🚀 My RoboCon Journey – Day 5: Entering ROS & Becoming a Team Lead

In my last blog, I shared how I revived an old robot and gained the confidence that I could really contribute to RoboCon. But now, the real challenge had arrived: working on the actual RoboCon 2025 robot.

⚡ The First Task for RoboCon 2025
When I reached the lab that day, my seniors gave me a responsibility that sounded both exciting and terrifying at the same time:

👉 “Set up ROS (Robot Operating System) on the Raspberry Pi and prepare the environment to run the new robot.”

The truth? I had absolutely no idea how ROS even worked. I didn’t know what commands to use, what packages were required, or even where to begin. Still, I stood there in front of the Raspberry Pi, determined not to give up.

⏳ Alone but Not for Long
At first, I was completely alone on the software side. I kept typing, retrying, and searching for clues in the terminal, trying to make sense of errors.

After some time, one of our female teammates joined me. Finally, it didn’t feel like I was struggling in isolation anymore. We worked side by side, sharing ideas, testing commands, and encouraging each other. Honestly, neither of us knew the “proper” way to do things — but together, we managed to push forward and make progress.

💻 Learning Beyond the Lab
By the end of the session, we still hadn’t fully figured everything out. But instead of feeling defeated, I went home with a new mission: learn ROS. That night, I started watching tutorials, reading documentation, and taking notes. Slowly, things began to make more sense — and I could see how this system would be the backbone of our robot.

🙌 The Unexpected News
The very next day, something happened that completely changed my RoboCon journey: I was appointed as the leader of the software team.

From being the “newbie” struggling with ROS, I suddenly had to manage a team of 7–8 members. The responsibility was huge — but instead of fear, I felt an incredible excitement. This was my chance not just to learn, but to lead.

✨ Looking Ahead
Day 5 was the day my role shifted from exploring to leading. From standing in front of a Raspberry Pi clueless, to standing in front of a team ready to guide them — the journey took a big leap forward.

In my next blog, I’ll share how I handled this new responsibility, how we divided tasks in the software team, and how I started balancing learning, coding, and leadership at the same time.

The real RoboCon adventure had finally begun. 🚀