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Robotics wrapping up for 2013-2014

Today, Eagles Robotics members prepared for the Round Rock ISD Sumobot showcase on May 20, 2014 from 5:00-6:30PM at Cactus Ranch Elementary. Team members worked on building more Castorbot models as well as creating programs to manuever obstacle courses. The team can vouch for the fact that programming for obstacles is a lot harder than it looks! We return again in two weeks AT CACTUS RANCH ELEMENTARY to participate in the Sumobots competition.

In the meantime, please respond to this form by next week Tuesday, May 13 at 7PM to indicate whether you and your student will be attending the Sumobot competition (optional, but will take the place of robotics that day) and whether you will be able to attend the Robotics party on May 27 from 2:45-4:00PM.

The link to the form is here: http://goo.gl/0XIucz

I would also like a headcount for who plans on returning for our fall season of robotics. I will be posting an announcement on broadcast soon for students in regards to this.

Stay tuned for upcoming announcements about the fall competition season as well!

Preparing for the Sumobot

Today, Eagles Robotics members prepared for the Round Rock ISD Sumobot showcase on May 20, 2014 from 5:00-6:30PM at Cactus Ranch Elementary. Team members worked on building more Castorbot models as well as creating programs to manuever obstacle courses. The team can vouch for the fact that programming for obstacles is a lot harder than it looks! We return again in two weeks to learn how to program sensors.

In the meantime, please respond to this form by next week Tuesday, April 30 at 7PM to indicate whether you and your student will be attending the Sumobot competition (optional, but will take the place of robotics that day) and whether you will be able to attend the Robotics party on May 27 from 2:45-4:00PM.

The link to the form is here: http://goo.gl/0XIucz

Stay tuned for upcoming announcements about the fall competition season as well!

Intro to coding!

Today, our robotics team began an introduction to coding, in preparation for our fall competition season. Members learned how to code with the NXT program. They utilized the "move blocks" to program commands around an obstacle course. For instance, they programmed a robot to move forward 3 rotations at 30% power/force and to make a 45 degree turn at 50% power and so forth.

Our team discovered the math involved in precision, but are excited to continue programming in two weeks as we build our own obstacle course!

If you want to refresh on tutorials, check out the resources page of our blog here.

The Final Countdown

After today's meeting, Eagles' Robotics will only meet four more times until the end of the year. Stay tuned for announcements on next fall's competition season. Today, we wrapped up building team robots. Next week, each member will choose a program to code. And, if time allows, we will construct robots to go with the programs.

We look forward to an exciting end to our first season of Eagles' Robotics! Thank you to all for your help in this first season!

The final stages of year 1

Today marked our final section of year one robotics. Teams finished their final steps on building team robots. Next week - March 25 - members will learn the fundamentals of coding, leading up to the robotics showcase on May 6. All family members are welcome to attend our robotics showcase from 2:45-4:30PM on May 6. In the meantime, follow our outline on our blog for updates!

Finishing up team robots

Today, groups worked on finishing up their team robots to use in our spring robotics showcase. We have everything from Segways to bumper cars being created! Teams have learned how to function as a team, troubleshoot, problem solve and more in the pursuit of building their best robot!

We will meet again on Tuesday, March 18 at our usual 2:45-4:00PM. At that time, groups will finish their robots and begin working on individual robots. We will also start recruiting for our fall robotics team as the competition will be released soon!

Building Stories

Eagles Robotics resumed today after a cold weather break. Today, we continued building, learning pieces, reading instruction manuals, and improving our team work. To build, members must find and locate appropriate pieces, build from a detailed instruction manual, and learn what to do when things don't work - all important skills!

We will meet again in two weeks on February 25 to finish building our current projects. After these projects are done, we will work on programming (individually) so that we can have a Forest North Robotics Showcase on the last two days of robotics class. This will better prepare us for an awesome competition season next year. Thank you for your help and support!

And, we're back!

Today, our team started back for the spring semester with building. Members are working in groups of three to build a project of their choice. After this unit, students will work on building their very own project (not from our tutorials) to share in our robotics showcase on May 6, 2014! We look forward to learning more about programming and building in preparation for our second year next year!

We will be meeting again next week to start some programming workshops with a guest instructor.

Eagles Robotics Thanks You!

See you in 2014!

