Lego Stormers

January 2012 Washington State FTC Championship

2012-01-22T08:17:27Z

Washington State FTC Championship

January 14/15, 2012

There were 24 teams at the Washington State Championship. Every team had seven matches in the qualifying rounds. This tournament was the time we have been at an event that ran ahead of schedule! It was even more surprising that there were no significant lost connections or matches that had to be restarted. The Field Volunteers did a great job!

Our new robot, Ralph, had a basic 4 wheel drive system that we used at the December event. For this event, our new ball collector was installed and was much more efficient that the arm we used in December. Ralph's crate lifter worked well, but we're going to add some grabber arms to reduce the time it takes to pick up a crate.

We had fun on our 5th match playing the 417 Swerve against both Cyber Knights and Cyber Daze. We were all at the World Championships together in April 2011. By the end of the match, no one was sure who had won. There were only 2 points separating the teams. Congratulations to the Cyber teams!

In one of the final matches, two robots lifted crates high in the air and got a score over 350 points.

We were delighted to be nominated for the Connect Award, and even more excited when the announced that 3491 FIX IT had won the Think Award!

Find out more about who are the FTC team 3491 FIX IT.

December 2011 Washington FTC Qualifier

2012-01-22T07:59:07Z

Washington State Qualifier III

December 19/20

At the last minute, some of our team members couldn't go to the tournament. On Sunday morning, the first part of the day was spent practicing driving the robot with a new field team.

Once again, we were reminded of the importance of having drivers practicing with the robot, before we get to the tournament. Drivers need to learn to work together to pick up a balls, crates, and different scoring options.

In our first match of the day, the autonomous program worked perfectly and scored the bowling ball and the robot in the front parking lot. Unfortunately, the tele-op program didn't run and the robot sat out for that part.

The tele-op program was fixed by the next match and everything worked for the rest of the day.

We used two autonomous programs depending on what our partner wanted to do. Either way, homing in on the IR beacon was very reliable.

We did get to use the crate lifter in one match. It was great and scored a 40 point bonus.

Over all, some of the matches went very well. The mechanisms were always working. It was the drivers that needed more practice at scoring in a limited time period.

The flipper arm was effective and was used in a variety of different ways.

We used the ball collector. The wheels could be an inch closer to the ground. It would often pick up a ball but some times, the ball would pop out the bottom. It was awkward to drop them into crates. One time the ball bounced out. For a temporary replacement with almost no testing or practice, it was a good mechanism.

We won 4 out of 7 matches and ranked 12 out of 24 teams. We were the 10th pick in the alliance selection. Our alliance captain was the Titan Robotics, In the semi finals. Our alliance was tied and there was a final match which was played by the two other teams in the alliance. Unfortunately, Titan lost connection and they lost that match. Our alliance didn't make it to the finals.

It was a good day. We got to see how the robots are improving and got some new ideas that should help our designs.

Find out more about who are the FTC team 3491 FIX IT.

Discover Tectoria

2012-01-22T07:51:29Z

Discover Tectoria - Innovation Showcase
December 8, 2011

The Victoria Advanced Technology Council (VIATec) hosted Discover Tectoria 2011, with the help and support of it's members.

The FIX IT team was invited to bring our full playing field for the Innovation Showcase. We had two robots on the playing field for spectators to drive and a great opportunity for us to compare the two different drive systems!

There were over 1,000 high school students, many of whom got to drive the robots, and find out more about FTC.

Find out more about who are the FTC team 3491 FIX IT.

Fungus Stormers

2012-01-22T07:44:34Z

The Fungus Stormers had a lot of fun this year.

They choose the topic of Mold on Corn for their research project. We got to do everything from an experiment growing mold, to visiting the Galley Farms Corn Maze.

Our robot, Fun Guy, had some great attachments, including a pneumatic trigger to shoot a blunt on a string over the far end of the table for the Distance Travel mission.

The Fungus Stormers placed first at the Vancouver Island Championship.

November 2011 Washington FTC Qualifier

2012-01-22T07:35:28Z

Washington State FTC Qualifier

November 19/20, 2011

We had a lot of fun. There were lots of robots to look at, and watch play the game.

Our robot had problems. The wires that connect to the motor hubs came off. They were exposed and only held on by elastics. We fixed that issue by adding 2" standoffs behind each motor to keep the elastics from being pulled off.

