2012 is a new year however and I think it's worth trying again...halfway through build season.
Since Championship last year I've been looking into what makes a team elite. It's no secret by reading some of my posts on Chief Delphi what teams I really look up too. So I spent a lot of time over the summer researching what common traits all of these teams have. These teams have been a source of inspiration to me and many others for years and it only makes sense that you would attempt to emulate them as much as possible. What better way to move from average to elite? I'm unsure how our team is perceived in the robotics community, however, I know how I feel about our team. I think we are a team that can be great, we often fail to push ourselves to be great. We know that with our standard effort, we have a shot at winning regionals (Finalists in 2007,2009 and 2011).
Therefore, our team leadership has decided to take steps to move our team from average to good. I don't think it's possible to go from average to elite. A lot of an "elite" status is based on a history of being good. Having one good year doesn't make you elite. So we're trying to be good.
So far, we have taken measures to make that move. During the off season we prototyped a west coast drive that turned out to work very well for us. So much so that we are using it this season (You can see it on my Facebook). In the past, our drives haven't been an advantage, they've been average. A common trait among good teams is a good drive base, that was the first step.
So here we are, just 2 weeks left in the 2012 build season. Over the next two weeks and into the competition season (Mike and Justin in the Morning season) I'll try to blog here and there about various robotics related things. I can't wait to see over the next few weeks all the robot pictures start come out. I can start pre-scouting and all the things that make this program so addictive.
Justin
jmontois340@gmail.com
Note: Everything below this is old, you've been warned.
