[Don Wright]

A little hint to everyone...

It doesn't matter what someone thinks about your robot, or even what you did at xyz Regional. You can post endless videos and talk yourself up until you're blue in the face...

It only matters what you do with your robot Friday and Saturday morning. You'll either dominate and be in position to control your own destiny, or you'll make people take notice and they will hopefully want you in their alliance.

I suggest you read these threads as amusement, get some rest (or practice), and get ready for an exciting weekend!

If anything, us the scouting as a way to find some things that maybe you want to see while you are in Atlanta because you might want to do something like it in future years.

Talk to the teams that have the swerve drive you've always wanted to try to learn about what they learned so you don't make the same mistakes. Or find out how a team does their programming. Or find out what some teams do for their Chairmans Award if you are thinking about really competing for it next year. Bring a memory stick and see how much code you can get or how many Solidworks or Inventor models you can leave with.

It's obvious that we all like to talk...and really like to talk about our robots. So use it to seek out those designs that interest you and make it not only a fun and exciting experience, but a learning one as well.

Nobody can guarantee what teams will leave with an award or a division win, especially a championship win. But I can guarantee, with 100% certainty, that you can learn a TON in these 3 short days...and have a blast doing it. And I bet you'll make some great friends along the way.

Don't waste the opportunity because you were too focused on "winning" the championship.

[/soapbox]