Two weeks ago, Miss Daisy took a trip to sunny Orlando, Florida for our first regional competition. On Thursday afternoon, the team (minus the drive crew) went to Disney World for a day full of magic. Some of us had been there before, but for many it was their first time experiencing this amazing amusement park. It was a memorable experience for everyone. Meanwhile, things were looking very promising back at the arena. The drive crew, including our brand new driver, Sean, quickly got the hang of operating the robot, which was working beautifully.
Daisy got off to a bumpy start on Friday, but we were all feeling pretty optimistic about the robot’s performance. Our claw worked like magic, the drive train was unstoppable, and our minibot, named Sprout, (though often not counted for various reasons) proved itself worthy. Then Daisy turned off, just as if somebody had flicked the breaker switch. We went through a lot of troubleshooting, trying to figure out the source of the problem. The pit crew replaced the breaker, the compressor, and even took off some of our motors, all in the hopes that it would fix the robot. Alas, the problem only grew worse and by the elimination rounds, we couldn’ t get through a full match without shutting off.
Yet we were still picked to be part of the second seed alliance, despite our gloomy situation. We revised our strategy to minimize our chances of shutting off, and focused mainly on getting the minibot up the pole. Several times, we managed to get Miss Daisy in position to deploy the minibot, but try as we might, it wouldn’t detach from the deployment mechanism. Despite having a robot that only half-worked, through the brilliance of our drive team, our strategists, our alliance partners, and the simple fact that Miss Daisy is a well-built machine, we made it all the way to the semi-finals.
Our disappointment didn’t last long. Though the robot had a lot of technical issues, we still played the best we could. Daisy never goes down without a fight. It was a memorable competition for all of us, and now with the Philadelphia regional coming up, everyone is ready for Miss Daisy to get back on the field, tuned up and ready to kick bot.
