NASA Grant - Success!

Good news! We got the grant from NASA that we spent an entire meeting working on as a team. We were among the 213 teams who got various grants from NASA. Good work, everyone! Of course, we're not done yet, because we're still required to make a submission for the Chairman's Award. But hey, we can do it. Go team!

Here's the list of the teams who got grants. We're down at the bottom:
http://robotics.nasa.gov/events/2014_sponsorship.php

For parents: how to complete the electronic consent form

When your daughter/son registered online with FIRST Robotics the registration system is supposed to  send you a message asking you complete an electronic consent form. I'm currently coaching and my son is on the team and I managed to completely the email sent when he registered. If you are similar, follow these instructions to get the form completed:

1. Go to https://my.usfirst.org/stims/site.lasso?r=1423346&fuseaction=home.welcome and click on the "I can't access my account" link.
2. Enter your email address.
3. Shortly after that you will get an email from FIRST with a link to set your password (if you do not get that email please check your spam/junk folder)
4. Reset your password, then log in.
5. Before doing the electronic consent you need to provide some additional contact information for the student; click the "Edit/View" button next to the student's name to do that:

6. Complete the form with address information, etc; be sure to also indicate whether your student has participated in FIRST events (like FIRST Lego League) before:

7. Submit the contact form and you will be taken back to the screen you saw when you logged in. Click on the "Edit/View" button for the consent form:

8. Click through the check boxes, then read the consent form and "sign" it by clicking the "Sign Form" button:

You are now done! Thanks for taking the time to do this--having consent forms completed electronically speeds up the registration process at Kickoff and Competition!

Question or concerns? Contact Dr. Matt Craig (interim coach)

Team Spudnik: 2014 pre-season update

Hello, everyone! The date today is November 13th, 2013, and Team 4360 Spudnik has started meeting again. We've had several meetings already, and we've started making progress on a variety of things. This is a quick summary of everything we've done so far...and a chance for our resident blogger to get back into the swing of things :)

After a couple meetings of getting things organized, we started getting stuff done. One of the first things we did was repair our robot from last season. It was having issues with connecting to the controller, and when it did connect, it wasn't running quite right. However, we were able to work through the problems and get it back in order. With the robot once again running to perfection, the build team set about getting down a full schematic of the 'bot.

This process was interrupted, as we got the opportunity to display the robot in the window of one of our local sponsors, Hobby Hut. We left the robot with them from Thursday to Wednesday, and it attracted attention, getting more publicity for both us and the shop.

One of the biggest accomplishments of the past weeks was getting together a grant proposal to send to NASA for funding. We found out that our biggest sponsor, which was sponsoring multiple teams, was no longer able to sponsor us as well as the others. So, we decided to go and try to get NASA to replace them. One issue: our meeting took place one day before the deadline for the proposal. But we got the whole team together (see picture below for a peek into what that was like), and managed to get the thing done. Go us!

Now, we're working on finishing that robot schematic, and the marketing team is preparing to go out and start getting us some more sponsors. Stay tuned for progress, and our future plans. Before the build season starts, we'll be doing certain building challenges to help the build team practice, and we'll be sure to keep you posted on those. We're also working on an entry for the safety video competition. Expect updates ons those things, and more!

Well, there's the season so far, in a nutshell. I'll see you again soon, with more reports of Spudnik's antics!

This is what a whole team working on a NASA grant proposal looks like:

Registration Site

Hey, everyone! If you want to be on the team, you need to click the link below to register! So you should do that!

https://my.usfirst.org/stims/site.lasso

All match videos up!

You should totally go watch them, 'cause they're pretty darn awesome.

And the picking of alliances has happened...

...but we weren't picked. Can't say we're too surprised. Even so, we had a lot of fun competing. Hopefully we'll go on next year!

Team Spudnik Competition Day 3 - Update 2

OH MY GOSH WE JUST HAD OUR LAST QUALIFICATION MATCH, AND IT WAS AMAZING! On a more serious note, we were back to blue for this match. We're pretty sure the robot is ready to do everything it needs to do, so the match should've been good enough to warrant the all-caps overexcited first sentence.

Pre-match setup! Pretty standard stuff.

The drive team lining up for possibly the last match we'll have here.

