Loveland Robotics October 2016 A NEW SEASON IS UNDERWAY! THE SECRET IS OUT - On September 10 th the 2016/2017 FIRST Tech Challenge game Velocity Vortex was revealed at ispace in Sharonville. Our Loveland Robotics teams #5040 and #10464 were all in attendance for this annual kick-off event. Besides the new game reveal, a variety of workshops were available for new and experienced FIRST Tech Challenge team members. Members of team #5040 led a workshop on best practices for preparing the engineering notebook, while others picked up tips on programming, robot design and competition strategy. VELOCITY VORTEX The game is played on a 12 ft. 12 ft. square field. The field is divided diagonally into a red and a blue side corresponding to the two opposing alliance teams. In the center of the field are two goals on a rotatable stand called the Center Vortex. In two of the corners, there is a ramp with a goal, called the Corner Vortex. Teams will earn points for picking up and successfully shooting 3.75 spherical particles into the matching colored center and/or corner vortex. A large cap ball may also be placed on the center vortex in the final 30 seconds of the 2 ½ minute match period. There are also four Beacons, with push buttons, placed on the side-walls. The robot can activate the push buttons for points. Floor markings as well as Vision Targets can be used by the robots to help navigate their way around the field. Velocity Vortex Game Reveal at ispace, Sharonville, OH Ohio Head Referee Dan Kobida walks through the rules TWO TEAMS - EIGHT NEW TEAM MEMBERS - We are fortunate to have so much interest in our growing Loveland Robotics program. This year was no exception. Prospective FIRST Tech Challenge team members were required to submit a written application, attend a hands-on build/programming session and complete a short interview with our team coaches. With more than 30 initial applicants, we are pleased that Cooper Baumgarth, Abbie Docter, Julia Hoge, Ben Kavouras, Matthew Spitzley, Jonathon Mangan, Sean Ovens and Cara Rasmussen all accepted invitations to join the existing members of team #5040 and #10464. Here is a short introduction to by new team members: (continued on next page) 1 P a g e
Team 5040 New Team Members (Ben K., Abbie, Cooper, Spitz and Julia) Ben Kavouras - is a freshman. This is his first year on the Loveland Robotics team. He is on the build team. Other than robotics, he is involved in Boy Scouts, and is a trumpet player for the LHS Marching Band. Abbie Docter - is a sophomore. This is her first season on a FIRST robotics team, and she is proud to perform her role in Team 5040 s business relations. When not working with robots or sponsors, Abbie enjoys playing her clarinet, reading, composing music for band, and drawing. Cooper Baumgarth - is a sophomore. This is his first year on the Loveland Robotics team. He is on the build team and the program team. Other than robotics, he is involved in Boy Scouts, and is a trombone player for the LHS Marching Band. Matthew Spitzley - is a sophomore. This is his first year involved with robotics. He is on the build team. He is involved in Boy Scouts and is working on his Eagle Scout rank. He is also involved in Lacrosse and plays as a middle. He enjoys building and programming as hobbies. Julia Hoge - is a senior. This is her first season as a programmer on a FIRST FTC team. However, she has previously participated in FIRST Lego League. When not working with the robot, Julia enjoys singing with Diverse City Youth Chorus and keeping up with her classes. Team 10464 New Team Members (Jonathon, Cara and Sean) Jonathon Mangan is a sophomore. He is involved in many extracurricular activities like Cross Country, INTERalliance, Youth Group and now Robotics. He is very enthusiastic for this season because of the amazing teammates he can work with and the ability to use programming, math and science in a real life situation. Jonathon is interested in an engineering field, where he plans on going to Purdue University in Indiana. He is looking forward to the season and where it will take him. Cara Rasmussen - is a senior. This is her first year on a FTC team and she hopes to continue with robotics in college. Cara is involved in many organizations in school, including the INTERalliance, Girl Scouts, and Math Team. She hopes to apply the skills that she has learned from these organizations and serve the team as best she can. In the future Cara looks to study Biomedical Engineering and Computer Science. so she can make life a little bit better for as many people as possible. Sean Ovens - is a senior. Like his other extracurricular activities (Boy Scouts, Martial arts, and INTERalliance), he is fully dedicated to doing the best to his ability. He is very excited to use his interests in mathematics and programming to better his team. His interests in programming and computer science drove him to join the team. He is looking forward to do going above and beyond this season with his team-mates. 2 P a g e
