. In our case, we were asked to make the wheels. This used our process of grinding the top flat and attaching a custom tread. We were good at it having already done several sets of four wheels.
As I recall, the Fembots seeded #10 which was higher than we did, but they were not in the finals.
I am more impressed by what they have accomplished since then. When I talked to one of their mentors last year, they were running that little guy AUTONOMOUSLY. They had a huge enthusiastic support team. Their school was behind them (unlike the first year) and I look for great things from them in the future.
The only reason this robot was possible was that the Veteran teams involved were warned ahead of time and began planning in advance. The use of direct, van door motor drive didn't hurt either, but it's not an option this year.
BTW we haven't moved yet either. We thought we had the right size chain in our spares but alas it was not so. Should be moving tonight or tomorrow though, after we go buy some chain.