In 2004, when the bar had been raised, our team continued to struggle financially, and even began having difficulties on the field. Though off the field, the team won several awards. The Team Spirit Award was won at the Chesapeake Regional Competition and Miss Daisy was also presented Regional Chairman’s Award at the Philadelphia Alliance Regional, for the second consecutive year. Moving on to the Nationals, the team was awarded Honorable Mention for the National Chairman’s Award. Though the year was rough, it was a great experience for both students and advisers.
Teams will become frenzied as they strategize on whether their robots will negotiate IR beacons during the Autonomous Period, herd small balls to Ball Corrals, cap large balls on goals, move mobile goals, climb steps or attempt to hang from the Pull-Up Bar. The object of the game is for teams’ robots to trigger the Ball Release during the first 15 seconds, collect balls and feed them to the Human Players who will throw them into the goals. Robots will try to cap the goals with large balls to double the point value contained in that goal and attempt to end the match hanging from the center Pull-Up Bar. This year’s game requires excellent coordination between the robots and very accurate Human Players. With multiple ways to score points, it will be necessary to track your score as well as your opponent’s score and make critical decisions near the end of the match.