MCI Robotics - Team854.ca

It appears that we're in a better position than last thought. We do in fact have enough money to attend a regional competition; the TDSB's donation covers the annual registration as well as registration for a single regional event(not just the former). We have have also recently received a very generous donation from Belzona International Ltd. which brings us to our halfway-mark in regards to attending a second regional event. The regionals are near and so are our team T-shirt orders. So, if you'd like to help us reach our goal of attending two regional events: act quickly, we only have about two weeks left!

Nearing the End

The robot is nearing completion. The electrical components have been put on the chasis and the search for a driver
has begun. Sensors, of course, are still being tested and worked on as is the code. Although not completely assembled, the robot is close enough to being done that we feel we'll have it aesthetically finished by lockup. It should also be working by then but more work can always be done. To all of our supporters out there: We need your help! We've created
the robot with the contributions of various companies this season, and have had a great group of mentors helping us along~~, but unfortunately we don't have enough money to compete at a competition.~~ We've just-about built the robot but if we don't raise enough money within the next month or so, we'll be left with our robot and nothing to do. All of those hours that we've put in over the past 6 weeks will have only been used to train members, keep us occupied and keep us distracted from school. I'd like to say that we're almost there and just need a little push to get us where we want to be, but we truly and desperately need your help. Don't forget to give our support page a look and read the pdf about our club and FIRST.

Work in Progress

We've begun making headway on our robot since the last update. Our electrical system has been more-or-less
put together, and parts are slowly being added and coded. The younger members have created wooden versions of
the mini robot's bar, as well as some preliminary prototypes before they begin working on the real thing. A lot of work is going into this year's robot and it looks like we'll be busy up until the lockup day -- and probably thereafter as well.

Kickoff

The 2011 kickoff was this past Saturday. The kickoff was held in the Ontario Science Centre where this year's
competition "Logomotion" was announced. A video of this year's game can be found on our resource page. The team
eventually gathered into the tech room where we laid out plans for how we would approach this year's robot.
We're still in the planning stage, but we have some good ideas flowing and should begin contruction some time
this week

A New Year

It has been a busy year thus far; we currently have more club members than we've had within the past
five years, we've been tearing apart old robots, training new members, building a team-community instead
of a group of people, and lastly we've been trying to raise enough money to enter a competition.
Despite the good omen of having a large number of new and interested members, we also seem to have less
money than we've had in the past five years at this point in the season. We are currently disassembling
our old robots to sell as scrap metal in hopes of salvaging enough money to enter a single competition.
This may be the first time that the Iron bears are unable to compete. We will still be building a robot
however-- we just might not be competing with it. We have just enough to build what we expect to be a
competitive robot, but this means that we still need to find $4000 to compete at a regional tournament.
We will try fundraising but we would greatly appreciate any donation from previous or new sponsors.
Donations of parts will save us money which we can put towards entering a competition, and donations of
money will directly help us enter a competition.
So if you'd like to give a gift this holiday season that will affect the lives and futures of tens of
people and highschool students: consider lending a hand to Martingrove's Iron bears.

Eliminated

We've experienced quite a few problems this week: batteries dying, electrical parts
unknowingly being broken, having to remove ~60lbs of parts so our robot would be underweight etc. Unfortunately we were unable to getting it fully up and running in time for the final seeding round. Although we did play rounds; without all of our parts working fluidly together, we did not give the
performance we were expecting.
Long in short; we didn't make it into the qualification matches.
However, on a lighter note, we do have the rest of the afternoon to get the robot working the way it should
be for next week's GTA competition which should end up more in our favour than this week's competitions did.
Don't let your support be offset by today's upset, as next week we should be in full-swing and able to compete
as well as anyone.

Waterloo

We arrived at the University of Waterloo this morning at 8:10 a.m.
We finished setting up our booth around 9 and have been adding additional parts and improving code since.
Most of the teams are also working on/fixing their robots. Only a few robots have competed in practice matches:
but even they are still being worked on. Hopefully we'll play a match before the end of the day. We missed our first one
due to a problem after transferring our code between laptops.
We'll keep you updated as the day progresses.

