We have Chuck Brant of the Rambotics team (1583) to thank for doing the work of organizing the demos; and team 1158 (the Corps, of Collbran, CO) for rounding out the “demo alliance” of three teams.  FIRST shipped an official goal to Denver for the event, and all the robots put on a good show.  In spite of the less-than-ideal location away from the direct travel path of the people attending, we still had a fairly steady stream of people to talk to about FRC and FIRST.  Our robot worked quite well except for some slow-charging batteries and a small problem with the kicker near the end of the day. Tim got it working again with a temporary fix (we didn’t have all our supplies) but we’ll make a more permanent fix sometime soon so the robot will be ready in case we get the chance to take it out again this summer. Tim and Melynda also went out to get a soccer ball so that we’ll have one we can call our own for future events.  (For the ISTE event, we all shared the other teams’ soccer balls.)

A big THANK YOU to Chris and Vignesh who participated even though they already graduated, and also to Tim and Melynda.

We have several photos on Picasaweb, and I hope to add a short video to this post  soon.

http://picasaweb.google.com/emilyg28/FairviewTeamDemoAtDenverISTEConference2010#

This was a great experience, and let’s look for opportunities to publicize our team whenever possible (especially if it would mean more donations)!

Photos taken by Emily Goodin

Photos taken by Peter Ornstein

Hello Team,

Parents and students need to go to

https://my.usfirst.org/frc/goteams/site.lasso and fill out the form there. This takes the place of the Consent and Release Forms we have done in the past and creates an elecronic roster for us. This is for students and parents only. Mentors still need to fill out the form the old fashioned way. I am attaching that form & we’ll need those for the 2010 kickoff. Parents will give electronic permission through the web page mentioned above. Alternatively, students can fill out the paper form and bring it back to me if you would rather do it that way.

December 8th is Monarch’s last meeting before the Kickoff, please return your field trip permission form to me. I am attaching that form as well just in case didn’t get one. Fairview students are welcome to ride the bus with us as well. We will leave from Monarch at 7:00 & return around noon.

You can check the Shazbots meal calendar to see which dates still need volunteers.

“In addition, I’m very pleased to let you know that an early version of the FRC Java software is now available for download at http://first.wpi.edu/FRC/frcjava.html . I know we promised this for November, and I apologize for being a few days late, but I think you will be very happy with the results.  Our hats off to the extraordinarily dedicated Java beta test teams and the developers for all their hard work! “

(Tip: Throughout the season, keep an eye on scholarship opportunities for robotics team members. Millions of dollars are available to FRC team members.)

Jan. 9th, 2010 – Season Kickoff! At this event, the teams find out exactly what the competition will be.  Parents are welcome to attend!  (Last year many of us sat in an “overflow room” but it was still fun.)

Jan. 11th thru Feb. 22nd, 2010 – BUILD SEASON! The team meets 5 times per week to build the robot. Meals need to be provided on Saturdays, and as the robot ship date approaches, possibly on weeknights also.

Feb 23rd – Bye-Bye robot! The robot is shipped off, and is not accessible until the first day of the regional competition.  Between now and then, the team can plan their strategies for any final touches that the robot will need before the actual competition events begin.

Mar. 25-27 – The climax! Regional Competition at the University of Denver Ritchie Center in Magness Arena. This is a HUGE professionally-run event. It is also very stressful for the team members, so if your student is cranky, give them some slack during this time.

After March 27th, the team plans the closing dinner for the season, and the preparation for next year’s team begins. Fund-raising will still be happening, officers for next year’s team are chosen, and more.

• Baking or buying items to be sold at bake sales
• Asking your employer to donate to the team
• Carpooling students from school to the meeting site or competition site
• Coordinating or supplying food for the Saturday dinners that are needed during build season
• Seeking out grants that might be available for the team; for example, currently two parents are looking into grants from Ball Aerospace and Lockheed-Martin.

I’m sure other ideas are out there – please feel free to add them here!!

- Emily Goodin

You can contact the team leads to get their ideas as well.

After the January kickoff, the 2010 season work schedule will be:

• Mondays through Thursdays from 3:00pm-8:00pm
• Saturdays from 9:30am-2:30pm

We are building and storing the robot at the Monarch High School DaVinci Lab (Thanks, Monarch!). For a map to Monarch, click here. Note that there are two schools here – the K-8 school and the high school. The high school is in the back.

To see the full FRC season schedule, click here.