State Tournament Pic

Sorry so late but here is the pic of us at the state tournament

Happy New Year

Hey guys, this might be one of the last time I'll make regular posts on this blog... sadly... well, it's been a great season! Thanks for giving your best and teaching everyone how far you can go with just a little more effort. You showed them what you can do and you surprised everyone with your hard work and inspiring comebacks. Who knew that my old elementary school's robotics team could ever come so far in the state? I know you'll all be graduating next year to Niu Valley or maybe even beyond... But regardless, you'll all be new middle schoolers next year... and you'll always keep moving on towards bigger and better things, whether it be robotics or not. I'm too old to do FLL anymore, but I hope you guys continue on in your new school next year... it's something that grows on you. Thanks for teaching a bunch of old guys how to be as energetic as you were and to expect the unexpected. You showed us that no matter who you are, you have your ups and downs and winning or losing is never a given factor FOR ANYBODY. You guys made my final season of FLL  really special for me. So see you guys around, and drop me a line sometime, ok? My email address is: aweeby@gmail.com

So long and thanks!

Championship Tournament Info

Here is the Info packet for the tournament, in case you haven't gotten it. The highlighting is when our team is scheduled, so please excuse this. Good luck on your "sleepover" work thing. 

Tournament INFO

There's an update. Apparently the research presentation and tech interview will be taking place in the exhibition hall across from the Blaisedell Arena. Thus, you'll have more time to prepare because of the close proximity to the presentation area. There will be sectioned off areas of the hall to present, so be prepared not to be presenting in a typical classroom. The settings may be different and we need to prepare for that.

ALSO: 

(Excerpted from a Coach's email)

Helpful resource link for you to review.  The ideas shared there will save teams a lot of grief at upcoming events.  For example, you'll learn...

1. How to Avoid Broken Links in NXT Programming and make it possible for many students to programming independently.

2. How to Calibrate NXT Motors with No Tools

3. How to Manage Files and Folders So You Don't Lose Your Work 

THE LINK

Thought I'd Share this.

Hey guys, remember those CORE VALUES?

You know, gracious professionalism?

Well. I hope you do. Because i found this piece of information on the US First Website:

 

FLL Values Teams: Approximately 12 to15 percent of teams globally will be invited through a nomination process submitted by the Operational Partner in your region, based on the team’s display of FLL Values during the season. The nomination process is not dependent on a team attending an FLL event, but rather by the actions of the team. 

This means that IF you guys can display gracious professionalism, you can qualify for nationals! Even if your robot isn't the bestest, if you work together as a team, there is still a chance that you could get nominated for this honour. 

The Link for the entire document is posted here

If that doesn't work, try this

Don't forget to review the rules every so often. I don't mean the normal rules. I mean the Q&A rules. I posted them on the sidebar. These are all the exceptions to the rules allowed. READ THEM. You might even want to be printing this and showing the refs if they screw up at the competition.

Lego aircraft factory

Do not try this at home

It only cost about $12,050

You cannot buy it at the lego store

It uses

25 RCXs

73 motors

and

a whole bunch of legos

Epic Robot

They did not get 400 points, but they still have a pretty epic bot. 

Watch it to the end, the NXT pops out of that red frame like from a VCR! (or fine, a DVD) to land in the stopping place (which is surrounded by this wall thing, unlike the circlish thing this year)

This is last year's challenge, which was rather difficult compared to this years. That house you see there was a main challenge for most of us and also that drilling machine in the right corner closest to the camera. As you can see, the robot completely dwarfs those components and often times leaves entire attachments behind, this is to lighten the load. 

Yes, it is made entirely out of lego and also fits completely inside base. Totally legit!