For those who haven't been to a FIRST event, the excitement is catching. There are more than 65 teams here, almost all in uniform (or costume, I should say). A team from Hawaii, all in red Hawaiian shirts lamenting the cost of shipping their bot ($3500). Another team from Maryland (the RobotBees) wearing yellow and black striped antennae. Miss Daisy from Wissahickon High School with a member wearing huge flower pot and a flowerheadpiece. Team 1111 (an easy number to remember), all of whose wheels are set diagonally and which never goes exactly straight. There's even a fellow here wearing a giant yellow cowboy hat on which there is a sign "Ask me to wash your safety glasses."
No dancing in the aisles yet, although I know that will come tomorrow. Imagine hundreds of geeks lined up doing the macarena in the aisles - all in their team uniforms. Lots of networking going on with scouts from every team visiting all the other team pits.
The bot passed inspection - electrical, size, weight. It's nerve-wracking waiting for the inspectors to pass on the bot, particularly when you are scheduled for a round in 10 minutes.
The practice rounds are going well. As a gross generalization, there seem to be three kinds of bots: the rabbits, the pushers and the shooters. The rabbits buzz around and around the field scoring for each time they pass the "finish line." The pushers manuever the balls enough to be able to push them across the finish line. Then there are the shooters - and that includes the CHASS bot. The shooters have a little bit of everything, and can shoot the ball over the 6-foot hurdle as well. The first time the CHASS bot lobbed the ball over the hurdle, a collective "ooooooooo" went up from the crowd.
Four practice rounds today, last one at 5:20 - and then the real thing tomorrow.
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