South Jersey Robotics Team 316

final days of build season

2012-02-20T14:20:00.000-05:00

the final days have been really busy we restarted our robot and we did it in 1 1/2 weeks so now we have a fully operational robot.

2012-01-14T11:56:00.003-05:00

we are having a very good time we all have jobs and we all have a place to fit in.

catapult test.

2012-01-14T11:31:00.000-05:00

YAY! We just finished a test of our catapult. It worked better than my idea. Which was a more cannon like device.

end of the first week

2012-01-14T08:36:00.001-05:00

first week of build season ending. O the joy, this week went by to fast and it seems as though the most important part of the season just ended but it really has just began.

2012-01-14T08:36:00.000-05:00

One week has gone by. The team has been busy. We still have to decide the robot design. when we get to regional we will scout out other robot designs but for now we need to work,work, work.

2012-01-11T18:16:00.000-05:00

Well, kickoff was fun - everyone had a blast! But then the fun and games stopped, and the work began. We all were thinking of ways to launch a foam basketball into the four basketball rims on the wall opposite our alliance. So far, the field-build team has started on a piece of the field called a bridge. We have the program robot up and running, and we have attached a device called a gyro sensor to help us balance the bot on the bridge. The sensor worked, but we set it for too much power and a chain kept on popping off the gear. But the bridge worked perfectly even with all the banging on the floor.

Off Season!

2011-07-19T18:59:00.000-04:00

We are currently in our off-season and are working on our demo bot. We are looking for more high school students to recruit, so if you know of anyone who is interested in joining a robotics team, send them our way!!

Check out our article in our local newspaper! It made the front page of the Sunbeam on Monday, July 18th.

If you've never check out our website, check it out today! We are in the process of updating it, so be sure to check back periodically to find out what we're going to do next! Also, if you are interested in joining the team, sponsoring our team, or finding out information, check out our contact page to find out who to contact about all this and much more!

For those of you who are new to FIRST, check out their website. On there you can find information about where local teams are, the different programs available, and upcoming events.

2011-03-18T13:17:00.001-04:00

WAY TO GO LUNATECS! won the match fpr the red alliance AND got the first minibot up!

2011-03-17T13:50:00.001-04:00

in our second practice match, our minibot fell into our own robot! we hung an oober and a blue square tho!

Trenton Regional, Saturday

2011-03-05T22:04:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone!

So, everyone who was at the Trenton Regional seemed to have lots of fun. It was great to see LogoMotion in action, plus Bart Kamen (Dean's brother) was there talking about their late father Jack Kamen.

So onto details about today.

1) One team in particular really shined today. Team 2016 was doing wonderful today. In the third match of today (I didn't catch the match number), they were a main contributer to 3 logos that the alliance made, plus they were the first minibot up the tower. Then, in match 75, they hung 3 tubes and were the first minibot again. In match 81, first minibot again, but this time they hung 6 tubes (including oober). Their minibot took approximately 3 seconds to get up the tower. That match had a score of 79-23, with 2016 being on the winning alliance. They are not going to be at Chesapeake or Philly. As of right now, they are not registered for Nationals either. But I would be on the lookout...

2) 303 had a telescope similar to ours, however it was slower than ours and once their trolley started to go up, it looked very twitchy. During one match they also didn't seem to have much of a plan. Team 25 had a very fast telescope that was tall. When they would go to hang on the top rack, their mast was about half a foot above the middle peg and the trolley could easily go up with no problem.

3) We need to be careful about red cards and yellow cards. During the quarter finals, the 2nd seeded alliance got a red card for entering the blue alliance zone and pushed into a robot that was hanging. Because of that, they were disqualified. If they hadn't gotten the red card, they would have won that match. During the same match, the 7th alliance got a yellow card for deploying their minibot outside the tower zone. Alliance 3 got two yellow cards during one match for a) deplying their minibot before the 15 seconds and b) placing an oober tube during teleop. Drive team and back up drive team: make sure you know all the penalties and how to get a red and yellow card so we can avoid making those mistakes.

4) As Christian said yesterday, most alliances were only placing a few tubes, and not many had minibots. The most logos I saw today for an alliance was 4, and I saw that twice. I saw a total of 3 minibots go up about 5 or 6 times. So while the majority of the teams weren't scoring a whole lot, there were some matches that were definitely one sided. That being said, today the National High Score was beaten and then tied today. During the first quarter final match for alliances 3 & 8, the 3rd alliance got 124 points while the 8th alliance got only 22. And then in the first smi final between 1 and 5, the 1st alliance got 124 points while the 5th got 36.

5) During the 2nd match for quarter finals for the 5th alliance, team 816 lost their minibot on the field at one point and it started running around the field. While it was amusing to watch, teams losing minibots during teleop was a common thing. They would also lose them when they were trying to deploy them on the pole. We need to make sure we don't lost our minibot when we are competing.

For those who weren't there, here is a list of the 8 alliances:
1) 1676, 2016, 303
2) 423, 486, 293
3) 1923, 25, 1860
4) 1228, 2590, 75
5) 2180, 816, 1302
6) 1089, 1647, 102
7) 2729, 1218, 192
8) 2191, 181, 2199

Alliances 1 and 7 made it to the Finals. Alliance 1 won. Of those two alliances, 1218 is going to Chesapeake, 2729 is going to Philly, and 303 is going to Nationals. I would not be surprised if 1676 and 2016 make an appearance at Nationals as well though.

Hope everyone had a wonderful day, whether it was spent in Trenton or elsewhere. Only 12 more days until our own regional begins!
-Sam

2011-03-05T09:20:00.001-05:00

at the Trenton Regional there have been 2 logos in one match so far!

Trenton Regional, Friday

2011-03-04T22:05:00.000-05:00

Hey all,

Here are just a few thoughts from viewing Trenton today.

1. uber tubes are double points alone, then they act as multipliers seperately, this means that a logo on top with an uber tube is 30 points, in the middle is 20, on bottom is 10, a logo with two uber tubes on top is 42, and a logo with three uber tubes on top is 54 points!

2. Only 5 minibots climbed the pole: only one match had two minibots climb.

3. The average minibot climbed in 10-15 seconds, the fastest was around 4 or 5 seconds.

4. The average number tubes placed by single robots was 1 or 2, The average number of tubes placed by an alliance was 3 or 4, the highest number of tubes placed by one robot was 6, the highest number of tubes placed by an alliacne was 9.

5. The average final score was 10-15, The highest score was 80, the second highest was 74, almost every match was won with a final score of 20 or less.

6. Very few matches did human players throw tubes many at a time, most matches teams went to the feeding station or threw one or two tubes at a time onto the field.

7. Most robots had slow arm, most robots had slow claw/tube manipulators, most manipulators dropped their tubes very easily.

8. The field was having some slight trouble connecting to robots, but it mostly just delayed matches it never interfered with gameplay.

9. Most teams fropped their minibots early or missed during deployment and were assessed penalties.

10. Penalites were common for minibots and lane infringement, but penalties did not decide matches.

11. Most tubes were scored on the top or middle row, no tubes were scored on the bottom.

12. Only two defense robots all day.

13. The minibots are given a 10 second grace period to come to rest/score after time reaches 0.

14. Here is a list of standout teams with reasons:
2016 had the highest solo score with a minibot and 6 tubes on top in logo form and an uber tube (my personal favorite to win NJ regional)
25 has a lightning fast telescope but has a slow inside tube manipulator which slows them down to only 3-4 tubes per match
486 scored several tubes and scored one of the few minibots of the day (This team will be at Philly)
1302 scored a minibot
1676 scored a minibot
1860 did good, solid autonomous follows line, placed 3-4 tubes, and has a minibot (second favorite to win NJ regional)
1647 did good logo on top with uber tube (will be at philly)
1218 did good logo plus one on top with uber tube (will be at chesapeake)
816 did ok with 3 tubes on top in logo form (will be at philly)
102 did ok with 3 tubes on top in logo form (will be at philly)

I also have a video that is a trailer of some of the better teams and matches (i did not get the 80 point match, but i got the 74 point match)
-Christian

Goodbye Robot!

2011-02-21T22:00:00.000-05:00

Our robot, Sam Shark, has officially left our hands! We got a lot of practicing done during our last day of Crunch Weekend, but sadly Sam Shark had to leave us at 4:30 to be crated up and shipped away, just waiting to meet us at the Baltimore Convention Center for the Chesapeake Regional.

So we can all rest, our next meetings aren't until March. We will have a meeting on March 1 and March 3 from 5:30 until 8. We will go to the New Jersey Regional on Saturday from 7am until 7pm to observe and get a feel for what this year's game is played. It will also give the veteran students a chance to introduce our rookie members to the pits and to the competitions before we actually are in the middle of our own.

The students have some homework between now and Tuesday:
- The pre-scouting information must be completed and emailed to Sam.
- The robot book must have the different sections completed.
   * Jaw - Rachel and Dana
   * Ladder - Ally and Christian
   * Drive System - Mat and Jakob
   * Electronics/Pneumatics - Sam and Gain
   * Programming - Nick
   * Minibot & Deployment - Christian and Mike
   * Bumpers - Issa
   * Safety Features - Rachel

The robot book is useful when a judge comes to talk to the students because if they are unsure of an answer, they are able to grab the book to use as a reference or as a quick reminder. Plus, it'll show the judges that the team is prepared with a helpful guide.

There is Sam Shark on our last day! We are all very excited to be back with Sam Shark soon!

24 days until Chesapeake! 52 days until Philadelphia! 64 days until Championships!
-Sam

Team Update: February 20, 2011 (Sunday of Crunch Weekend)

2011-02-20T18:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Safety Contact: With all the visitors today, watch your surroundings and make sure you and our visitors are being safe.

We changed from the omni wheels to the slick wheels we used in 2009 for Lunacy to help with traction.