-Match 8-

This was the best match we've had the entire competition. We actually hung on the bar! And we succeeded at preventing an enemy robot from getting frisbees to score, which was pretty awesome. If you only watch one video of a match, make it this one! All in all, this happened...

AWE YEAH! This was a pretty close match, as we were behind until the very end. It was a great game  (you should go watch it)

Alright, we've ended up 4-4 after the qualifications. We may or may not get picked, but we may now, as our defense has gotten much better. Will we end up being picked? Find out next update!

Team Spudnik Competition Day 3 - Update 1

Hey, a new day! We had our first match, where we were red for the last time. It started with difficulties with the climbing system, but we were able to (barely) repair it in time for the match.

Senator Amy Klobuchar giving a video speech at the opening ceremony.

A view of our pit before the match.

Drivers getting ready to do their drivings.

-Match 7-

Unfortunately, we still didn't get to climb. We did some good defending though, but our alliance still lost. Good match even so.

The final score...meh.

Taking the robot away after the match.

We now only have one more round before the elimination matches...will we make it? We'll find out...

Team Spudnik Competition Day 2 - Update 5

Double-whammy update! I didn't get a chance to post after match 5 due to computer battery life, but I'm back now with updates for matches 5 and 6. We were still red in both matches.

Obligatory pre-match robot setup shot.

-Match 5-

This match was...quite non-ideal. We had attempted to add on an old dumper design we had to get some points, but it wasn't done. That bumper made the bot more awkward to control, which resulted is us hitting an enemy bot climbing the pyramid, netting them 30 penalty points. This made our alliance lose 75 to 46...which means we would've won by a single point if we hadn't fouled. I forgot to photograph the scoreboard, sadly, and the video is different because my camera ran out of battery and couldn't record video. So yeah.

That was match 5...was match 6 any better?

OMG, it's a setup picture!

-Match 6-

Yep, it was hugely better. We did just baaaarely miss getting our hanging points, but it was still awesome. We did a great defense, and kept the enemy from scoring too much. It even lead us to get into a debate as to whether or not we should even be trying to add more scoring devices.

This was the final score. team Spudnik is now 3-3! We have two matches tomorrow...will we be able to leave here with a positive win-loss ratio? Stay tuned!

Team Spudnik Competition Day 2 - Update 4

4th match! It happened! Hooray! Updates! Let's a-go! (to quote Mario)

Our robot and its compatriots (in red this time!) line up for the match.

-Match 4-

Holy moley, our teammates are good. They both shoot and get a whole ton of points. We just play defensive, and succeed in messing with the other robots. We didn't even manage to score though, as another robot pushed us away from the pyramid. But even without that...

...We still got a hundred points (And by "we", I mean our teammates. We just conducted interference). I've never seen any group get 100 before, so hey, that's cool, even if we didn't score any of it. 

Well, we're 2-2 now, although we didn't contribute too much to the 2nd win. Not too shabby either way. Expect the next update soon!

Team Spudnik Competition Day 2 - Update 3

Well, our third match has come and gone, and it's time for another update. This round started off interestingly, with a team member being a bit late to the party due to being at Dairy Queen. That aside, things continued to proceed like this...

The drivers start lining up for the match (we're blue again). Also, Cameron makes the picture blurry by dancing.

Our robot, under the pyramid and ready to start the match.

-Match 3-

Unfortunately, we weren't able to replicate the success of our first match. When driving up to hang from the bar, we went too fast, which resulted in the robot getting stuck with the wheels and pneumatic pistons off the ground, making us immobile. So, things didn't turn out so hot...

Well, we're 1-2. The only points this match were from a teammate hanging on the low rung. 

After the round, we had this strategy meeting to discuss why the climbing didn't work. We came to the conclusion I wrote about earlier.

It isn't looking like we're in a winning position today, but we were never expecting that anyway. Shooter still isn't operational, and is still very much in limbo. More on that and everything else later. Will we manage to hang right again? Let's see...

Team Spudnik Competition Day 2 - Update 2

Our second match is over, and I figured that it'd be a good idea to post an update about it. Not too much happened between the matches, so this'll be a short post. We're blue again, so here we go...

The team line up for this match...gotta say, I like that shark decal.

Final robot inspection...almost ready to start!

