This is the story of how I won my first competition. Some of you reading this might think I'm lying, but believe me, this is actually the first time I've won first place. I was kinda hesitant about posting this, but I guess in the end, I've always got to go with my heart. So, here it goes. :)
Last last friday, my friends and I joined a robotics competition sponsored by Fischer Technik.
Our school has a robotics programme but we use NXT and not Fischer, so we had to sort of "adjust" ourselves for the contest.
Actually, NXT has a competition of its own, the World Robot Olympiad. But since our school bought our kits directly from the US and didn't buy from the Philippine supplier of NXT (because it was 3 times more expensive xD), we weren't informed about the WRO. :|
It kinda stinks that I wasn't able to join the WRO last year, but at least now our school knows about it and hopefully, we'll be able to send in some students to join this year's competition. :)
Now, to the
GENERAL IDEA OF THE CONTEST:
Our competition was divided into two stages -the construction stage and the testing stage. The construction stage would be done in AdDu (Ateneo de Davao University) while the testing stage would be done in SM. The contest was suppose to start 8 AM sharp, but we arrived at 8:20 AM with a reason that you will know later. xD
We were actually expecting a scolding, possible disqualification, or a time disadvantage. But when we got there, it turns out that everyone else was late too! In fact, the competition didn't start until 9 AM! :)) :D
Oh yes, the reason why we were late. xDD
Well, you see, all robots have something that we call a CPU. This is the robot's brain and in order for your robot to function, you need to be able to programme the CPU properly with your computer.
Most robotic programmes are usually updated so that it can be compatible with Windows 7 or Mac OS X, unfortunately, Fischer Technik is only compatible with Windows XP.
This left us with a big problem --we didn't know anyone who was still using Windows XP! Fortunately, our coach did and after a lot finding and asking, we finally got two XP laptops and rushed to the competition site.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Build a robot and programme it to follow the black line --wherever it may go. Time limit: Finish before 12 noon.
The competition instructions seemed rather simple, but believe me, what we did for the next 5 hours was not even close to simple!
TIME STARTS NOW:
The moment the competition began, the first thing we got done was our inventory. Some of the people consider this as a waste of time, but it was important for us not to lose any of the parts because the kits were only borrowed. We predicted that when the contest would end, we would have to do a closing inventory and if the kits weren't complete, we would have to pay a fee for the missing parts. If we started with an incomplete kit, we could inform the person-in-charge and thus, our inventory requirements would change depending on the materials in our kit.
After confirming that all our materials were complete, we divided our group of 5 into 3: the engineers, the programmer and the IB or In-Between and began our 5-hour work.
The programmers were responsible for creating the programme for the robot to function.
While, the engineers were responsible for building the robot.
The IB was in-charge of coordinating the two --making sure that the robot was designed correctly to fit in the sensors for the programme and double checking the programme of the robot.
Oh yes, I'm the IB. XD
TIME CHECK: TWO HOURS LEFT
One hour in to the competition and we were done with our programme, back-up programme, and the back-up of our back-up programme.
The "car" wasn't done so I asked one programmer to help in the construction and the other programmer to come up with another alternative programme.
Here's a picture of our "robot" at 10 AM.
PROBLEMO NUMERO UNO
Things were going well until 11 o'clock. We were finish with our robot and we had an hour to test it and make adjustments.
To be honest, our group felt really confident because we already made a line follower with the NXT programme last September. In a way, you could say that there was this pride in us that we were sure that we were going to grab this thing.
Unfortunately, pride got the better of us.
After our initial testings, we found out that none of our four programmes worked. We tested, adjusted, tested again, but nothing.
It was 5 minutes to 12 and one school seemed to be happy with their work and began packing for SM. The proctor checks up on all the other schools and decides to extend the deadline to 12:30 PM because I think that he thinks that it wouldn't be cool if only one robot worked. xDD
Anyway, the point was that we got a 30-minute extension.
30 minutes in the classroom might seem long, but 30 minutes to configure a robot? I don't think so.
We came up with two more programmes but to no avail. It still didn't work.
By this time, the team was already fed up with not only each other but with themselves as well.
"Why can't the robot work!," we asked each other.
THE SOLUTION
12:25 and nothing. Our robot still wouldn't follow the line. By now, the team had already gone past the anger. I remember one of my teammates saying, "Well, we did out best. And the best is nothing short but the best. I'm still proud of what we did."
We had no choice but to enter a robot that wasn't working, but nevertheless, we were proud of it. :)
12:30 PM and the proctor has another look at all the robots. The one school that finished early? Well, you could say that a lot happens in 30 minutes. :D
After a talk with some coordinators, the proctor extends the deadline to 1:00 PM
We had another 30 minutes to configure. We tried all we could but like what happened earlier, it just wouldn't work. We were disappointed...
12:45 PM
By now, our minds were cooled from all the pressure and with 15 minutes left and one of my groupmates thinks he sees the problem. It turns out that we used the Yellow sensor (which sees brightness) instead of the Black sensor (which sees colours).
Our programme was right, but the sensor was wrong! We still had 15 minutes to make the change but we knew it was going to be close to impossible.
1:00 PM
Time was up and we weren't done. The proctor has another round of look and declares that the deadline is moved. We could still make adjustments but condition was that we'd have to be at SM at 2:00 PM sharp and this time, we couldn't and weren't going to be late.
