First Robotics

[RUCRAYZE]

WTG
The kids will be the richer, no matter the finish. People scoring?- you can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em!! You-all did wonderfully!!
All my best!!

 

[electroken]

So electroken, how's it going for you guys?

We finished qualifications at #4 out of 38. That's pretty remarkable considering we were #26 after half of our qualifying matches. Getting our high shot dialed in moved us up in the rankings.

We got into match 3 of the semi-finals and would have won it easily until a section of our frame collapsed from too much Dukes of Hazzard air-time. We thought we were going home empty handed but won the Chairman's Award, so we're automatically qualified for the district championship.

We will be replacing both front to back frame rails with a greater wall thickness tubing. We told our driver to drive it as if he stole it, and he did not disappoint!

Our next event is week 3 (March 19 & 20) in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts and then in week 6 we go to Lewiston, Maine.

 

[NSTG8R]

We finished qualifications at #4 out of 38. That's pretty remarkable considering we were #26 after half of our qualifying matches. Getting our high shot dialed in moved us up in the rankings.

We got into match 3 of the semi-finals and would have won it easily until a section of our frame collapsed from too much Dukes of Hazzard air-time. We thought we were going home empty handed but won the Chairman's Award, so we're automatically qualified for the district championship.

We will be replacing both front to back frame rails with a greater wall thickness tubing. We told our driver to drive it as if he stole it, and he did not disappoint!

Our next event is week 3 (March 19 & 20) in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts and then in week 6 we go to Lewiston, Maine.

Too cool! Congrats to you and your team!

 

[electroken]

And the officiating was a bit rough at our event as well. I'm pretty sure we won our 2nd semi-final match, which would have made the 3rd match unnecessary. the field rest took forever each time they reconfigured the field. I don't envy the reset guys.

 

[CompTrex]

We finished qualifications at #4 out of 38. That's pretty remarkable considering we were #26 after half of our qualifying matches. Getting our high shot dialed in moved us up in the rankings.

We got into match 3 of the semi-finals and would have won it easily until a section of our frame collapsed from too much Dukes of Hazzard air-time. We thought we were going home empty handed but won the Chairman's Award, so we're automatically qualified for the district championship.

We will be replacing both front to back frame rails with a greater wall thickness tubing. We told our driver to drive it as if he stole it, and he did not disappoint!

Our next event is week 3 (March 19 & 20) in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts and then in week 6 we go to Lewiston, Maine.

Sounds like a BLAST! Congrats on Districts!

 

[CompTrex]

And the officiating was a bit rough at our event as well. I'm pretty sure we won our 2nd semi-final match, which would have made the 3rd match unnecessary. the field rest took forever each time they reconfigured the field. I don't envy the reset guys.

Agreed. Those guys must be exhausted!
Plus, I don't understand why they take the time to introduce the teams every time. We were SO far behind. Seems like a waste.

 

[CompTrex]

We finished qualifications at #4 out of 38. That's pretty remarkable considering we were #26 after half of our qualifying matches. Getting our high shot dialed in moved us up in the rankings.

We got into match 3 of the semi-finals and would have won it easily until a section of our frame collapsed from too much Dukes of Hazzard air-time. We thought we were going home empty handed but won the Chairman's Award, so we're automatically qualified for the district championship.

We will be replacing both front to back frame rails with a greater wall thickness tubing. We told our driver to drive it as if he stole it, and he did not disappoint!

Our next event is week 3 (March 19 & 20) in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts and then in week 6 we go to Lewiston, Maine.

Were you the head team in the alliance for the finals?
If you, as the alliance captain, get damaged in the finals, can you replace yourself?
Hm. Interesting.
We had a robot get damaged in the finals and the alliance captains replaced them and they moved on. Actually, this happened to us last year. We broke and got replaced.

 

[electroken]

Were you the head team in the alliance for the finals?
If you, as the alliance captain, get damaged in the finals, can you replace yourself?
Hm. Interesting.
We had a robot get damaged in the finals and the alliance captains replaced them and they moved on. Actually, this happened to us last year. We broke and got replaced.

We were the alliance captain. Our machine broke during the match that eliminated us. If our machine had been incapacitated after the prior match we could have put in a back up team. Even if we had made it into the finals I doubt we would have beater the #1 alliance.

 

[CompTrex]

We were the alliance captain. Our machine broke during the match that eliminated us. If our machine had been incapacitated after the prior match we could have put in a back up team. Even if we had made it into the finals I doubt we would have beater the #1 alliance.

Can you guys climb?
The other sub-teams wouldn't let me mount the climber before the last competition. This week we'll have it mounted and hopefully, it will work and we will be able to climb. That's not a ton of points, but it is exciting!

 

[electroken]

We're considered a medium sized team, and I can give some idea of what it costs to run this team for a year. We have 35 kids on paper, 25 that I've ever seen, and probably 18 with enough hours to be eligible to attend competitions (per our own rules).

I believe it's $4000 to register a non-rookie team with FIRST each year. Add another $4000 to attend two district events. This sounds like a lot, but we do get a big box of parts, it takes people to run the organization (FIRST), and the competition fields aren't cheap. Add another $1000 to attend our 3rd district event, and if we qualify for the District Championship it's another $4k. The championship is at a big venue with many employees, so I get that.

I think we're at $13k so far, and we didn't build a robot yet, or pay for any travel.

The robots may not have a bill of materials that exceeds $4k. Ours is about 3.5k, but we build 2 of them, so it's $7k.

Board of Ed rules don't let us transport students, so if we go out of state we need to hire a bus. In-state they give us a school bus. For the Dartmouth trip transport it's $2.5k. For Maine it's $3.5k. The kid's families get to pay for the hotels.

I think we're at $26k now.

But what if we qualify for the World Championship in St. Louis at The Jones Dome?
$5k for registration. Add airfare and hotels.

So, figure $31k minimum for 1 year. This is why we wear all those corporate logos on the back of our T-shirts. We could not do it without our corporate sponsors.It's a partnership that requires constant nurturing.