Las Vegas Hardware & Software Support

At the Las Vegas tournament, one team couldn't pass inspection, since they had incorrect wiring and no software. We provided parts and helped them wire the robot, then wrote teleop and autonomous programs. Throughout the day, we continued to aid them with software and hardware. Here are a few pictures of the event.


PHI members help with hardware and software.


A PHI member teaches the team how to set up pragmas in RobotC.


Judges take notes on robot design as PHI looks on.

Walter Bracken STEAM Academy

The day before the Las Vegas tournament, we (PHI Alpha and PHI Omega) visited Walter Bracken STEAM Academy in Las Vegas.  We invited all other FTC teams from the Las Vegas tournament, and two (PHOENXTRIX from Folsom, CA, and FIX IT from BC, Canada) came to help.  We demonstrated our robots and talked about FTC with third- through fifth-graders.  The FLL team also got to demonstrate their robot for us, which made them feel really special.  We hope to come back next year!

Here are some pictures from our Las Vegas outreach.



PHI members show off their robot's arm.


We set up software to drive the robot.


PHI members respond to kids' questions about robot design.


A team member illustrates how the robot arm works.


Kids get excited as a robot scores rings!

Hello, I Am Only 6 Hours Old

At our tournament, we helped out the Downtown Magnet High School team by building and programming a robot so they could compete.  Enjoy these pictures of our exciting emergency bot build.






















PHI volunteers help build the Downtown Magnet team a robot.






















The just-finished robot continues to software inspection. 
















































A PHI member helps set up for field inspection.

















































The Suitbots lift the little robot 17 inches for a regional high score!



Downtown Magnets competing in a match, coached by a PHI member.






















The robot's sign displayed its age throughout the day: "I Am 6 Hours Old."

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