WE HAVE A ROBOTICS ROOM - After a five years of temporary accommodations, our award winning Loveland Robotics program now has a dedicated room in the High School. The room will be used by our FIRST Tech Challenge and VEX robotics teams. Here they will build and test their robots prior to competing in the annual competitions. Many thanks to the Loveland Board of Education for listening to our students and making this happen. The teams are very excited and are making full use of the room throughout the days, evenings and weekends. Time to unpack the game field HOLD YOUR HORSES - Before any robot building takes place, the teams must take time to understand the game rules, develop a strategy and then draw up some ideas and concepts for the robot. These are the first steps of any engineering design process. After this is done it s good to pause for thought before launching into the build and testing phase. On September 25th, our Loveland Robotics team welcomed four young engineers from GE Aviation and General Motors to join them in this pause. Both teams presented their plans and concepts for their respective robots and discussed their technical challenges. Our guests, John Wendling, Allie Hilditch, Sarah Frazier and Tim Frazier shared their own experiences of competing in robotics competitions (including FIRST) and drew on their college and industry learnings to help provide encouragement and constructive feedback to the teams. They also helped guide the teams through some of the decision making tools and processes. Our Engineering Guests for the Day (L-R) John Wendling, Allie Hilditch, Sarah Frazier & Tim Frazier This was the first time Loveland Robotics had tried something like this and feedback from our students was very positive. We are hoping our engineers will all be able to return later in the season and see the progress made with the robot designs. Q&A Session with team #10464 3 P a g e
It would seem driving an Omni-bot is child s play. COMMUNITY OUTREACH - is a vital component of any FIRST robotics team. It helps build the FIRST community by introducing more young people to the experience, and by celebrating science, technology, and engineering. On Saturday October 1st, members from teams #5040 and #10464 volunteered in various roles at ispace DAY; a family community event meant for anyone curious about new and future technologies, aviation and space exploration. With more than 2000 people in attendance, team #5040 offered hands-on robot driving to children of all ages. Meanwhile team #10464 members served as volunteers for many of the other ispace DAY activities. ispace Is a non-profit organization that serves the Greater Cincinnati Region. It makes learning exciting by providing engaging Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs to schools, families and the community. ispace uses best practices in innovative programs to help students and educators build confidence and interest in STEM knowledge and careers. Loveland Robotics has established a strong relationship with ispace and will be there to support them in any future outreach activities. Service with a smile at the concession stand with Travis. Our driving instructors - Julia, Bryce and Ben. CONFIRMED In Ohio, teams #5040 and #10464 will both compete in two FIRST Tech Challenge qualifying events. Team #5040 will also compete in the West Virginia state championship. IF SUCCESSFUL The team(s) will be invited to the Ohio state championship in Cincinnati in February and potentially March Super-Regionals in Cedar Rapids, Iowa or Scranton Pennsylvania (if #5040 proceeds from West Virginia). If all goes really well, they could even make it to St Louis, Missouri in April for the FIRST World Championships. An overnight stay (on a Saturday) will be required for all team members and parents of #5040 travelling to the West Virginia tournament. Similarly, an overnight stay will be required in Newark, Ohio (on a Friday) for those team members of #10464 required for the robot check-in and inspection. This cost will need to be covered by the respective parents. More details about travel arrangements and hotel accommodation will be communicated closer to the event date. (continued on next page) 4 P a g e
Here are the confirmed competition events for our two FTC teams: West Virginia FTC Championship SUNDAY December 4 th Fairmont State University, 1201 Locust Avenue, Fairmont, WV 26554 (Robot Inspection December 3 rd ) Dayton OH FTC Qualifier SUNDAY December 18th, 2016 West Carrollton High School, 5833 Student Street Dayton, OH 45449 (Robot Inspection December 17 th ) Newark OH Qualifying Tournament SATURDAY December 3 Reese Center 1209 University Drive Newark, Ohio 43055 (Robot Inspection December 2 nd ) Cincinnati FTC Qualifying Tournament SATURDAY January 28, 2017 Walnut Hills High School 3250 Victory Parkway Cincinnati, OH 45207 (Robot Inspection January 27 th ) Cincinnati FTC Qualifying Tournament SATURDAY January 28, 2017 Walnut Hills High School 3250 Victory Parkway Cincinnati, OH 45207 (Robot Inspection January 27 th ) Loveland Robotics would like to recognize our sponsors for their generous support of FIRST Tech Challenge teams, #5040 Nuts and Bolts and #10464 Bionic Tigers. 5 P a g e