The field we were on was plagued with wireless problems. Some of our matches had to be restarted 3 or 4 times which was very discouraging.

Our drivers didn't have any practice driving down the ramp. The robot was suppose to go down the ramp in autonomous so we didn't practice driving. With only one autonomous program, in some matches, our partner took that spot and we didn't run our program.

When our drivers had to drive down the ramp, our robot would flip over. Finally, we realized that we had to run our autonomous program, even if it was starting in the wrong spot. From then on, the robot didn't flip.

Even with our poor matches results, we were delighted to get the Think award and qualify for the State Championships.

Find out more about who are the FTC team 3491
FIX IT.

Buidling Robots

2011-07-14T15:30:17Z

Building Robots

During the off season, we're testing lots of robot drive systems on many different obstacles.

Robots

2 Wheel Drive (pivot, skid, bump, locked pivot, ...)

4 Wheel Drive

Differential

Treads

Gearing

Modular Design

Variations on each of the drive systems will be tested too. It could be as simple as changing the wheel size. Or it could mean trying a pivot, skit, and bump, for a two wheel drive robot.

Challenges

Speed - driving, forwards, backwards and around a large square.

Time to drive forward 8 feet.
Time to drive backwards 8 feet.
Time to drive around 12 foot square.

Accuracy - can the robot drive forwards, backwards, forwards with a turn, and through a maze, accurately. A marker will be attached to the robot as it repeats the tests to see the differences in the robot path.

Using marker, drive forward 4 feet, 10 times, (measure line spread)
Using marker, drive backwards 4 feet, 10 times, (measure line spread)
Using marker, drive forward with a turn, 10 times, (measure line spread)
Using marker, drive through maze 3 times, (measure line spread and time)
- repeat using sensors, or walls to help robot align

Uneven Surface - what type of obstacles can the robot drive over? How many rows of LEGO can it drive over?

Drive robot over uneven surface and record last obstacle crossed.
Drive robot over stack of LEGO and record highest height crossed.

Ramp - Can it climb up and down and incline surface (painted ramp)?

Find the steepest incline (in degrees) the robot can climb at least 2 feet.
Find the steepest decline (in degrees) the robot can drive at least 2 feet.

Weight - how much weight can it push or pull?

Find highest weight a robot can push 2 feet.
Find highest weight a robot can pull 2 feet.

Light Sensor - does it always stop in the same place? How fast is line following? How accurate is line following?

Drive forward and stop on line. Repeat two times and measure tire spread.
Use line following to follow a curve about 4 feet and then push down 1-2 beams. Repeat 4 times and record which beams are pushed. Record time it takes to follow line.

Climbing - can it climb a tether?

Since most robots won't climb a tether, this ended up as a separate challenge. Could we build any robot that could climb a tether? Check out the video to see the results!

Robotics Day June 11

2011-05-17T04:10:20Z

Robotics Day
Saturday June 11, 2011

Hosted by the FIX IT Robotics Team, who have just returned from the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC)
World Championship for high school teams.

Robotics Day was a wonderful opportunity to share our enthusiasm for robots with lots of people.

There were always crowds when the FIX IT team was demonstrating their robot.

But the longest lines were for the kids who wanted a turn to drive the robot!

The FIX IT team display had everything from a CAD image to display running the video from the
World Championship in St. Louis.

This display shows all our teams, and their awards, over the last five years.

The Hurricanes were very busy showing their robot and telling visitors all about FIRST LEGO League.

Robotics Day was a lot of fun, and we may do it again next year.

Free Afternoon Activities

Robot Exhibition
Hands on Robots
Find out about FIRST teams
Speaker Schedule

Robotics Workshop 10am - 12 noon $15.

Workshops are full.

Workshops to learn about building or programming robots. Kids, or adults will work in small groups to learn how to build different types of robots. Participants will be divided into groups based on their skill level and previous experience with robots.

Advance registration required
Contact uschi.leslie @ shaw . ca or 250-595-4453

Robot Exhibition 12:30 - 2:30 FREE

Kids, bring your own robot to display it for everyone. It can be made from LEGO, cardboard, or whatever material you choose. Invite your friends and family to come and see your robot on display. Get feed back from the FIX IT robotics team.