While practicing today, we managed to flip the robot on its side and when we did that, we broke the plexiglass connectors that held the jaw on the robot. We had to take the robot back to the workshop to make a set of replacements.

We practiced all afternoon (minus when we had to fix the robot) and have a record of 6 tubes hung (Rachel driving and Sammy operating). We are close to our goal of 9 tubes in 2 minutes! Tomorrow we are just driving.

At the end of the meeting, the robot weighed in at 110.2 pounds without the bumpers, battery, or minibot things.

Thanks Mrs. Danner for breakfast and lunch today! Our next meeting is tomorrow from 9am til 5pm.

1 day left until we ship!
-Sammy

Team Update: February 19, 2011 (Sat. of Crunch Weekend)

2011-02-19T22:27:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone!

We solved one of our problems today by adding an additional motor to each gearbox on the robot, making it much more drivable.

-We practiced driving in Davidow

-Electrical Team: cleaned up wires, worked on mounting new motors, labeled the PD board

-Minibot Team: finished the minibot with a solid frame; it now climbs in under 4 seconds, but will be sped up; the deployment mechanism is almost complete

-Programming Team: changed code to use four motors, worked on fixing bugs, tested autonomous

-Shark tooth handouts were made, and the paint job on the robot was touched up

Thanks to Issa for breakfast and Sam for dinner. We will be meeting again tomorrow from 10 AM to 5 PM.

2 more days till we ship!
-Nick

2011 Build Season Teasers

2011-02-18T23:57:00.001-05:00

Here are some teaser pics for some people out there...

Holding the square tube...

Scott and Jakob working on the 2010 robot so we could see whether the 2011 robot could be toppled easily

It looks different now...

A LOT different.

There is our driver's station during practice one day

The jaw!

Blue with yellow polka dots??

The Minibot looks different now too.

More pics to follow in a couple days! And maybe even a video or two...Stop by Saturday, Sunday, or Monday to see the robot before it ships if you are in the area of Salem Community College!

Team Update: February 18, 2011 (Friday of Crunch Weekend)

2011-02-18T22:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Today was a long day for those who were in the workshop all day. The rest of crunch weekend will be the same way due to the amount of time we are in the workshop each day and the increased amount of stress with the due date looming closer. Which leads us to our Safety Contact for today.

Safety Contact: If at any point during the weekend you feel tired or overworked, take a break and drink some water, sit and relax for a few minutes, or do something to get back up to the level you need to be at to work safely. We don't want anything to happen to anyone due to being tired or not feeling right.

Programming team: added a "travel" mode that is used to set up for a match and for playing defense and cleaned up and commented code.

Minibot team: worked on the gearing system and is attempting to make the minibot faster.

Electrical team: cleaned up wires and wired up new sensors.

We did get some time to practice driving tonight. There were some few problems with a delay from the driver's station to the robot near the end.

The plan is to go to BCIT tomorrow to practice with a few other teams. Students must have a permission slip in order to go. We are wearing our black practice shirts (plain black shirts for anyone who does not have a practice shirt). If any of the veteran students have an extra black practice shirt, please bring it tomorrow for a new student to wear.

Tomorrow we meet from 9am - 9pm with a planned trip to BCIT from 11am - 3pm.

4 days til Build Season is over!
-Sam

Team Update: February 17, 2011

2011-02-17T22:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Safety Contact: When moving field equipment, take your time and be careful about your actions and surroundings.

Issa: made shark and template for bumpers.

Electrical: cleaned up wires and will continue to tomorrow.

Minibot: the minibot was modified with two motors. Appropriate fittings were made to run the minibot by itself. The minibot ran up the pole in 3.7 seconds today. There was a plan to make a gearing system to have it run in 1.8 seconds. The deployment system is ready to use with a pole release system. The total time will be around 2 seconds total.

Programming: software updates, reimaged the cRio, tested autonomous, and finalized the mounting of sensors and camera.

The robot has been painted! Our robot is named Sam Shark this year, so we designed our robot to look like a shark. We modeled Sam Shark off of the Whale Shark, however we modified it to fit our ideas. The robot is all blue. Here is a preview of what we have done:

The claw has teeth! The red is to accent the white teeth and make sure it is seen from the stands.

The Whale Shark has dots on it...so we accented our robot with yellow dots to match our shirt.

Our next meeting is tomorrow from 9am til 9pm. Thanks Mrs. Cardona for dinner tonight. Tomorrow Mrs. Rodriguez is providing breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Crunch weekend has officially begun! 5 more days until ship!
-Sam

Team Update: February 15, 2011

2011-02-15T22:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Safety Contact: If you need to stand on a chair to reach something, do not stand on a wheely chair and always make sure someone is spotting you.

Programming team: tested line following sensors and tested the autonomous code.

Mike and Christian worked on the minibot deployment and came up with a scissor extenders as a possibility.

Dana and Rachel worked on another idea for the minibot deployment.

Ally made selenoid braces.

Bumber team: have finished 2 bumpers.

The website has been updated to include more accurate student information and the link for the blog has been included. Please look at the website to make sure everything is accurate. If something needs to be changed, please email Michelle or Sammy with the corrections.

Thanks to Mrs. Cardona for dinner tonight! The next meeting for everyone is Thursday. The girls will be in the workshop tomorrow night around 5:30 to paint the robot.

7 more days until ship!!
-Sam

Team Update: February 12, 2011

2011-02-12T17:20:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone,

Safety Contact:
1) When working with machinery, make sure long hair is pulled back.
2) Safety glasses are required when operating or working near the robot.
3) Be careful not to stretch bungees too tight as they could snap back and injure you.

-Minibot Team: finally got the minibot to climb the tower with the battery attached, but it was slow
-Claw Team: fixed the issue with the claw that caused the bottom part to twist
-Programming/Sensor Team: created a mount for the line tracking sensors, tested using limit switches to pick up tubes
-Electrical Team:worked on and tested 2010 robot, worked with programming team on wiring sensors
-The bumpers are almost finished

Thank you Dana for breakfast and Issa for lunch. Our next meeting is on Tuesday, February 12.

10 days till ship,
-Nick

Team Update: February 10, 2011

2011-02-10T22:30:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone,

We were able to practice driving/operating the robot tonight in Davidow.

-Electrical team: worked on wiring 2010 robot
-Programming Team: tuned arm heights; testing; debugging; removed one semi-major bug that caused the claw to not respond on the first try
-Minibot Team: tested the Minibot; it was able to climb the tower in 3 seconds
-Claw/Arm Team: worked on mounting stops and is fixing the bottom part of the claw that keeps twisting
-The material for the bumpers was cut

Thanks to Mat for dinner. Our next meeting is on Saturday at 8:30.

12 more days left of build season,
-Nick

Team Update: February 9, 2011

2011-02-09T22:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Tonight we took the robot to Davidow and practiced. We even got the FIRST Logo on the top pegs!

The programming team worked out some bugs and continued to test things.

The electrical team worked on finishing the driver's station for the 2010 robot. They also worked on wiring the limit switch for the telescope.

The minibot team was working on the deployment mechanism.

Our next meeting is tomorrow at 4:30.

13 more days til ship!
-Sam

Team Update: February 8, 2011

2011-02-08T22:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Safety Contact: With the strong winds tonight, be careful driving and be sure to pay attention to the wind that might be pushing your car. and remember that with a taller car, it easier for the wind to push your car because there is more surface area for the wind.

The electrical team wired up last year's robot with the 2008 control system. They still have to finish with the operator's system and work with the programming team to make sure the right code is in the robot, but once that is all done, they will be ready for tomorrow's challenge.

The programming team reimaged the cRio and tested the entire 2011 robot.

The minibot team has been working on the deployment system for the minibot.

The bumper team worked on gluing the pool noodles onto the plywood to finish the bumpers.

The rest of the students not on one of these three teams were migrating and helping the three major teams with progress.

Tomorrow is going to be the Battle of the Bots. The plan is to take the 2010 robot (with 2008 controls) and put it up against the 2011 robot. The 2010 robot is going to be used to test the center of gravity of the 2011 robot to see if it can be toppled easily.

Thanks Mat for bringing dinner tonight! Our next meeting is tomorrow, Feb. 9, at 4:30.

Hope everyone has a good night!

14 days left of Build Season...
-Sam

Team Update: February 6, 2011

2011-02-06T22:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Everything that is currently on the robot right now is wired up and running. The soleniods have to be mounted and wired soon. As soon as those are on the robot, more progress with the pneumatics can be made.

Major progress has been made on the minibot.

Issa was taking apart the bumpers to then redo them so we are following the rule that we cannot use things on the robot that were fabricated for a previous year.

We received 2 more new batteries for this year, so now we have a total of 7 batteries that are operating properly.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday at 4:30.

See everyone on Tuesday!
-Sam

Team Update: February 3, 2011

2011-02-03T22:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Safety Contact: Be careful when driving at night of deer, other animals, and people walking around on the roads, especially when on a road with no street lights or very little lighting.

Programming Team: continued revision of Teleop program, tested Minibot code, examined potential autonomous problem.

Claw Team: worked on putting double hinge on. They are now working on mounting the claw onto the trolley.

Electrical Team: put the main breaker on the robot, mounted the power distribution board, and worked on hooking up the battery plug wires to the breaker and the power distribution board.

Drive Train Team: the spacers are almost ready, one motor is attached, started to mount the wheels.

Christian: added the motor to the Minibot and talked to the programming team about the Minibot program.

Jakob: helped Mr. Weick cut and drill and file metal pieces for the new motor mounts and helped Mat with the axle mounts.

Ally: helped the electrical team mount the necessary pieces and helped other team members with tasks.

Michael: helped other team members with tasks.

