« About Us »
Jump to Section: | Year 2005 | Year 2006 | Year 2007 | Origins |
For our second year, our resolution was to face the competition with all the experience that we had gathered from our rookie year and apply it rather than "run around like chickens with their heads cut off". As the beginning of the year rolled around, we held the first meeting at La Salle and the room was almost empty. The captain for this year was now Charlotte Fitzgerald. Most of the 2004 team had been seniors and about 4/5ths of the team had graduated. It seemed like the robotics team had run out of people, but thankfully after the preliminary meetings, the team was back to a full roster. This time, filled with eager, young faces whose grade level ranged from 7th to 12th our team began with the hope that we would do even better than we had done in 2004.
The build season arrived and we worked hard, as usual. Instead of using a random piece of wood to put our chassis on, the team decided to pick out the final chassis first. Unfortunately even as it seemed like the team was making excellent progress, we ended up even further behind schedule than the previous year! This might have been due to the game, which was to pick up tetrahedrons and place them on bigger ones to score points. A fully pose-able arm was more complicated than just a hook. Nevertheless, Team 1350 and The Rambots had still conquered many obstacles just to participate in this event and was an incredible group of kids.
Despite what the team said it would do at the beginning of the season, we ended up shipping the Rambot untested and unpracticed again. Doh! As a result, we had to tighten our belts and go straight to work as soon as we got to the New Hampshire Regional, where we again finished 4 - 4. Oh, I almost forgot! (How could I?!) That year, we went to Georgia by train. That was... interesting. After the 5th hour, it seemed like we would be there for an eternity. How was anyone expected to stay sane on a 28 hour train ride?? At the Georgia Dome, the 13' arm was a sight to behold and it worked pretty well. It even exceeded the expectations of some of our team members! However, on the field, Mr. Day and the drivers soon saw that the arm was too clumsy and long to be of much use. Once they cut it down to about 9', the Rambot was able to play defense well and had an easier time picking up the "tetras". We finished 3 - 4 and 58th out of 85 teams in our division.
For a third attempt at the FIRST robotics challenge, our team had changed considerably. There were now three captains, Mike Day, Tim Fox, and Christina Laboissonniere. In a span of two years, the team had grown by about ten people and almost everyone from the original team had graduated. It was sad to see so many people go, but with a steady supply of intelligent new students, the team could still go on.
At the kickoff, we learned that the challenge this year involved shooting projectiles. This seemed like it was harder than previous years, but fortunately we had a strong programming team. They decided to create an aiming system with binocular vision that used trigonometry and complex equations to aim for the goal and calculate shooting speed and distance. This system was very accurate and quick in theory and would give Team 1350 an advantage.
Now the team definitely knew that we weren't going to make the same mistakes a third time. We divided the team into sub-teams so everyone had something to do and work could be streamlined and more would be done faster. The build season flew by and the NH Regionals came before we knew it. The robot was shipped out more complete than the others but we still hadn't tested the cameras yet. This would come back to haunt us.
Most of the code for the binocular vision was not completely uploaded and debugged so we were auto-aim-less for most of the competition. There were a few kinks in the system and we didn't get it to work for a few days. Just when it was in optimal condition, the team discovered that there was a problem with the ball feeder and the shooter couldn't receive any of the balls. The programming team was able, however, to complete a few protocols for the autonomous mode and the Rambot III was able to drive out and block a few of our competitors from getting valuable shooting time. Despite these difficulties, we finished 4 - 5 and 27th out of 52 teams.
The National competition was a whole different story. Many things on the Rambot were fixed and the binocular vision even worked for a few matches. The feeding ramp problem was somewhat corrected by the efforts of Mr. Day and the build team so the Rambot had an easier time shooting. As for the strategy, much of the time was now devoted to defense and assisting the other robots. Team 1350 was very successful at the Nationals finishing 5 - 2 and 22nd out of 86 teams in our division.
For our fourth year participating in the FIRST robotics challenge, we were determined to be finished by our regional. Mr. Michael Day was our new moderator. About one third of the team had graduated in 2006 and these seniors had made up a majority of the build and administrative teams. We were strong in programming, but lacked experience in building the machine.
At the 2007 kickoff, we were introduced to this year's challenge "Rack 'n' Roll." The team's first reaction was, "WHAT!? How in the world are we going to accomplish this!?" The day after kickoff, we were invited to a brainstorming session with our fellow Rhode Island Teams 1568 and 121. It was hosted at 1568's workspace at The Cooley Group. We talked about strategy, offense and defense, which part of the game was the most imperative to winning, and much more. It was very beneficial and we felt that we were well-prepared to start building a robot.
Build season began and we jumped right into building the robot. The team quickly got our chassis, motors (our "engines" as we like to call them), and wheels set up. Six-wheel, four-motor, tank drive. The team then worked on the rest of the design. What was our claw going to look like? Were we going to have ramps? How were we going to lift them? We went through about six different designs and proto-types for the claw until we finally settled on the claw that is now on our robot. We planned to have two ramps and went through several lift designs (scissor lift, Swiss cheese lift, and a few others). Everything on the robot was done except the ramps and autonomous. It was the beginning of week six and we were just starting to stay really late. (In other years, the lateness starts around week four or five.) We felt pretty confident that we were going to get the 'bot done.
Saturday came around and we went off to Quincy, MA to a scrimmage hosted by HYPER Team 69 without our ramps. Some things on the Rambot broke and we were able to fix them. Had we not gone to a scrimmage, we would not have known the parts wouldn't work until our regional competition. We got back to Brown and took the rest of the night off. Sunday came and Team 1568 came to Brown. Their workspace was closed on Sunday so we invited them to come work on their robot at Brown. It was really great that they came to Brown. We shared our camera code and worked on autonomous together. Monday and Tuesday passed in a panic. We frantically tried to put our bumpers and one ramp on. The FedEx guy came and our 'bot still wasn't in the box. He very kindly went and got a cup of coffee and waited until the Rambot was all packed up. Build season was done!
Now Team 1350 is headed up to the Boston regionals. Who knows what will happen there! We'll keep you posted. Stay classy LaSalle and be careful out there!
LaSalle Academy's Team 1350 was founded four years ago by two students who became our first captains: Adam Lesnikowski and Nick Pasquariello. This is the basis for the principle that still guides Team 1350:
We are student driven.
All aspects of the program are expected to be carried out by students with an emphasis on decision making and hands on participation. Our first moderator was Ms. Pamela Fontaine of the LaSalle Science Department. When she was unable to continue that first year, Mr. Thomas Conboy, a LaSalle alumnus, took over and was the Moderator for our first three years. For the 2007 season Mr. Michael Day, father of a graduated team member, generously agreed to succeed Mr. Conboy, who is still with the team in a reduced role.
Team 1350 was mentored by Team 121 of Aquidneck Island and was given invaluable help in our first year. Brown University provided workspace and technical assistance and Raytheon provided needed funding. In four short years Team 1350 has won several awards and has established a reputation for producing reliable, highly competitive machines while adhering to FIRST's credo of "Gracious Professionalism".
Featured Member:
Administrator Login:
© 2008 La Salle FIRST Robotics Team. All Rights Reserved. FIRST Logo is © 2008 FIRST Foundation.Contact or read about La Salle Academy and the Robotics Team.