Tournament photos

Finally, we have the photos from the January qualifying tournament we hosted!  Here are some of the ones from the competition area, with more to come later.


Volunteers, referees, and judges have a great time at the tournament.


Volunteers prepare to reset the field as the referees tally the score.


Team members get dancing at the tournament.


A Bot Squad team member receives his medal.


Head judge Joe Pahle thanks tournament organizer Kathy Stinson.

Our Tournament

This is the first year the Los Angeles region has needed FTC qualifying tournaments, and PHI was honored to be asked to host one.  Last weekend, January 12, we did.  Thanks to all the volunteers who made it happen!

We had twenty teams attend, with nineteen competing.  Although we had a lot of amazing teams there, I think the most inspiring part of my day was seeing Team 6685 from Downtown Magnet High School compete.  A few days before the tournament, the team wanted to drop out, since they didn't have a robot yet, but we encouraged them to come and let us help them.

On tournament day, a lone student and mentor showed up with their kit of LEGO parts-- they hadn't unpacked the Tetrix yet.  Using one of our mentors' partially built robot and some parts borrowed from Bot Squad, we built a robot that managed to pass inspection.  We were thrilled when the 6-hour-old robot contributed to the LA region's record high-scoring match (236 points) by allowing Inspire award winner Suitbots to lift them 17 inches off the ground.  Team 6685 also won a special judged award, the Spirit of FIRST Award, and qualified for regionals.

I'd have to say that our tournament was a lot of fun, and hopefully all the teams that came would agree.  Let's make next time even better!

New Comic

Have you ever wanted to be an author?  Do you like to make people laugh?  Do you enjoy reading about the Doom Flowers' latest escapades in robotics?

Now you can join in the fun by making your own Doom Comic!  Our new comic, Doom Make a Book, will teach you how to make a book out of one sheet of paper so that you can create your own stories (of doom.)  The less ambitious can still enjoy our new comic-- you can learn how to fold one of our other comics into a book so that you can enjoy it anytime.

Note: Be sure to keep on the lookout for our next Doom Comic... it's in the works as we speak!

Hardware...Yay

 4322 (Murphy)

4322 is now designing a new arm that can hopefully reach the top peg without breaking anything. If you have seen earlier posts, we were designing an arm that used chain to move. Now, we are using a similar design to replicate the results but make it simpler and more effective. Our current ramp is on the prototype shelf, and gathering dust. We are working on autonomies and our new arm while the end game is on hold.

452 (Shelob)

452 is doing minor changes and re-gearing the arm so that it is easier to control and not as fast and jerky. We are also trying to fix the ramp deployment system and it is coming along beautifully. We are also working on making the ramp wider with flaps that fold out during deployment

Our Year in Photos

A picture is worth a thousand words, so here's the story of our robotics year so far; most of these pictures were taken sometime between June 2012 and last week. Want to see more photos? You can see all the photos that have been featured on our blog (including those from past years) here.

Top row, left to right: Our most recent picture of our robot (4322); teaching kids about LEGO robots at a middle school outreach event; a previous version of this year's robot (4322).

Second row: Our robot's mustache, which detects weighted rings, says "hi"; interacting with kids at a YMCA summer outreach event.

Third row: Building custom parts with heat-forming plastic; giving kids some hands-on science experience at a summer robotics workshop; testing out this year's robot (452.)

Between rows: Working with other FIRST robotics teams to teach kids about programming.

Fourth row: Designing this year's robot (4322); making a claw using plastic; testing out prototypes; a plastic ring from this year's game; spare parts and metal waiting to be used.

Our Many Blog Updates

Hello, reader!  Have you seen all our changes to this blog?  Over the past few weeks and months, we've added several new pages, helpful documents, and things you'll enjoy.  Here's a list:

Fun Stuff: This page has all the random funny items that don't really go on our main blog.  Click here to check it out-- you'll be glad you did!

• Stop Robot Cruelty desktop backgrounds
• Word of the Day, which is a very unrealistic definition of a word
• Team Quotes, a page with interesting quotes from team members
• Doom Flower Comics about safety, the engineering process, and how to take over the world
• Lessons in field components, a commentary on this year's game

Videos: This page is for videos we've taken of our robots.  We hope to add some more soon.  Click here to view.

Meet the Bots: Want to meet the two PHI robots?  This page has everything you need to know, from stats to design history to photos.  Click here to see.

Need Help: We've compiled a list of information that new teams might find helpful for getting started with FTC, everything from what you'll need to how to survive your first tournament.  We hope to keep adding to our list as time goes on.  Click here to browse the Need Help page.

Suggestions?  If you have an idea of something you'd like to see on our blog-- more photos? new comics? more help for new teams? -- please let us know!  Post a comment or email us at phirobotics@yahoo.com.

Left! No wait, your other left! Wait, don't press that-- CRASH!!!

...button.
Oh brother.  There goes the field again.
As you've probably guessed, we're beginning to get our bots driveable, but since the programs are still in the works, things don't always go as planned.
Our prototypes have begun to be combined into two different bots.  Some designs have been eliminated, and others have sprung up in their places.  And now that the bots are (semi-)driveable, we're starting to test them out.
So far there haven't been any casualties, but we have had a few... well... episodes in which the bot has whacked something or somebody.  Those include (but are not limited to):
-A team-member's hand
-The scoring rack
-Someone's foot
-The scoring rack
-Random objects and/or people's legs
-The scoring rack
-The field wall
Oh yeah, and did I mention the scoring rack?

Yup.  We're working on that...
Fortunately everything seems to be coming together well, and the programs are beginning to take shape.
We're hoping to enter our first competition on November 17th, and we're all hopeful that we'll have a good bot by then.
Well, I should get back to the field, so until next time, I'm signing out.

Left!  Go left!  No, no, go right!  BANG!  Not that right, the other right!  WHACK!  Wait, try scoring the ring now.  Hey wait, not that--- CRASH!!!
...fast.




Also pictures from our summer activities:

 

 

                                                
                                                 Free rides provided by Wyaat

                                               
                                                    Phi members helping kids build robots

                                              
                                                 Lecturing kids about engineering

                                                      Making team posters

 

Team Games

 

 

 

                                                  Building robots





                                    Helping team 399 teach kids about robotics at Columbia Middle School

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Playing the game

 

                                                           Testing programming