“Wrapping up, on to the competition”
“Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong”
“We win some, We lose some”
As we approach our first regional competition (Northern Lights Regional, Duluth, MN) since March 2020, the team completed a simulated competition (Week Zero event) to practice with our robot. Wrapping up our build season, we made our final touches on the robot before Week Zero with a complete working shooter and climber that can complete the objectives set out by FIRST. Unexpectedly, at the Week Zero event, we came into complications with our robot, wiring issues, and software problems being the main obstacle. These troubles made us unable to compete in 5 out of 6 matches we were assigned in the event. Neil P, one of our build leads, comments that “We had a lot of things working before the match and were really excited to see this robot in real-time. Unfortunately, we encountered software issues that hindered our ability to play.”
The one match we did play in had multiple errors, including controllers not working, ghost inputs happening when controlling the robot, and code not working properly. During the time we were at the Week Zero event, the Build and software crews worked hard on resolving the issues at hand, but with no luck. Nico L, one of our co-software leads, adds “We ran into problems that were simply out of the team’s control.” After the Week Zero event, the team quickly headed into MURA, the Minneapolis Urban Robotics Alliance practice field to troubleshoot current issues. Hours of testing revealed that some of the wirings in the robot had been improperly placed which led to software issues that were not present before the event. This was quickly fixed and the robot was completely free from complications and was able to fully drive, shoot, and climb properly.
As our first regional competition lies ahead, Leo W, a mechanical member, hopes for “The team to do well and with the ambition to win the tournament.” With the team working on drive practice and refining any problems with the robot, precautions have been set in place to prevent an issue like this from happening again in a systematic way. The team has experienced setbacks from Week Zero but these mistakes have allowed us to gain a better grasp on our robot’s strengths and weaknesses using this knowledge to enhance our performance at the Duluth FIRST Northern Lights Regional Event.
– by Jimmy V.