On Friday evening, the students worked hard to improve and practice with the robot.
On Saturday morning, the students met at Charles A. Tindley Accelerated to head to Plainfield and get an early start working on the robot before competition started. As the day went on, the students worked vigorously on the improvements of the robot, practiced driving the robot, and improved the programming. The qualification matches lasted from 9:30 am to 7:00 pm.
On Sunday morning, the students repeated meeting and getting to the competition early starting their day over again. While working hard and improving the robot, the students spoke to the judges and explained the objectives of the robot and their goals for the future. Qualification matches continued all morning, and then the top 8 teams made their picks for playoff alliances. Since the team was not picked for a top 8 alliance, they watched from the stands and learned about other teams’ robots and strategies. The students also watched the playoffs and chose teams to cheer for.
Our Wins: The students got the chance to design and build their own robot. They had fun and got experience from doing robotics. Plus, we took the opportunity to layout bigger plans for the future, while growing together as a team.
What Worked Well: The students had a positive attitude and worked to improve and become better than before. They improved their communication skills as a team. The team also was able to be flexible and adapt as the competition continued.
What We Can Improve On: We can improve on prioritizing the judges as they walk around and have someone free to answer their questions and introduce our robot. We cam improve maximizing the students potential and find a job they can do but also have them be well rounded in other areas as well. We can improve on building students’ technical independence so they can be able to work on tasks by themselves and not be so dependent on mentors. Lastly, we can define pit procedures. This means that the students would know multiple different areas instead just knowing one. Giving them room to grow and improve.
Where We Ended: The students ended the competition having fun and cheering on other teams to win. The experience was great for the students and we are determined to work harder next year as we continue to inspire those around us.
Our Outlook: We have plans of going to outreach events and expanding robotics to elementary and middle school students. Our journey hasn’t ended, it has just begun as we continue our dreams to inspire others.