Posted by webmaster on Thursday, February 23, 2012,
Besides updating our web site and photography, they're working on Team 3489's entry in the Autodesk Design Excellence Award. We have to create a 30 second 3D animation describing how the iikos (an alien race) help the earth solve some type of educational problem. This contest has a March 30 deadline. The image bellow was created by Melissa.
Posted by webmaster on Wednesday, February 22, 2012,
Twitter makes it MUCH easier for us to get timely
information out to students and parents. If you are a student traveling to
Orlando and you have a cell phone, you must register on http://twitter.com, then follow
Team3489 and set it to send tweets to your cell phone. If you have any trouble
setting this up, please see me or a student who has already signed up. Continue reading ...
Posted by Kevin Thorp on Wednesday, February 22, 2012,
What a difference a few days make. Just before "Bag n Tag" we weighed our robot again. With our new Lexan cover panels it weighed 121 lbs.; 1 pound overweight. Those panels weigh 5 lbs each. We need to go with thinner Lexan or cut a lot of holes in the existing panels. Doing either should save about 3 lbs total.
Posted by webmaster on Wednesday, February 22, 2012,
Unfortunately we didn't get any drive time
before bagging Hugo 2.1, but we still have Hugo 2.0 to experiment with for the
next 2 weeks. Any changes to the hardware & software can also be done to our
competition robot in Orlando.
Posted by Webmaster on Wednesday, February 22, 2012,
As per the FIRST rules, we bagged
& tagged our robot (Hugo 2.1) at 11:58 pm February 21. We cannot open the
bag until it is inspected at the Orlando competition. Thank you to all the
students and mentors who worked late to finish it.
As with humans, an overweight robot is not good. To pass inspection, all FRC robots must weigh no more than 120 lbs, not including bumpers or battery. As of Feb. 17 our robot "Hugo II" weighs 113 lbs, so we're good... for now. But we need to make sure we don't add more than 7 lbs.
We have 2 robots under construction. Our plan is to "Bag n Tag" our best one, as per the FIRST rules, but keep working on the prototype robot. That 'bot cannot be used in competition. One of our biggest problems last year was the driver didn't have much pre-competition practice. This year we'll use the prototype 'bot for extra practice time. (click image to enlarge).
Posted by Webmaster on Thursday, February 16, 2012,
We must "Bag & Tag" our robot no later than midnight, February 21. It remains sealed until the Orlando Regional Competition. We can work on up to 30 pounds of "accessories" and complete a 2nd robot for testing & practice. This second robot cannot be used in the competition.
So Saturday, Sunday and Monday will be long days in the workshop!
Posted by Webmaster on Thursday, February 16, 2012,
Our website redesign is pretty much complete, and we're registered for the Website Award at both the Orlando and Palmetto Regionals. The deadline is noon, February 16. If you have any suggestions, please contact our webmaster, Justin Wogamon: jwogamon@sc.rr.com
Posted by Webmaster on Saturday, February 4, 2012,
Dr. Minnie Blackwell has friends in high places. She was telling Mr. Les
Phillips of Phillips Industrial Services about what a great robotics
team we had, and he was so impressed he bought us a trailer! It's a
nice trailer: gloss black with diamond plate chip guards, 6' x 12' long,
mag wheels, side door, reinforced drop ramp and an interior light. Mr.
Phillips even had his crew paint the interior walls and epoxy-coat the
floor. This will be great for taking our robot and pit equipment ...
Posted by Webmaster on Thursday, February 2, 2012,
As noted on your application, all students must pay a $50 resource fee, to help cover the costs of this very expensive program.
Make the check payable to "Dorchester School District Two" and write "FIRST Robotics" in the memo field. Please give the check you your FIRST Robotics school teacher:
Posted by Kevin Thorp on Thursday, February 2, 2012,
Saturday, Dec 31 is FIRST Robotics Night at the Stingrays Hockey game. It starts at 6:00 pm when our partner Team 342 drops the puck. Our robot will come out at halftime to smack the puck around and (hopefully) score a few goals.
Stingrays Tickets We have the opportunity to buy tickets at a discount and raise money for our team. Tickets normally cost $17-$18 plus a $4 "handling fee". FIRST Robotics team only pay $15, and $5 of that comes directly back to our team. So pl...
Posted by Kevin Thorp on Thursday, February 2, 2012,
We met the safety animation deadline on December 9! The winner will be announced live at the Kickoff on January 7. Click here for links to other team entries. Below is our video. For the best quality click the YouTube link, then "720p" and full-screen. Continue reading ...
Posted by Kevin Thorp on Thursday, February 2, 2012,
Our new electrical mentor, Rob Larson works at Boeing. Last month he submitted a grant application and we just found out it was approved. This is great news! We are now definately going to two Regional Competitions; Palmetto and Orlando, FL. Plus we'll have a cool Boeing logo on our robot and T-shirts.
Posted by Kevin Thorp on Thursday, February 2, 2012,
Columbia was a lot of fun. Even though we were the only rookie team there we finished up in the middle of the pack. Cat 5 made it as far as the quarterfinals before being eliminated.
Our drivers and coach (Dustin, Steven & Evan) worked well with our alliance partners; sometimes hanging tubes and sometimes playing defense. They were great at blocking and generally harassing the powerhouse teams, limiting their scoring ability. Rasaun (from the Multimedia Team) was selected as our human player ...
Posted by Webmaster on Thursday, February 2, 2012,
The "Category 5" T-Shirts finally came in. Mr. Thorp will bring them to the scrimmage, so students can change in the school restroom. If you have a Cat 5 t-shirt already, please wear it. These shirts are for the new students. If you're not going to Columbia you will be given t-shirts in February.
Posted by Kevin Thorp on Thursday, February 2, 2012,
Evan, CeCi and AJ will demonstrate our robot, along with Team 342, to the Lowcountry Manufacturing Council Tuesday evening, Oct. 17 at Trident Technical College. These LMC leaders could be potential sponsors and/or might help start up new teams next year.
Posted by Kevin Thorp on Thursday, February 2, 2012,
Twitter is a great tool for getting the latest team news to students and parents. When we “Tweet” news it is instantly sent via text message to all team member phones, wherever you are. No need to check email, log in or go to any special web site.