Our competition team competed at the First Lego League Competition at Westwood High School on Saturday. As our first year, we did not have expectations of winning. Rather, we wanted to enjoy what being in robotics is about - team building, learning, and working together to develop solutions. And, we did just that. Our team left with many ideas to improve upon for next year and a fresh batch of energy to push us through the rest of the year.

When we return in January, we will focus on building and programming so all students receive time and opportunities to develop those skills. When we return to competition season next fall, we should have a nearly veteran team!

Stay tuned for updates on any Round Rock ISD robotics tournaments during the spring. At a minimum, we hope to have a match with Deer Park Middle School.

Spring schedule posted!

This spring, we will still meet on Tuesdays in the computer lab from 2:45-4:00PM, but not as often. Since there is not a major competition, everyone will learn basic robotics skills to help them for next fall when we can take multiple teams!

Here are the dates:

1/21/14
1/28/14
2/11/14
2/25/14
3/18/14
3/25/14
4/8/14
4/22/14
5/6/14
5/20/14

Schedule for Saturday

Here is the more detailed schedule for Saturday's competition at Westwood: http://centraltxfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/2013-Westwood-HS-Qualifier-Schedule.pdf

Final Announcements

We just completed our last official practice of this semester! Our competition team will be meeting on Friday from 3-5PM and our competition is Saturday from 7:30AM until 4:00PM (approximate end time). We will have a party next week Tuesday at our normal time for all of those who want to attend. I will also give the schedules for the spring at that time. We will do robotics differently in the spring since there is not a competition - all will build and program base robots. So, it should be a lot of fun! We will also only meet every other week.

On Saturday, we welcome all to attend our first ever FNE Robotics competition!

Competition team Announcements:

• Please review your script (you can access it here to print it if you need to) for Friday. You should have your lines memorized.
• We will have practice on Friday from 3-5PM (I'll be there by 2:40PM)
• We no longer need the table to be moved. Ms. Fennewald can handle moving the supplies. Thank you, though, to all who offered.
• Please arrive at Westwood High School (click on that link to get directions) by 7:30AM (doors will not open sooner). You may meet right inside the front entrance by the main office and we will walk together.
• Food - I had originally thought we could pay FNE and then, FNE could write a check for the food, but FNE cannot do that. Therefore, you have two options: one parent pays for it all and the rest reimburse that parent. Or, you can grab concessions early. 
• Schedule: Individual Tournament Experience may vary
• 7:00 AM | Volunteer Check-In
• 7:30 AM | Team Check-In
• 7:45 AM | Judges Meeting
• 8:15 AM | Coaches’ Meeting
• 8:40 AM | Opening Ceremonies on Tournament Floor
• 9:00 AM | Matches and Judging begin
• 12:00 PM | Lunch
• 1:00 PM | Matches Resume on Tournament Floor
• 3:00 PM | Matches End
• 3:30 PM | Closing Ceremony on Tournament Floor
• Ms. Fennewald will be in attendance the entire time. Parents and other students are welcome to attend for as long or as little as they want. 
• If you leave, please plan to be back at Westwood by 3:15PM to pick up your students. 

I will send out a final announcement on Friday after practice to make sure everyone is ready for Saturday. For now, just plan to show up, play, learn and, of course, have fun! 

The final stretch

Robotics members worked on their skits, programming more mission models, building their base robot, and gearing up for competition today!

Competition member announcements:

• For homework, the competition crew needs to review their portion of the skit.
• If you didn't bring a shirt to Ms. Potral, please bring a plain white shirt by Monday and Ms. Potral will make our team shirts.
• Programmers - review this site: 
• Information on Schedules: http://www.nxtprograms.com/index1.html
• Teams should check-in at their Qualifiers at 7:30 AM. TEAMS SHOULD NOT ARRIVE BEFORE 7:30 AM. Tournaments are expected to last until between 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM depending on tournament size, with judging ending before lunch break from 12:00 – 1:00 PM. The breakdown of tournament schedules have been included below. (Note: The information provided here will be constantly updating, so regularly check this schedule for any updates regarding the event you have registered for)
• SAMPLE SCHEDULE - Individual Tournament Experience may vary
• 7:00 AM | Volunteer Check-In
• 7:30 AM | Team Check-In
• 7:45 AM | Judges Meeting
• 8:15 AM | Coaches’ Meeting
• 8:40 AM | Opening Ceremonies on Tournament Floor
• 9:00 AM | Matches and Judging begin
• 12:00 PM | Lunch
• 1:00 PM | Matches Resume on Tournament Floor
• 3:00 PM | Matches End
• 3:30 PM | Closing Ceremony on Tournament Floor

Practices left:

• December 3 - All members
• December 6 - Competition members
• December 7 - Competition at Westwood
• December 10 - Party!

