Friday, March 26, 2010
The Record Volume 40, Issue 22
The Official Student Publication of the Saint Louis Priory School since 1960
Robotics 2nd at Regionals, Sets Record
Zach Weiss, ’11 Staff Writer
Thursday, March 18, 2010: For Priory’s own RoboRebels, six weeks of designing, building, programming, testing, and repairing a robot culminated in the moment they stepped into the Chaifetz Arena. As the team began to unpack their robot from shipping, assemble their pit, and frantically work to ensure everything met regulations, this reporter can only imagine the sense of accomplishment most felt in making it even this far. Replacing the trickle of trained but unreliable labor from the girls of Visitation with a flood of juniorschoolers, the former VIPERs of team 1329 worked in two-hour shifts to complete the robot, many devoting almost all of their free
time as the competition approached. The added manpower allowed for the construction of a prototype robot as well, which meant twice the work. However, it also meant that the team had more time to refine the programming and crucial aspects of the robot’s hardware. When it was time to compete, the RoboRebels’ familiarity with their prototype caused them to swap out its parts with those of the original robot. Just as teams from as far away as Ohio, Minnesota, and Florida were doing, 1329 spent their Thursday fine tuning their robot to pass inspection and testing their equipment. A dedicated pit crew was instrumental in preparing for the competition, and it would continue to prove its worth well into Friday and Saturday. Although it wound up taking most of the day to receive the clear for the robot to
compete, it was a far cry from the horrors of last year, and much better than many of the other teams, one of whom drilled holes in their robot all through Thursday to remove the eight pounds of excess weight. Unlike their drill-happy adversaries, Priory’s own managed to test most of their equipment and respond to the more serious issues. However, previous competitions had shown this was no guarantee that the robot would run smoothly, and the next day the RoboRobels received several brutal reminders. While infinitely better than last year, technical difficulties plagued the team all throughout the prelims on Friday. Two matches were lost because of radio problems, Plexiglas shattered, and the drive chain snapped in the high contact, high s t r e s s (Continued on back page)