The HotBotz 2640 (2019-2020) Build team is working on their design for their new season's robot. This past week, our team has been focusing on completing the design of the robot along with prototyping of certain aspects. The team has really worked hard to design and perfect our shooting and climbing mechanisms. In the next couple weeks, we will begin building our final robot and hope to have it done ahead of schedule! Throughout week two and three, we will continue fundraising and building our bot for this year. We can't wait to see what's in store for our team!

This past weekend, we had the honor of competing alongside many fantastic teams at the Guilford County competition! Although this weekend didn’t go perfectly for the us, many valuable lessons were learned. Perseverance in the face of what seemed like an impossible-to-fix programming issue was key in getting our robot up and running in our final qualification matches. Thanks to the gracious professionalism of teams such as Triple Strange and The Hitchhikers, who collaborated with our lead programmer to fix the complex problems, we were able to successfully climb the third and highest platform on Sunday!

During the competition, our safety team was on the ball! From posting “P.I.N.K.” Campaign signs in the halls leading up to the pits to hair bands in the women’s restrooms, they did everything they could to remind others to stay safe during competition. Because of their hard work and the team’s exemplary safety practices, we were able to walk away from Guilford with the “Safety” award! Throughout this past weekend’s competition, we were able to not only foster safety practices among seasoned teams and give safety advice to rookie teams who needed it but we were also able to help every team we could. As a fairly small team, it’s sometimes difficult to have enough members to lend to other teams. Despite this, we actively lended and often gave away parts that teams needed during competition, as well as helped out teams with pneumatics and pit set up. This practice of lending a hand wherever we could, despite the small amount of hands we have in the first place, allowed us to have the honor of getting the Gracious Professionalism award.

​We are but a small piece of the gracious professionalism exemplified in all of FIRST’s participants, like the ones mentioned earlier. It’s because of teams like them that we build a network of camaraderie, and to be able to expand that comaradship is truly an honor and something we’re proud of. Although we had a rough go of things this past weekend, we are able to hold our heads high and proudly wear our pink! As we prepare for our upcoming competition in Asheville, be sure to pay attention to our social media pages for updates. Thanks for supporting the Hotbotz!

Our team is proud to say that we've completed this years bot, and it's bagged and ready for competition! This past week, our team members and mentors spent hours on end in the build space working on our bot. Finally, we can get some rest and relax since the majority of the work is done! Now all our team has to do is prepare for competition. This will include some logistics work, some safety work, and working on some spirit items to have in the stands! Our team's first competition is in Greenville, North Carolina on March 9-11th. Check back soon for more pictures and updates about our team!