The Robots

THE ROBOTS

2009-Raptor

2009's game, FIRST Lunacy, celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing. Using a slick Polymer material called regolith to simulate the low gravity and strange terrain present on the lunar surface, this years game was truly tricky. Teams have a minute and 20 seconds to collect small balls around the field and placeing them in their opponents trailer, scoring points for their 3 robot alliance. For a more in depth look at the game, please check out our media page for a link to a video. Using Raptor, GRR did the best they have ever done. Raptor won the LA regional, and took 3rd at the Las Vegas Regional. Winning the Los Angeles regional has allowed GRR to go to the World Chamionships in Atlanta, Georgia. For GRR's first competitive time at the world championships they did phenominaly well making it to the semi-finals in their division. GRR would like to thank all the sponsors and individuals that helped fund and make it so that they could go to Atlanta.

2008 - ARMageddon

2008's game, FIRST Overdrive, also uses the two alliance On Parare

system. In Overdrive, Teams run counterclockwise around
the perimeter of a track to score points. On opposite sides are two overpasses each holding two 40" diameter inflated balls. Teams can score extra points for their alliance by knocking their ball down, by carrying it around the track with them and either tossing it over or hitting it under the overpass, and by placing the ball back on their overpass before the end of the match. ARMageddon had a single-jointed arm that extended outwards. On the end of the arm was a two-pronged claw with wheels attached at the tips to drag the ball in and push the ball out. Also on the end of the arm was a thin piece of plastic used for knocking down the balls. ARMageddon did very well competition: It brought the team to quarter finals in the
San Jose Regional and to finals in the Las Vegas Regional.

2007 – RAMPOSAURUS

In 2007’s game Rack ‘n Roll two alliances of three teams each compete to arrange pool tube game pieces called “ringers” on a central arena element know as “The Rack.” Extra points are awarded at the end of the game if a
robot relying on its alliance partner can reach 4 to 12 inches off the ground.

Ramposaurus had a manipulator with rings that could pick up and score
ringers on the first two rows of the rack. He also had two ramps that would fold down at the end of the game allowing alliance partners to drive right up, and that would reach 12 inches off the ground.

At the San Jose regional, 973 made it to the Semi-Finals with teams 100 and 114.

2006 – BOB (Big Orange Bot)

In 2006 the team raised enough money to be able to go to the San Jose regional and Championships in Atlanta, Georgia. Aim High was played on a field with three goals: one raised center goal and two corner goals at floor level. Robots would play offense and defense in any given match. At the end of the game robots would climb a ramp for additional points. Human players would throw balls into BOB, where they would be shot out using a mechanism similar to a pitching machine. BOB’s shooter moved separately of his body and could shoot a goal, even if he was not pointed in exactly the right direction. BOB was very good at climbing the ramp, almost always earning extra points for the alliance.

2005 – X10DER

Triple Play, 2005’s game, was the first to have three robots per alliance. The game was played on a field set up like a tic-tac-toe board. The object of the game was to place the scoring “tetras” on the larger goals, creating rows of three by having a tetra of your alliances color at the highest point on the goal. X10DER had a three-stage elevator, with a hook on the end, which grabbed the top of the tetras and stacked them on the goals. X10DER was a very successful robot and won the Innovation in Control Award.

2004 – UNCLE BUBBA

In 2004 team 973 was able to go to two regionals in Phoenix, Arizona and San Jose, California. The game FIRST Frenzy: Raising the Bar included elements from pervious year’s games, including mobile goals, “capping” goals with large balls, and others. Teams could score by having human players score purple balls in any of the goals, capping the goals with multiplier balls, or hanging the robot from the 10 foot “chin up bar.” Uncle Bubba, named in honor of mentor John Miron, had two long articulating arms that grabbed the balls in order to score. While in theory Uncle Bubba could do the chin up action, the robot could not climb the stairs on the field in order to reach the bar. However, the Judge’s at San Jose were impressed with the teams advanced instrument and control system and 973 won the Leadership in Control Award. Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, also like the control system and stopped by several times to check it out.

Parade Display

2003 – SPOTS

In 2003’s game Stack Attack, two teams of two robots each attempted to win by moving large Sterilite bins into their zone and arranged them into stacks. Spots was a simple, low to the ground robot, which had a rotating bar for knocking down entire stacks of bins and small arms for herding boxes to the end zone. Spots and 973’s students won the Judge’s Award for their outstanding teamwork and performance.

2002 – STEWIE

Stewie was team 973’s very first robot. 2002’s game Zone Zeal involved robots playing on alliances of two and competing to move goals and balls into various zones within the playing field. Stewie had arms that pushed the goals around, as well as a spring-loaded spear like mechanism which could grab onto the poles in the goal and drag it where needed. Stewie had a storage area where Human Players could load balls, which he then used to score goals. The Judges were impressed with Stewie: 973 won the Rookie All-Star Award, which qualified the team to go to Championships (A goal that could not be achieved until 2006, when the money was raised). Going to their first regional completely changed the student’s ideas of what a robot could do. The next year students drastically changed their wheel and base design.