All About Robots 12:30 - 2:30pm FREE

Hands on Robots
Your chance to see a FTC robot in action, or take your turn at the controls. Have fun building with LEGO and get some building tips. Try controlling a robot using sensors.

Find out about FIRST Teams
Talk to FIRST Tech Challenge team members about being on a high school robotics team. See a FIRST LEGO League (FLL) team in action. The Hurricanes, just home from the World Festival in St. Louis, will be demonstrating their robot. In addition to drop-in activities, speakers will be talking about different types of FIRST teams.

Speaker Schedule

When	Topic	Who
1:00 pm	Junior FIRST LEGO League (gr 1-3)	Anna Graham, JFLL Coach
1:30 pm	FIRST LEGO League (gr 4- 8)	Mark Sicherman, Vancouver Island FLL Organizer
2:00 pm	FIRST Tech Challenge (gr 9-12)	Christine Nicholls, FTC Coach

Win your own
LEGO^® MINDSTORMS^® Robot Set

Win a LEGO MINDSTORMS set worth $450!
Tickets are $2 each or $20 for 15 tickets.

Draw at 3:00pm

Proceeds go to the Victoria Robotics Club.

For more information

Saint Louis - Day Four

2011-05-02T02:21:59Z

Saturday

It was another early day. We were back in the Dome by 7:30am cheering on three teams from the Pacific Northwest who were one of the final four alliances for our division. One of the teams, RCXRM is from BC too!

It was fun to have some teams we knew in the finals. Here's a picture of all the teams from the Seattle, Robert's Creek and Victoria.

This picture was taken after our closing ceremonies. We had a great time, learned lots, and are looking forward to building on it for next year.

After our closing, we stayed to see the FLL closing ceremonies. The Hurricanes had a challenge with their robot. At first, it was very low scoring. They figure it was the new mats changed the traction for their robot. They worked hard to reprogram every mission. On Friday, their scores kept going up and up. They started with 300, then it was 350. Their final run was 360. It was great to see how much better their robot got over just a few days.

Here they are at their closing ceremonies.

We loved the hotel where we stayed. The lobby had an amazing fountain with statues of from the Lewis and Clark expedition. Our team got creative and fun with these photos of our group.

After everything wrapped up, there was a final party on Saturday night. They had lots of different entertainment options. There was Karoke, and we sang our "We will FIX IT" song. The talent show was amazing. There was a band in another room, and then there was arcade. It had everything from video games to air hockey tables. There were even circus performers.

Katherine spent some of the evening Carolyn from Swerve.

It was a crazy, hectic, loud, exciting few days filled with 'hurry up and wait' moments. We got lots of new ideas, learned more about our software, and are looking forward to next season.

Saint Louis - Day Three

2011-04-30T04:53:03Z

Friday

We had one match scheduled this morning. When they first posted the scores, it said we had lost. But there was an error in the scoring. When it was corrected, we won! That was a good way to start the day.

Here's a picture from queing this morning. The FTC teams are lined up along the black curtian. There's enough teams there for 2 matches. Our matches are played on the far side of the curtain. On the left hand side is the FLL tables in front of the LEGO screen.

The stands don't look that full, but it's a huge stadium!

The Hurricances had three good matches today. They scored 300 in their first run, 350 in their second and 360 in the third. We were able to see most of their matches and it looked like they were having lots of fun.

After our first match, we had to wait until after lunch for our final three matches. Many teams had already completed all seven of their matches, but we had two matches from yesterday to be replayed and one scheduled match for the afternoon.

All the replayed matches were scheduled for right after lunch. Unfortunately, our two matches immediately followed each other. In the first match, there was some sort of electrical problem. We're not sure if it was another issue with the WiFi or if the baton that got caught in the robot jiggled the wires. Either way, our robot 'sat out' most of the remote controlled portion of the match.

That's when things got interesting. Our next match was already on the playing field waiting for us, but there was an electrical problem in our robot to solve.

The Field Tech came to try to help. He loved the way our robot was wired with the clear plastic panel on the bottom. He could actually see where all the wires came from and went to.

It took the team about 5 minutes to sort everything out, and then we were into our next match. Things didn't go as well as we hoped and it was another loss.

I checked the rankings at this point, and FIX IT was ranked at 61 out of 64 teams. That number was a bit discouraging, but we still had another match left.

