Meetings

We are meeting as a team a little bit less now.  But, there is a lot still going on behind the scenes.  We will have some basic training over the next two weeks so we are ready for the competition in Pittsburgh on March 8-10.

The next team meeting is Tuesday, February 28th and Thursday, March 1st.

The results of the driver's test will be announced on Tuesday! Everyone is anxious to see who it will be!

It is in the bag...

Our robot was placed in it's big plastic bag on February 21st before the midnight deadline.  When I mean "big", just try to picture a bag big enough to put a 120 pound robot that can stand over 4 ft tall!

We had a driver competition before we bagged the robot and are awaiting the decisions of the mentors on who it will be.

A representative from jcpenney came to visit us on Monday.  She was able to see all of the great things that has been going on for the six weeks of the build season.  It was awesome to give her a sneak peak of what our robot can do! Thank you jcpenney for your sponsorship!!

We took yesterday off but are meeting tonight to finish any last minute items. We want to be in tip top shape before we go to our first regional in Pittsburgh.

Great Weekend!

After a 14 hour day of working on the robot, a little nap is needed.

Thank goodness we have some flat surfaces in our workroom!

We made great progress with the robot over the weekend.  Thank you to the great dedication of student team members who stayed until almost 11:00 pm on Friday and Saturday.  There is still a little more fine tuning that needs to be done before we "bag and tag" our robot. However, it is a functioning robot!

Saturday February 18, 2012

The Visual Team is working on buttons. We are adding finishing touches to our business plan. We are also writing a script for our Chairmen's presentation. The build team is adding spacers to appendage and putting the appendage on. They are also workibng on programming for the robot.

Bumpers

Mr. Cotton has started making our bumpers. Above is a picture of our bumper from last's seasons robot.  If you are not too familiar with FIRST, our bumpers contain something that many people use during the nice warm weather.  They are pool noodles.  Mr. and Mrs. Bacik buy them in the summer for us so we are ready when it is time to make our bumpers.

Update for 2/16

Team Update for February 16, 2012

As of today, the Build Team has painted the ball elevator and planned its installation, which will occur tonight.

Upstairs with the Creative Team, a new button design has been created, and is planned on being used at the competitions.  Also, the final website has been submitted for scoring.  You can check out the finalized website at this link:
http://www.rpm156.com/

Be sure to keep checking back for further updates!

Happy Valentines Day!!

Happy Valentines Day!

A lot of activity is going on today in the Robotics Workroom.  The build team had every tool imaginable being utilized tonight.  Our programmers were working on understanding what needs to be done.  Meanwhile others were working on some wiring.  More parts are still coming in as the robot is taking shape.

The Chairman's Essay was submitted yesterday.  We will start to work on the presentation and video over the next several days. 

We are now working 7 days a week with long hours over the weekend. But, we know the pay off will be memorable!

Update

The Chairman's team is submiting the essays tonight. The website is being finalized. We are also working on the frame, appendage, and programming of the robot.  

Blizzard!

Today looks like a blizzard outside, but for the loyal team members it's just another team meeting.  Their perseverance shows that if you set your mind to it, you can do just about anything. 

This is the back-up agitator on our robot.  It helps with ball retrieving.  The Build Team is also working on bumpers.  Bumpers protect the robot from any harm that could happen in the game.



Wheel Painting: Creative Working?



  

This is one of our team members painting a wheel.  So as you can see, there is also an creative element to this endeavor.  Most team members assumed that Robotics was mainly building.  You can probably guess many members were surprised what they learned about First Robotics when they joined.Today is the day for everything to take shape.  We just received several parts for our appendage.  Chairman's is working, and of course, our build team is working very hard.  The competitions are getting close, so say it with me, "Rev it up, Rev it up, for RPM!" 

Robotics Plus Mayhem!

First Team 156

To learn more about our team go to:

http://www.rpm156.com/

Team Travel Papers Due Feb. 13th

Just a reminder to all student team members that the team travel papers and appropriate checks are due on Feb 13th.  If you have questions or concerns, talk to Ms. Obuszewski or Mrs. Bacik

Painting, writing and business

It was 2nd semester open house at the high school today.  We were a little limited in what we could do today because of space and the need for computers.  But after that was done we were able to get moving.

A lot of painting has been done to different parts and the frame over the past couple of days.  It will be interesting to see what the robot will look like when we put all the pieces together.

Our writers have been working hard on the Chairman's Essay.  For one new team member, he never realized everything that we did until it was on paper.

We are trying to put a lot of effort in doing our business plan this year.  We are happy that we have until our first competition to complete it.  Everything is in place, but it takes time to write it down.

CRUNCH TIME!

Yes, it is crunch time! Award submission deadlines are February 16th at noon and end of build is February 21st.

Like any project, there are a few glitches along the way.  We have had some some issues with getting some much needed parts at this time.  We did have a few items missing from an order but the supplier is suppose to get them to us ASAP. 

Great strides have been made with the many writing items that we are doing as part of the FIRST program.  We have brainstormed some items for the website and our Chairman's presentation. 

Everyone in coming together as a well working, supportive team!

We hope our sponsors and mentors are following along with us.  Without their continued support, this endeavor would be almost impossible.  Thank-you.

Team Update

Tonight the build team is setting up the playing field and testing the shooter. We are also working on the website. The build team will also be working on the frame. The business plan is being worked on as well.

February 4, 2012

This is last year's robot.  Last year's FIRST Robotics Competition was Logomotion.  This game started with a autonomous time period.  Robots would be programmed to place yellow uber tubes on pegs.  After that, the actual human controlled game would begin.  During the last few seconds of the game, robots race to deploy minibots on poles.  Point are rewarded to the alliances according to which minibots reach the top first.  If you want to learn more about FIRST go to: www.usfirst.org

Our Website

We have been working on our website and we could use some ideas. Check out the website at http://www.rpm156.com/.

February 3, 2012

Hello! We recently received numerous parts.  The ball-thrower, that was made by team members, is now able to work.  We tested it, and this mechanism runs smoothly.  I wonder about how other teams are going to use their Kinect this year.  We're still deciding how to use ours.

The Frame

To our surprise and delight, our frame has already been completed and returned to us by McShane Welding Company, Inc.  It was even delivered on February 1st by one of their employees last night!  What a great supporter of our team. 

The supplies for the frame were donated by Gene Davis Sales and Service.

Thank you!!

Our Activity for February 1st

Currently, we are having our frame welded together and hopefully we'll get it back Saturday or Monday (probably Monday) and we can begin working!!

So far, we have been working on our demobot to figure out how to cross the bridge, the barrier and how to shoot the little foam basket balls into the hoops. Mr. Cedzo has been working on our parts for the ball shooter. Upstairs, the other half of the team has been working on the buisness plans, website, safety manual, and Chairman's.