Team Updates

Get Excited for 2007!

2006-12-23T08:28:00.000-08:00

Hello Team!

Thank you so much for signing up for Castilleja's Robotics Team: FIRST
Team 1700!
This will be our third season as a team, and we expect to rock! This email will outline the major dates for the 2007 season, what to expect and how to get involved. Please look it over, mark your calendars, and get psyched!

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), was founded in 1992 by Dean Kamen, "To create a world where science and technology are celebrated... where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes". In 2006, its flagship program, the FIRST Robotics Competition, reached more than 28,000 high school students on
1,133 teams in 33 regional competitions. FIRST's multinational competition teams professionals and young people to solve an engineering design problem in an intense and competitive way. Its goal is to motivate young people to pursue education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math, while building self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills. Check out the website:
http://www.usfirst.org/community/frc/

Sat Jan 6, 2007 KICK OFF DAY! Meet at Castilleja, in the Choral Room, at 12 noon. Team leaders will be returning from San Jose State with the Challenge Announcement, Game Rules, and the Kit of Parts. Be ready to brainstorm, inventory all the cool gadgets and gizmos, and start working on the challenge. Plan on working with the team until 5pm. ALL PARENTS
are urged to stay at 12 noon for a special parent meeting to discuss team supervision, meals and logistics. Be there or be square - Lunch will be served!
As a reminder, the kick off day is the SATURDAY BEFORE school starts. Although we would love if everyone could come, we also realize that some of you might be away of vacation. Please let us know ASAP if you are unable to attend.

Sun Jan 7, 11 am to 5pm - continue brainstorming/ possibly prototype the robot.

Mon - Fri, Jan 8 - 14 (Global Week) We will meet daily after school 4 - 7 pm to work on the Challenge.

The team will work daily in the evenings after school, and weekends, to prototype and build the robot, develop the programming that controls it, create the team web site, and our team animation entry. Find the project that interests you most, work hard and HAVE FUN! We ask that Parents help provide supervision and meals.

Feb 20, 2007 Robot Shipping Deadline - Fed Ex will pick up our Robot by 5pm. Please note that the Ship Date is during Ski Week. This is usually the most intense time for build and programming, so we ask that everyone be here for it.

Feb 22, 2007 Website Design Deadline - our Website is up for Award consideration.

March 1 - 3, 2007 Pacific Northwest Regional FIRST competition in Portland, Oregon.
About a dozen team members will go. This is where we won the KPCB Entrepreneurship award in 2006.

March 15 - 17, 2007 Silicon Valley Regional FIRST competition at San Jose State Event Center.
All team members participate in this exciting tournament. This is where we won another KPCB Entrepreneurship award, and
the Engineering Inspiration Award in 2006.

April 12 -14, 2007 FIRST National Championships in Atlanta, Georgia.
About a dozen team members will go. This is where we won the Daimler Chrysler Team Spirit Award in 2006. Keep in mind that the Nationals are during the second weekend of spring Spring Break (meaning that we will leave the wednesday of break).

We'd love for the whole team to go to the out-of-town competitions, but unfortunately that is not financially or organizationally feasible. Team members will qualify to attend the out-of-state tournaments by hard work and dedication to meeting the goals of the team and through their "gracious professionalism."

Thank You and GET EXCITED!

PLEASE send me an e-mail saying that you have read this, and let me know if you are able to make it to kickoff, a simple yes or no in the subject line will suffice :)
THANK YOU!!!

Team Lead
-Chrissy Crone
(Cell: 650-339-2028)

Technical Lead
-Julia Lee
(Cell: 408-482-5196)

Non-Technical Lead
-Hannah Sachs
(Cell: 650-248-8687)

So long, and thanks for all the fish

2006-05-28T19:13:00.000-07:00

The party today was small but fun. As it was the last event of the 2005-2006 robotics season, I just wanted to take this opportunity to say goodbye. It's been a wonderful season, and I trust that things will go well in Chrissy's capable hands. Good luck next year, ya'll!

Do keep in touch,
Sophia

Blogs sadly neglected...

2006-04-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

What's going on with all the sub-teams? How are preparations for Atlanta going? The blogs have been sadly silent lately (but I know people are doing things), let's try to keep them going!

