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Unread 30-11-2015, 02:37
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seg9585 seg9585 is offline
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AKA: Eric
FRC #4276 (Surf City Vikings)
Team Role: Engineer
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Rookie Year: 2001
Location: Boeing (Seal Beach, CA)
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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...
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