We had a good time at HCTDE. We played some really good matches, scored a few upsets, and were really able to flex the capabilities of our robot.
We pulled off a 3-ball auto move, twice. The only two times that program has ever been run! We didn't have time to test it before we used it. It helped us win one upset match and very nearly win another upset match.
I think we concretely demonstrated the viability of a good catching robot, but also showed how important a good shooter is in that effort. In one of our replay matches 177 was able to truss to us 2-3 times with us under defense from 1-2 robots, from blue zone to red zone no less! It was really nice to play with 177 for the first time in years.
We ran our quarter-final rounds to 3, and only lost the last match by 10 points. Very close, and a bit disappointing, but I know each team on our alliance drove their hearts out. An unfortunate combination of bad luck and a strong opposing alliance kept us from advancing. Thank you 3464 for picking us! And Thank you 178 for rounding out our alliance! You guys were two of the best drive team's we've worked with.
We did win the Xerox Creativity Award for our braking system and catching mechanism. This was most gratifying, and our first technical award since 2008. Team 571, Paragon, also gave us an award from their team for most creative robot design. I'm not sure which one means more to us: the official FRC award or Paragon's!
Unfortunately it's looking like we won't have the points to qualify for the District Championships. We will probably be doing a couple post-season events though.
Here are some pictures from the Hartford event and a link to our team's youtube account where match videos, including robot and drive team GoPro footage, will be posted sometime later this week.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/supato...57643219020225
(I think this is the best shot of our robot all season!)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/supato...57643219020225
https://www.flickr.com/photos/supato...57643219020225
https://www.flickr.com/photos/supato...57643219020225
https://www.flickr.com/photos/supato...57643219020225
https://www.flickr.com/photos/supato...57643219020225
95's Youtube Channel
Thank you everyone for reading, commenting, and following along this season. I know it made a big difference to our students to hear all of your positive comments and feedback throughout build and at each district event.