Senior Post 1

I’m walking down the entrance tunnel and I can feel the base of the music banging in my chest. I hear the sound effects as the timer starts and stops the game, and the cheers from the crowd are deafening. I step out into the dome and I see it all. Five fields, all 27 feet by 54 feet. 5 giant projector screens and people running by with tools, parts and robots. As we continue to push the robot I look around the Georgia Dome. It is one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen there are thousands upon thousands of people in the stands watching these games. I hear the roar of the crowds at the end of the game and I see that it’s time for our game. We bring our robot up to the field and place it on the carpet and then get off the field. I stand on the side with the rest of the photographers as our drive team goes behind the Plexiglas wall. The M.C. goes to the middle of the field and announces our team number; I can hear the roar behind me from the other sixty members of my team that are up in the stands watching the game. I tension is high as the rest of the teams are announced and softer cheers ring in the huge stadium. The M.C. counts down and the game begins. Our robot races to the other side of the field and then makes a sharp turn passing the other teams’ robots in the process, all controlled by the automatic programming in the robot. The autonomous period ends and then the drive team steps up to the operator interface. The match continues on and our team grabs the 40 inch diameter balls and slingshots them over the ten foot high obstacle, over and over again. The other alliance is doing the same and the scores are so close. The timer keeps counting down and soon it’s only 15 seconds left. The adrenaline is rushing through my body and I almost can’t stand it. The score is 75-65 not in our favor and then the balls are placed on the top. We get the two blue ones up there and the other alliance only gets one. The buzzer sounds and it’s the end of the game. We clear off the robots and stand off to the side and wait for them to show the score. We wait, and wait, and wait and then it comes up 85-95. We won! Everyone is cheering and jumping up and down. We made it to semi finals and this feeling is the best I have ever felt.