Our Bot

[Rick TYler]

Originally Posted by amateurrobotguy

Wow, I just looked at the pics of other robots(See the 15 foot WildStang)...We are done. Our robot can't even stack 1 tetra on the shortest goals. To be exact, we lack 13 inches to being able to stack. Our team fresh, so we just are getting the hang of building a bot.

I'm a rookie on the team, so this is just history, but... Last year was our rookie year. According to the members of last year's team, we weren't very good at pushing the small balls or placing the large ball reliably, and we couldn't hang at all, but we went into the finals in the sixth-seeded alliance and ended up beating the #2 and #3 seeds to finish second in the Pacific Northwest tournament. I don't know what we did right, but things turned out OK. Our 'bot was way overweight and the team spent a whole night drilling holes. Also, we used a scissors lift that tended to sway wildly from side to side, which is why we had trouble placing the large ball.

This year, we had a tiny budget (less than $1,000 after an anonymous donor paid our $6,000 entry fee), but still managed to build a robot that was finished ahead of time, came in well within the weight target, drives straight, and can cap any of the goals the first time (nearly) every time. We may not have the best robot in our tournament, but we are definitely fielding the best 'bot we could given our team experience and resources. We think we have a top-10% robot. There is nothing like experience.

Next year, we will have our autonomous code done before shipping (ours isn't done yet), and will have a year-round fund-raising program in place. I don't know if we will look like a 2-digit team, but we hope to have enough money and students to build a top-tier robot.

Stick with it. Do not judge yourself against the top teams on this board. Most of us look a lot more like your 'bot than like Wildstang, and you never know what will happen at your tournament. Hey, we finished second last year!