FIRST, make way for Zephyr! On Saturday, February 18, The Green Machine went to Eagan High School along with 15 other Minnesota teams for the Blue Twilight-hosted pre-lock-up day scrimmage. FRC Team 1816 got to see Zephyr in action for the first time and she worked very well! The first shot we took was from half-court just behind the middle bridge and it swished into the lowest net, while the drive train with its treaded wheels handled the middle beam and field beautifully. Our shakedown trials at the scrimmage also conveniently pointed out a few things that we thought might work – but didn’t – and it was back to the workshop to fix those before we placed our robot in its robot lock up bag ahead of the Lake Superior competition.
Every team at the scrimmage was on the field at least once and all of the robots showed what they could do. As a rookie member of Team 1816, seeing our robot on the field for the first time was unbelievable! Watching Zephyr take that shot and go over the middle bump was an incredible feeling, to see that something that was only a sketch six weeks ago was already handling the field like a pro. It was an exhilarating experience that we look forward to repeating at the Lake Superior Regional Competition in March.