Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob
We honestly had no clue if you would be able to replace the cRIO and reload your code in time - especially when we realized halfway through that the cRIO needed to be imaged as well. It was a huge gamble but it really payed off for us. I am VERY glad that your pit crew got the opportunity to show how exceptional they are. When they sprinted to the field and dropped the robot on with less than 10 seconds left on the countdown it struck me that moments like that are what this program is about. It took everything you guys had to get it working and the teamwork and intensity can't be simulated or matched.
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I was sitting up in the stands with my team, and we were worried that we were done for. It happened two times before (as 65) where our robot broke beyond repair and took us out of eliminations. In 2005, a wire came loose on a potentiometer in our robot's arm, causing the arm to go ballistic and break a solid steel shaft in half. In 2007, in the finals of our division, a plastic sprocket supporting our robot arm broke into pieces, and the team didn't have anything to replace it with.
The amount of anxiety we felt in the stands was immense, and watching the time-out timer count down without seeing any signs of improvement was only adding to the stress. We were literally jumping, screaming, hugging each other, and crying when we saw the drive team running onto the field with the working robot with little time left to spare.
The pit crew did a tremendously fabulous job getting this together. I was especially impressed by Chris Hibner, who had the daunting task of re-imaging the Crio and downloading the program while hoping and praying to everything imaginable that it will work. This has to be one of the best moments I have ever experience throughout my time being in FIRST.
It was also an honor working with 78 and 2122, and I really loved 78's hanging mechanism to the point where I went down to their pit just to take a picture of it
. Congratulations on such a great season to everyone! I hope to see everyone again next year in St. Louis!