In our final match, many things finally went right. We scored points, and balanced on the bridge at the end. It was nice to end the day with a good match and a win!

We jumped to 42nd place. FTC is like that. Win a match, and you can jump 20 places in the standings! If you look carefully, you can see team 3491 (FIX IT) on line 42 in the Edison rankings.

Ian and Devin had entered a contest being run by PTC who gives the teams ProEngineer, CAD software. They had to design a new component in 15 minutes. Both of them got it finished in the time allowed, now we just have to wait and see how they do.

Tonight, the team is off to the concert by will.i.am of the the Black Eyed Peas for all the FIRST teams. In fact, will.i.am had worked with a team from California to create robot that ran a match against Dean Kamen. It was fun for everyone to see them on the field with FTC teams.

We've had a good few days, and tomorrow we'll be up early to go cheer on one of the final alliances. There are three teams we know from the Pacific Northwest, includng a team from BC. They start at 7:30 tomorrow morning!

Continue reading Saturday, Day Four of the tournament.

Saint Louis - Day Two

2011-04-29T04:25:49Z

Thursday

Today was a very long day. The pits opened at 7:15 am and we left around 7pm.

The team had 5 scheduled matches that have a maximum time of 2 minutes and 40 seconds. But it kept us busy for almost 12 hours.

The team had a 20 minutes practice time this morning where Ian worked on the autonomous programs.

The match schedule finally came out around 9:30. Our first match was at 11:30 am.

For each match, we have one partner and two opponents. The first thing our team does is check the scounting information we have on our opponents. Do they have an autonomous program? What types of features are on their robots.

Once we have that information, we find our partner and decide on the strategy for that match. Who should have the preloaded battons? What path will we use in autonomous? Can we work together to get rolling goals on the bridge for the end game?

With the scouting and strategy worked out, about 45 minutes before the match, the volunteers come to queue the teams. It can take 5-10 minutes to get from our pit in the America's Center to the floor of the Edward Jones Dome where the matches are played.

Then there's lots of waiting around. Fortunately, there are lots of other teams also waiting around. The FTC line for the Edison field ran right beside the FLL playing fields. A couple of times, we were able to watch the Hurricanes while we were waiting in line!

The waiting time is the best opportunity our team has to actually talk with other teams. In this picture, they are posing for a picture with the mascot of another team.

Finally it's our turn to play. First, all four robots are put on the field and connected via the new WiFi system they're using this year. It's been working fairly well at tournaments, but they're have trouble with the fields at the Championship. Frequently, one or more robots loose their WiFi connection, causing the match to be restarted or replayed the next day.

Once everyone is connected, and the officials and referrees are ready, the match actually starts.

That's when the fun starts. Will our autonomous program work? What will happen in when the drive team is running the robots with remote controls?

Two of our matches had problems with the WiFi and they will have to be replayed tomorrow. Of the three matches that counted, we won one match and lost two.

The good news is that the robot is working, and the team seems to be getting better with figuring things out as the day went on.

And tomorrow is another day.

Continue reading Friday, Day Three of the tournament.

Day One

2011-04-28T13:56:47Z

Wednesday

We had a hectic morning of sightseeing, but it was worth it. We went to see the St. Louis Basilica which has amazing mosaics, easily rivaling anything we've seen in Europe.

Then, we were off to the tournament at 12 noon. We had to set up our pit area and try to get everything organized. The team practiced for their judging interview, had a quick snack and then it was off to the interview. It seemed to go well, but they didn't ask many questions.

Next up, was hardware inspection. The official there was a lot of fun and had the team laughing throughout the inspection. He loved our Bill of Materials and would like to see it in the game manual for next year.

After that, it was software and field inspections. We had to make some minor changes to the Samanth program on our brick. Overall, the three inspections went quickly and our robot is approved to play in the matches tomorrow!

Some teams, spend a lot of time at a tournament, testing and making changes to their robot. Usually, our team doesn't want to make a lot last minute changes to the robot. But Devin did want to try some modifications to the scoring cup.

All of a sudden, it was 5:30 and the pit was closing so that everyone could go to the FTC Opening Ceremonies at 6pm. I wasn't sure how they would get everyone in, but there was room for over 1,000 people. A few ended up standing at the back of the room.

