Robocon Training : R-Play 1

Note : SHE and HER in this post is never referred to ANYBODY. It is the robot. The Pom Pom Bot.

It has been 2 weeks since I last jumped-for my robot during the R-Play 1. Her performance was really smooth and perfect though she missed its track once. We didn't know what caused the miss-track. Once she went out of the track, she hit the border of the gamefield. Durhh. All that we could do was keep shouting at the robot-though we all know that the robot has no intelligence in detecting voice and sounds. One of the judges wanted to switch off the robot, but all of my team mates insisted on letting the robot to keep going though the robot seemed like pening-pening lalat already. But somehow she managed to find its track back. Seriously, it was a miracle. A GREAT MIRACLE. You won't have the idea how relieved we were at that time. But unluckily, we lost in that semi-final round. Quite frustrating, but what can I say kann. It was all about LUCK. The wings were out of the finishing zone and because of this, the judges decided that our robot IS OUT OF THE ZONE. Demit. I've jumped half mad half soul (separuh gila separuh nyawa) as our robot entered the finishing zone. But the not-so-blessed wings ruined everything. I suddenly hated the robot. Why are you so stupid Pom Pom Bot? Can't you see the line? (Fado is blaming herself actually. Not the Pom Pom Bot) We never thought that the 'blessed' wings would give us a so-called bad and silly luck.

Then it came the time to have the 3rd and 4th winner. My team mates and I were really nervous. Winning the third place was greatly enough for Pom Pom Bot-the only female robot in the R-Play 1. But we were worried of the wings. This time, we won't let it happen again. So we decided to let the robot to collect all of the checkpoints using the wings, and then asked for a RETRY from the judges. We use this retry just to reach the finishing zone, and the most important thing was : we would have the wings unspreaded during this RETRY. How did we do this? We tightened the screw of the wings, so that the wings will keep folded till it reached the finishing zone. But do you know what silly thing the robot did this time? The front wing got unfolded! Durh! I was really angry at her. Yela yela I know it was our fault for not tightening (really really tight) the screw, but what can I say kann. It was all about LUCK. Seeing the front wing unfolded, I already felt the frustration. Really. Frustrated. I bit my nails, looked down at my feet, reluctant to witness the moment of frustration. But the enthusiasm and the cheer of the audience made me took a glimpse at the robot. She was entering the finishing zone. I can't help myself but to watch the might-be-moment-of-frustration. Apa nak jadi, jadilah. As the robot finished entering the zone, she suddenly got stucked! She got stucked! She got stucked! Believe me, everybody was cheering of relief. Of course, my team mates and I were jumping as if we won the first place.

But friends, the game was not over yet. Our rival weren't done yet. They used the same strategies as ours; collect the checkpoints and use RETRY to reach the finishing zone. But they were unlucky as their path was the path where our robot had dropped the blocker. Blocker is something that is used to block the rival's robot. But friends, I'm proud to say that my group's blocker is the ONLY blocker that worked well in the R-Play. Other groups' blocker were so easy to overcome. But not ours. Our blocker was really heavy; and it was not just heavy. We placed an anti-slip mat at the bottom of the blocker. And our blocker was a solid, heavy metal. Can you imagine how heavy the blocker is? With the help of the anti-slip mat, jangan haraplah robot lain yang langgar blocker tu dapat gerak. Then our opponent's robot got stucked lah. Kesian kat diorang, but what can I say kann. It was all about LUCK.

I nearly cried of happiness when the judge announced our group as the 3rd place winner. But one thing yang aku terkilan is : aku tak dapat bagi hi-5 kat team mates aku yg lain. Yelah. Diorang laki. Diorang dok peluk-peluk sebab happy, aku just tengok and senyum lebar je. Kesian kat aku kan?


Here was where our robot went pening-pening lalat.






This was my team's starting zone.

This is how the robot looks like when the wings are folded.

Pom Pom Bot with unfolded wings. The front wing was the one that made us lost in semi-final.