PRACTICE DAY

Just a few hours ago, we put the finishing touches on the Kettering event, including assembly of spectator stands, projection screens and blue skirting around the field.

The floor was marked with colored tape and the field was powered up so robot teams could have a short practice session.


                                                                 We were only able to get about 10 minutes of practice time on the field tonight, so we expect to learn alot during the first match this morning - not an optimal condition, but workable. Very few teams were able to get on the field for any practice time, so we were fortunate and wisely used the time to do some trial runs on hanging the Ubertubes on the pegs after retreiving them from the field.

Since the pits opened at 6PM, the first order of business, of course, was to unload our robots and equipment for both our teams and install the batteries and miscellaneous hardware.

 
Another responsibility for some students is to become 'scouts' for the team.  This entails walking around to other pits and speaking with teams about their robot and asking specific questions that might help our team make decisions about who to pair up with if we should make it to the final rounds on Saturday afternoon. 
                                                                              




This is a key role in strategy for the game and a very imporatant task for the team to execute with Gracious Professionalism - the mantra of every FIRST team member!

Of course, on the occasional down time, in the appropriate setting we do allow for some rest and relaxation to make sure each student is enjoying the experience and making new friends!


But only the students know what the meaning of placing one's finger upon one's nose is meant to signify! Perhaps it is a secret martian team code??  :-)

As we began to see the teams slowly filter into the area and set up their own pits, we are seeing some interesting designs.  It is amazing to see the creativity and diversity of robot designs, anywhere from scissors mechanisms to pneumatic actuators.  This weekend we will definitely see how they fare against each other and if there is a design that becomes dominant.