At the Bayou Regional this year, Team 2060 (NASA/Baker Hughes-Centrilift/Crosby Group, Inc. & East Central High School, Tulsa OK) arrived with a box of parts, an unfinished robot and a lot of concerns about how well they would do at thier first competition. Several teams jumped in to help them finish their machine during the practice day. By the end of the competition, they finished with a solid 6-5 record, and one of only two robots attempting to score during the autonomous period. By any measure, a great success!
That is a good story. It sounds a little like the 2004 Championship event in Atlanta, team #1396, one day wonder robot. I am sure Dave L. remembers this. They arrived in Atlanta but their robot did not. Some teams (Martians?) jumped in and helped them build a robot in one day. They were apparently a good ball herding robot. This was one team of 3 (including 1002), to be featured on the 2004 Discovery Science Channel’s one hour First Robotics special which aired I believe, in the fall.
That is awesome. With the other teams stepping in, that’s what FIRST is all about. Congrats guys!