End of Build Season! Road to the Tournaments!

"Bag and Tag" date is officially here!

We put the robot into the "bag and tag" bag this past Tuesday, February 21st. We were all scrambling to get the robot into the bag and secured before midnight on Tuesday. After we had it in the bag and we took a picture to show that we had put it in the bag before midnight, it felt like a huge weight was lifted off our shoulders. After the six weeks of intensive build season that we all had; the team and mentors decided we needed a few days to relax and catch up on lost sleep. We were all very excited to have a few days off, but we still have a lot of work to do before our first regional, Peachtree, GA.

In the next three weeks we will all be working on different portions that need to get done before we go to Peachtree.

The mechanical department is working on a wood robot with the shooting mechanism on it, so that the programming department can have something to test their programming code with. They are also going to design a new shooting mechanism!

The programming department will be working on debugging their code once the mechanical department gives them something they can test with. But while they are waiting for the mock robot multiple of the members will be helping the marketing department with various things.

The electrical department will be helping the mechanical department get the mock robot where the programming department can run it around and have basically a robot that will work to use to test their code.

The marketing department has a lot to do in the next three weeks.
We are working on the Business Plan for this year, making buttons, getting our Chairman's presentation ready for when we present at Peachtree, putting together and finishing up all of the notebook we are doing; the Outreach Notebook, the Safety Notebook, the Robot Design Notebook, and the Business Plan Notebook; we are also continuing our outreach efforts, working on the Chairman's video, and fundraising activities. We have recruited members from other groups to help us with these, so that we have as much team involvement in this as possible. This is a lot to do, so we have to divide it up to get it all done.

Even though Build Season has officially ended we will still be working hard to get everything finished before we go to Peachtree.

How FIRST has impacted my life!

I'd like to start my introducing myself; my name is Annalise, I'm a two year member of The Flying Platypi and a 7 year FIRST student. I'm currently the Vice President of Team 2655 and also a member of this year's Chairman's presentation team.

I was introduced to FIRST just after I turned 10. My older sister wanted to attend a FIRST Lego League summer camp and at the time, where she went, I followed. I was really not excited about the camp, I didn't know anything about robotics, programming or building and I was especially nervous to be in a camp where my sister was the only other girl. Little did I know that this first taste of robotics would get me hooked on the FIRST program.

After that summer camp I joined a FLL team in the fall. I stayed in the FLL program for five years, and I loved every second of it. Because of FLL I got to experience things I could have never imagined, including attending the 2007 World Festival Event where my team was recognized internationally for our teamwork. Going to World Festival really lit a fire in me; seeing so many kids from all around the world who were interested in and excited about the things I loved made me realize how incredible FIRST is and how many lives it has touched. The program's ability to touch so many different people's lives never ceases to amaze me.

In my last few years in FLL I stepped into leadership roles on my team, organizing parts of the team and showing new members the ropes. While I was still in FLL, my older sister had graduated out of the program and moved onto join and FRC team, The Flying Platypi. Because my entire family went to FRC tournaments, I saw first hand how awesome and high energy tournaments can be and once again, I was hooked.

I joined the Flying Platypi in my sophomore year of high school and immediately jumped into helping with the Team's outreach. I quickly learned how to talk to people, whether it was individuals or large groups, about the FIRST program, how it works and what it means to me. I've also worked with the team's marketing, website and awards department as well as being involved in team leadership. I've helped code the team's website, write multiple award essays and organize outreach events.

Before FIRST, I was very shy and often afraid to share my personal opinions. Since being involved with the program, I've spoken to groups of over 100 people about the program how important is to me. FIRST has given me the opportunity to realize my talents and put them to good use. It's given me the confidence to step outside of myself and I've become more comfortable working with other people. And, speaking as a girl in the program, it's helped my learn to hold my own and not be afraid to speak my mind. In short, I love FIRST and I love the opportunities it has given me. I honestly can't imagine what my life would be like without FIRST.



--Annalise

How FIRST has impacted my life!

I learned about The Flying Platypi through Tony Federico, a guy at my church who was a mentor for the team, and through one of their promotional buttons. I joined FIRST robotics because I knew it would look really good on a college application, but it has also given me a chance to explore areas I had interest in. It has introduced me to a lot of new and interesting people and has also broadened my interests in STEM. For instance, I never thought that I would like programming, but now I do! I have learned so many new things, and I am gaining a lot of knowledge that I can use to help me know what I want to be. I am looking forward to my first competition!






--Laurel

Build Season: Week 6

It's the beginning of the sixth week in build season now, and we are getting close to the end date!

This week has been very hectic! We have all been working so hard to make sure that everything gets finished before we have to "bag and tag" the robot on the last day of build season. "Bag and Tag" is when we have to put the entire robot into a big plastic bag, put a tag on it that has our team information on it, and then take a picture of it with a clock to show that we stopped working on it on our final day of build season.

