Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Johnson
First, what do you think about the whole naming robots thing?
Second, can you share names that you especially like/dislike?
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Robots should have names. You're right that it does make it easier to refer back to past robots, and lends a little personality to the 'bot.
95 has always given each robot a unique name, generally derived from a famous scientist or engineer. Our team name, in fact, comes from a corruption of a robots name. We had named our 2000 robot after Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, but somewhere along the line it got garbled by announcers into Grasshopper. The team rolled with it since it was as good a team name/mascot as anything, even going so far as to paint a grasshopper on the side of the robot. It's not quite a moth stuck in a relay, but I like to think Adm. Hopper would have approved of the connection.
Other notable names in the teams history; Isaac ('97), Tesla(01), Fynmen('02, and the 'bot I drove), Watson ('11, with Crik as the mini-bot) et. al.
The name is chosen near the end of the build, based on a vote of suggestions offered up by team members. Particular weight is given to names of those who we feel reflect a particular trait we see in the robot, however tenuous the connection. Gauss, for instance, had a lengthy ball shooter that reminded us somewhat of a Gauss cannon of sci/fi fame.
This years robot is named Kovaka, after Dave Kovaka, a former coach and mentor on 95 that sadly passed away this past year.