Ponitz's First FTC Tournament

I'm not sure where to start, so just bear with me if I jump around a bit. (Click on photos to see a larger photo.)

I'm a coach of a rookie First Tech Challenge robotics team. The other coach, Craig Trzaska and I spent last summer meeting with business partners and other coaches getting ready to start the first FTC robotics program at Ponitz.

We started our team in August with 11 students and went to the kick-off in Cincinnati early in September. We came back with lots of ideas and started planning. The students chose the name,  Pericula Pantherae (Latin for Danger, Panthers!) and started working on a logo. We did some prototypes with cardboard while we waited for grant money to come in so we could order parts.

Another team loaned us their drive chassis (what you build the robot on top of) and we decided to order one when we received some money from GE. It didn't take long to build it, so we practiced driving it and programming it for autonomous mode. (Autonomous is during the first 30 seconds of the competition. The robot is only controlled by what it was programmed to do.)

Around this time, while we were waiting to order parts, we lost two team members because they were bored and were tired of waiting to get parts to build the arm of the robot. Another one didn't have the time for practices and also dropped out. Thankfully we had three students who were willing to join the team to replace them.

We were told we were awarded grant money, but there were issues with receiving it. We didn't actually get the money until the beginning of November. We immediately ordered the parts and a week later started working on the arm of the robot. We got the arm built before winter break but had to wait to attach it to the robot until we got back after winter break.

Our first tournament was January 19-20. We were supposed to start back to school on January 4th, but school was cancelled the next 3 days. We then had 3 days of school, and then another snow day. Then there was Martin Luther King, Jr. day, and a professional development day the following day, so the kids were off those two days.

We then had two more days of school and the next day we left for our first tournament. We were under a huge time crunch last week to get the arm attached to the robot and get all the motors working and communicating with the controllers. I really worried that it just wasn't going to get done.

Last Thursday was our last practice and the robot was working!! We didn't have anything programmed for the autonomous part, but we were able to move blocks around, and that's what our robot was supposed to do. (There are other parts to the challenge, but with the time frame we had to work with, all we could manage was to move blocks around.) Also, two of the five girls on the team ended up being too busy to come to practices and go to the first tournament. So we were down to 9 on the team. (Nine is a still a good number.) 

Friday morning, after they practiced maneuvering the robot and adding last minute details to the robot, we left for the tournament in Van Wert, Ohio. We got to the hotel early, so the kids (and coaches) had about two hours to play in the pool. After dinner we went to robot inspections.

"last minute details"

Pool at the hotel

First we went through hardware inspections and we immediately had a problem - the robot was about 1/4" too big. The expansion hub was sticking out too far and one wire was also a problem. The students immediately knew what to do to solve the problem. Coach Trzaska and I stood back while the students worked on taking the robot apart, moving the expansion hub over, filing a notch for the wire to fit into, and then reassembling the robot. They went back into hardware inspection and we passed. Then we went for field inspection, where they have to turn on the robot and show the inspectors what our robot did. And again, we passed inspection!

Meanwhile, the DRSS Enterprise team, the varsity robotics team from the Dayton Regional STEM School, came to welcome us and see if we needed anything. They knew we were a rookie team and this was our first tournament. We asked them some questions about the judges interview that would happen the next morning and they said they could show us their presentation.

This is when you hear brakes screeching in your head and the word "presentation" echoes over and over in your head. We had no presentation. I then look at the students who were listening and said "I guess we're supposed to do a presentation." You can imagine the freak out that happened next, because students LOVE presentations. Basically everyone said they weren't going to do the presentation. (I think they were hoping us coaches would pick someone else to do it.)

So DRSS Enterprise did their presentation (with a few substitutions since they were missing people) and our kids got a better idea of their team, the things they do when they're not working on robots, and how their robot works. Our kids "got it" and thankfully several started volunteering to do different parts of the presentation. Long story short, they practiced that evening and the next morning they did great! Coaches aren't allowed to watch, so we had to go with what the kids said. One of the kids felt like one of the judges was implying that our robot was trash (ugly) because it was a lot of rough parts and duct tape. But other than that, it went well. (Spoiler alert - the kids would find out later that the judges definitely did not think their robot was "trash.") 

(Sidenote, I do not have a photo of the robot because... well, it has a lot of rough parts and duct tape. I won't say it's ugly, but it's definitely not pretty.)

Back to Friday night, after inspections, we met in the breakfast area of the hotel to work on the robot and make some adjustments. Some practiced their presentations, some snacked and chatted with other teams, some worked on the robot. In the photo below you see two of our kids (foreground) working on the robot with one of the coaches from DRSS Enterprise. In the background you see and a few members of the Power Stackers team, also from Dayton. (Remember these names, they are very important later in the story.) We're so thankful they were staying at the same hotel as us. After the robot repairs, the Power Stackers let us use their practice field to test out the changes.