Waiting

The robot was bagged & tagged last night around 6:30 p.m. concluding our build season. Now the team is catching up on school work and finishing accessory parts for as well as extra and unfinished ones that could not be completed and put on the robot before packaging. Some parts are being worked on in small groups, but besides that, the club is pretty much at a standstill waiting for the first competition in Waterloo on March 25^th-27^th. Members and parents should expect information regarding the Waterloo event before March break.

Wrapping Things Up

Tomorrow is the final day of the build season; by 12:00 am Wednesday the robot must be bagged and modifications to it must cease. Thanks to all of the people who sponsored and supported us we were able to build and improve the robot exceeding our original expectations. There is still much to be done but come our first match everything should be in working order and running smoothly. Don't forget to come out and see us at the GTA and Waterloo regionals!

Attendance Confirmed

Our attendance for the Waterloo regional event has now been confirmed! Thanks to the increase in sponsorship support over the past 2 months we have received enough funding to compete at two regionals. Unfortunately, by entering this second regional we have cut into our building funds quite substantially. Entering 2 regional competitions will not leave us robot-less, but further funding will be greatly appreciated.
Information on the Waterloo Regional event can be found here, and information on the Greater Toronto Regional, here.

Progress Update

Designs are now being finalized and construction is underway. The team has been creating parts for the past week; parts are being made on our CNC machine, and prototypes are being finalized and improved. In the mean time new members are being trained, and last year's robot is being used to teach and practice writing code for this year's robot. All divisions of the team are hard at work. Machinists are working on the chassis, drive system and prototypes. Programmers are training newer members on last year's robot as well as trying to lend a hand in figuring out visual tracking which has proven troublesome for many other teams on chief delphi.
We also have some good news for our supporters: It looks like we will have a real chance at participating in the Waterloo regional as well as the GTA regional. Our official attendance is not yet confirmed but thanks to our very generous sponsors we have just about enough money to attend. Thank you for all of the support and we will try to keep you posted throughout the build season and competition.

And They're Off..

The 2010 robotics competition "Breakaway" has officially begun. This year's competition mimics a soccer game with bumps and tunnels to act as obstacles that the teams must overcome for success. The goal of this game is to score points in nets located in front of the team's own drivers. At the end of the match there will be a 20 second period for the teams to raise their robot onto a platform or suspend themselves from a bar or ally robot.
The Iron Bears attended the kick off early saturday morning and spent the rest of the day planning and designing. The design will likely be completed by next saturday where the team will begin construction.

We would also like to thank A.O.C Best Drug Mart and SDA Enterprises for their generous donations. The team turn out at kick off and the new donations received shortly thereafter have provided a large boost to the morale and motivation of the team. We hope to attend an additional regional event totalling 2 events(GTA and Waterloo), and thereby extend an invitation to you to help us realize our goal.

Preparation Update

The 2010 competition is only 5 days away and the Iron Bears are doing the final preparations in anticipation of the upcoming competition. New members have been trained, schedules and inventory/monetary documents have been made, and now the team is ready for kick off. It is not too late to lend a hand if you are considering sponsoring our team. Support does not have to be in the form of money; materials and experience are also welcome. Kickoff is just five days away which marks the start of the build season. We are still hoping to attend a second competition, we are allowed to pay our entrance fee after the build season but within reasonable time before the competition date. Competition dates are weeks after the build season has concluded, so don't miss your chance to help us out!

Welcoming Our New Mentor

This year's team has been working hard in preparation for the 2010 season. We've gained 28 new members, and a new mentor Mr. Odebiyi! Along with Mr. Odebiyi, a former engineer from Magna will be acting as project manager for the team. We have many returning alumni, including members from First's World Championship Competition! We are still looking for sponsors to help us in attending two regional competitions this year.

We would like to thank Cadbury for taking interest in our team and sponsoring us. This year's team looks exceptionally promising. Don't miss your chance to become a member or lend your support.

Team Update

The Iron Bears are continuing preparation for the upcoming season. We have had our second general council meeting, which was a success. The new team is a group of dedicated students who are looking forward to the upcoming build. As well, the engineering team has improved the existing omni-drive system, more information is to come. We are currently looking for three thousand dollars for the build costs, and an additional four thousand for the second competition at the University of Waterloo.

Ironbears Are Go