A Moment of Silence, Please

It has come to my attention that the robot known affectionately to us all as Butter has been disassembled, after a period of about ten meetings' discussion. This news greatly saddens me. :( I must request a moment of silence, in memory of our buttery friend.

...

In other news, today we received our Fall Rookie Challenge for 2011. Our task is to design and build a robot that can move a soccer ball 20 feet into a 36-inch-wide goal. So far, we have decided on a robot that grabs and pushes the ball into the goal with its pincers. Expanding on that, we've chosen to decorate it with a spider theme and name it Aragog. But we're only just in the brainstorming stages, so it will be a while before Aragog is scuttling around anywhere.

Everybody's excited to see new faces and learn new names, such as Rashad and Kang. Looking forward to a great Fall Rookie Challenge and a great year! :)

New Members, Rookie Challenge and Other Stuff

Today we got even more new members after the Club Fair. Here they are:

Vel'Toria Johnson, 11th Grade
"I joined robotics because I want to be an engineer"

Charity Smith, 11th Grade
"I joined robotics because I like working with mechanical items"

Kang Chang, 12th Grade
"I joined robotics because I am interested in electricity, building, and programming."

We are so excited to get more new members!
Also, starting next Wednesday, we will be issuing a challenge to all our new members. I can't say anything about it now, but it will be a challenge that has them design and build a robot to perform a given task. We are excited to have the newbies working on something productive.

In other news, we recently recieved a grant from the UCEF for almost $1,000! A big thank you to them.

3 months till Kickoff!!

More new players!

At the meeting today we had a few more new brave souls show up. Here are their bios:

Rashad Scales, 10th grade
"I joined robotics because I'm interested in technology and engineering. I enjoy building things and I think it'll be a great experience for me. Some of my hobbies are bowling, running track, and playing the piano. My favorite color is orange and math is my favorite subject."

James Buchanan, 10th grade
"I joined robotics because Crystal Clay told me a lot about it and what you do while you're in robotics. From what she said I think I might really be interested in this new experience. What I like to do in my free time is play games, go places with my friends, text and play piano. My favorite color is red, and my favorite subject is art."

Alana Mayo, 10th grade
"Hee hee, fun fact time, well I'm more of an actress person and artist-y things. Yay"

Marquel Rogers, 9th grade
"I like to work with technology and robots. I work with software a lot."

Marquise Williams, 9th grade
(Marquise actually joined the team over the summer, but I'm just now writing his bio)
"I joined robotics because it seemed like it would be fun to work with robots and my hands, because I am a hands-on person. My favorite color is turquoise, that's probably why I like to swim."

Patrick Harting, 11th grade
"Since I have been a part of/supporting the robotics team since the start and have just a passion for building things and programming, I joined the robotics team. My dream job is to be a graphic designer, and I think that engineering will help me on that path"

Mervin Collins, 11th grade
"I joined robotics because I'm interested in technology, future business, and computer hardware and software, and since this is relatively similar to what my major is (Computer Hardware Engineering) this will be a great experience for that specific topic. I've also been inspired by a couple of my friends to join, hopefully this time I will be able to make it all the way through. In my free time, I like to draw, and create my own webpages, disassemble computers and learn the components inside of them. My favorite color is green, and not because of money, just because I like it. Nature's cool!"

New Members of Robotics, Part 1 of an Unknown Quantity

This season has brought with it several new members (chief among them me, of course... just kidding). I've already introduced myself, so here are two other new members:

Crystal Clay, 10th grade

"I joined Robotics because I enjoy building and learning more about technology, and I like science. I am also thinking about taking engineering as a career or mechanics and I know Robotics can help."

Glenda Nelson, 9th grade

"I joined Robotics because I love the knowledge of engineering and technology. I like to help teams with fundraising because I just love helping people. I love science, communication arts, reading, and math. I would like to have a career in either engineering and/or law."

And I feel like jumping on the bandwagon:

Andrew White, 9th grade

"I joined Robotics because... umm... I'll come back to that... Actually, just check the blog entry entitled 'Hello, Everybody'. That should tell you all you need to know."

Robolions at Homecoming

This morning we finally made a float for the Homecoming parade. We would have made it really spectacular if we hadn't procrastinated until about forty minutes before the parade began. And by float, we mean Mr. Wurst's truck with paper wrapped around it and paint splattered on the paper. But it actually turned out pretty well, despite a few gears that looked more like suns and circuitry that looked like a bizarre window. (I'm not artistically inclined, okay? The only thing I did right was put smiley faces in the O's in ROBOTICS.)

The two newest members of our team really enjoyed themselves - they were the only ones really dancing to the music, admittedly. But their enthusiasm made up for the rest of us. One even dressed up in her own lion suit for school spirit!

Many of our members are also in the Latin club, so several of them walked with the Latin float. However, since the Latin float was right behind us, this worked out all right. And in front of us was a BUBBLES-producing bike! BUBBLES! We quite enjoyed the BUBBLES. And yes, the caps are absolutely necessary when talking about the glorious BUBBLES.

Captain Grace will probably post more about Homecoming in the near future, and her posts will most likely have pictures. So stay tuned.

On the not-so-great side, we ran out of candy about halfway through the parade, which did not endear us to many people beyond that point. And my tweed jacket got purple and orange paint on it! But neither of these really matter. The important bit is that we endorsed and advertised the Robolions robotics club, and had fun while doing it.

And don't worry - the paint will wash out.

Hello Everybody

You may have noticed that the previous post, "Butter Shows Off," was written by someone other than Robolions, Captain Grace, or danpolitte. The author of that post was me, Andrew White, and I'm one of the team's newest members. I don't want to drone on and on about myself here, because the blog's about robotics, but suffice it to say that I've joined the team because several of my closest friends have been on the team for a while now, and the more extracurriculur activities I go to, the better. Given that my true passion is for writing, rather than connecting wires, bolting together robots, and (heaven forbid) programming, we decided the best position for me was blogger. I'll be writing up an account of the latest build session every now and again, unless the other authors beat me to it. If you want to know anything additional about me (and I'd be pleasantly surprised if you actually do), you can check out my profile.

Butter Shows Off

Today at our second build session of the school year, we had the chance to take our new robot Butter for a spin and impress a few other denizens of University City High School! Two girls from the school yearbook committee happened upon our hallway, and with Charlie behind the wheel, Butter got a chance to shine - running up and down the hall, nipping at passersby's ankles, and finally ascending a long ramp... sideways!

It's from this sideways motion that Butter takes its name, though only very loosely. And by very loosely I mean REALLY loosely... When it came time to name the robot, the always-hungry boys on the team noticed its crab-like walk and thought nothing more than, "Butter goes well with crabs." This name could most likely have been averted had Captain Grace been there to inject some sanity into the proceedings, but alas she was not.

No matter how bizarre the robot's name, the yearbook girls seemed quite impressed, unless they were just frightened into submission. Several other people were attracted by the incredibly loud ruckus Butter's wheels made, and seemed similarly awed. Regrettably, despite bringing home several awards, the robotics team goes mostly unnoticed by a sports-obsessed student population. Sigh.