We came up with two more programmes but to no avail. It still didn't work.
By this time, the team was already fed up with not only each other but with themselves as well.
"Why can't the robot work!," we asked each other.
THE SOLUTION
12:25 and nothing. Our robot still wouldn't follow the line. By now, the team had already gone past the anger. I remember one of my teammates saying, "Well, we did out best. And the best is nothing short but the best. I'm still proud of what we did."
We had no choice but to enter a robot that wasn't working, but nevertheless, we were proud of it. :)
12:30 PM and the proctor has another look at all the robots. The one school that finished early? Well, you could say that a lot happens in 30 minutes. :D
After a talk with some coordinators, the proctor extends the deadline to 1:00 PM
We had another 30 minutes to configure. We tried all we could but like what happened earlier, it just wouldn't work. We were disappointed...
12:45 PM
By now, our minds were cooled from all the pressure and with 15 minutes left and one of my groupmates thinks he sees the problem. It turns out that we used the Yellow sensor (which sees brightness) instead of the Black sensor (which sees colours).
Our programme was right, but the sensor was wrong! We still had 15 minutes to make the change but we knew it was going to be close to impossible.
1:00 PM
Time was up and we weren't done. The proctor has another round of look and declares that the deadline is moved. We could still make adjustments but condition was that we'd have to be at SM at 2:00 PM sharp and this time, we couldn't and weren't going to be late.
LAST MINUTE CHECK-UP
We fixed our robot on the way and we were really just hoping that it would turn out okay. We got to SM before 2 so we bought some electrical tape to give our robot a test run and guess what..
It worked..
We couldn't believe it.. o.O
Our robot finally worked.. \(^o^)/
Our robot finally worked.. \(^o^)/
We were overjoyed and ran like idiots (at SM. Yes, we ran like idiots at SM. xDD). Our robot finally worked!! Our 5-hours of labour had finally paid-off!! Our robot was alive and working!! Waahoo!! xDD
One of my groupmates wanted to make more adjustments but I made it clear that no one could touch ROBOTICON (Yes, we named it Roboticon :D) or give it another test run. We had been using its battery for close to 3 hours and I didn't want our efforts to die out because the battery died.
All we could do now was wait..
Here's Roboticon's final design
|| Fast forward to 5:00 PM ||
COMPETITION TIME
Before the testing formally began, we actually took a picture with Roboticon and the smile on our faces should be enough to tell you that we were proud of our work. :)
From here on out, we decided that whether we would win or lose, we were going to be proud of the moment that our robot actually worked. Not many kids have the chance of touching a robot, much more making one, but at that moment, we actually had the chance to make a working robot.
The result?
Well, the result isn't important. :)
What was more important was the lesson I learned that day. :D
I haven't been given a lot of chances to compete but when I do, I always remember to give my all.
I remember watching MasterChef one day and I recall that that episode featured a double elimination (meaning two people would get eliminated instead of the usual one). A contestant was asked by one of the cameramen about how he felt with the twist and I like his reply.
"Oh the double elimination? It doesn't matter. Every time I cook, I always cook with my all. Single elimination, double elimination, it doesn't matter. When I cook I always give a 110% --competition or not."
His answer struck me a lot and I've never forgot about it. This man (even if he didn't win MasterChef) had definitely won my admiration and respect.
People who are truly successful in life don't always have the best skill or talent, but they do have the biggest heart. I remember a quote I read from Francis Kong which goes,
"In life, there will always be winners and losers. What differentiates the two is their attitude towards the game."
"Oh the double elimination? It doesn't matter. Every time I cook, I always cook with my all. Single elimination, double elimination, it doesn't matter. When I cook I always give a 110% --competition or not."
His answer struck me a lot and I've never forgot about it. This man (even if he didn't win MasterChef) had definitely won my admiration and respect.
People who are truly successful in life don't always have the best skill or talent, but they do have the biggest heart. I remember a quote I read from Francis Kong which goes,
"In life, there will always be winners and losers. What differentiates the two is their attitude towards the game."
Not everyone can go home with a prize, but everyone can always go home a winner. :)
It didn't matter if my team ended up with a trophy or not, they are and will always be winners by heart. I don't care if their best wouldn't good enough for the judges because that day, I saw my friends play a different game -a game played and won by hearts.
Man measures success by putting the tape measure around the head, but God measures success by placing the tape measure around the heart. :)
And since everyone is insisting on the results..
We won. ^_^
But even without the trophy and the certificate, we'd still be winners anyway. xDD
And now that I think about, it looks like I learn more when I blog. xDD
Anyway, I don't know exactly how I'm going to end this story, but I guess a good way to do that is to go back to how I started. :)
So...
This is the story of how I won my first another competition. Some of you reading this might think that I'm lying, but believe me, this is actually the first time I've won first place disagree with my concept of winning, but for now, I'll stand by with what I believe in. I hope that you guys would learn from this story and even if I was kinda hesitant about posting this, I guess in the end, I've always got to go with my heart..
.. and I'm happy I did. :)
You don't need a trophy to be winner. You just need heart. :)
Anyway, it's getting late and I still have to study for my p6 (physics) and economics exam tomorrow.
So, I guess this is all for now. ^^
*BOW*
Current mode: Dear diary.. writing my last last day of high school
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