IT'S COMING...

Just three days left - the stakes are mounting. Last night, a couple of people stayed past midnight to get more work done. My department has mostly finished - there's just some sensors and motors to wire up. However, our ball manipulator is FAR behind schedule, and our lifter could be moving along faster, I think.

Last night was also Sadie's dance at the high school. All of the "cool" people stayed here at Premier to get work done, while the "slobs" went off to Sadie's.  As I posted on my Facebook page, "I'm ready to go on an adventure with my favorite, awesome, electronic lady and all my best friends tonight... at ROBOTICS!!! hahahahaha. No Sadie's for me!"

Either way, the tension's growing for competitions to start, as all of our official forms were due last week. I'm really looking forward to Kettering in two weeks. It'll be my first competition, to really experienced the FRC. I can't wait!

Colin S. "Canada"

Student Section Leader - Electrical Wiring

EngiNERDs Embroidery Apparel Order Form is now available!

The order form for the Embroidered EngiNERDs apparel is now available. Embroidered apparel, including Polo shirts, track jackets and hats are available to Team members, family, and friends of the EngiNERDs.The Optional Apparel Order Form for Embroidery is available for download. Please complete this form and turn it in with your order.

Orders are due, with payment, on or before Wednesday, Februrary 17, 2010. Please contact Brandi Bolinger with any questions.

Hello! 

           Today  (2-6-10) I worked on fixing our jaguars and learning how to program them, I also worked on semi wiring the robot.  Then, I organized most of the back room and swept the floor and cleaned our student’s mailboxes but I mostly picked up tools and put them away because a clean work area is a   safe, happy working area. After all of that I cleaned all of our safety glasses.  :)

                                                         - Jordan Nickola… (A.K.A Official Nerdling)  

Each year, Dean Kamen, the founder of FIRST, creates a homework assignment for the students, mentors, parents, and Sponsors of FIRST Robotics Competition Teams. In the past, assignments have included an attempt to develop a database of current members and alumni, a push to create opportunities for FIRST to be featured in the media, and a request to contact your Congressperson and Senators and invite them to District, Regional and the Championship competitions.

This year, Dean's Homework encourages Students and Mentors to turn every FIRST Robotics Competition Event into a Spectator Sport. The indention is to fill the stands at every competition, and create standing-room only in every venue. Fans will be filled with the spirit of Gracious Competition, and watch all of the teams' Robots "compete like crazy, and treat each other well in the process." 

Students and Mentors on the Grand Blanc High School Robotics Team have sent invitations and VIP Pit Passes to all of the Team's sponsors, the Grand Blanc Community School Board, and Grand Blanc High School Administration. Students have been encouraged to get their peers involved with the team, and help with outreach projects within the community. Students and Mentors have been inviting their friends and family to attend our two District Competitions, and the Michigan State Championship. 

The Grand Blanc High School Robotics Team will be attending the Kettering University District Competition on Thursday, March 4, Friday, March 5, and Saturday March 6. The competition will take place at Kettering University's Connie and Jim John Recreation Center in Flint, Michigan. In addition, The EngiNERDs will also compete at the Ann Arbor District Competition at Skyline High School, in Ann Arbor, Michigan on March 11, 12 and 13. 

Competitions are free and open to the public. Friends and family of the Grand Blanc High School Robotics Team are encouraged to attend throughout the three days of competition and practice. Spectators will enjoy watching practice and competition rounds, and may also take a tour of the Pit Area. The EngiNERDs will supply Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), such as Safety Glasses, for any visitors, which is required to enter the Pit Area.

For more information, please visit the EngiNERDs' Tentative Schedule of Events for the Kettering University and Ann Arbor District Competitions, or FIRST's information on all of the Michigan District Competition Events.

Scrip can help you earn money for Robotics!

The EngiNERDs have added a large calendar in our work area this season where each section posts when they expect to complete major tasks such as end effector design complete or chassis build complete.   There are other major items noted such as when additional materials need to be ordered and the ever looming robot ship date.  It's a great communication tool where everyone can see what's expected to be complete in the upcoming week.  Some sections may be dependent on deliverables from other sections in order to complete theirs.

A deliverable is a term used in project management to describe a tangible or intangible object produced as the result of the project.  A deliverable can be the end product or a building block to the end product.  In technical projects, deliverables are often the completed hardware, software or design documents.

Section Leaders- Keep posting those deliverables!

Pam

28 days 2 hours left...

Howdy, folks! I’m Colin or Canada, and I’m in charge of the electrical wiring department for the team as a freshman, so this is my first year on the team. We're 17 days in to the season, and it's been pretty interesting so far. We're gotten a lot done - the end effector team has had three different prototypes for kicking the ball, and we've have built our second chassis. Right now, it seems like most of the teams we have are gearing up for the actual build - almost everyone's designing their final ideas using our ] CAD software, Inventor, which we got for free (thank you FRC and Autodesk!), including me. I'm working on the layout of our main electrical board, and Brancheau (Ryan, one of our co-captains) and Clint (one of our head mentors) have proposed two slightly-out-of-the-box ideas that should work perfectly.

Hopefully I'll finish the layout before Saturday, but I don't know how much time I'll be able to put to it. We have midterms this week at school, and tomorrow are my two, big, tough subjects: Algebra II and Honors Science. The rest of my schedule should be nice.

I'll see you next week!

-Canada

Entry 1: Starting to Build

The 2010 FIRST Robotics Competition season has officially begun! Team 2337 attended their local kickoff at Kettering University in Flint, Michigan. After the official game announcement, the EngiNERDs attended a strategy brainstorming session. Kettering University was Gracious enough to lend the EngiNERDs a classroom in the Academic Building for this meeting. A special thanks goes out to Bob Nichols for the wonderful accommodations.

The purpose of this brainstorming session was to discover all of the possible game play strategies for the 2010 FIRST Robotics Competition game, Breakaway. Students of Team 2337 played a board game specifically tailored for Breakaway, designed by one of the Team’s Mentors, Clinton Bolinger. The intention was to allow students the opportunity to immerse themselves into the game, and create an environment where the best strategy will win, rather than the best robot design.

After reading the manual to better understand the rules of Breakaway, students used pawns to represent robots, and bingo chips to represent game pieces. Throughout the afternoon, students worked in pairs to develop strategies that could be translated into the game play, and eventually into the actual design of the Team’s Robot. 

Students used the knowledge that they gained during their participation in game play  to come up with a list of Robot functions and game strategies and ranked them according to their agreement with the Team's overall goals. As the build season progresses, the EngiNERDs will refer back to the list of strategies and robot functions to ensure that the final designs and prototypes will meet the goals set. This list will provide the Team with a starting and end point during the build season, and allow them to set goals for deliverables and completion dates on various projects.

The EngiNERDs left their brainstorming session with a stomach full of pizza and Mountain Dew, and a great strategy for Breakaway. They are excited to see how the build season progresses, and how the strategies that were developed align with the 2010 FIRST Robotics Competition game. The hope is that this brainstormong session will have produced enough knowledge and strategies to guide the EngiNERDs to a successful season. 

 Please continue to check back with the Team's site to discover more about our plans and activities for the 2010 FIRST Robotics Competition season, Breakaway. Also remember to read our new student blog section. This new feature includes articles written by team Student members and Mentors, describing their roles, responsibilites and experiences with Team 2337 throughout the 2010 season. Best of luck to all Teams!