The Green Machine participated in the 2010 FIRSTWisconsin Regional, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where we placed 20th at the end of qualifying matches. Although we and our 2010 competition robot, “Zazu” were not picked for the elimination rounds, it was a very successful and action packed competition.
For those unfamiliar with FIRST Robotics competitions it works like this. On Thursday, teams uncrate their robots and have the opportunity to compete in practice matches. Friday, the actual competition starts, with teams paired off randomly into three-robot alliances that face off in rounds of qualifying matches. At the end of these matches, teams are seeded based on a number of different variables. The top eight seeded teams automatically make it to the elimination rounds. These top eight teams pick two more teams to complete their alliance.
Unfortunately, even the best-made plans don’t always turn out the way they’re supposed to, and Team 1816 didn’t have a chance to really test Zazu until Friday. By then it was clear we’d have a lot more work to do to bring our “kicker” mechanism up to spec. Instead, we focused on playing defense: With our eight-wheel tank drive we were able to stop virtually all opposing robots from scoring.
Having the chance to test our robot at the Wisconsin Regional proved very productive, and we will be firing on all pistons for the FIRST Minnesota North Star Regional, April 1 – 3, Mariucci Arena, University of Minnesota.