Every group has been working diligently this week! Some nights we have been here working until close to 11:00 at night!

The mechanical department has been rushing to get the robot finished, so that they could let the programming department have the robot to work out any problems they may have. They have finalized the chassis, worked out the shooting mechanism, put on anything else that is required for this year's game, and have made it so that the programmers have a robot they can move.

The programmers have been working just as hard to make sure that their programming code will work. In the middle of the week we tried to get the robot so that we could move it, but there was some problems between the communications. They had to figure out the problem, so that we could get it to move. We were all very happy to have a robot that we could move and that was basically done.

The electrical department has had to work over time this week to get everything wired and they had to help the programmers figure out what was wrong with the communications between the robot and the computer. We got all of that figured out by the end of the week which was very exciting.

The marketing department has been working hard this week to get everything done before it was due on Wednesday. We met everyday up until the due date to make sure that everything was read over multiple times and to make sure everything was how we wanted it. After we submitted all of the awards on Wednesday our jobs didn't stop; we continued on like normal. We have a lot more that needs to get done, but we are progressing!

We are excited that all of the hours and work we have put into getting the robot finished and awards submitted has paid off significantly. We still have a ways to go, but we are progressing steadily.


Here we come end date!

How FIRST has impacted my life!

FIRST is a huge part of my life. When I was 10, my piano teacher gave me an advertisement in the newspaper for a robotics camp at the Natural Science Center in Greensboro N.C. At the camp, I met Marie Hopper, who said she was pleased with my performance and that I should join one of her FIRST Lego League (FLL) teams. So now, four years later, I am 14 years and have just finished my senior year of FLL. Ever since I started, a good 50% of my life is Science and Technology. It really has me interested in becoming a Microsoft certified C++ programmer when I'm older. Now I'm enjoying my rookie year of FRC, and looking forward to the rest of my time on Team 2655.



--Josh

Build Season: Week 5

Well, it's week five of the 2012 FRC Build Season. We only have ONE week left!

The robot is coming together and looking good. The mechanical department has been busy, finishing the robot's main structure, installing motors, and beginning work on the turret. This week we are hoping to completely finish the entire robot and are focusing in on the turret system. Mechanical is hoping to have the robot finished soon so that the programming department can test their code.

The Programming department is currently building the software for the Kinect Xbox 360 given to us from Microsoft and is finishing up constructing the smaller components of code. The system collecting and feeding the balls gave us some trouble but we've figured out a system for it. This next week we hope to finish building the code for autonomous mode.

The Marketing Department is currently working on the Chairman's Award submission and the Woodie Flowers Award, which will be submitted this Wednesday. Marketing is also working on setting up a few demonstrations for the upcoming weeks.
The Electrical Department is in the process of building and finishing the electrical board and mounting it on the robot. This week they will be working with Mechanical to get the robot test-ready.

The website currently under construction and will be up shortly!


Now we have to stop chatting and get back to work!

Build Season: Week 4

So we are starting into the fourth week of build season and we only have two more weeks to go! Each department is making really great progress. It is so exciting, but at the same time kind of nerve wracking because we ONLY have two more weeks to go!

The mechanical department is working on putting the finishing touches on the chassis and working on the shooting mechanism. They have been working diligently for four weeks and are progressing smoothly. We are sticking with the plan we created at the beginning of build season, it really paid off to take the time to finalize all designs before we started building.

Programming has been busy training its new members, and they've made a lot of progress. The department has begun to actually program certain parts of the robot now! They have been meeting separately from the mechanical group because they have grown quite tremendously this year. They got a motor to move the other day and we thrilled about it! It is amazing how the little things can make us happy!

The marketing group has been working hard to get all of the awards that are going to be submitted, on the 16th of February. The Chairman’s award is coming along smoothly; making an outline of the essay at the beginning of the season has helped the writing team stay on track. The Woodie Flowers award is in the process of being cut down so that we don’t go over the maximum number of characters allowed.

We are also continuing our outreach events. We did a demonstration last week at Burlington Christian Academy in Burlington, North Carolina. We also have a demonstration scheduled for March 3rd for the Girl Scout 100th Anniversary Exhibition at the Dixie Classic Fair Grounds. We are going to be demonstrating the robot and talking about FIRST in general. We are going to have two tables one that will represent an all-girl FLL team that we started this year, The Flying Robo Puggles. The other table will represent our team. Both tables will have visuals, so that anyone who comes by can see what we have done and what the purpose of both of these programs are.

This season has been hectic so far, but everyone is working diligently. We have nineteen dedicated members and ten dedicated mentors who are here every night to help us! We are happy that our team has grown and are thrilled for the new additions to the mentoring team.

Now back to work to get the robot done!