by Naveen
Right from when we started discussing the run strategy, the strategic importance of attachments became very clear to us. Our initial approach was to allow every run to develop its own attachment. After few weeks, we ended up with five types of attachments used by four runs. When we integrated the runs, we realized that we could reduce our attachments to only four.
We continued this for a long time. On the last day before the regional tournament, someone asked why do we need the basket. We could use the long trap as a basket to carry the supplies, pets and humans to the safety zone. So this is how we ended up three attachments - one fixed and two changeable.
After the regional championship, one of the hard lessons we learned was about the attachments. It seems so easy to change attachments at home. In the tournament, we were under tremendous pressure. What seemed easy at home took considerable time there. The team members fumbled while changing the attachments and on one occasion we took precious 40 seconds just to change the attachment.
So after the regional championship, our goal was to develop an universal attachment so that we don't need to change the attachment at all. We think we have made a reasonable progress with that. We changed all our missions to use the long trap as the universal attachment. The goal has not been accomplished yet however. If we succeed at this, it will be another blog post to share the details.
- A fixed jaw used by all runs
- A long arm that would work with the fixed jaw to create a long trap
- A short arm that would work with the fixed jaw to create a short trap
- A basket to collect the supplies, pets and humans for the safety run
We continued this for a long time. On the last day before the regional tournament, someone asked why do we need the basket. We could use the long trap as a basket to carry the supplies, pets and humans to the safety zone. So this is how we ended up three attachments - one fixed and two changeable.
After the regional championship, one of the hard lessons we learned was about the attachments. It seems so easy to change attachments at home. In the tournament, we were under tremendous pressure. What seemed easy at home took considerable time there. The team members fumbled while changing the attachments and on one occasion we took precious 40 seconds just to change the attachment.
So after the regional championship, our goal was to develop an universal attachment so that we don't need to change the attachment at all. We think we have made a reasonable progress with that. We changed all our missions to use the long trap as the universal attachment. The goal has not been accomplished yet however. If we succeed at this, it will be another blog post to share the details.