On June 20, our team attended our first off-season competition: the Central Ohio Robotics Invitational, or CORI. Our team uses these smaller competitions to improve our 2015 robot, but also as a learning experience for our younger team members. For example, we have changed out our drive team for the off season. Our previous drive coach is now our driver with hopes of being driver in 2016, our previous driver is now our temporary drive coach before he goes off to college in the fall, and we have a brand new operator who also wishes to make drive team next season.
Our robot performed beautifully at the competition, and got us all the way to the finals. Despite our large scale mechanical improvements not yet being finished, we were able to increase the speed of our stacking mechanism and improve our intake wheels, allowing our robot to score more points every match. But, not everything was perfect. For the first time this year we did not make the top 8 seeds going into alliance selections. We were instead chosen by the fourth seeded alliance. After a set of challenging quarter and semifinal matches we were set to go into the finals. Just like everything this year, this was a new experience for our team.
Despite our best efforts, the opposing alliance won. But it didn’t matter, because the day had been great for everyone involved, and it showed us what the future may hold. Next month we will be at IRI, the Indiana Robotics Invitational, and next year, we hope to go back to St. Louis.
