I attended the inaugural Sunset Showdown on the USS Hornet. Here is what I learned.

General:

Hosting an event is possible. The hardest thing to get is a venue.

The field breaks often. One team (5940?) punched a hole in the field perimeter.

Robots break. A lot. Here’s an example:

1678 after taking a hard hit

1678 completely smashed their intake. I saw one of their members call someone in the pit, telling them to “get a new intake ready.” 1678 was back and competing within 15 minutes.

The field is built with only two sizes of fastener. Most of the field can be assembled with just a 7/16” wrench. This makes assembly much faster. Press nuts also make the field easier to assemble.

I saw 5940 and 254 adjust their strategy during the competition. They noticed that wind was inhibiting their “passing” strategy, so they adjusted their robot to shoot the notes low over the ground. Having a robot that is flexible as well as organized code allows for these quick adjustments to strategy.

Practicing outside puts us at a significant disadvantage because lighting is inconsistent. I saw a lot of teams shoot well on the east side of the field but miss a lot on the west side due to lighting differences.

Judging:

Judges look at statistics and team atmosphere. It is important to have measurable performance improvements as well as good teamwork. Knowing award requirements and targeting conversations with judges can help win awards.



Sunset Showdown was an amazing event. Thank you volunteers, especially Andrew, Noah, Bryant and Ian for making this event (my first time volunteering) awesome.