Mountain View Robot Team Event with Google Finds the Mark
Google has dozens of buildings adjacent and connected extending from the 101 along Ellis street where a Mountain View Robot Team Event is ideally suited for success. Teams meander over from the main Google-plex mini city, located closer to Shoreline Amphitheater, to find meeting space and parking. This group of 25 engineers and managers from the search division impressed with fast build times and attention to detail.
Team Alligator Clips won the build competition with a scorching time of 32:10 (thirty two minutes and ten seconds) in a “photo-finish” against a close 2nd place finisher. Initially they won by just 1 second, however later inspection revealed a mistake in the 2nd place team’s build which led to an additional minute added on. Nonetheless, two teams finished below the 35 minute line placing them top 5 to 10% all time.
The battles were outstanding! Carpet tends to lead to more robot flips versus a surface like linoleum or smooth concrete, as the wheels tend to grip better and slippage is reduced. This creates more of a lever effect when smashed into and driven, versus a loss of momentum through sliding back.
In this case the female drivers seemed to take the lead – creating 3 of the the first 4 flipped robots in the first two battles! Everyone caught on as the event progressed which created thrilling battles and an even spread of winning.
The final battle champion was not crowned until the final battle was completed, as teams went in tied or 1 battle down.
To up the excitement, we made the final battle worth 2 victories. Alligator Clips saved their best driving for the final event, placing their intern in the driver seat with team pride on the line. If robot driving equates to job capability – he is hired! The intern racked up 8 points against the other team’s best drivers – enough for a clear victory.
A huge thank you to Google for inviting us on to campus for an exciting robot team event!
Robot Team Building