As a reminder to everybody: if you see something that is against the rules or might be a problem, speak up so we don't lose time making something that is not legal for the robot. Also, if you think you might know an easier way to solve a problem we are having, offer it to the rest of the team or to whoever is working on the project. No suggestions are wrong and your idea could save time, weight, and space.

Thank you Gain for dinner tonight! Our next meeting is Saturday morning at 8:30. Our goal is to be driving by Sunday, so make sure that when you are at the workshop you are working hard so we can accomplish this goal.

19 more days left in Build Season!
-Samantha

Team Update: February 2, 2011

2011-02-02T22:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Hope everyone's Groundhog's Day was great!

Safety Contact: Make sure to unplug machinery when doing any repairs.

The frame was in the workshop tonight, so things were moving like crazy in the workshop.
The programming team rewrote the program for the teleop and autonmous to account for the robot being unstable when the telescope is forward. They also reimaged the Classmate.

The drive system team created a new set of wheels and spacers, made spare spacers and everything else to mount.

The claw team made a new hinge for the claw.

We had some people working individually on different projects as well.
Michael: precisely milled, drilled, and bolted the trolley to the telescope.
Jakob: helped Mr. Weick with the mounting of the telescope motor.
Ally: worked on mounting things and cutting metal for later mountings.
Christian: worked on the minibot.
Samantha: worked with Mr. Fordham in starting electrical work.

Thanks to Rachel's grandmother for bringing dinner tonight! Our next meeting is tomorrow at 4:30.

Also, please keep Rev. Strickland (Samantha's grandfather) in your thoughts for the next couple weeks. Yesterday morning he slipped on the ice and fractured his ankle. He is currently at Cooper University Hospital and is under the care of some of the top doctors on the East Coast. But please keep him in your thoughts as he recovers from this injury.

See everyone tomorrow!
-Sam

Monday, January 31, 2011

2011-01-31T22:00:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone!

Safety Contact: be aware of surroundings and pay attention to where your arms/fingers/legs are in relation to machinery.

The programming team is 99.9% done with the basic robot program.

The drive train team has finished two sets of wheels (not including the omni wheels that are already done) and they have all the necessary parts to put the drive system on the robot.

The claw team has new permanant parts and is stronger and better than before.

The telescoping is 3 times faster than it was on Saturday and the motor does not tack anymore.

Ally and Christian were at Mr. Weick's tonight working on the frame. They have the whole frame tacked together and it's almost done. They just have a few more beads to complete.

Thanks Mrs. George for dinner tonight! Our next meeting is scheduled for tomorrow night at 4:30. That being said, be on the look out for a text or email from Mrs. George tomorrow if we are unable to have our meeting due to the ice and/or snow. And as always, even if we have a meeting, if you do not feel that you can safely arrive at the workshop, please do not risk coming. Your safety is more important than the robot being built.

22 more days until ship date!
-Sam

We're working hard!

2011-01-31T20:33:00.000-05:00

Here at the workshop, we are working very hard to get this robot done! Take a look at what we've been doing:

Ally is working hard to dremmel something from Sam and Mat.

Dana is dremmeling while Rachel is...doing nothing? haha she claims she was supervising. And she really was helping Dana out.

Issa is hard at work drilling holes to get our robot on wheels when the frame is done.

And so is Jakob!

Can't argue when you have a senior helping a freshman on a project!!

We only have 22 more days left of Build Season!! We are hoping to get no more snow...but of course, not sure we're going to luck out on that...We can always hope though!

Team Update: January 29, 2011

2011-01-29T21:00:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone,

We decided today to change our drivetrain from mecanum to 2-motor drive with castors so we can use a CIM motor for the telescope and lose some weight.

Minibot team: worked on the minibot assembly; just have to put on wheels and a motor.

Drivetrain team: wheels are nearly constructed, a motor mount was built and spacers were made for the other mounts.

Programming team: Changed the code from using a 4-motor to a 2-motor drive system, fine-tuned the telescope/arm controls, began work on vision code, and wrote code for the minibot.

Claw team: finished attaching the hinges to the trolley device and then mounted a cylinder to it; in addition, support struts were made for it.

Also, work was started on the frame and the castors.

Thanks to Sammy for breakfast and Mikey for lunch. Our next meeting is on Monday, Jan 30 at 4:30 p.m.

24 days left of build season
-Nick

Game Animation 2011

2011-01-27T13:55:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxujTCgQPgg

This is the FIRST FRC 2011 Game Animation :)

Let's earn some money!

2011-01-27T13:17:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

As some as you may know, last year we registered with the website GoodSearch.com in order to help raise money. GoodSearch is pretty simple to use: You use it as you would Google, except before you start looking things up, you have to first make sure you have selected South Jersey Robotics as your charity/group you are GoodSearching for. For each search you do, we will receive $0.01 via the advertisements on the webpages. In order to maximize our earnings, I just recently found another website that we can use to earn money. The new website is iGive.com. As with GoodSearch, the only thing necessary to make sure we receive the money is that you put that you are searching for South Jersey Robotics. Again, each search will earn us $0.01. As with GoodSearch, searching for images or videos will not earn us any money, nor will searching for well-known websites.

Please use GoodSearch or iGive instead of Google to help support us! both GoodSearch and iGive are just as reliable as Google is and will earn us money. Ask your friends and family members to use them as well. Get the word out that we are trying to raise money and they can help without even spending a penny themselves.

-Sammy

Team Update: January 25, 2011

2011-01-26T01:00:00.000-05:00

Safety Contact: Be careful to avoid splinters when handling wood.

Drive train team: finished putting together the last gearbox and is working on finding gears and sprockets for the Weick Wheels.

Programming team: finished writing basic control systems code, tested winch and encoder, and tested pneumatic systems.

Telescoping team: tweaked the telescope and threaded it with the cable. They powered it with the CIM motor and tested it. It works, although it needs more tweaking.

Claw team: finished prototype

Our next meeting is tomorrow night. As of right now, we are planning on meeting at 5:30. Check your email/text messages tomorrow to see if Mrs. George has sent out something about a change in time or a cancellation due to weather.

Thank you, Sammy, for bringing dinner tonight. Tomorrow night Dana is bringing dinner.

Good luck to everyone who is taking finals or midterms this week!

-Sammy

Team Update: January 20, 2011

2011-01-21T01:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Safety Contact: 1) When filing and de-burring, wear gloves for protection. 2) With the expected weather for this weekend, be very careful driving and walking with the snow and ice on the ground.

We had a very productive night tonight. We took the 2010 robot and the demo bot that was built in the beginning of Build Season to test the different sets of wheels. By majority vote, the team decided on mecanum wheels for the robot.

The drive system team cut metal to be used for the frame and started to file the metal to be welded.

The telescoping team finished with the mast and have tested it to make sure that it works.

The claw team finished their prototype that is able to pick up the tubes.

The sensor team tested using encoders and tested the code to run the telescoping arm.

For next week, we are meeting on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday during the week and Saturday. We want to be ahead of schedule rather than behind schedule and rushing. So, let's make use of the two extra days this upcoming week.

Weather permitting, the seniors have requested to be able to get into the workshop tomorrow to cut more metal and file the metal with Mr. Don. As long as the workshop is open and the roads are safe to drive on, the plan is to meet at the college at 9 to work. If anyone has off from school tomorrow and would like to get things moving, please come to the workshop at 9 tomorrow morning. If a ride is necessary, contact one of the seniors to work out transportation. Definite details will go out tomorrow morning to all the students and parents as they are determined.

As a reminder to all students, if you are unable to make a meeting, make sure to tell Mrs. George you won't be there and also contact the rest of your subteam and make sure they know what you were going to do so there will be progress even though you won't be there. Also, ask your subteam what they did and what is the plan for the next meeting and if you were assigned anything so you are not standing around lost and confused when you do come back.

Below is the probable shirt for this season. If any of the students or mentors do not like the shirt, please offer another suggestion by Saturday to Mrs. Danner. In order for the shirt to be used, Mrs. Danner must be able to spot us in the stands if she is on the floor. As Mrs. Danner has stressed, we are daring to be exceptional. We do not want to blend in with the rest of the stands, so we are going to be as noticable as MOE is. Obviously not the same color though. :-)

Our next meeting is on Saturday at 8:30 am. Please note the time so everyone is there on time.

Hope everyone has had a wonderful week!

-Sam

Team Update: January 18, 2011

2011-01-19T01:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Hope everyone's weekend was great!

The claw team worked on a final prototype and are almost finished it.

The programming/sensor team set up a 4 motor arcade drive system with an adjustable sensitivity, finished setting up the 2011 control system, and started working on code to run an arm.

The telescoping team built a new, less friction telescope. They are almost finished the new sliders.

The drive train team finished the new drive train and tested it. The new design they tested was having omni wheels in the front and back and traction wheels in the middle that were powered.

Thank you Mrs. Marandola for dinner tonight! The next meeting will be on Thursday from 4:30 until 9.

Good luck to all the seniors going to Rowan!

-Sam

Team Update: January 13, 2011

2011-01-14T01:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Safety Contact: Keep wires above eye level. Make sure you are always wearing your safety glasses.

The claw team completed both of their prototypes. They have two different designs. One design can pick up tubes vertically and the other design can pick up tubes horizontally.

The sensor team configured the new gaming adaptor, finished installing all the current software, reclaimed a 5 GB partition of the Classmates hard drive, and did more testing with the sensors.

The telescoping team worked on their prototype, a drum and motor combination, and also gearboxes.

The drive train team put chains on the wheels and got all of the electrical components on the robot and on the drivers' station wired up. They are trying to figure out how to get the robot to move so they can test the drive train they have on right now. Their homework to do between now and Saturday is to research the 2007 control panel.

Thank you Mrs. Davenport for bringing dinner! Our next meeting is on Saturday from 9 until 2. As a reminder, the Georges are bringing breakfast and the Petersons are bringing lunch.

