The long way home

The girls have been in the Atlanta airport for 6+ hours and the boys are currently changing planes at O'Hare. It's been an eventful last two days. Saturday morning started early with a seven am departure time, but it was worth it because the team pulled out two great wins. After packing up the pit and lugging everything back to the hotel, the girls went back to watch the finals, and the boys elected to stay at the hotel to swim, relax, and watch the finals online. We met back at Red Robin, the headed back to pack up the robot for shipping. Sunday morning gave no rest for the weary as we packed up and left the hotel by 7:15 to head down to Newport Beach. Everyone can now claim to have touched the Pacific Ocean! We are going to be boarding soon. See you in soggy Connecticut!

You win some, you lose some

4/20/12 Today was a thrilling day for all those on the robotics team culminating in the introduction of next years game sack attack. 902c and our stout-hearted robot plugged along the whole day constantly scoring well. Unfortunately we were unlucky in have alliance partners that either didn't work at all or who didn't know the rules and as a result we are ranked only 55th but we are confident in our ability to succeed and continue to score. Also after a brief and failed test run of the rail system we found that the rail system, that had previously been installed so that the robot might be able to split itself in two, cause the circuit in the drive motors to flip the circuit breaker in the cortex. This caused to team to make the desicion to not use them in future competitions. Finally at the end of today we were introduced to the new game sack attack which requires the robots to pick up small plastic ball filled sacks (96 of them) into a plastic trough. This led the entire team, myself included, broke into strategizing and designing with a wide variety of mentalities and ideas. Overall, it was a excellent and exciting day. -Chris B. P.S. Thank you, Chris, for that blog entry. I wanted to add a thank you to Miranda for representing 902C in the Parade of Nations this morning. The parade was accompanied by a subset of the USC Trojan band (who ironically included the song, "All Right Now" in their selection of songs) and lots of enthusiastic cheers from the crowd. The championship is host to 600 teams from 18 nations, most of whom walked across the stage dressed in clothes traditional or customary to their nation. It was quite a spectacle. VEX does spectacle quite well, and tomorrow's final will certainly live up to our expectations. Until then, goodnight. Mrs. P.

Thursday, April 19

Today we began playing matches with the 98 other robots in the preliminary rounds. Our team is in the Science Division, which is only one of four divisions. There are one hundred other teams in each of the other three divisions: Technology, engineering, and math. our booth is decorated with posters, streamers, and balloons. Colored zip ties adorn hair and glasses, as a way to make our team memorable to the many scouts who stop by our booth to ask us questions about the robot. Scouting is a very important part of the tournament because when it comes time to choose alliance partners, we have hopefully made a good impression on the other teams.

We have an awesome team of scouts who take their job very seriously: Alice, Grace, Joyce, Sam H.and Saskia. They have split up the other 97 teams in the division between themselves and each scout takes a notebook or a clipboard of pre-printed scout sheets of the team's design to check out the other teams' capabilities. if a team is a known alliance in an upcoming match, then the scouts talk can talk strategy and report back to the drivers and the coach. Anysia and Sam Li were the designated drivers and Rachel was their coach for today's matches, and their pit crew included Chris, Michael, and Miranda were the pit crew whose role is to help trouble shoot problems with the robot and make sure the robot gets to where it needs to be.

Tomorrow is the Parade of Nations, when one representative from each team marches into the big arena where all of the teams have gathered. Seeing representatives from so many parts of the world is reminiscent of the Olympic Games' Opening Ceremony. It promises to leave a lasting impression on everyone there.

Despite the late hour, industry abounds on the seventh floor of the Marriott Suites. In Room 720, the robot is not idle or safe from constant revision; in Room 724, t-shirts are coming to life with much creativity and whimsy. The spirit of the competition is definitely flowing through our team as they prepare for five matches tomorrow. Here are the estimated times if you want to watch the live stream: 10:30, 11:33, 1:21, 2:55, and 4:16. The live stream can be found at robot events.com/championship.

Wish us luck!

Pictures

At the Bradley Airport before departure.

Here is a picture of the Space Shuttle as seen at Dulles airport. Photo by Sam Li on Michael's camera.

The girls waiting for their flight to Los Angeles.

Waiting for breakfast at Coco's on Day One.

End of day one

The team is registered, the pit area is established, and the robot has passed inspection! Shipping the robot 3000 miles had no negative consequences, so the team made quick work of unpacking and hauling the robot and its supporting equipment 1.1 miles to the Convention Center. After some tweaking, the robot looks in good shape to start competition tomorrow. Most everyone in the group is enjoying the pool and spa as the sun sets on a beautifully sunny California day. More hot weather to come just as the competition heats up. Stay posted!

Arrival: Wednesday, April 18

Both the girls' and boys' planes touched down safely at LAX around midnight. The girls were envious that the boys were able to see the space shuttle sitting atop a 747 at the Dulles airport during their layover, but the descent into Atlanta was equally exciting, as we flew right next to an anvil thunder cloud coming alive with lightning. Rachel captured a video of the lightning and Sam got a video of the shuttle, so that we can sswap stories in earnest when we meet for breakfast at Coco's. Everyone is looking forward to eating a real meal again, as the airlines were skimpy with their snacks as usual. Big BJ's bags of beef jerky and Clif bars go only so far in satisfying teenage appetites.

The Marriott Suites are just that: two double beds in one room, and a living room with pull-out couch, TV, desk, and mini-fridge in the other. All three rooms are in a row on the seventh floor, with the girls staying in one room and the boys in another. Mr. And Mrs. Perkins are staying in the room between the boys and the girls.

Today's agenda includes breakfast and team meeting, followed by robot unpacking and building. A group will be stocking the mini-fridges with snacks and breakfast foods purchased from the Target across the street, and Starbucks will definitely see some business. The Anaheim Convention Center will come alive today as teams from all over the world set up their pit areas, practice their skills challenges, and get their robots inspected. Hopefully our robot will be ready for inspection today when the lines tend to be a little shorter.

We hope that robot events.com will offer a live streaming link again this year, so keep looking for it online and we will too.

Departure April 17, 2012: Heading west

We are congregating at Bradley Airport around 4:30 PM on Tuesday, April 17th near the Delta Airlines door. Team members have been told to pack lightly into one carry on and one personal item. The meal allowance of $30.00 a day doesn't start until Wednesday, so team members should plan on bringing something to eat for dinner. The boys' flight leaves at 7:15, so the boys will be eating at the airport. The girls leave earlier, at 6:22, so may have to eat on the plane depending on security lines. The airlines don't serve much of a meal anymore, so team members shouldn't count on that to carry them until Anaheim. The girls won't have much time in Atlanta to get anything to eat unless the next gate is very close and there happens to be an open eatery nearby.

We will be staying at the Anaheim Marriott Suites and will be taking a shuttle called Prime Time. The boys don't arrive until 12:44 am, so we probably won't arrive at the hotel until 1 or 2 in the morning California time. Let's hope we're all coming into this trip rested because it's going to be a work out!:)