Team Lead Meeting:

2006-03-22T12:48:00.000-08:00

To do before nationals:

Build: -see list on build blog
-new wheels

Web: -udate the site
-get the animation preview on site

Prog: -alter autonomous code
-post code on web

PR: -make sure funding is available
-get presentations set

Driving: -practice human players

General: *figure out who is going
-adult chaperone choices?

Onward to Atlanta!

2006-03-19T14:07:00.000-08:00

The robotics team had an extrordinarily successful weekend at this year's
Silicon Valley Regional:

At the end of the first day, our team was individually ranked third (out
of 40 teams).

We were the second picked team (putting us with the second seeded
alliance) for the afternoon's tournament.

We brought it to a tie-breaker in the semi-finals, leaving our alliance
ranked third overall.

We won the KPCB Entrapeneurship Award, defending the title we won in the
Pacific Northwest (Portland) regionals.

We were one of three runner-ups for the Safety Award.

WE WON THE ENGINEERING INSPIRATION AWARD, QUALIFYING US FOR NATIONALS tHAT
ARE HELD IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

Good job on everyone's hard work!

Welcome US FIRST website visitor!

2006-02-26T09:52:00.000-08:00

Hello! As this is the first point of entry from the Gatorbotics website (you clicked on the 'team blogs' link didn't you?), we'd liked to give you a quick tour. Each subgroup within the Gatorbotics Team kept their own blogs to keep each other up to date and to document the design process; the links are below and to the side.

* Build Team Blog : This is the most extensive blog with over a hundred postings in the last seven weeks. Subteam leaders Chrissy and Kersten have used this blog almost daily to share thoughts, to capture what was done and what needed to be done in terms of building a fantastic 120 lbs. robot. This is a great behind-the-scenes peek into the robot builders at Castilleja.

* Hardware / Coding Blog : This blog became a discussion forum for all things to do with electronics and coding. Gatorbotics was incredibly ambitious this year - and attempted to tackle numerous sensors and the camera.

* Animation Team Blog : Another ambitious subteam put together a creative storyboard and a final 30 second animation.

* Spirit Team Blog : After all the fun pit decorating and dancing at the regionals last year, Gatorbotics decided to put together a spirit team.

* PR and Finance Blog : This blog gives insights into the subteam that had the most enormous responsibility - raising atleast $10,000 to allow us to participate in both the Portland Regional and the Silicon Valley Regional in 2006.

* Friends n' Mentors Blog : This is a blog about mentoring and coaching robotics at Castilleja School and thoughts on the educating young women in science and technology.

* Website Team Blog : This blog gives you the behind the scenes process that the website team went through in order to design and build the wonderful website from which you came from!

Cheers!

Congratulations on a great season!

2006-02-24T19:18:00.000-08:00

After long, hard hours, everything is finally turned in. The robot has been shipped and delivered to Portland, the website was submitted as well as the animation and Chairman's essay.
See you in Portland!

Room Assignments

2006-02-17T15:36:00.000-08:00

I think I have talked to a good portion of you, but just to confirm, here are the rooming assignments:

Room 1:
Aditi
Shirin
Erin
Sophia

Room 2:
Chrissy
Kersten
Julia
Alecia

Room 3:
Meg
Hannah
Tania
Jen

I know they're not perfect, but we're there for the robots, not the roommates.

Thanks for your cooperation!

Sub-team meeting

2006-02-15T12:35:00.000-08:00

Build:
-Turret is working and spinning well
-Wheels of doom have one side in, one side in progress
PR/Finance:
-We are funded (anonymously)
-We're also trying another lead as well (through Lauren)
-Chairman's award essay is being finished tonight
-Yearbook page has been delegated to the sophomores
Programming:
-Gating code is up and running, but we may change to a magnetic sensor
-GTS is working, but still needs to be mounted
Spirit:
-Tee-shirts are being ordered soon: WRITE YOUR SIZE
-Crate still needs to moved
-Buttons in the works
Web:
-Design and organization is done
-Work divided up
-Trying to get content from other sub-teams: RESPOND TO QUESTIONS
-Adri is being trained for next year
Portland:
-Send Sophia rooming requests
-Get Sophia release forms
-Make sure to fill out absense notices

6 DAYS LEFT

Room Requests

2006-02-14T08:42:00.000-08:00

I'll send this over e-mail as well, but everyone going to Portland needs to give me a list of whom she wants to room with. You can either e-mail me a copy or put a note in my box. I'll be arranging things during the break so everything needs to be into me by 3pm on ship date. There are 4 people per room (this means a total of only 3 rooms), so the more people on your list, the higher chance that everyone in your room will be on it. If you give me only a few choice people I shall do my best to assure that you get at least someone you want. You can give me ordered choices or non-ordered. You can also tell me if there's someone you really DON'T want to room with. Just tell me anything that could be helpful in figuring out how to put you in a room you will be happy in.