Hope everyone has a great day!
-Sam

Team Update: January 11, 2011

2011-01-12T01:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Safety Contact for tonight: Be careful of slippery surfaces both when walking and driving.

The drive train team tonight was working on putting the control panel on the robot and hooked up as well as mounting the battery. The wheels have been mounted. They are also working on making sure everything is aligned now.

The sensor team was downloading software, learning the different sensors and discussing uses for them in this years game. Jakob was working on making the targets in which some of the sensors will be used for.

The claw team was working on prototypes tonight.

The telescoping team was testing sliders for the telescope and were making a prototype.

Thank you Mrs. Rodriguez for dinner tonight! The meatballs were delicious. If we do have our meeting tomorrow night, the Georges are providing dinner.

Be on the lookout for a possible text about tomorrow's meeting. Even if a text does not go out, if you do not feel like you can drive to the college safely tomorrow night, please do not come. Your safety is more important than the robot. Email or text Mrs. George if you are not coming due to weather tomorrow night.

Hope everyone had a safe drive home tonight!

42 more days left of Build Season!
-Sam

Team Update: January 10, 2011 (Webchat)

2011-01-11T01:00:00.000-05:00

During tonight’s webchat, the entire team discussed all the subteams and thing associated with it.

The claw team decided that they were going to power the claw using pneumatics. In trying to figure out how to keep the pneumatics from hanging down, it was discussed to have the pneumatic tubing secured with zipties (which could cause some tension) or the mesh pneumatic sleeve type thing that is periodically used to either hold the pneumatics or wires.

The drive team discussed the different systems they planned to test: tank, 2 wheel drive, rear wheel drive. They planned on not testing the mechanum wheels because they have been tested using the actual robot from 2010 and 2008 already. When the topic of mechanum wheels came up, Mikey was for them, Sammy, Rachel, and Christian were against them, and Ally was undecided about whether they should be used or not.

The telescoping team has planned to make better prototypes.

Team Update: Kick Off Weekend 2011

2011-01-10T01:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!!

I hope everyone had fun this Kick Off weekend! The best is yet to come now :) I think this year is the year we will make it to Einstein and win it!

First off, I would like to thank Michelle for the entire team for providing each student with a notebook this year. These notebooks are great ways to make sure we have everything written down for the night and will help each student get just a little more organized.

Unfortunately, no one got the right answer for the holiday challenge that Mr. Hinde and Mr. Weick gave out. The students are still able to give answers and are encouraged to. We were given three hints to help us along.
1) there is a definite number answer.
2) Mr. Weick gave the exact encoder used in this challenge
3) it may have come in the 2010 Kit of Parts in a quad

Students, keep submitting your answers! These three hints should help you find the right answer.

Our safety contact for today was that there is black ice on the roads right now. Remember that you are unable to see the black ice and can slide, no matter how careful you try to be. Also, be aware of your surroundings, especially when texting. If you are not paying attention to what is going on around you, things could take a terrible turn.

As a reminder, this year the game is LogoMotion. For those who haven't yet seen the video, below is the link to it on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSc8FWfJQlU

Today we went over our homework, which was to make a prototype of the robot for this year. We had some great designs. Some ideas for picking up and holding the tubes included a magnet design, wrist motion, and a claw. We had ideas like a rotating/pivoting arm, telescoping arm, and a bendable arm. There were many, many more ideas. All these ideas are wonderful. As stated today, please do not be discouraged if an idea is not used on the robot exactly. The robot always ends up being a mixture of many different ideas.

Certain students have been given very specific tasks this year. All of these tasks or jobs are very important to the team and how well we function.
Safety Captain: Rachel Peterson
Manual/Team Updates: Issa Cardona
Post Questions to FIRST: Christian Clour
Moniter Chief Delphi: Michael Marandola
Cell Phone/Email List: Samantha Kirk

Everyone on the team is to make sure the following list is worked on:
- every student is to have a Chief Delphi account and is to be looking on there every night for interesting things, such as solutions to a problem we are having or other problems other teams are having and the solution to their problems
- all students are to make sure they have registered on STIMS. If you haven't already registered, go to usfirst.org and click on FRC. On the left side there will be a tab called "Registration" and when scrolled over, it will have another menu availabe. Click on STIMS. New students: Click on the button for new students and follow the directions from there. Veteran students: put in your login information to update your registration.
- make sure you are looking at Bill's Blog every night- Check out the Blue Alliance for teams who successfully lifted and hung the tubes in 2007
- watch videos of the 2007 competions either using the Blue Alliance or YouTube

This week we are focusing on prototypes.
Group 1) Drive system. Mr. Fordham and Scott are in charge of this group with Sammy, Mat, and Gain working on it. They are testing different drive systems and control, such as onmi wheels, tank drive, etc. As of right now, 2 omni wheels are successfully built and the frame that came in the Kit of Parts is being built.
Group 2) Telescoping/Lift system. Mr. Weick is the mentor in charge with Christian, Ally, and Issa working on it. So far they have been messing around with the extruded aluminum and linear slides. They are thinking about doing a continuous loop with pullies.
Group 3) Claw/Hand prototype. Wayne is the mentor in charge with Mikey, Rachel, and Dana working on it. Right now they have two designs they are working with.
Group 4) Sensors. Michelle and Mr. Cardona are the mentors in charge of this group with Nick and Jakob working on it as well. The team received 3 line followers in the Kit which are supposed to sense from 20 feet away. However, the sensors cannot "see" from that far away. The group is planning on using the cameras and other sensors to pick up and/or place the tubes. Right now they have wired the line follower and have updated the classmate with the new software. They are planning on using the 2010 robot to test the line follower.

Monday night is Mentor's Night at the shop. However, the students have homework per their group that they can work on Monday night. The students have also set up a Facebook Chat that is scheduled for Monday nights.

Due to the forcasted weather for Tuesday, please be on the look out for a text from Mrs. George as to whether we will have a meeting on Tuesday. If not, the students are going to have another Facebook Chat and will also have to be searching on Chief Delphi for different things to do with their group.

Thanks to the following people for meals this weekend: Rachel (breakfast on Saturday), Sammy (lunch on Saturday), Ally (breakfast on Sunday) and Mat (lunch on Sunday). As a reminder, Nick is charge of dinner on Tuesday if we do have our meeting.

Hope everyone has a wonderful night! See everyone on Tuesday if we have a meeting!
-Sammy

Team Update: Kick Off Homework 2011

2011-01-09T01:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Here is the homework that was assigned to us for tonight:
1) Make a prototype robot for our strategy - could be paper, drawing, legos, etc. Also, give how many points you think your robot will score consistently.
2) Do a search for the robots with the best arms and pick up mechanisms from the 2007 Rack 'N Roll competition. Bring in a description.

As a reminder, our strategy was: hang an uber in autonomous on the top peg. then, hang as many tubes as possible during teleoperated and deploy a mini bot in the last 10 seconds.

Be as creative as you can be. We will discuss the robot concepts tomorrow morning. Don't be discouraged if your exact robot concept is not chosen tomorrow...We pull from multiple concepts to create the best robot we can.

-Sam

Chief Delphi Reminder

2010-12-14T01:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Just as a reminder, make sure to make an account of Chief Delphi before Build Season comes along if you haven't already! This is one of the most used websites in robotics (other than usfirst.org) and will be a great help come Build Season. We use CD to clarify rules with other teams so no one is breaking the rules. There are also a few teams who will give hints about their robot on there, which might spark an idea for our own robot. Plus, during Build Season we usually have homework about what we saw on Chief Delphi the night before a meeting.So make an account and browse around Chief Delphi so you get used to the website before there are thousands of threads going. If you have a question about anything you see, maybe what a specific thread is about or whether we could maybe use a concept, shoot an email to a mentor or the team to see what everyone thinks about it.

See everyone tomorrow!
-Sam

FLL Competition

2010-12-04T01:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

Because questions have been asked about tomorrow's FLL event, I am going to take the opportunity to answer all questions for everyone's benefit.

-- The FRC students are to be at the Student Center at Rowan University by 2 pm. The Student Center is next door to the Rowan Bookstore. If you get lost, please call either myself or Mat and we will help get you to the Student Center.
-- Please park in Parking Lot A, otherwise you will be issued a ticket. Not a "Rowan" ticket but a "City of Glassboro" ticket.
-- Eat lunch beforehand or bring a lunch with you. The Cafeteria is open tomorrow, but it is $8 per person to get in. Plus, if you are busy eating in the Cafeteria, you will not get to see the RoboTechs or the Lunabots performing in the robot part of the competition.
-- Wear your blue shiny shirt tomorrow.

Remember: all FRC students are requested to attend this competition to show support for the two FLL teams.

See everyone tomorrow!!
-Sam

FLL Competition

2010-11-29T01:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

We have received the schedule for the FLL competition on December 4th. As stated earlier, the FRC students are asked to attend the competition to support both FLL Team 4790, the RoboTechs, and FLL Team 4791, the Lunabots.

The competition is being held in the Rowan University Student Center, which is where the cafeteria is. It is the building right next to book store. Tentatively, the schedule for the public is as follows:

Opening Ceremony at 10:00-10:30

Robot Performance Rounds at 2:15-4:00

Closing Ceremony at 4:30-5:00

In between Opening Ceremony and Robot Performance Rounds is closed off to the public for the judging sessions.

Here is the link with the schedules for the team, coaches, and the public:

http://elvis.rowan.edu/firstrobots/doc/schedule.html

We hope to see everyone there on Saturday!

-Sam

Team Update: November 22, 2010

2010-11-23T01:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!!

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Here are just a few reminders for the rest of the 2010 season.

There is no meeting this week. Our next meeting is on Thursday, December 2.

