Hanson Chan – FIX IT 3491

Johnson Space Center, and returning home

Today unfortunately marked the last day of our trip, but it was no less exciting than every other day. We went and visited the NASA Johnson Space Center!

Team members with the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft

We were able to see everything from a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft used to build the Internation Space Station, a replica Delorean in the exhibition, to seeing the actual control room for the Apollo 11 mission, and seeing all the controls and screens as they were in 1969!

Afterwards, came the sad part of the trip, returning home. We all had so much fun throughout the trip, from meeting teams from all around the world, competing at an amazing event, to visiting a NASA center and seeing the Gulf of Mexico, this was an amazing trip, and we hope to do it again next year.

Trip to Galveston!

With the World Championships now concluded, the team decided to head down to Galveston to have some fun and relax. Upon arrival, we had an amazing lunch at a local restaurant.

We then decided to enjoy ourselves at an amusement park, with the majority of the team deciding to go on some rides!

But much more importantly, we found a restaurant named “Bubba Gump Shrimp Co,” named after the movie “Forest Gump,” which our team deeply enjoys.

Team eating at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

Today was an amazing day to slow down, relax, and take a breather after all of the excitement of the World Championships. We look forward to visiting the Johnson Space Center tomorrow before returning home!

World Championships Day Four (and last)

Today marked the last day of the World Championships, with absolutely amazing final matches displayed by their amazing robot, teams, and performances, and absolutely stunning finale!

The team preparing to watch the final match!

And although there were teams that won, and lost, we would like to congratulate ALL teams competing at the event throughout the week, and congratulations to all the Dean’s list nominees, finalists, and winners, and a special thank you to all of the fantastic volunteers that make events like this possible, without you, this would never have been possible.

After the event, came the worst part of every trip… Packing. So, our team decided to… Well, see for yourself.

We had an absolutely amazing time at the World Championships, and we hope to be back next year.

Worlds Championships Day Three

Today was the final day of qualification matches, we played the last 4 of our matches, getting a new high score of 221 points! Ending at a ranking of 137 out of 160. But much more importantly, we all had a huge amount of fun, including watching an amazing display of team mascots dancing in front of the fields!

And of course, following FIRST tradition, we wore a tiara for Tiara Friday!

Unfortunately, we were not picked for the alliance selection, but we would like to congratulate not only everyone in the finals but also every single team for their hard work and dedication, allowing them to compete in the World Championships!

Afterwards, we decided to indulge ourselves in some food trucks at the “Block Party” enjoying some delicious food while sharing stories around the table.

We ended the day with another swim and some card games, and we all can’t wait for tomorrow. Good luck to all the teams competing!

World Championships Day Two

Today we completed three more of our matches, performing a lot better than yesterday! We had a high score of 189 points! We were able to showcase not only our strength in scoring in the Shared hub while playing defence, but also to spin and score the ducks at the same time!

Scoring in the Alliance Hub, preparing to spin Ducks.

All of our team members also had some personal highlights from today’s event:
Amren: “I liked the kimchi fries and experience of Field Coaches and want to be able to pass the knowledge to younger team members. Specifically, practice everything you want the robot to do. It doesn’t matter how simple it seems, practice it! Now I understand how important it is to have someone watching the field and making decisions.”
Bryce: “It was great to talk to a team who we could relate to easily since they had an extending arm so we could talk about the woes of wiring moving arms.”
Hanson: “It was great to see some of the expos in the innovation fair, especially worth noting a mini copy of the Internation Space Station, which is able to mimic the ISS in real-time.”
Ishaan: “I liked listening to the Rap songs from different teams. They get a $100 gift certificate from our sponsor Actuonix.”
Jackson: “I liked looking at FRC, it’s bigger, louder, but the rules seem simpler and not as many points.”

Afterwards, our team decided to continue to try out amazing Houston Food! With Truffle Fries, Pasta, and Pizza, all in a Texas Style. And of course, with lots of work, comes with lots of fun:

We have a match first thing in the morning, and we can’t wait to get started!

World Championships Day One

Today we had our first day of the World Championships! We went through judging, set up our pit, and saw an absolutely amazing opening ceremony!

We were able to meet many teams from over 15 different countries at the event, everyone with a unique approach to this year’s challenge.

