In the early 2030’s, the number of people in their mid-40’s seeking treatment for back trouble spiked. Doctors were stumped in coming up with a cause, until two patients in the waiting room had a conversation.
Patient 1: “Do I know you? You look familiar.”
Patient 2: “Yeah you look familiar too.”
P1: “I got it. Were you a driver on FRC Team 876?”
P2: “Yes I was!”
P1: “I was on Team 2503!”
The challenge got more difficult the better teams got. Until the drivers realized that when filling up the entire board, order didn’t matter and they could do the middle row last.
MoC: “And now time for the Innovation in Controls Award. Before we announce our winner, we’d like to give some honorable mentions.
The judges were quite impressed with Team 971’s use of mirrors and prisms on their driver station to allow their drivers to see the field around the game pieces without having to change positions.
Team 254 also had an amazing approach, fusing multiple camera streams together and using a custom machine learning model to digitally remove the game pieces from view.
Now for your winner, Team 876, for their novel approach to seeing the field around the game pieces: Short Drivers! Congratulations 876!”
Welcome to the 2011 game: Chiropractor Realignment! Two alliances of three teams are given 2 minutes to bend awkwardly at the waist while remotely operating their robots. During the last 30 seconds, drivers can lie flat on their backs in an attempt to work thru their pain. Alliances with all drivers standing tall at the end of the match are awarded an additional 2 Ranking Points!