Naming the robot

[Grim Tuesday]

We name our robot around the 4th week of the season, once there is something sitting on the table that looks like a robot. First, people write possible names on the white board for the morning of the session (we do this on a Saturday) and then by mid afternoon we have a list of about 100 things. We go through the list with everyone and require a number of seconds to let the name past the initial stage. After the preliminary ballot, we usually vote and if it is a close vote, eliminate all but the top two (or three if they are even) options then hold a second vote. That is then our robot name.

For reference, we ended up naming our 2012 robot Dr. Swoosh for no reason other than it was a cool name, 2011 Duck 'N Cover because it looked like a duck, 2010 The Commander after a mentor who was leaving the team and 2009 The Hurricane after the shape of it's helix...I could go on.