We also got to play our first match of the competition, we were able to learn about the new issues that we have never encountered before at BC Championships, and we are ready to improve for the next ones.

After a long day, we decided to relax in the pool, mess around, having a bit of fun, before calling it a night.

If you are interested in watching the matches, you can watch them here on twitch, our match schedule is:
1. 20, Red 1
2. 39, Red 2
3. 52, Blue 2
4. 76, Blue 1
5. 96, Blue 1
6. 113, Red 1
7. 137, Red 2
8. 156, Blue 2

We can’t wait to play more matches, and see more of what this event has to offer!

24 Hours until Worlds!

It has all been leading up to this moment, everyone working together to design, build, and program the robot. Volunteering and organizing Outreach and Connect events, competing in scrimmages, and BC Championships, all to get to… The World Championships!

As we prepare to leave for our flight, we prepare to transport our robot, pack up our field, and prepare. In the past three years, FIX IT has qualified for the World Championships but never had a chance to compete due to Covid-19. For all of our team members, it will be our first time at the World Championships!

Thank you to the VI-Tech Park for providing us with a space to set up a field. We’ll miss our temporary digs in Mystic Beach!

We are all excited, and can’t wait to meet teams from all over the world. Safe travels to everyone!

BC Championships

On Feb. 26, 2022, 3491 FIX IT competed in the first in-person Championships in over two years! It was held at at Khalsa Secondary School in Surrey. For some of our team members, this event was their first live competition.

Overall, we came 17th place out of 28, having a total point score of 404, averaging 80.8pts per match.

Here is a link to see our matches
Qualification 7 (122pts): https://youtu.be/whrDSbxTY5I?t=8118
Qualification 10 (80pts): https://youtu.be/whrDSbxTY5I?t=9133
Qualification 18 (40pts): https://youtu.be/whrDSbxTY5I?t=11950
Qualification 24 (76pts): https://youtu.be/whrDSbxTY5I?t=13903
Qualification 34 (86pts): https://youtu.be/whrDSbxTY5I?t=16817

We learned a lot from the competion, regarding our strengths and weaknesses. But more importantly, we were able to meet many teams from around BC that we haven’t met, or seen for a long time!

We won the Think award, and was the second place Inspire Award, providing us a ticket to the World Championships!

We all had a lot of fun, and we are excited to compete at the World Championships.

BC Victoria Scrimmage One

On Nov. 20, 2021, 3491 FIX IT competed in the first live FTC scrimmage in over a year and a half! It was great to get back to in-person matches playing FREIGHT-FRENZY, and meeting the teams for a very fun Scrimmage!

We had a good first scrimmage, with an average score of 75.2 pts each match, and the highest score in the scrimmage of 177 points!

Here is a link to see our matches
Qualification 2 (39pts): https://youtu.be/OrQ_Iitlqe8?t=966
Qualification 3 (17pts): https://youtu.be/OrQ_Iitlqe8?t=1775
Qualification 4 (66pts): https://youtu.be/OrQ_Iitlqe8?t=2602
Qualification 5 (177pts): https://youtu.be/OrQ_Iitlqe8?t=3122
Qualification 4 (77pts): https://youtu.be/OrQ_Iitlqe8?t=4860

We had a lot of fun at this first scrimmage and it was great to see the other teams and their robots. We are excited for the next events.

Asia Pacific Open Championships

Earlier this month, FIX IT competed in the Asia Pacific Open Championships hosted virtually from Australia. We all had a lot of fun in the competition, learning about many team’s extremely impressive mechanisms, and being able to experience competing with an alliance partner!

In this competition, Beyonce held her own! Our Autonomous program works very consistently, we are always able to score Wobble Goals in the drop zone when needed, and we can effectively collect and shoot rings in both the high goal and power shots!

The links to watch the previous live streams are available below:
Opening Ceremony
Matches Day 1
Matches Day 2
Closing Ceremony

Throughout this journey, we were contacted by two new networks – Chek News, and the Times Colonist, for a story!

On Chek News, we were featured in the 6 pm news!
In the Times Colonist, we were featured on their front page!

At the end of this event, we placed 17th in the competition. We all had a lot of fun, and we hope to do it again next year.