World Championships
By the team:
"Team Voltage of Imagination set off for St. Louis on Tuesday afternoon. We had an abundant amount of luggages that we had to check-in so it took us almost a full half an hour to ensure all 16 luggages and boxes had been properly tagged and loaded onto the plane. Throughout the check-in process, we faced a few difficulties as we were unsure whether or not the airport would accept the lithium batteries we brought for our robot. However, in the end, we successfully passed the security with still a few hours to spare and boarded the plane to Las Vegas on time. Although, the ride was rough due to the high turbulence, we arrived on time for our transfer flight to St. Louis. In comparison, the flight to St. Louis was much longer but a lot smoother. After we arrived at 10 pm, we picked up our luggages and boxes and headed for the hotel. At the hotel, we checked on a few of our robot parts and the robot itself, however, we realized that the pan had been damaged and the IR beacon may have been crushed. This was a disappointment but we were able to fix most of the damaged parts so it would work efficiently during the matches tomorrow. We ate dinner at Denny’s and returned back to the hotel to rest, ready and excited to start qualification matches the next day.Team Voltage of Imagination set off for St. Louis on Tuesday afternoon. We had an abundant amount of luggages that we had to check-in so it took us almost a full half an hour to ensure all 16 luggages and boxes had been properly tagged and loaded onto the plane. Throughout the check-in process, we faced a few difficulties as we were unsure whether or not the airport would accept the lithium batteries we brought for our robot. However, in the end, we successfully passed the security with still a few hours to spare and boarded the plane to Las Vegas on time. Although, the ride was rough due to the high turbulence, we arrived on time for our transfer flight to St. Louis. In comparison, the flight to St. Louis was much longer but a lot smoother. After we arrived at 10 pm, we picked up our luggages and boxes and headed for the hotel. At the hotel, we checked on a few of our robot parts and the robot itself, however, we realized that the pan had been damaged and the IR beacon may have been crushed. This was a disappointment but we were able to fix most of the damaged parts so it would work efficiently during the matches tomorrow. We ate dinner at Denny’s and returned back to the hotel to rest, ready and excited to start qualification matches the next day."
"On Wednesday we went to the Edward Jones Dome to set up our pits, do inspection, and present to judges for our interview. We brought all our boxes of materials and waited in a long line before we even saw the entrance. There were many familiar teams, such as Holy Cow, and we were able to talk with international teams such as those from Korea and the UK. After we entered our pit area, we began setting up the tent frame and decorated the pit to make it look organized and professional. Finally after waiting for two hours, we finished hardware, software, and field inspection. Since our judging interview was in the afternoon, we went scouting to gather information on the abilities of other teams in our division. When the match list came out, I went to talk to our first few alliance partners, promoting our double autonomous and creating a suitable and efficient game strategy.
In the afternoon we finally went to judging. We had our usual presentation but included a few updates on our robot and sponsors. Luckily, we practiced the day before. The judges seemed very interested in our outreach and our relationship with Roboknights, who they had interviewed earlier and have been our alliance partner for the elimination rounds throughout the season. As we answered their questions, the judges came to know everyone's names- very surprising since they were the first pair of judges to do so. They were amazed at our organized presentation and had high expectations for a wonderful performance in the qualification matches. At about 8 pm we ate dinner at Red Lobster and later on, everyone met up in one room to relax and do homework. We went to bed at about 1 am and rested for a long day of competition the next day."
"Thursday was our first day with qualifiers. We woke up grumbling at 6:30 in the morning, went down to eat breakfast, and then packed the cars with the robot, tools, and spare parts. The night before, we had made frantic repairs to the robot because it had been damaged in shipping; we were anxious to see if it would perform up to par during the qualifiers. When we arrived at the Edward Jones Dome, we unpacked and set up our pits. When our first match came along, we nervously queued up. This was our first match at the world festival, and we were curious about how well we would do. This excitement continued throughout the entire day, carrying us through 6 qualifying matches. Although we lost most of them, we were proud of our performance as one of the teams who made it to worlds. At about 8:00 pm, we left the stadium to eat dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. After a day of hard work, it felt good to let loose and relax with the team. We had planned to walk around in the city, but it was raining and it had gotten dark quickly. As it was, we decided to go back to our hotels and rest so we would ne prepared for the rest of our qualifiers on Friday."
"Saturday was our last day in St. Louis. The team woke up bright and early to support our fellow teams in the playoffs. Although we were not competing, we were able to gain valuable experience by witnessing the top teams competing against each other. The matches ended quicker than expected so we had much time before the awards assembly. During this time, we walked over to the Gateway Arch, just a couple blocks away. Due to long lines and time constraints we weren't able to go up but we had about an hour to walk through the museum.
At noon, we headed back to the dome to eat lunch before the awards. It took us a while to eat so when we arrived at the ballroom, all seats were taken. This is where we realized the magnitude of FIRST. Just 3% of teams in a ballroom already looked like a sea of people! Throughout the ceremony, we all sat anxiously waiting for our team to be called. Unfortunately, we did not win anything. However, the mood lightened as we all realized that this was only our first year and the potential we had to succeed in future competitions.
After a long week of competing, scouting, and bonding, we got ready for a long flight home. "