That night, we went out for dinner with a bunch of teams from around the Pacific Nortwest. Our reservation was for 65 people, but we reduced it to 50 when we thought one team wouldn't make it. Then they showed up, and some of the college team for Aerial Robotics came too!

We ended up with over 70 people at dinner. Fortunately, the Old Spaghetti Factory was great about the ever changing number of guests.

Here's Katherine having dinner with team members from Swerve, RCXRM and Cyber Knights.

Now, it's 11pm and time for bed. The pits open at 7:15 tomorrow morning!

Continue reading Thursday, Day Two of the tournament.

Arriving in Saint Louis

2011-04-28T13:16:24Z

Monday

After the concerns about the Tornado and the St. Louis airport, it turned
out our flight was uneventful. We landed on time, and we even got to watch
as the robot came off the plane.

Tuesday

The weather was great on Tuesday and we walked through some of the downtown parks. The first stop was the zoo. Then half the group went to the group went to the Science Centre and Art Gallery. The other half had booked a trip up the Arch.

The hotel has been great and we keep running into team members from the Hurricanes, who even have rooms on the same floor as us!

There are lots of other teams arriving every time we walk through the lobby.

The robot traveled well and everything was working when the team tested it at the hotel.
We even checked out how things might fit on our new rolling cart.

Continue reading Wednesday, Day One of the tournament.

St. Louis 2011

2011-04-19T03:10:49Z

FIX IT, Team 3491, is going to FIRST� Tech Challenge World Championship Event in St. Louis, Missouri on April 27-30, 2011!

Watch the matches live! Find the times for FIX IT or the Hurricanes.

We've rebuilt and tested our robot, which is now named L1MB0. We went to a scrimmage in Seattle with 6 other teams who will be at the World Championship.
We've made a new team banner.
Everything is packed, and now, we're off to St. Louis!
Oh, wait, they've just closed the St. Louis airport! The good news is that it's suppose to open the day before we leave.

Many FIRST events have live broadcasts over the internet. You should be able to follow the action on the Live FIRST broadcast by NASA, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Any times you see posted or hear announced will be for St. Louis time zone. If you are on the west coast, St. Louis is 2 hours earlier.

In past years, there have been different windows, one for each of the fields.

FIX IT 3491 - FIRST Tech Challenge

FIX IT will be on the Edison Field. The other FTC field is Franklin. FIX IT will be playing in 7 qualifying matches on Thursday and Friday.

Round	Day	Match	St. Louis Time	Victoria Time
1	Thu	15	11:31am	9:31am
2	Thu	28	1:52pm	11:52am
3	Thu	38	2:57pm	12:57pm
4	Fri	54	after 1:00pm	after 11:00am
5	Fri	66	after 1pm	after 11am
6	Fri	84	10:22am	8:22am
7	Fri	107	1:45pm	11:45am

NOTE: matches 4 and 5 have been reschedule again to "after lunch" on Friday. Matches started late on Friday morning so you'll probably have to go by the match number to determine when matches will be running.

All FIX IT matches will be on the Edison field.

Watch the matches live!

Hurricanes - FIRST LEGO League

The Hurricanes, a local FLL team will be at the FLL World Festival this year. Their qualifying matches will be live on Friday, and they may show their practice rounds on Thursday too. Here's the schedule for the Hurricanes.

Friday April 29 - Einstein Field

Match Number	St. Louis Time	Victoria Time
12	11:10 am	9:10 am
26	12:35 pm	10:35 am
39	2:40 pm	12:40pm

Of course, the schedule could change, and they may be running early or late depending on the events. If we find out about schedule changes, we'll try to post the new times.

Science Fair 2011

2011-04-19T02:05:28Z

One of our team members, Katherine Silversides, entered the robotic arm from L1MB0. She won a $2,000 scholarship, Faculty of Engineering Award, and will be at the Canada Wide Science Fair in May 2011.

The FIX IT team set-up their playing field and did a demo of FTC for all the Science Fair participants. It was a good opportunity to share FIRST with lots of kids who are interested in science.

Scrimmage in Seattle

2011-04-19T02:01:14Z

The FIX IT team went to the scrimmage in Seattle on April 10, 2011. It was a chance to meet some of the other teams who will be at the World Championship in St. Louis, and try out our newly redesigned robot in tournament like matches.