The holiday party is December 9 at 6:30 pm. The R.S.V.P date is December 5. Please reply to sjroboticsfll@gmail.com with how many people will be attending from your family and what you are planning on bringing. We are doing a polyanna again this year for the students with a $10 limit for the price of the gifts.

The two FLL teams (team 4790 out of Quinton Middle School and team 4791 out of Salem Community College) are participating in their first competition on December 4 at Rowan University in Glassboro. The FRC team is requested to be in attendance to support the two teams.

Thank you Mr. Cardona for making the 2010 DVD! It means a lot to everyone on the team that you used your time to make the DVD for us!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
-Sam

Team Update: November 9, 2010

2010-11-10T01:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Last night we practiced driving the robot and worked on figuring out Drive Teams for Saturday.

Mr. Fordham asked Mat to fix one of the batteries and Sammy to fix the battery charger that is broken. All the batteries are to be plugged in and charging between Thursday night and Friday night.

See everyone tomorrow! Don't forget to bring Script Order forms!

-Sammy

Duel Reminders

2010-10-14T01:00:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!

As a reminder for everyone, students are supposed to be at the college at 5:30 pm to help uncrate MOE's truck. Please have gloves and safety glasses on when you uncrate the truck. Also, on Saturday we have to be at the college at 6:45 am for Duel. Lunch will be provided, but please make sure to eat breakfast before you come or bring something with you to eat once you get to the college.

See everyone at Duel!
-Sam

Team Update: September 28, 2010

2010-09-29T01:00:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!

Tonight's meeting was focused primarily on the gyro and accelerometer and what challenges we have facing us regarding those two sensors. Here is a breakdown of what was discussed tonight:
Our Challenges with the gyro/accelerometer

gyroscope --- the gyroscope measures the angle in degrees on three different axes. we know that we will get the angles of the robot's positions. We will know the roll, pitch, and yaw in degrees.
accelerometer --- the accelerometer measures the speed in all directions.
code/program
we need to know how fast our robot goes
we need a teeter totter
programming so when the robot is not at 0 degrees (or whatever we decide will be level), the joystick will be overridden by the robot so the drivers cannot accidentally cause us to drive off the teeter totter
the robot has to be able to distinguish the different angles
distance we need to drive
keeping track of the angle from level
robot needs to know when to start balancing
P.I.D --- this is a continuous loop that will always try to achieve a goal. in our case, it will read what degree we are at and will then speed the robot up or slow it down depending on how many degrees we are away from our goal of level.

All team leaders: Mrs. Danner wants to have a plan for Thursday night's meeting for each project by Wednesday night. As a reminder, the projects and leaders are as follows:

Gyro/Accelerometer: Sam and Mr. Hinde

Programming: Nick and Mr. Don

Gear Boxes: Rachel and Mr. Fordham

Crate: Christian and Mr. George

Also, if you did not bring your soda order forms to the meeting tonight, please make sure they are in by Thursday.

See everyone on Thursday!

-Sam

Team Update: September 23, 2010

2010-09-24T01:00:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!

In the beginning of the meeting last night, the students were in Davidow driving the robot and kicking the soccer balls. During the second half of the meeting, we had a discussion of the projects that must get done this fall and the regionals we want to go to for the 2011 season. Each student signed up to be the student leader of a project and there is a mentor leader as well.

The first project is the gyro and accelerometer project. Mr. Hinde is the mentor leader of the group and Sean is the student leader with Mat in the group as well. Their goal is to build a teeter totter and figure out how to use the gyro and accelerometer to balance on it.

The second project is trimming the driver station sticks. Mr. Don is the mentor leader with Nick as the student leader. Issa and his dad Mr. Cardona are a part of this group as well. Using programming, these four will trim the sticks to make them more precise. They will research ways to do that so our robot can move a glass of water without changing the water line at different speeds.

The third project is the gear box project. Mr. Fordham is the mentor leader of this group with Rachel as the student leader. The two of them will organize the back room and determine what we need to build a new drive system and gear boxes, as well as building the gear boxes for the 2011 season. Inventory will be done so we can determine what we need to get for next year.

The fourth project is the new crate. Mr. George is the mentor leader of this project with Sammy as the student leader. Christian is a member of this group as well. These three are in charge of building a new crate that is lighter and meets the FIRST requirements.

Our machinist and fabrication group is Mike and Ally with Mr. Weick. Nick is going to learn how to program this year. We need someone to help with inventory so it is not left up to the group working on the gear boxes alone.

There were two assignments given that are due on Tuesday, September 28.
--Each student must research 10 algorithims, codes, or math configurations for the gyro and accelerometer to balance the robot on the teeter totter. If you are looking for code, it must be in LabView, otherwise it is not useful to us. Here is a hint: several years ago, FIRST put out a game that involved just this.
--Each student leader is to email their mentor leader and figure out a plan for what is to be accomplished and what is needed for their project.

If you are not going to be at robotics on Tuesday for any reason, email your assignments to Mrs. George or find out if someone can bring in your homework for you.

Reminder: Soda sale orders are due Tuesday, September 28. Don't forget to sell soda! Every case of soda you sell will get you closer to the $1,300 you must raise for this year.

See everyone on Tuesday!

-Sammy

Kick Off is around the corner!

2010-09-07T01:00:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to let everyone know that there are 124 days until the game is released! Before we know it, January 8th will be right around the corner and we'll be learning about the game. I hope everyone is as excited as I am about this!

See everyone on Thursday!
Sam

Back to School Night Discussions

2010-08-12T01:00:00.000-04:00

Everyone,

I have started a discussion on the LuNaTeCs group page on Facebook to brainstorm points to mention at the different Back to School Nights. It would be great if everyone who participates with facebook could express their ideas on the discussion board so everyone, including alumni and friends, can help the students organize the best possible information to portray to the potential recruits and their parents.

thanks,
Sammy

Back to School Night Recap

2010-08-10T01:00:00.000-04:00

Today, Rachel and I met at the Woodstown Diner to discuss what we think should be incorporated in the Back to School Night presentations. With Mrs. Peterson's help, we came up with a simple, yet effective idea for the presentations. Because we will have limited space and people will be walking around going to the different teachers, we discussed having: a Powerpoint presentation on loop, a picture board of the current robot, brochures to hand out, our most recent trophy, the scrapbook, and the Lego MindStorm robot. As people come up to us to ask us questions, we would stress the different points such as: the college credits earned, very time consuming during January to March, can make many connections, scholarships available, etc. This is a very good opportunity to get more recruits, so let's take advantage of these events!

See everyone September 2!
-Sammy

Back to School Night Reminder

2010-07-30T01:00:00.000-04:00

Students,

I have only heard back from three students about whether they will be able to help prepare for the Back to School Night presentations. It is important that you email or text me with whether you can or cannot help us prepare for these so I am able to figure out a date that will be best for everyone. Please reply back as soon as you can!

Thanks,
Sammy

Back to School Night (Mentors)

2010-07-21T01:00:00.001-04:00

Mentors,

Since Back to School Nights at the high schools are coming up within the next couple of months, the preparation of the presentations to be given at the schools to recruit new members is going to begin in the first few weeks of August. To ensure that every point is touched on in the presentations, I am asking the adults who have worked with the team to provide ideas to put into the presentations. If you could send me your ideas within the next few weeks, the group of students who are going to be working on the presentation preparations will incorporate the ideas into the presentations for the schools.

Thanks!
Sammy

Back to School Night (Students)

2010-07-21T01:00:00.000-04:00

Students,

As much as we are all possibly dreading it, school is going to start back up soon. Which means, that Back to School Nights are going to be going on, mainly in September (with VoTech as the exception in August). And as many of you know, the robotics team is in need of more students, especially freshmen. So, we are planning on doing presentations at as many of the Back to School Nights as we can. Before we can do the presentations, however, we need to plan for them. That means, we need to plan what we are bringing, if we are going to have a powerpoint, if we have a speech ready, etc.

My proposal is getting as many students together either during the first or second week of August to plan for the presentations. I will need a few dates when you know you are able to meet with the team to help plan. Once I have dates from everybody, I will figure out the best date for as many people to be there as possible.

In addition to a time of when to meet, we would also need to figure out where. SCC is closed during the month of August, so a location is necessary. We could do it at my house in Pedricktown if we need to, BEANS Coffee Shop in Woodstown, or any other central location that would be easier for everybody. If transportation is an issue, a carpool can be worked out.
If you are unable to attend due to vacation, camps, transportation, etc. it is completely understandable. In lieu of you physically being at the planning meeting, I ask that you email or text ideas to me and I will present the ideas in your place.

Please help to make our presentations a success that will get us many new students. Thanks!
-Sammy

Car Wash

2010-06-03T01:00:00.000-04:00

Students,

Ally and I are in the midst of planning at least one car wash for this summer. What we need to find out from you, however, is if you have any old (clean!) rags we can use to wash the cars with around your house and if you have any bucket type things we can use to hold the soap and water. We need as many of each as possible. So, please ask your family (extended family too!) if they will be willing to lend supplies to us for the car wash.

We will send out another email with a tentative date for the first one as soon as we discuss dates with Mr. Fordham. If you know of any dates you absolutely cannot help out, please email us back as soon as possible so we can get the maximum attendance for this fundraiser.

Thanks!
-Sammy

Team Update: June 1, 2010

2010-06-02T01:00:00.000-04:00

Tonight we discussed our homework from last week. Mrs. Danner would like a hard copy of a plan by next week. That includes dates of when things should be completed (things such as how much tickets will cost, where will it be held, etc.). You can handwrite your plan or type it up; it does not matter to her. Please make sure it is done.

As well as discussing homework, we began to clean the workshop for the upcoming Open House (June 17, a Thursday) and packing for the two assemblies we are holding at Alloway (Friday) and Quinton (Thursday the 10). If you were not at the meeting tonight, please tell Mrs. George if you are able to go to the assemblies or not.

