Team 1218 created the robot, "Valkarie", which was a bridge too far! We employed cool ideas we'd never tried before to succeed in a game requiring major power and speed: two speed swerve drives, one for pushing and one for speed.
The result? We had four wheels that didn't work together, and sensor problems that resulted after one good hit. What worked well in the lab didn't perform in the real world. The team learned that not every 'go fast' idea is worth the risk. Reliability is the most important factor in this arena.
As a result of Valkarie's performance issues, 2017 was an off year for our Team. Despite winning district Engineering Excellence and Quality Awards, it was the first year since we began in 2003 that the team did not qualify for the World Championship.
