Moving Right Along

We have now invaded, converted, and established our new room. We just need to move a bunch of cardboard, wood, and other materials in, and then we will have completely moved in! :D

As for Aragog, well, we've got the frame done and we're working on his pincers now. So far, we've decided they'll be 15 inches long and 3 inches wide. Why? Don't ask me, I don't think spatially. There's got to be some sort of reason, though. :P

Work on Aragog

Progress is coming along well. The build team of rookies has just about finished Aragog's frame, despite some issues with the Stupid Corner that wouldn't line up right. Mr. Sarber explained to us two Golden Rules when it comes to solutions in building:

1. If you have to fit something through a hole and it's not quite working, you can always just make the hole bigger.

2. If all else fails, whack it with a hammer.

The second one was sufficient in this case.

51st Post!

This is officially our 51st post on this blog.

....Why this is important, I don't know, but I do know that we have some updates for all our lovely readers/team members/random internet surfers!

This is week 2 of the Rookie Fall Challenge. The rookies are hard at work building a chassis and attaching the gear boxes and wheel mechanisms as we speak. It was difficult for them to start, but they have certainly progressed. We've seen leaders step up out of the group, and we've seen each person's skills begin to show as they set about their various tasks. As an older team member, I can say that we as the Mentor Team are very proud thus far, and cannot wait until December 16th, Doom D- errr, Presentation Day. Some extra practice dates have been scheduled in for the next few weeks so that they can get a few more hours to work.

In other news, next Wednesday is the FRC Open House at Hazelwood Central High School. We will be leaving the school around 3:30. The Open House is from 4-8pm, and we will be showing Quorra.

On November 19th and 20th are the FLL Qualifying Matches at Brittany Woods Middle School. The Robolions will be selling concessions in order to raise money for the 2012 season.

59 DAYS UNTIL KICKOFF!

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."