Since our high school's emblem is the matador, we name each year's robot El Toro. 2005's competition required our robot, El Toro VIII, to put a 2 foot high tetrahedron
made from PVC pipe on top of a larger, similarly shaped goal. Because of El Toro VIII's
design, it could raise a "tetra" on its elevator to a maximum of nine feet. It could cap
all the goals except the slightly taller center goal, which required the elevator to be
at least nine feet and four inches. We were a measly four inches short of being able to
cap the center goal!! At the Silicon Valley Regional competition, the team's strategist,
Shrenik Shah, decided that we should try to cap the center goal anyway just to see if we
could do it. So, the driver, Danica Chang, a bit unsure of how to handle the situation,
drove the robot up to the goal. However, the robot coasted a bit too far and ran into
the goal, causing the entire robot to tip backwards. When the robot came to a stop on a
slant, the forward momentum of the tetra caused it to continue moving forward, swinging
over the top of the goal. We were all ecstatic that we had actually capped the center
goal. Even though the elevator on El Toro VIII was too short, with just a little bit of
luck, magic, hope, and skill, the theoretically impossible was achieved. And hilariously
enough, that simple act portrayed one of the many aspects of the mission of FIRST: to
cross over the boundaries and limits perceived by others.
Watch the clip.
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