We have our party Thursday night at Mr. Hinde's house at 6:30 as a reminder to everybody. It is tons of fun! Make sure to bring your dish that night with you.

As of the end of this month, Mr. Fordham will no longer be able to check his PSE&G email. So please start emailing his home email address as well as the work one from now until the end of the month. His home email address is: jrfordham@comcast.net

Hope everyone has a good rest of the week!

See you Thursday
-Sammy

Team Update: May 25, 2010

2010-05-26T01:00:00.000-04:00

Tonight we discussed the different drive train ideas to try out for next year possibly. The one we decided to test out was Christian's idea of using Swerve Drive. That involves four wheels being on the same motor. We would have the ability to rotate all four wheels at the same time in the same direction.

We also discussed the combined 50 ideas of fundraising that Christian and Mat came up with over the past week. After writing them all on the board, each student was to vote for five different options. The top five were: Coin Drop, Car Wash, Big Sponsors (grants), Movie Nights, and Sport Tournament. We would incorporate the other choices, such as Jelly Bean Counts, Raffles, and Concession Stands, into the bigger options as well.

Of those five ideas, two students were assigned to each to come up with dates, materials needed, if we can incorporate other fundraising ideas in with them, and timing for each step of planning (when each step should be completed by). The following explains the specific requirements for each of the top five ideas and who is assigned to them:

Coin Drop (Mat and Christian)
- choose date(s)
- prepare materials
- Christian is going to confirm the date(s)

Car Wash (Sammy and Ally)
- choose date(s)
- contact Mr. Fordham with when we would like to do the car wash
- pre-sale tickets (including cost)
- make up flyers about program
- possible raffle?

Sports Tournament (Collin and Mikey)

Big Sponsors (grants) (Ally and Rachel)

Movie Night (Sammy and Shannon)
- SCC Date
- Advertisements
- concessions
- raffle

For the assigned tasks above, the requirements listed earlier are needed by next Tuesday.
Following is a list of upcoming dates to keep in mind:

Thursday May 27: the Math Showcase at SCC from 9 am until 2 pm. We will not have robotics that night.
Tuesday, June 1: our next meeting
Thursday, June 3: The End of Year party at Mr. Hinde's house at 6:30 pm
Friday, June 4: Hot Dog/Movie Night at Oldmans

Hope everybody has a fun week ahead of them! Enjoy your Memorial Day
-Sammy

Team Update: May 18, 2010

2010-05-19T01:00:00.000-04:00

We are not meeting on Thursday due to many students going to prom that night, so our next meeting will be on Tuesday, May 25.

There is homework that is due by Tuesday. If you are not able to be there at the meeting, make sure to email your homework to Mrs. Danner and/or Mrs. George to get credit for doing it.

The first assignment is to pick a drive system that you saw on another robot that you liked. Make sure you do not choose the same drive as another person. There should be eight different designs turned in on Tuesday. With the design, you have to explain why you like it, why you think it will work, and what the challenges might be in driving or building the drive system.

The second assignment is for recruiting. We are planning on going to the elementary schools in Salem County soon to recruit 8th graders for next fall and the 5-7 graders for the county wide FLL team we are starting. In order to visit these schools, certain things must be accomplished.
- Sammy is in charge of drafting up a letter explaining what we would like to do the assembly about and when we would be interested in doing it.
- Ally and Rachel are in charge of putting together the presentation for the students. This includes the demo and any speaking that is going to be done at the assemblies.
- Collin, Shannon, and Mikey are in charge of the agenda for the hour we will be there. They are to include the demonstration of the robot in the agenda.

Mat and Christian are in charge of surveying other teams about their most successful techniques of fundraising. Our goal is to do fundraisers that have profits of thousands of dollars, not hundreds. Mat and Christian are to each have 25 good ideas each by Tuesday.

Over the course of the rest of the school year and the summer, we are planning on having a new drive to work with, the demo bot running, and students learning programming and computer drafting if they are interested. This is the time to learn these skills, not during build season.

Another thing we need to do is fundraise like crazy. In order to go to one local and one away regional and Nationals next year, we need to raise about $20,000. There was discussion tonight about possible incentives to raise the money: if the students raise $X, the mentors have to do X. If the students raise $Y, the mentors have to do Y. The mentors are in charge of coming up with the levels of money and what they will have to do if we raise that much money.

Check your emails, students, to read what Mrs. George needs from everybody as well. Hope everybody who has prom on Thursday night has fun! Hope everybody has a good week, and I'll see everyone at robotics next Tuesday.

-Sammy

Women in Science panel discussion

2010-05-14T01:00:00.000-04:00

For those who do not know, Ally and I participated in the Women in Science panel discussion tonight, held by MOE. We learned many things, both about colleges in general and engineering. We wanted to share some tips they suggested and just some general ideas they shared with us:

Math and engineering are launching pads for many different careers. Shoot for the harder major to begin with. It's easier to opt out of it after you're already in it if you chose to than it is to get into it.
When applying for colleges, have these thoughts in mind: your comfort zone (small/large, close/far, male to female ratio, etc.), the majors offered there (if you chose to not follow through with original major, is your secondary choice available there?), and if you are going for engineering, do they have a mentoring program available to help you out?
When in high school, write down your achievements as you go through your four years there. they can all be put down on college applications. And don't do 100 extracurricular activities. Focus mainly on one or two to show the colleges you are serious about something, not just dabbling in everything. Ask schools what they want to see on their applications. Some may require things that others do not.
Get information on the major you are most interested in. in order to get the most information, see if it is possible to donate some time to a professor in that field during the summer to get hands on experience. The professors will probably be more likely to answer questions in the summer and if you offer to donate a few hours here and there.
Take the PSAT's seriously if you are a sophomore/freshman. You can get scholarships through College Board if your scores are better than average. When taking the SAT's as juniors or seniors, using contractions (don't, didn't, isn't, it's, etc.) in your essays throws up a red flag. Those are signs of bad grammar. The last thing you want is for the readers to think you do not know correct grammar.
During the summers in college, do internships. Do a different job every summer. Volunteering as different places, such as museums, will open up other internships that you never thought you would have liked. and the major tip is to NETWORK! By talking to people, you can get them to pass on resumes, provide you with internships, etc.
Time management is key in college. You need to have an outlet from your course load. Don't spend all your time studying in the library. Take up a sport or two. Join a club you are not interested. You'll meet new people and might discover a hidden talent. But make sure to balance Play and Study.
No matter what major you are interested in, do a semester abroad. Almost every major has the time available to study abroad. It opens you to different cultures, shows you a new perspective of life, and may even reveal your passion in life.

The best tip by far was this: When you're stuck between a wall and a tough spot, life is putting you in the position where you must look at yourself in the mirror (figuratively or literally) and figure out what you think you have to do with your life. You are in charge of your life. If you need help with something, ask for it. If you think you need a change in your path, then change it. You are in charge. Nobody else is. Make it your own.

Hope everybody has a good night!
-Sammy and Ally

PARC Recap

2010-05-12T01:00:00.000-04:00

Hi everybody!

For everybody who was at PARC, I hope you had fun!

For those who weren't at PARC this weekend, we were doing a great job in the Qualifying Matches. We were picked in the 6th alliance. Unfortunately, we were eliminated after the first round of the matches. But we worked hard, and had minimal problems on Saturday. Ally was driver, Sammy was operator, Christian was human player, and Rachel was the coach for the competition.

Thank you again Mr. Don, Mr. Weick, Mrs. George, Ms. Kirk, and Michelle for being our chaperons on Saturday! We appreciated all the support throughout the competition!

Hope everybody had a great weekend!
-Sammy

Finger Lakes Regional 2010

2010-03-03T01:00:00.000-05:00

I hope everybody is excited for Rochester! Tonight we found out our drive team, back up drive team, captain, and a few other jobs are. Here is the list of our new positions:

Drive team: Christian (driver), Ally (kicker), and Collin (human player)
Back up drive team: Rachel (driver), Sammy (kicker), and Mikey (human player)
Captain: Christian
Safety Captain: Rachel
Back up safety captain: Mat
Scout master: Mikey
Mascot: Eric V.

We also have a change in coach this year. Instead of Mr. Hinde being the field coach, he has passed the job along to Mr. Fordham. Mr. George will be taking over the job of manning the pit for Mr. Fordham.

As a reminder to everybody, we have to be at the college tomorrow afternoon no later than 3:15 in order to pack all of our luggage into the vans and we will be pulling out of the parking lot of the college at 3:30. If anybody is able to get to the college at 2:30, please do in order to help pack all the stuff for the robot and that we need for competition before everybody starts to bring their luggage.

See everybody tomorrow! Let's win it this year!!
-Sammy

Drive team!

2010-03-02T21:37:00.001-05:00

This year, our drive team consists of: Christian as driver, Ally as kicker, and Collin as human player.

Our back up drive team is: Rachel as driver, Sammy as kicker, and Mikey as human player.

We also got our captain too! Our captain this year is Christian!

We leave tomorrow at 3:30 to head up to our first competition up in Rochester, NY. As of right now, there is no webcast URL that we can find. Once it is located, we will post it on here for everybody to see. If you happen to be in the area, stop by the field house at Rochester Institute of Technology to see our robot in action!

2010 teaser

2010-02-24T19:04:00.001-05:00

Our kicker in action while driving
A teaser made of clips of our robot drivng
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2wjHKz4HOk

Woodie Flowers Award

2010-02-17T22:04:00.001-05:00

The Woodie Flowers Award essay was submitted as of a few minutes ago. The award is a very prestigious award, given to only one mentor at each regional. The winners of the award at the regionals and their team then goes onto Nationals in Atlanta Georgia to get the chance to win the award at Nationals against everybody else who won. We submitted the essay at the first competition we are going to, the Finger Lakes Regional in Rochester, NY.

