Team Argos

In 2006, we started as a rookie team, learning many things about technology, teamwork, and friendship. We shared many great experiences ranging from the actual build to playing dodge ball in the halls. 2007 turned out to be an exciting year. In 2008 we fought hard and came close to winning the regional. We're excited about what's to come in 2009! No matter what, it's bound to be...

Some grillin', some chillin', some whiffle ball fun. Hope you were there for the end of the season party. Awards were handed out to many students. A photo souvenir of the St Louis trip was given to each student and mentor. The mentors squeaked out a win over the students in whiffle ball competition. A good time was had by all!

I found more cool robot information, including a story in Popular Science on FIRST Robotics:

Robotic Adventures at the FIRST Competition

Study Shows Robots Could Prepare Lunar Landing Pad

Scientists Build Robot That Responds to Human Gestures

See what the St. Louis community thinks of our visit to their fine city, and their thoughts on FIRST Robotics Competition.

Smart Thinkers Tinker With Engineering at FIRST Robotics Regionals

All students involved with this project have a lot to be thankful for and should be thoroughly content with what they have accomplished.

Cruising the web, I found something fun on the Wall-E website. You can build your own robot and play games with it.

Build-A-Bot

You can build a virtual robot here too:

Build A Robot

SearchBots

Then there are sites that let you buy parts to build an actual robot:

Machine Science

Robot Kits

Robot Marketplace

And information on how to build robots:

Society of Robots

Arrick Robots

Let's Make Robots

Robot Building Lessons

The BeetleBot

Lastly, science information about an octopus robot.

The New Scientist

Have fun!

Saturday at the St Louis Regionals, we competed for seed positions in the regionals competition matches to be held Saturday afternoon. I will update this news item as the day goes by to keep viewers up to date on scores and other events.

Here are the numbers from Saturday's competitions:

	Scores
Match	Red Alliance	Blue Alliance	Result
1	58	50	Win
2	34	69	Win
3	88	64	Loss

Each time a match is scheduled, the team is assigned to an alliance of 3 teams. It can be the blue alliance for one game and the red alliance for the next game.

Our record in the seeding matches is now 6-5. We were seeded as #10 before the elimination matches began.

Alliance Selection
Alliance	Captain	Team 1	Team 2
1	16	71	1706
2	1208	1806	1723
3	2041	2775	2219
4	931	1182	1785
5	1810	1756	967
6	2359	1288	1764
7	3000	1094	1996
8	1098	1108	1985

Elimination Ladder
Quarter Final 1				Quarter Final 3
Red	16	71	1706	1208	1806	1723	Red
Blue	1098	1108	1985	3000	1094	1996	Blue

Quarter Final 2				Quarter Final 4
Red	931	1182	1785	2041	2775	2219	Red
Blue	1810	1756	967	2359	1288	1764	Blue

Well, this is it - the big day! Teams are competing for the St Louis Regionals championship today. Competition for the final seeding positions starts at 9:30 sharp and is scheduled to be finished at 11:30. Then there will be alliance selections by the top ranked teams and a break for lunch. After lunch, we return to battle for the regional championship! A live video feed is on the main page right above this news item. The team is stoked. We are up and ready to go!

Friday at the St Louis Regionals, we competed for seed positions in the competitions on Saturday. I hear that we are currently seed 16 out of 36 teams. The top 8 teams get to pick who will be part of their 3 team alliance on competition day (Saturday, 3-21). Team Argos competed in 8 games today. Our record is 4-4.

Here are the numbers (as best as I recorded them) from Friday's competitions:

	Scores
Match	Red Alliance	Blue Alliance	Result
1	66	75	Win
2	64	56	Loss
3	30	66	Loss
4	63	56	Win
5	38	63	Win
6	74	66	Loss
7	54	49	Loss
8	26	71	Win

Each time a match is scheduled, the team is assigned to an alliance of 3 teams. It can be the blue alliance for one game and the red alliance for the next game.

The FIRST Robotics Competition is an exciting, multinational competition that teams professionals and young people to solve an engineering design problem in an intense and competitive way. The program is a life-changing, career-molding experience -- and a lot of fun.

FIRST Robotics Competition combines the excitement of sport with science and technology to create a unique varsity sport for the mind. FRC helps high-school-aged young people discover the rewarding and engaging world of innovation and engineering.

The FIRST Robotics Competition stages short games played by remote-controlled robots. The robots are designed and built in 6 weeks (out of a common set of basic parts) by a team of 15 to 25 high-school-aged young people and a handful of engineers-mentors. The students pilot the robots on the field. Each school year, teams are formed in the fall. Competitions take place in March and April. The FIRST Robotics Competition Regional events are typically held in university arenas. They involve 40 to 70 teams cheered by thousands of fans over two and a half days.

In 2006, the competition reached over 28,000 high-school-aged young people on over 1,125 teams in 33 regional events. Teams came from Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Israel, Mexico, the U.K., and almost every U.S. state.