We will start the spring semester in January with everyone building robots and a fresh start! Thank you all and have a great break!

Mission Status

Today, our teams were focused on naming our missions for our competition, getting our skits ready, finding answers to judge questions, programming our base robot, and building our base robot. Everyone had a job and everyone was hard at work. We are excited to see it all come together.

A few announcements as we reach the end of our first semester:
We have just a few practices left -

• Friday, November 22 from 2:45-3:45 (FOR COMPETITION ONLY)
• Tuesday, November 26 - ALL
• Tuesday, December 3 - ALL
• Friday, December 6 from 3-5PM (FOR COMPETITION ONLY)
• COMPETITION DAY - Saturday, December 7 from 7:30AM to 4PM at Westwood HS. More info will be shared next week in terms of what time to get there, what supplies we need transported, etc.
• OPTIONAL DAY - Tuesday, December 10 at normal time - PARTY TIME

We will continue robotics in the spring, but dates will be announced when we return from winter break. Spring robotics will be building for everyone and should be a great time for all.

Thank you, all, for your support during our first year of competition robotics! 

3 more official practices left this season!

This season has flown by! Thank you to all who have worked hard to make our first competition season happen.

Right now, the competition team is figuring which of the 12 missions they want to focus on to conquer. They are also building a robot to conquer those missions and a program to help control the robot. Our researches are nearly done researching wildfires - our project. And, our presentation crew is nearly done writing a script to share with the judges for why our solution is the most innovative.

Both teams have been hard at work and have been completing all tasks!

We only have two practices left before Thanksgiving and one after it. We will have a robotics party on 12/10 at our normal class time to celebrate our season. Then, we will break until after the new year so stay tuned for more information on our spring season.

For those in the competition crew, we will also have practices on 11/22 and 12/6. Our competition is on 12/7. Location is still waiting to be announced. All competition members must be in attendance. Those in the non-competition team are encouraged to come, support their team mates, and learn more about the game as they will be in it next year!

Thank you all for your help!

Committees coming along

Today, committees created plans for the presentation - the props, characters, and story line - drew out plans for their robot, created a list of research questions and persons of interest, and began programming the robot.

We now have four meetings until the competition! For those in the competition, we will hold two extra practices on 11/22 and 12/6 after school. Please check your email for calendar invites. Students in the competition team also need to be sure to complete both forms out online in order to participate.

There was no homework this week. However, next time, students will:

• begin building the robot for the game and for the wildfire solution
• find answers to research questions (and talk to professionals)
• begin programming bricks for robot
• review requirements for competition
• write out script and begin making props and practicing

At any time, if parents would like to join us, you are more than welcome! Stay tuned for more updates and thank you all for your support!

Dividing into our committees

Our competition team will be competing at a to-be-decided location on December 7, 2013 from 7:30AM-4:00PM. We will, more than likely, need to work on a Saturday as we get closer. Please think about times that may work for you. We can also stay late on a Thursday or Friday night as well. We will try to order pizza or ask for any treats on those nights. 

This week, we divided into competition and non-competition teams. Our teams, then, split up into committees to begin work. Our presentation crew started to think of ideas for their presentation. The researchers drafted questions to ask others and to research. The builders drew an outline of our robot model. Our programmers reviewed the competition rules and judging requirements. And, our captains and competition crews assisted the other groups. We were also able to finish building our mission models. 

There was no homework. Next week, we will start off in our teams and committees and work on finishing our tasks. There are only five meetings before competition so we will all be working hard! 

Thank you for your continued support!

Teams picked, Grant received!

Today, competition and non-competition teams were announced. Students not on the competition teams will continuing working on tasks, but in new, smaller project groups. Dell awarded our team a $300 grant to help fund portions of our program so students utilized Google Presentation to make an interactive Thank You card. Next week, we will finish up building our mission models, split into our new, smaller groups, and start getting jobs ready for competition. For homework, students are to look at the committee task list (linked on the 10/22 assignment page) and pick three jobs they will complete. They should write these down on notebook paper or a Google Doc. We still await hearing our actual competition date. Thank you for all of your support!