Once the regular season regional competitions are over, it’s time to get ready for the next season. FIRST Robotics Competition teams like “The Green Machine” maintain the mechanisms and coding of the ‘old robot’ to play and train new members at off-season events throughout the fall months.
After the main 2022 season, Team 1816 played in both the Minne-Mini Regional (MMR) and the Minnesota Robotics Invitational (MRI) to teach the new members of our team about competitions. “See One, Do One, Teach One”, one of the ways that our experienced team members pass down their knowledge to our new team members, was on full display at both regional-style events, with new members being paired with veteran members in the pit.
Given how much wear-and-tear there has been on our 2022 competition robot, “Zap,” the robot, had multiple small technical errors, both hardware and software, which our team was able to quickly resolve. Trouble-shooting under simulated event pressures is very helpful! These events also allowed us to train new members of the drive team. Grayson I., one of our rookie members was able to operate our robot under real competition conditions, which helps get him acclimated to the environment and pressure behind the drivers’ station glass.
The off-season events also offered opportunities for teams to try out the April Tags targeting system as well as the double-elimination playoff bracket, which may be used in the 2023 season for Saturday afternoon playoffs. At the MRI, Team 1816 was invited to an alliance by FRC Team 3130- The ERRORS,” ’ which our Scouting and Strategy Captain Evan graciously accepted. During our first elimination match, Zap ended up on its side after being tipped over by a competing alliance robot, causing a red card to be issued. At the MRI, we were invited to an alliance by Team 7021-TC Robotics. However, Zap once again tipped over in the first match, ending up on its side, sustaining damage that we could not fix at the event. That was the unfortunate end to our off-season competition season. Overall, these events were a great opportunity for our new members to learn about competitions and were very successful. – George R.