CenterStage
How We Began
We had a wonderful kick-off party with pizza! We discussed our plans for the season, and practices continued on from then. For the CenterStage season, much of the first week was spent orienting those new to FIRST and FTC, as we welcomed 7 new team members this year.
In the first few practices, we modelled some design ideas with paper, so we could have 3D, life-sized models right in front of us. After making some decisions, we jumped right in and began to take apart the old robot (we reused the PowerPlay bot from last season).
Robot in 3 Weeks Scrimmage
Our first scrimmage of the season was the Robot in 3 Weeks scrimmage. Since we did not have a usable claw, we had to build an impromptu bumper before the scrimmage started. Because of this, we mainly played an support role, handing pixels to our alliance partner, who would then score. This scrimmage saw many small victories, such as the coders figuring out how to make the robot glide, and scoring our first pixels (backstage).
Practices
There was never a not-busy practice. We had to construct the arena, code, plan outreach events, and design new mechanisms for improving.
We continued improving our robot, designing and creating a claw that could open, close, and rotate, which would let us score on the backdrop.
We also improved our team number panel and installed them on the robot.
Team Bonding
We've done two main bonding events to strengthen our team dynamic.
First, we had a paper airplane contest with two parts: speed, and accuracy. This was created to find a good drone design to use for this season's game, but we also had a lot of fun.
Then, later in the season, we hosted a game of Gartic Phone, in which we had a lot of fun drawing and learning more about each other.
Annual Elon Scrimmage
The Elon scrimmage, hosted by Plan B (FTC #5309), was a great experience. We learned lots about our robot and what we needed to work on, like the structurally unstable claw, which would be pushed under the robot every time it moved forward, the inconsistently functioning servos, and our unconfident judge's presentation. However, we got to enjoy a batch of cookies fresh from the Plan B Café, and we got to score our first pixel on the backdrops! The scrimmage was extremely fun and we hoped things would go uphill from there.
More Practices
Elon was a real wake-up call for us. Following the scrimmage, we directed our practice efforts to working on autonomous codes, attaching the hanger and building our paper airplane launcher. Seeing as we only had two weeks before our qualifier, we couldn't get too much done, but we still made a lot of progress.
Thales Academy Qualifier
The Thales Academy qualifier, hosted by Batteries Not Included (FTC #11424), was a fun opportunity for us to see how our robot performed. Though it was somewhat off-putting due to our robot's unreliability and abrupt shutdowns, we still made the best of the situation. We went to the Robot Hospital to get some of our wire management fixed, enjoyed some popcorn and extremely cheesy nachos, and got tips from the other teams on how to improve our bot. Despite our malfunctioning robot and not-so-great performance, this qualifier only motivated and inspired us to further improve and do do our very best at the final qualifier.
Final Week of Practices
Before our final qualifier, we used our practices to refine the airplane launcher and solve our disconnection issues. We also gave our drivers some time to practice.
Salem Academy Qualifier
The Salem Academy qualifier, hosted by Code Sisters (FTC #15333), was a great wrap-up to our season. Although we didn't advance to states (again), we really enjoyed ourselves and had a lot of fun. We managed to get our drone launcher working during a match and scored in Zone 1🥳. We also ran into our disconnection issues much less frequently, which increased our reliability. On the other hand, the hanger was taken off the robot (much to the dismay of its builders) and a wheel came off during a match. Overall, we finished 15th out of 23rd, and we won the Innovate Award 3rd Place🎉.
After the qualifier, we were treated to a buffet at Golden Corral, where we celebrated our achievements this season.
End of Season Party
We officially said goodbye to our CenterStage season on Feburary 8th at our end of season party. Coach Kelly surprised us all with "Innovate" keychains commemorating our 3rd place Innovate Award, and we surprised her with an appreciation video, alongside a few other small gifts. Other than that, we enjoyed snacks and Gatorade, and tried to defend them from an army of high-schoolers (we failed). And with that, we all parted ways, wishing our 8th graders well on their high school journeys, and hoping next year's 6th and 7th graders were just as hyped about robotics as we were.