Saturday

Static judging on Friday left us in 14th place, so we got 14th choice of competition times on Saturday. We competed at 10:30 am, which put a time crunch on our preparations. Nevertheless, the guys prepared Friday night, got an early practice time (and Chris Pilcher got here at 6:15 am in order to sign up for it! Go Chris!), and then did more tests in the dolphin pool. They worked hard up until the very moment of the competition time, working to get the hydrophone task functioning.

Seahorse III drove through the gate easily and then headed straight toward the pinger. It was obvious that the robot was locked on to the pinger correctly, and we all held our breath as it drove closer and closer. About halfway there, though, it suddenly slowed to a stop. Seahorse III rotated back and forth, still seemingly locked on to the pinger, but not moving forward. Unfortunately, then, our time ran out, and it was apparent that we would not be able to move forward to the Finals.

Now the pressure is off, and our team is enjoying watching the rest of the competition play out. We've made some friends at other universities, and we'll be cheering them on.