-Match 2-

This match did not go as well as the first one. We decided to play some defense this time (we didn't last time due to a loose bumper), and it apparently didn't stop the other team from scoring a bunch. Our robot is fairly light, so it can be pushed around, but it's low to the ground, so it can tip over other bots. Unfortunately, we didn't get climbing points this round. Our robot has a weight on it to make it tip up while it hangs, but it came off, so we didn't get off the ground. The final score ended up being...

...Not so good for us. In fact, only 5 of our points were from getting points. The rest were from fouls of various sorts. So, non-ideal. Still, we think we can perform better later, like we did round one (we're gonna make sure to check that counterweight after every match). We're ranked 19th, last update, so still pretty nice. Maybe we'll move up if we get the shooter working...will we? If we do, you'll be the first to know!

Team Spudnik Competition Day 2 - Update 1

Hello! It's about two hours into the second day of competition, and we've already had our first match. We've been working to finish up our shooter, but it may or may not actually get put on, so we're gonna end up doing defense and then getting 10 points by climbing. So anyway, without further ado, pictures!

Part of the crowd at the opening ceremony...wow, there's a whole bunch of people here.

Minnesota senator Al Franken gave a speech at the ceremony...surprisingly funny, for a politician.

Getting some work done on the shooter before our first match. It isn't attached yet, but it may or may not be by the end of the day.

The pits of day two...busy, busy, busy!

Our robot lining up with the others before the match. The suspense is building. (We're blue)

This is the view from our side of the arena. The judges are just checking one of the bots, and the match will start soon.

Here are the drivers, lining up for the match. It'll start soon!

-Match 1-

Basically, we didn't do much in the match, we just climbed up the first rung and hung there (This is a short video of us doing that. The full match will be up later, in HD). Both of our alliance members shot frisbees and got us a bunch of points. But how did it turn out?

We're winners! Now, we did get a 30 point bonus due to a penalty, which contributed to our high score. However, if you notice, even without that our alliance still had enough points to win, so we're winners regardless! Hooray! We're ranked number 7 out of 63 as of this match, although that is due to the fact that a lot of people have the same number of points right now.

So anyhoo, that's the first bit of day 2, minus a match video. That'll come later, along with more blogging of the later happenstances of the day. Look forward to it!

Team Spudnik Competition Update 1

Ahoy, mateys! We're at competition! I was gonna do more frequent updates today, but I wasn't able to due to lack of wi-fi. So here you are: Day 1 of competition in pictures! (sorry for the LQ pictures...I had to use a bad camera. It'll be better tomorrow)

A semi-bird's-eye-view of the competition pit area.

Finishing up a rig on the cart to keep the robot still.

Our snazzy banner!

Cameron workin' on a bumper.

Putting on the aforementioned bumper.

Hey, look! Pneumatics!

Doing some work on electrical and pneumatic components.

The camera, it's attached!

Under-the-bot pneumatics things.

The new shooter, ready to be put on, mostly.

Getting some help from anther team with our programming.

HEY LOOK THE ROBOT HANGS ON A BAR IT GETS POINTS THIS IS MAGICAL (expect a video of it getting up there tomorrow)

That's just a basic summary of all the shenanagans that took place for us at competition on the first day. We got a whole bunch of stuff done. Our robot is now capable of lifting itself up and scoring, and it has a camera, and it can theoretically shoot when we get it put on. Schweet! Expect more constant updates about the actual matches tomorrow.

Information for competition added!

As you may notice, up above this, there's a new page on the blog. You may also notice that it's called "Competition Info". That's because it contains a whole bunch of information about the competition. it's all in the name, huh? So yeah, check that out for the events going on during the day, a schedule of the meet, and some links to webcasts.

Team Spudnik Update 3/20/13

Well, there's only one week left until competition. Aaaaand, we still have things to do. A whole bunch of things to do. Most likely, all of those things are not going to get done prior to there competition, because we're leaving in exactly a week. As of right now, we have no shooter capable of attaching to the robot, we're still short on money, and we also have several robot components that still need finishing

Fortunately, all is not lost. Totally. Our cart is (nearly) completed, we're finally ready to go shopping and get all the parts we need, and we have gotten SOME money. We are, ever so slowly, getting things done, and we are going to at least have a working robot when we get down to the land of much competition. So, while we certainly aren't the best team in the history of the know universe, we can still get things done.