Okay, I have one photo of the robot. You're looking at the top of the robot where the "scoop" is.

The next morning we headed to the high school, found our table in the pit area (where teams put their stuff) and got settled. The students practiced their presentation again and then waited for the runner to come get them. I think they were all a little overwhelmed by how many teams were there, all the activity going on, the great displays that some teams had (we had none), and how sophisticated some of the robots were.

Oh hey, another photo of the top of the robot! The kids are waiting for the judges interview. Please note all the hands that aren't touching a cell phone. It was kinda a miracle. (We asked them not to use them unless taking photos.) 

They went off to the judges interview and about 15 minutes later they came back. They looked like they had just survived something huge. For most of the team, their part was done. However, for David, our lead driver, Antwan, our lead programmer, and Nathan, our lead builder, the pressure of the day was just getting started. Throughout the day they would discover a problem and then scramble to fix it before the next match. 

Here's some photos of our team in the gym while we waited for the opening ceremony.

Our team, minus me.
Left to right, Aaron (programmer), Tashawna (engineering notebook and team representative), Jayden (programmer), Craig Trzaska (the calm coach), David (driver), Keene (builder and entertainment), E'mani (builder and future programmer), Dondrell (builder and entertainment), Antwan (lead programmer), and Nathan (designer and lead builder).

Our team, with me (the overly excited coach).
From left to right, Aaron, Jayden, David, Tashawna, Keene, Craig Trzaka, E'mani, Nathan, and Dondrell (Antwan is missing!)

Everything went so quickly. The tournament immediately started as soon as the opening ceremonies were over. We were the 7th and 11th round before lunch. They happened about 5 minutes apart! Our first round was amazing. I decided to capture it through facebook live, here's the video:
https://www.facebook.com/cdp7227/videos/10212575772844194/

First, we weren't supposed to have anything during autonomous mode, but they decided to go ahead and run the program that Antwan had written. Amazingly, the robot moved off the balance board and into the safety zone, which earned us points!! (You can hear the shock and amazement in the video.) In the video I mention that it's our first round and each one would get better, this was actually wrong. Rounds 2 and 3 our robot did nothing. We figured out a wire was coming loose after being set on the balance board. This was resolved, but then autonomous didn't work correctly for 4 or 5.

Highlights from each round:
Round 1 - arm didn't work but we were able to push a block (a "glyph") into the rails. We were also able to get the robot back onto the balance board. Our alliance earned 118 points. (The other team we were in an alliance with is next to us. We competed against the teams across from us.) We didn't win, but we did much better than we thought we would. After the first round we were 23rd out of 28. (Our highest ranking of the day.)

Round one teams (we're #13241)

Round 2 - robot didn't move.
Round 3 - robot didn't move (this actually happens often, even with the sophisticated looking robots. It's frustrating, but it just puts the kids into problem-solving mode). Video below shows both of us on the blue alliance were unable to get our robots to move.

Round 4 - autonomous started before it was supposed to and we got a penalty. The arm got stuck extended, and David (the driver) went into "Godzilla mode" where he basically pushed blocks towards our alliance partners using the extended arm. (We later found out we're only supposed to push 2 blocks at a time, but they didn't say anything.) I don't think we pushed any glyphs in, but David again got the robot back on the balance board at the end. (Something we were starting to discover about half the teams couldn't do.)

Beginning of Round 4 (our guys are on the right)

Round 5 - Our alliance partners came over to talk to us (the first time this happened). They asked us to push blocks towards them because this greatly helped them out. So instead of working on placing a glyph, we just pushed blocks. Didn't use autonomous mode, but David, again, got the robot back on the balance board.

And that was the end of the tournament for us. We ended up 25th out of 28. Not bad for a team whose robot was fully put together and running just two days before. We decided our goal for next week's tournament would be to get higher than 25th.

We went out to the gym for the alliance selection. Actually, Tashawna and Nathan came out with Coach Trzaska and me and the rest stayed back in the pits to just chill. What happens is that the top 4 teams get to pick 2 other teams to be in an alliance in for 2-3 more rounds (bracket style elimination) to determine the winners of the tournament.

Representatives from all 28 teams. Tashawna is in blue, about 6th from the left.

Tashawna is in blue in the middle. 

The top team were our friends, DRSS Enterprise. Their first pick was the Power Stackers, another team we had gotten to know. On the third pick, they said they wanted to go with a rookie team, and unbelievably, they called our number. (I wasn't expecting this and completely missed it because I was talking to a friend. I'm so glad that she finally got my attention.) Tashawna was in shock and she's the one who has to say if she's going to accept or not. (The only reason you'd not accept the invitation is when your robot doesn't work.) She actually wasn't sure what to do, so she walked over to the other two teams, asked them if they were sure, and then she announced (into the microphone) "Team 13241 graciously accepts." (This is the language normally used.)

