A Top Notch Team

So yesterday the Vex team went to an unofficial competition in Los Angeles hosted by SCRRF. After being only 45 minutes late we got there to be last of 11 teams participating. We had yet to program the robot and don't even think about mentioning an autonomous mode.

We arrived at the competition not really sure of what to expect, but after looking at other teams' robots we saw they were just as good if not better than us. We checked out the competition to see how their 'bots worked and we tried to use that to our advantage. We had three qualification matches and three autonomous matches. I must commend Brad for all the hard work put into the day, programming then operating and driving, he might soon be a Renaissance man.

Around 12:00 we had played one winning qualifying match and one autonomous match. Then they gave us a lunch break, did I mention that it was at a community college where there is no open food places on a Saturday? So not only having arrived late, we were working on empty stomachs. Well we won the next two qualifying matches and got the high score match during autonomous mode (8).

We were the top seeded team and we picked Cheesecake to be our alliance partner. We called the duo the Dessert Tray. We made it all the way to finals where we on by about 5 points to make our team undefeated in the day's matches. We got a first place trophy as well as recognition for having the best autonomous mode. I am really proud of our accomplishment yesterday.

Well there was still one problem... we all had empty stomachs so we stopped at In-n-Out on the way home and enjoyed a victory meal.

Apple Pi v2.0

We now know what we are doing.

This is the new Vex team. Before I begin telling you about the new things we have done I would first like to acknowledge the outgoing Vex team. These five members helped to build this team, winning the spirit award twice. Now it is time for some real butt kicking.

Resurrected from the old team, mentor Rene Haro returns more bankrupt than ever. We now own four Vex kits including a plethora of expansion packs. Also scrapped from last year is graduating senior and soon to be mentor Benji Coleman-Levy. Joining the team is returning Eagle Robotics member Brad Voracek and rookie member Erik Peters.

We attended Vex Boot Camp at Piece College in Northridge and gained new knowledge on the program. Also this summer, Rene will be hired by NASA to teach Vex to middle and high school aged students at the Aerotech Institute in Lancaster.

This weekend we have been spending hours in a 90 degree (not angle) garage designing a brand new totally redesigned robot worthy of any competition. At the end of the evening a new robot will emerge. Stick around for pictures and updates.