More details will follow as we get closer to the competition and the hopeful win the award for our special mentor.

As of February 16....

2010-02-16T21:45:00.000-05:00

As of tonight, the robot was on the ground driving and kicking the ball high and far into the air! We are able to go over the bump, use the camera, go under the tunnel, and do almost everything we wanted to do. We still have a few minor things to fix, but we are excited to have the robot running. The team is practicing our driving in order to figure out who will be drive team during competition season.

7 days until Ship Date!!!

Snow weekend!

2010-02-06T19:29:00.000-05:00

Living on the East Coast of the United States is not always so great during Build Season. Between last night and today, the area where South Jersey Robotics is located got approximately two feet of snow. That's CRAZY!!! It puts the team at a disadvantage because we only have about two and a half more weeks until we have to ship the robot. And we only have it driving over the bump right now.

The team was not able to get into the workshop as planned on Friday night or today at all, and depending on if the Community College, which is where we hold our meetings, is closed or not, we might not be able to get into the workshop on Monday as well! Let's hope that this snow melts by then and we are able to get into the workshop to finish the robot in enough time!!

17 more days until Ship Date!

Hip Hip Hurray!

2010-02-04T22:11:00.001-05:00

The robot is now officially driving! :) We got it driving last night, and was able to get it to go over the bump today.

Our robot weighed in at 96.2 pounds, giving us 23.8 pounds to work with before we reach the max weight limit of 120 pounds.

Unfortunately this is all I am able to post right now. We are trying to keep the progress of our robot somewhat under wraps so other teams don't find out what we are capable of doing just yet. Once we ship our robot, a picture of our robot will be posted on here as soon as possible, along with possibly a video of our robot driving.

I'll do my best to post again before we ship. Hope all the other teams are doing well so far!!

19 more days til Ship Date!

New LuNaTeCs!

2010-01-16T16:10:00.001-05:00

The LuNaTeCs have five new students! The team is very happy to have these new students, as that brings us up to a total of 15 students. The new students are:
Shannon Kirk
Amber Burkentine
Eric Davis
Eric Vignali
Walter Blackniak

We are happy to have these new students on the team, and hope they enjoy the FIRST experience!

FRC Kick Off

2010-01-08T15:46:00.000-05:00

The First Robotics Competition Kick Off is tomorrow morning. The robotics team is expected to be at the Community College at 9 in the morning to watch the game animation and discuss the game itself. Our sister team 3151 is going to be there as well with us. Watch the animation tomorrow and give us feed back on what you think about the game! Here is the link for the animation. Can't wait to hear your feed back!

LuNaTeCs Team 316

2009-12-25T11:34:00.000-05:00

About the LuNaTeCs

2009-12-17T17:06:00.001-05:00

The LuNaTeCs Team 316 is a small team in rural South Jersey that was started in 1999. The team consists of approximately twelve to sixteen students. The students come from the five local high schools in our area, majoring in engineering, writing, and culinary in some cases. The team has twelve mentors, all ranging from different types of professions.

LuNaTeCs stands for Learning Under Nurturing Adults Teaching Engineering Concepts and Skills. The team is a part of an organization called FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). There are over 3000 teams that have been a part of FIRST since its inception in 1992.

Each January, the LuNaTeCs will anxiously await the revealing of the new "game" that is to be played that year. They are given 6 weeks to build the robot before shipping it out for the initial inspection.

Building the 2009 robot, Sammy Su.

The team spends over 15 hours every week in the workshop building the robot in those six weeks. Each student plays a vital part in building the robot. Some work on programming; others do electrical work; one student welds the robot with the help of a mentor. Not every student is required to work "hands on" on the robot. A few students direct their focus solely on Team Spirit for competition season.

In March, the team has their first competition. The team usually attends the Finger Lakes Regional in Rochester, NY. The second competition that the team enjoys going to is the Philadelphia Regional in Philadelphia, PA. The goal each year for the small team is to get the chance to go to Championships in Atlanta, GA.

The Drive Team and Back Up Drive Team for the LuNaTeCs after the Finger Lakes Regional 2009.

The LuNaTeCs participate in many community things each year. They do an Easter Seal project each year to help out people who have disabilities. The team also participates in road clean ups and collects plastic bottle caps as part of an effort to help out little kids who need dialysis or chemotherapy treatment.

The LuNaTeCs participating in the local 4H fair during the summer of 2009.

Thank you for reading the brief introduction to the LuNaTeCs. The team hopes you will continue to check up on their progress as they continue to change the lives of high school students in South Jersey.

Team Update: May 28, 2009

2009-05-29T01:00:00.000-04:00

Here is a review of what we did this week in robotics.

Tuesday:
The orders for the light bulbs were due on Tuesday. Anybody who did not turn one, it is unfortunately too late to turn one in. Mrs. Callow had to get all the order sheets to the company yesterday.

We started to clean the room. Not much progress got done, but some was started.

Towards the end of the night, many students were discussing the pros and cons of going up to Boston in August. Mrs. Danner had talked about going up to Boston because we would be able to tour the iRobot factory. Ally said that there wasn’t much to do in Boston and that she would rather go down to Wildwood. This sparked a long discussion between the students, which meant that not much cleaning was done.

Thursday:
Mrs. Kirk, Mr. Mohrfeld, and Mr. Jerry started to clean up the room. Mr. Hinde, Mr. Don, and Mr. Weick were not happy with any of the students because the accelerometer and gyro were not put on the robot before PARC and still are not on the robot. Sammy and Billy started to research information about the two and to find out how to put the two pieces of electronics onto the robot for our next two off season competitions.

Mikey was learning how to program in Java because next year the robot will be programmed in Java. He was using a program called “Alice” to learn Java. If you have any interest in learning programming for next year, download “Alice” and mess around with it at home. After a few minutes, Billy went over to learn Java as well.

Rachel and Shannon worked on the letter to send out to sponsors. They worked as a pair for most of the night. Every now and then, one of them would stop working on the letter to help clean up some things.

Collin was mostly watching the mentors work on robot tonight, looking up information about PID (Collin, care to share with the team what you learned please?). Whenever somebody wasn’t doing something like working with Java, working on a letter, or researching things, they were either helping Mrs. Kirk sweep up the room or watching the mentors work on the robot.

Publicity Team Update: May 19, 2009

2009-05-20T01:00:00.000-04:00

Publicity Team Update

1. Billy made up a flyer for the Light Bulb fundraiser with info from Billy
a. Has been checked over by Mrs. Morhfeld
i. Just needs to be printed out with all info on it
2. Collin, Mrs. Danner, and Sammy had a meeting with the web designer professor for SCC about the web design class creating our website for us
a. They will start to work on it in September
b. We will be able to pick our text (font, color, size, etc.)
c. We also got design ideas that her students made up for a banner for the website
3. Rough drafts for a letter to iRobot were due on Thursday as part of our homework
a. Explained who we are and what we want the iRobot Create for

Team Update: May 10, 2009

2009-05-11T01:00:00.000-04:00

Don't forget about the two assignments that were given out during last Thursday's meeting that are due this Thursday. For those who weren't there, an email was sent out that night about the assignments. Even if you are not going to be at the meeting this Thursday, the assignments still have to be turned in. Give them to another person who will be at the meeting on Thursday or turn them in on Tuesday.

Anyone who did not turn in their Health History Form:
Those are needed ASAP for those who didn't turn them in. We also need 2 copies of your insurance card(s). Front and back please.

Team Update: May 7, 2009

2009-05-08T01:00:00.000-04:00

For those who missed tonight's meeting (and those who forget what was talked about at the meeting) here is a quick review of what happened:

We packed batteries, chargers, and everything else needed for PARC on Saturday
Talked about what happened at the FLL demonstration this afternoon
Discussed ideas for the demo bot
Received an assignment for everybody to complete

For our demo bot, we have discussed making a Home Protection Personal Robot. All of our ideas for this demo bot are up on the white board, along with the assignment we were given regarding the demo bot.Our assignment was: Bring in a rough copy of a letter to send iRobot asking for an iRobot Create and explaining why we would like one. The iRobot Create will be used for our Home Protection Personal Robot. It is used for the Roomba, the personal vaccuum cleaner that Mr. Weick has been talking about recently. With the iRobot Create, we would be able to put different additions to it and program them to do what we want them to do. Here is a link of the Premium package (has many more things than the basic package does) : http://store.irobot.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2591901&cp=&sr=1&kw=irobot+create&origkw=iRobot+Create&parentPage=searchDo not send the letter you write. Everybody is to bring in a rough draft of the letter on Thursday. From there, Mrs. Danner will give us other instructions for the letters.

The other assignment we received was to look up information about the different sensors we want to put on the demo bot. The information we are looking up is: how they work and how we will use it on our robot. Everybody who was at tonight's meeting was assigned a sensor (excluding Collin who has a reprieve from this assignment only because of AP testing for another week) , with one sensor needing an extra person. We would like more than just 2 people on each sensor, so please step up and help find information about these sensors.

Motion sensor: Sammy and Mark

Smoke detector: Shannon and ??

Carbon Monoxide detector: Mikey and Billy

Some useful websites for this assignment: sparkfun.com and parallax.comNow for information about the FLL demonstration this afternoon:We had 4 students (Ally, Sammy, Collin, and Rachel) attend the FLL demonstration along with Mrs. George. Ally, Rachel, and Mrs. George got to see the FLL team show off their robot and their skit. Sammy and Collin did not because they were late getting to the school. After telling the FLL students about the robot, we then took them and Sammy Su into the cafeteria to give them a demo of Sammy Su and to let them test her out. Collin and Sammy showed them the robot and how it worked, and then in pairs of two, helped them drive the robot and pick up balls. We did have a snag this afternoon about half way through the demonstration while two of the FLL students were driving the robot. Our pick-up mechanism stopped working right, so we started throwing the balls into the holder so the students could still try out the dumping. We have gotten together as many things as we could to hopefully fix the problem Saturday morning.