Also, more importantly, you must all fill out and get your parents to sign (unless you're a senior over 18) a release form. If you don't have one, you won't be let in to the arena. I've given some of them out already and I'll try to find the rest of you today.

Good luck with the rest of the season!

T-shirts

2006-02-10T12:06:00.000-08:00

We need to order t-shirts soon, so everyone should record her size. The list and sizing information is on the door to the project room.

Thanks to Jen for organizing this!

Small lead meeting

2006-02-08T22:06:00.000-08:00

We had a sub-team lead meeting today. Here are the updates from the teams of the leaders who came:
PR: Three e-mails into KPCB, but no response. Monday is the big Chairman's essay writing bonanza.
Build: Took apart the launcher that Emily, Bud, Kersten and Julia made. Hoping to get it working soon.
Programming: The turret and chassie now move on joystick contol with parabolic functions and an adjustable deadbands.

Other:
We are still deciding on a driver. It must be someone who is going to Portland. For your convenience, here is who is currently on the list:
Chrissy
Kersten
Julia
Aditi
Alecia
Jen
Erin
Shirin
Tania
Meg
Hannah
Sophia

Any last requests?

2006-02-02T20:56:00.000-08:00

I'll be unavailable for robotics until Tuesday morning, starting tomorrow at about 2:30pm. However, I have a couple hours tomorrow so if you want me to do anything before my absense drop me an e-mail or leave a comment.

Good luck, and do some FOMFing!

Everyone's Going to Sillicon Valley

2006-02-01T15:15:00.000-08:00

With the support of our school, ALL team members (including the animation and web teams) will be attending both the Friday and Saturday (March 17&18) of the SIllicon Valley Regional. While we shall, unfortunately, be missing Community Service Day, the majority of team members will not have to miss any academic days.

See you all at the regional!
Sophia

*note: Students, please write "Robotics competition" on your community service request form so that the moms organizing the day know where you'll be.

2006-01-13T18:11:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to make sure that everyone knows the basic idea of what's going on in all the sub-teams. Please take a moment to have a quick look through.

Build:
-We have decided to go for the center (tall) goal and use human loading
-We prototyped a two spinning wheel design with small balls
-We have decided on a 6-wheel chassie
Prog:
-We're having some problems with the compiler, but that will hopefully be fixed by the end of the day
-We're hoping to use the camera for aim
Web:
-We're surveying potential site users to find what organization each type finds best
-We're meeting on Saturday
PR/$:
-Sophomores are calling companies
-The Genentech proposal is almost out
-We have bagels on Saturday mornings and dinner on Monday nights
-We're still calling and meeting with more potential food sponsors
Anim:
-The story board is finished, there are coppies in the project room
-Please suggest songs to Shirin so that we can request privileges
Spirit:
-Logo has been designed and is being finalized
-Crate painting was today (Friday) afternoon

On the Q&A...

2006-01-10T08:54:00.000-08:00

We need the forum to be monitored closely. Is anyone willing to take on that responsibility???
Thanks!

Questions about the game?

2006-01-09T15:15:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

I got this message from FIRST central command...

This year we are again providing a Q&A system for you to find answers to questions about the FIRST Robotics Competition game. You can access this system at

http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/2006/qa.htm

Anyone may read messages on the forums of the Q&A system. Only those with the correct username and password may submit questions.

****AS THE MAIN CONTACT FOR THE TEAM, I AM THE ONE WITH THE PASSWORD. That means that if you have any questions that are not already addressed on the q/a page, please send them to me and I will post them ASAP. Thanks!

JR

Kickoff

2006-01-08T10:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we started the season with a well-attended kick-off. For those who missed it and those who want to see it again, the game animation can be seen here:
http://robotics.nasa.gov/events/first/AimHigh-Sml.mov
Have fun and aim high!

2006-01-08T09:30:00.000-08:00

This is where I shall post general updates for the team that relate to all subgroups. Though it would be nice if everyone kept up with all the different blogs from each subteam, I shall also be posting highlights here.