Kung Hei Fat Choy!

Dynamic Duo Names

Batman and Robin are known as the "Dynamic Duo" but who are other famous pairs that we can use to call our own dynamic (?) duo?

Hans and Franz have been mentioned but I am sure we can come up with other other bumbing duos.

Ginger and Maryann are a classic duo, but they may be too pretty for our pair.

"Deep Thoughts by Chris"

Chris has thoughts, but not sure how deep they are.

Team Update #5

The 5th Team Update is out on the FIRST site.

We have a Full Team work session this afternoon - see you there!

Don't forget to return your Consent and Information Forms.

Ball Shooting Success

The work sessions on Friday and Saturday were very productive as the team has been working on how the robot will be able to shoot. Here the boys are working on an early prototype of the launcher. A big THANK YOU to Kelly and Rick for building the practice trailer!

Fric and Frac.

Dennis is going over some very important plans on Friday while Lee is taking care of the battery station in the background.

Friday Work Session?

Has a decision been made about a work session on Friday after school? If so, would someone please post a comment below to indicate if we are meeting and if it will be for the whole team or just the robot build team? Thanks.

Thursday is a Full Team Work Session

Everyone is encouraged to attend today's work session.

Kelly and Rick started the assembly of the trailer yesterday and we will need to finish that today. There are other things to be done, too so please show up and be ready to work.

Consent forms and team member profiles were handed out yesterday - please remember to have them filled out, signed and returned ASAP.

Update #3

The Nifty Nabber is the official tongs to be used by the payload specialists in the fueling stations.

The tongs were identified in Update #3 that was posted today on the FIRST website.There are other clarifications about scoring in today's update, too.

Building Progress

Today (Tuesday, Jan 13) will be a work session for the robot build team only. Wednesday will be a full team meeting and work session starting at 3:00.
The build team has been making progress on their robot prototype and had it up and running and even had it out for a couple test drives Saturday afternoon.

Brandy and Adrian are taking inventory of the team's batteries during the work session on Friday afternoon.

Calendar Has Been Updated

Please check the calendar for recent updates to the build schedule.
Click on the link to the right.

Thursday's Work Session

Thursday's work session after school was very productive. We were able to split the team up and work on several different tasks.

Tim working at the drill press.

By the end of the session a chassis prototype with the KoP wheels had been constructed and the guys are seeing how they roll on the school floor.

Updated Build Season Calendar

The Build Season calendar has been updated. Click on the image above or the link on the right to view it at a larger size.

Please note that the school will be open this Saturday and the work session will be for the robot build team only. The school will be open at 8:00am but we will get started in the robotics room around 9:00am.

There will be NO work session on Monday due to the teachers' work day.

The work session on Tuesday will be for the robot build team only.

Wednesday will be a full team meeting.

Ship Deadline on Feb 17

Not to alarm anyone, but there are 40 days until the robot shipping deadline.

The school will be open late tonight and tomorrow and we will be working until 8:30pm. The school will be open this Saturday from 8:00am to 5:00pm - plan to attend these important work sessions.

The calendar (link at the right) will be updated this afternoon.

Week One and Robot Capabilities

Since the kickoff this past Saturday the team has made progress in several areas:

- Determining capabilities for the Tigerbytes robot

- Organizing and cleaning the Robotics room at the school

- Working with the school administration to have LCPA
open for work sessions later than 5:30pm on weekdays
and on Saturdays.

- Kelly and Rick are going to oversee the building of a practice trailer for us. (FYI - The two of them did an awesome job on the crate building project and we appreciate their help with these valuable components of the competition.)

Once we have a final confirmation on dates and times we will update the calendar (the link to it is directly to the right) - hopefully by end of day tomorrow we will have it updated. In the meantime we are hopeful the school will open for us this Saturday.

For the after school work session on Thursday (Jan 8) the plan is to start working on prototyping a robot - and other task teams will start breaking off to work on buttons, pit, PR, trailer building and a variety of other things. All are encouraged to come and get to work.

FIRST Team Update #1

Be sure to check the FIRST website for the Team Update #1.

2009 FIRST Competition is "Lunacy"

FIRST launched its eighteenth FIRST Robotics Competition season today with a Kickoff of a new robotics game called “Lunacy” at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, NH.

In the “Lunacy” game, robots are designed to pick up 9" game balls and score them in trailers hitched to their opponents’ robots for points during a 2 minute and 15 second match. Additional points are awarded for scoring a special game ball, the Super Cell, in the opponents' trailers during the last 20 seconds of the match. “Lunacy” is played on a low-friction floor, which means teams must contend with the laws of physics.

We had a great turnout for the Kickoff at the school this morning - there were 12 students, 9 mentors and 2 alumni in attendance this morning. We were not able to stay at the school past 11:00am so we weren't able to brainstorm about the game strategy.

Everyone is encouraged to read the game manual and become familiar with how teams can score points - and how penalties are assessed.

We hope to see everyone at the school Monday afternoon - come prepared to brainstorm game strategy.

FIRST Kickoff Webcast Saturday @ 9:00am

Here is a shot of the team watching the 2008 FIRST Kickoff webcast.

The school is to be open at 8:00am Saturday January 3rd. We will be meeting in room 108 to watch the 2009 Kickoff Webcast. Please be there before 9:00am and be ready to take notes during the webcast.

After the webcast we will be breaking up into small groups to discuss these things about the 2009 Game:
- Autonomous Scoring
- Teleop Scoring
- End-Game Scoring
- Penalties
- Game Strategy

We will have refreshments and a pizza lunch - most everyone will be free to leave after lunch.