Everybody attending PARC: Don't forget, we are all meeting at SCC at 5:15 AM in jeans (not hole-y, ripped up jeans) and your new shiney shirt. We do NOT want to see any underwear please! So if that means you have to wear a belt, please do. We beg of you. :)Drive team has not been decided yet. Mr. Weick and Mr. Don are deciding who is drive team. Make sure to bring money for lunch and for a pit stop on the way home. iPods and sleep are allowed on the way to and from. We should be getting home between about 8 and 10. Everybody should have gotten an email from Mrs. Danner about which car they will be riding into. She said that any changes in cars are allowed, she just doesn't want to know about them. Just make sure that the person you are switching with is ok with it please.

I apologize for such a long review. Hope everybody had a nice day! :)

Team Update: April 2, 2009

2009-04-03T01:00:00.000-04:00

Tonight Mr. Hinde gave tasks out to everybody who was here. Mr. Don is coming up with tasks for the other students to complete. All of these tasks are to be completed before PARC because we want the majority of these things on the robot for PARC.

Shannon -- Finding information on the accelerometer
Mark -- Finding information on the gyrometer
Collin -- Looking up code to program the robot to track trailers and follow them
Sammy -- Look up codes for accelerometer and gyrometer that have already been created
Mathew -- Take VEX bot home and program it
Mikey -- Make the Safety Animation Video for next year's season. This is to have MAJOR progress on it before PARC
Rachel -- New pit design. Make a model of the pit the way you want it to be.
Ally -- ???
Christian -- ???
Que -- ???
Montrey -- ???

Everybody who is not on this list, get in touch with either Mr. Hinde or Mr. Don to find out what task you are to do before PARC.

SATURDAY
For anybody doing the 5K......Wear your practice shirt and team sweatshirt to the race. Remember, registration starts at 8 and the race starts at 9. For students, so far we have Sammy, Shannon, Collin, Christian, and Mark.

Team Update: March 2, 2009

2009-03-03T01:00:00.000-05:00

I need everybody's section of the robot book TOMORROW because the book needs to be put together and packed tomorrow. You need to have pictures included in your section of the book. If you don't have, contact somebody to get pictures.

For anybody who needs a reminder (which hopefully you don't need one and I will get an email back from everybody today with their section of the book included/attached in the email before midnight.....), here are the assigned parts again:

Section 1: Drive system - Shelby and Rachel
Section 2: Wiring - Sammy
Section 3: Pneumatics - Mat Moran
Section 4: Ball Collector - Mikey and Q
Section 5: Dumping Mechanism - Christian and Montrey
Section 6: Framework - Ally and Shannon
Section 7: Progamming - Collin and Mark
Section 8: Build Season and Schedule - Mrs. Danner and other mentors

It is YOUR responsibility to print out your section with pictures and it is YOUR responsibility to make sure it gets put in my hands tomorrow.

Team Update: February 13, 2009 (Part 2)

2009-02-14T01:00:00.001-05:00

For those who were on the team last year, hopefully you all remember the robot book we made up. For those who are new on the team, each year we make a book about the robot. We put as much information as we think is important in there. It is a great help when a judge asks you a question and you aren't sure of the answer and you know it's in there. It helps us be prepared which could possibly help us win an award.

Here is the breakdown of our topics and who has signed up for what:
Section 1: Drive System - Shelby
Section 2: Wiring - Sammy
Section 3: Pneumatics -
Section 4: Ball Collector - Mikey
Section 5: Dumping Mechanism - Christian
Section 6: Frame work - Ally/Shannon (Shannon for bumpers)
Section 7: Programming - Collin/Mark
Section 8: Build Season & Schedule

We need someone to sign up to do the Pneumatics section of the book, and we still need Matt F., David, Mat M., Montrey and Q to sign up for something. We will have doubles on some sections of the book, which is a good thing. The people that still need to sign up for something, I will be asking you today (in 2 hours hehe) what section you want to work on. It is important that you put as much information as you know on that subject in this book.We need to have the rough draft by tomorrow, and the final draft must be turned in by Monday at the latest. We will also like to have pictures for each section. If you aren't able to take pictures, chances are either I have already taken a picture of that part of the robot. If you want more or I didn't take a picture of that part, tell me exactly what it is that you want me to take a picture of, and I'll get the best angle to take the picture. Today during the morning since there will only be about 2 mentors there with us, each person is to start writing up their section of the book unless they are actively working on the robot. Come lunch time, it will be too hecktic to write up parts for the book.

4 more days til we ship SAM off!!!

Team Update: February 13, 2009

2009-02-14T01:00:00.000-05:00

Here is an updated list of who is doing what section in the robot book:

Section 1: Drive System - Shelby and Rachel
Section 2: Wiring - Sammy and Matt Fordham
Section 3: Pneumatics - Mat Moran
Section 4: Ball Collector - Mikey and Q
Section 5: Dumping Mechanism - Christian and Montrey
Section 6: Framework - Ally and Shannon (Bumpers)
Section 7: Programming - Collin and Mark
Section 8: Build Season and Schedule - Mrs. Danner and all the other mentors

I need a rough draft by tomorrow and a final copy of your section by Monday. We don't have time to put this off. If you don't have your section tomorrow, you are going to be working on your section instead of working on the robot. And if you aren't working on the robot, Mr. Hinde and the rest of the mentors here will not be happy because there are many things to do. So, make sure to complete your section of the book. And remember, PICTURES!!!! :) Put pictures in your section. If you can't get any pictures, tell me and I will take pictures of the things you want me to take pictures of and will send it to you. The pictures don't have to be in your rough draft, but definitely in your final copy.Oh, and as a reminder to everybody: Make sure to bring your shiny shirt tomorrow. Somebody will be down in our workshop at around 11 to take a picture of all of us and our robot. So, be here, awake and ready! :)

Sammy

Team Update: January 21, 2009

2009-01-22T01:00:00.000-05:00

Mr. Hinde - Shannon
Mr. Mohrfeld - Sammy
Mrs. George - Shelby
Mr. George - Ally
Ms. Kirk - Collin
Elmo - Christian
Aaron - Montrey
Mr. B - Mat Moran
Mr. Weick - Mikey
Mr. Jerry - Rachel
Mr. Fordham - Matt Fordham
Mr. Don - Q
Mrs. Danner - David
Mrs. Callow - Mark

That is the list we had as of last Thursday. Tomorrow is Mentor's Day. Everyone, please bring your gift/card/whatever you're bringing with you tomorrow to the workshop to show your appreciation to the mentor you chose. If you haven't gotten it yet, remember that we put a $15 limit on the gift to make it fair.

3 more weeks of build season left!!

Team Update: January 13, 2009

2009-01-14T01:00:00.000-05:00

Hello everybody!

For everybody that was at the meeting tonight, hopefully we got closer to Mr. Hinde's goal. I was primarily working programming, so I have no clue how far anybody else got tonight.

As for Mentor's Day, we managed to get everybody but David and Q signed up for a mentor. Here is the list we compiled tonight:
Mr. Hinde - Shannon
Mr. Mohrfeld - Sammy
Mrs. George - Shelby
Mr. George - Ally
Ms. Kirk - Collin
Elmo - Christian
Aaron - Montrey
Mr. B - Mat Moran
Mr. Weick - Mikey
Mr. Jerry - Rachel
Mr. Fordham - Matt Fordham
Mr. Don - **Still need somebody**
Mrs. Danner - **Still need somebody**
Mrs. Callow - Mark

Q and David, we need to know whether you want to do Mr. Don or Mrs. Danner, preferably by Thursday. If I don't have an answer from you by then, I'll either get it from you that night at the meeting, or will get a hold of you somehow.

If anybody needs help coming up with an idea for the mentor you chose, please ask for help from somebody. Remember, we are putting a $15 limit on whatever you're getting your mentor. Be creative! For anybody who was on the team in fall of 2007, you'll hopefully remember that little contest we had to figure out who knew the mentors best. One of our mentors had wanted to be on Broadway. An idea for whichever mentor that was could be to create kind of like a trophy for them, one like they would get for being an excellent actor/actress on Broadway.

See everybody on Thursday!

Team Update: January 12, 2009

2009-01-13T01:00:00.000-05:00

We've gotten a few responses back on who wants to do which mentor:
Mr. Hinde - Shannon
Mrs. Danner -
Mr. Don -
Elmo - Christian
Aaron -
Mr. Mohrfeld - Sammy
Ms. Kirk - Collin
Mr. Fordham -
Mrs. George -
Mr. George -
Mr. Weick - Mikey
Mr. B -

Team Update: January 11, 2009

2009-01-12T01:00:00.000-05:00

January 22 is Mentor's Day. Shannon and I think that it would be really nice of all of the students to do something for the mentors. Each student should pick one mentor and either get them something, or do something that shows that we appreciate everything they have done for us. Email me back with what mentor you want to do something for that way we don't have doubles on one mentor and none on another mentor.
Here is the list of mentors (I may have forgotten one or two on accident. If you see one missing, please tell me!) :
Mr. Hinde -
Mrs. Danner -
Mr. Don -
Elmo -
Aaron -
Mr. Mohrfeld - Sammy
Ms. Kirk -
Mr. Fordham -
Mrs. George -
Mr. George -
Mr. Weick -
Mr. B -
Please get back to either me or Shannon as soon as you can on who you want to show appreciation for. We all should show appreciation on a daily basis to them, but January 22 especially. We're gonna do this first come, first serve. We might need a few students to do more than one mentor, I'll let you know if we need to. This is really important that you get back to me soon. Once a few students start replying to this email, I'll send out an updated list of who is taking who.
Thanks!!
Sammy