The boy in yellow is the representative from DRSS Enterprise. The boy in the black tuxedo shirt is the representative from the Power Stackers. Here you can see them plotting the big surprise. 

I finally got it together to take a photo of Tashawna standing with the other two teams in the alliance.

I was in such shock over what just happened that I was completely overcome with emotion and burst into tears, laughing the whole time. And then I said 'WHHYYYY????" All the captains and parents of those teams knew this was going to happen and two were with me when this happened. (One got video, another got a photo.) They told me over and over it was because the other two teams had already qualified for state and they were giving us an opportunity to qualify too. I think I let out another shocked "WHY???" By choosing us, they were risking not winning the tournament (keep in mind that they were in first place at that point). But it was more important to them to do something amazing for us.

(Not the calm coach)

Coach Trzaska said that when he heard them call our number, he was in huge shock too. One of the coaches from the Power Stackers was sitting next to him and had to explain the "why" to him too. They announced that the next rounds would start in 5 minutes, so Mr. Trzaska ran back to the pits to tell the kids to get the robot ready! The team was in shock and we kept trying to explain to them that if our alliance won, we'd go to state! (I'm resisting the urge to put tons of explanation points.) We hurried back to the gym to watch the last few matches.

The first round of the alliances was Enterprise and the Power Stackers, the second round would be us and the Power Stackers, and if we made it to the third round it would be Enterprise and the Power Stackers again. That second round was INCREDIBLE. We didn't try the autonomous (afraid we'd get a penalty), but David shoved those blocks around to help the other team. Then, unbelievably, we got THREE blocks in!! I wish I had taped it, we (the rest of the team in the stands) were screaming the whole time. David, Antwan, and Mr. Trzaska were cool as cucumbers like it was no big deal.

Showing the alliances who were currently competing. We're at the bottom in blue.

Watching the first round. I wonder what was going through their heads.

At the end of our round. You can see 3 blocks in the rails on the left, and all 12 were placed on the right by the Power Stackers. Our robot was also back on the balance board. 

We were so incredibly hopeful, but in the end we lost by 10 points. We were disappointed, but still amazed at what just happened. Our alliance partners had already qualified for state, they were playing their best to get US to state. And then we heard that there may have been a mistake in the scoring. Rulebooks came out, judges were questioned twice, but both times the decision was made to keep the score. Rachel, the captain from Enterprise, came over to apologize to us that we didn't make it. Really? We were so incredibly grateful that they even tried, but she explained, that's the spirit of First Tech Challenge.

So we headed back to the pits to pack up our stuff and head to the awards ceremony. We assumed we weren't winning anything, but it's gracious to go and cheer for those who did win. (You can bet we cheered loudly any time the Power Stackers or Enterprise won something.)

The first award was the Judge's Choice. They said they were giving the award to an up and coming team who they were confident would do well in future tournaments. They called it the Rising Star award and then announced our team! Again, we were in SHOCK. We told Tashawna to go up and get it and the people around us told us ALL of us should go. I'm not sure if coaches should go up there too, but Mr. Trzaska and I ran up there on the stage with the kids. Coming off the stage I got several hugs from other coaches (and again, I was tearing up again). 

Left to right (sorry about the bad lighting): Tashawna, Aaron, Jayden, Keene, (I believe Dondrell is behind Keene), E'Mani, David, Nathan, Antwan, Coach Trzaska and Coach Parsons.

Here's the official listing of the awards: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aWvUtJjdPrGt2n8f3DpfzAxAp6pJ4FZG/view

You guys, do you have any idea what this did for our kids? Honestly, they were never negative about our robot, they never doubted it would do what it was supposed to do. But I think they assumed we'd be at the bottom of the teams, we wouldn't interact with other teams like we did, and we definitely wouldn't be recognized for anything. I saw a couple with huge smiles and I'm not sure I've ever seen them smile that much. They have a better idea of what they're capable of, and that there are people out there who will help them reach their goals.

Another thing I want to mention about our team, they are truly a team. They're all friends and they accept each other just as they are. They had a great time playing in the pool and getting to know each other better. I wasn't sure how well they got along until I found out that after "lights out" Friday night, they started playing pranks on each other. I didn't get all the details (I don't think I was supposed to get any) but they were getting each other to go to another room and then trying to scare the crap out each other. Each person who got pranked, then worked with the others to prank someone else. As much as I'd like to lecture them, it was a sign of unity that I wasn't sure they had.

My heart is so full I think it could burst. I'm so proud of those kids and I can't wait to see what they do next!