Off to a flying start!

Well, we started the 7th, and have been so busy, I finally had time to post the rundown on our first 2 meetings. Before that though, I would like to welcome back Matt, who was a LIP team member in 2006.

So, on the 7th, we executed a plan to achieve 400 points in the robot game. And went over the project, making a huge list of body parts. We then created a list of people we know who work in the medical field, or are affected by it.

We are having 2 small groups meet during the week. Matt and Tim on Wednesdays, and Josh and Jarren on Thursdays. Calvin is already at the coaches house, so he alternates.
On the 8th, Tim, Matt, and Calvin begun creating a base for a robot, which me and josh improved on Thursday.

On the 14th, our second tuesday meeting, we went over the people we knew, and picked 5 areas to study based off of those contacts. I don't want to give any of our ideas away yet, want it to be a surprise! So each team member will study one of the 5 chosen parts this week. We then played some teamwork games, and discussed our issues with the robots consistency. We decided that Tim and Matt would make another prototype base today.

Flint State-Level Tourney

We had plenty of fun at the Regional Tourney! (I think you can tell from previous posts) But the Lego Fever is still not over! We have 6 meetings until the State Tourney in Flint. We hope to tweak our project and robot. I think just if everyone spends their time efficiently, we can do more in 3 weeks than the whole rest of the season! (major sarcasm :D)

Aaron, hoping we do well at State...

Grandville Tourney Results!

Even though we had a couple 400 practice runs a few nights ago, since there are no lighting rules, our highest robot run was the 1st one, with the score of 280! Our 2nd and 3rd runs were even worse after calibrating Light Sensors, changing values, making Light Sensor light-blocking cages, etc. 280 Points is an OK score, but all of our runs were in the morning when the sun was shining right on the tables, and all of the people in the afternoon did better because the sun moved to the other side of the sky. :( Oh well, we don't care now, because you'll see in a minute.
After the tourney, we saw that we got all Goods and Excellents on our judging sessions!
But, best of all...... We got the 1st Place Robot Programming Award!!!! But, then... We also got the 1st Place Overall Regional Qualifier! We get to advance to State! And, then, also... Do you remember our rookie team called The Sharks? Well, 11 teams got to advance to State-Level, and The Sharks got 9th!!! Rookie Team!

Aaron, Yelling in Background! (Only if I had that Coke in the fridge, I'm still tired :D )

Community Presentation #1

We just did a Community Presentation for Boy-Scout Troop 311, and they loved the humor in it.

On the 14th, we are doing another Presentation at the Plainfield Library, we would love it if you could come.

Jarren ;)

Thursday 10/1 meeting

Yesterdays meeting went well. We worked on the same robot missions, and got a little done. Tim and Calvin continued working on project. Then we all sat down and talked about our innovative solution, and a public survey we are going to use at a fundraiser sale we are having this weekend. So all and all, we had a fairly good meeting.

Jarren, hoping we don't get too wet at the sale.

Tuesday 9/29 meeting

Yesterday went well! We worked on the robot, Jarren and Josh worked on knocking over the sensor walls and access markers, while, with a duplicate robot, Brian and Aaron worked on getting the Loops off the Guide Wall. Tim and Calvin worked on the project by going through research and highlighting key information.

Calvin, Waiting till next meeting ;)

Thursday 9/24 meeting: Another field trip!

Yes, we went on another field trip, it was a lot of fun and we got a lot of info. We also took some team pictures at a near-by park. When we got back to Calvin's house, we discussed what we learned and looked at the pictures. Then we thought some more about the innovative solution name, we think we got it narrowed down. We then worked on the robot (finally) but didn't get very much done. We got the basic idea for the presentation down as well.

Jarren, waiting and waiting 'till the next meeting ;)

Tuesday 9/15 meeting

We got some more done on the project yesterday! We narrowed it down. But... not so much done on the robot, because some team members where goofing off, BUT we did get some done. If you have a facebook account, search 'Legos In Paradise', and become a fan! :)

Calvin, waiting 'till next meeting :)

Thursday 9/10 meeting

We talked some about our project, finally started to narrow it down! We also worked on our robot a little, Jarren and I built a duplicate robot this morning before the meeting, so it's easier to work on the robot by having 3 team members work with one, the other 3 working with the other!

Calvin :)