And even though we may not have used our time quite as productively as it could have been used, we did get something out of it. It taught us a lesson: use time more productively, otherwise you have to spend a week panicing. While we didn't do as well as we could have this year over the pre-competition work time, we did learn more about how to do better next year. As such, we're prepared to be awesome in the future, even if we don't quite get there now. Whoo, optimism!

There you are, folks. Week -1 in relation to competition, and we aren't done with stuff yet. Will that stuff get done? Only time will tell! Tune in next time, same time, same station, for the exciting conclusion!

Team Spudnik Update 3/13/13

Hello again, and welcome to another Team Spudnik weekly update! With two weeks left until competition, we have tasks to complete, and of course tasks that have been completed. First and foremost among those completed tasks: We've gotten ourselves several new sponsors. The sponsorship teams that were out doing their thing during the last update, and the ones we sent out later, got things done. The Sponsorship Page has been updated with a couple of our new sponsors, and more will soon be added once levels and everything are confirmed.

Other then that, we've also officially ordered our team shirts, designed our competition pit, and gotten more work done on our shooter. That wasn't everything I listed last week that had to get done, so of course there's still plenty of stuff for us to do. The cart is almost done, and all the drawings are made or being made for the parts and things we still need to build. Mainly what needs to be completed is the building of those final parts, gathering all the components of the pit, and reconfiguring the old robot for practice.

So there you go. Not too much happened this week, and there's till more being done. We should still be able to finish all that needs to be finished by competition, so we're good. And on a final note, happy Pi Day tomorrow! It's gonna be a good time. Bye!

Team Spudnik Update 3/6/13

Hello, I'm back again! For this post, I have two main orders of business. The first of which is my new blogging schedule. Originally, my theory was that I'd blog after every meeting we have. That obviously hasn't happened, and I don't think that really does need to happen. Therefore, this blog is now going to be updated WEEKLY rather then at every meeting. Now with that done, I'll catch you all up on what we've done since that last build meet.

One big thing we've done is plan. We spent a meeting going over what has gone well this season, and what hasn't. Then we began planning how to go about the rest of the time. Currently, work is being done on finalizing the frisbee shooter, building a platform to mount a couple parts we need to add to the robot, designing our pit for competition, and getting more sponsors (Our marketing team is out working on that as I type this). Very soon, we're going to begin the final tests of the shooter, and finalize the things that aren't done yet. Those "unfinalized" things include the bumpers, a cut sheet of plexiglass to protect our electronic parts, and the camera mount.We also hope to reconfigure the robot from last year, which we still have, to drive like the one from this year so we can continue practicing.

Of couse, it's not like we don't already have some stuff done. Our t-shirt designs have been finalized and ordered, we're almost finished with the robot moving cart, and I've just received word that we've gotten our selves moar sponsoringness. And as I said, the stuff that isn't done yet will be easily completed before the competition.

With only three weeks left until the competition, we still have plenty to get done. However, progress is certainly being made, and that will be more then long enough for us to complete that which must be completed. Nothing much else for me to say here, other then that you should expect another post a week from today. See you then!

Final Build Meet - 2/19/13

As the title implies, this is a blog post regarding our last build meet fot this season. This is obvious, as the 19th is the last day before Bag and Tag, which means we need to be done. As it turns out, we aren't totally- but that's why we have more to do before competition. Here we have our last build meet, in pictures...

This is our electronics board, which we attached to the robot at this meeting (I know it's last minute. See our slogan). Pretty standard FRC stuff, sitting there ready to do electrical things.

Here's the robot as it stands before bagging. It's obviously missing a few bits, but that's what we're working on until competition. 

This is the actual bagging of the 'bot. That guy is Cameron, one of our senior members. He got the job of getting the robot all the way into the bag, and also photographing it in there. This is photoception too, which is pretty awesome.

The robot, in it's bag, with another bag (Bagception, because we love references) full of additional stuff for at competition. Say goodbye to this guy for now...we'll see him in a month-ish.

We did a lot today, and we had a lot of people. We ended up consuming five pizzas and two-and-a-half bottles of soda over the day. Nom nom.

In addition to these pictures, we have several videos of the robot doing stuff, us working hard, and us working...not quite as hard. All that will be put up here as soon as it's uploaded, which should be soon!