Bulldog Robotics

Well, on Saturday we didn’t win any more qualifying matches, putting us at a final tally of one win and six losses in the qualifying rounds. Even though autonomous worked well with what we could do… we made all ten balls almost every time (once two got stuck together in the goal, and weren’t counted until we could push them in after autonomous ended), it was no match for some teams that could score 30 points during autonomous by filling up the center goals from half-way across the court. In the end we were ranked 77th out of 86 teams in the Galileo division, apparently not high enough to be picked for the playoffs. Our fellow Silicon Valley winners, Menlo-Atherton, were in our division too, and didn’t make playoffs either. Bellarmine was eliminated in the semi-final of their division playoffs (they were in Newton) in a very close match.

It was great fun though, and an exciting way to end the 2006 season. Now that we’ve set the precedent, I hope the team will get a chance to go to the Championship every year.

Special thanks to BAE Systems, Mr. Steve Wozniak, the SJHA PTSA and Booster Club, and the House Foundation for making our trip to Atlanta possible through their generous support.

-Paul

Well, it’s 10:30 over here in Atlanta, and we’re sitting here in the hotel lobby after our first set of qualifying matches. So far we’re 1-4, but we’ve recieved a lot of attention from the top-ranked teams because of our kickin’ corner goal scoring. Autonomous mode has been performing swimmingly… all 5 matches scored 10/10 balls in the corner goals during autonomous, and an additional mode that shoots in the far goal (from the middle starting position) has been implemented and successfully tested.

One of the most striking differences between this national competition and the Silicon Valley Regional is the intensity: we have more than 300 teams here, everybody is visiting the pits and introducing themselves, and it seems as though all the attendees are really psyched to be here. The FIRST crew have been really generous with their time (special thanks to IFI guys Ed and John for helping us with a nasty intermittent code error), and the crowd over here as a whole have been helpful, professional, and genuinely friendly.

You can still catch the footage from today’s qualifying matches (we’re in the Galileo division) at FIRST’s website , and you should definitely check out the playoff matches tomorrow (they’ll be streaming videos, so make sure you don’t miss ‘em).

-Liam

Well, we finally arrived in Atlanta! We are ecstactic to be here and excited to start the competition tomorrow–so much so that we can’t sleep. Atlanta looks terrific. FIRST teams occupy almost all of this part of the city. They’re everywhere! We feel quite welcome here as the city has posted signs in almost every public place welcoming FIRST robotics.

Overall, today was fairly uneventful. After the long flight and wait at the hotel lobby, we finally herded to our rooms. Shortly after, we head out to the arena. Mr. Novoty, along with Ruben and Liam, entered the pits to unpack the robot. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew ventured to the CNN building for some lively food and–believe it or not–live CNN on TV screens. Now, the intelligent among us sleep while a few of us lie awake in anticipation of the competition.

Stay tuned for more updates tomorrow.

From the CNN tower in Atlanta, GA, this is Ebby Amir

Nasa will have live webcasts (in Windows Media and RealMedia formats) of the Championship at their website: http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/robotics/

We are playing in the Galileo division, so click on the link to that webcast once it becomes available. Also, as soon as they are posted, I will link here to the qualifying match schedule, so you’ll be able to see when you can “tune in” and see us play.

-Paul

Check Out The New Pictures Of The Competition!

(Click the photo above to view the gallery.)

Also, you can read reflections on our success at the Silicon Valley Regional.

There’s an article about the Silicon Valley Regional up on CNET, with our robot featured in the photo accompanying the article, as well as a larger shot in the slideshow accompanying the article. Sure, it contains some inaccuracies; it’s not true that “the robots can only have 10 balls onboard at any one time during play,” but it’s nice to know that major news outlets are taking notice of the competition.

We are ecstatic to announce our overwhelming (and rather unexpected) success at the 2006 Silicon Valley Regional: we, along with Bellarmine College Prep and Menlo-Atherton High School, have won the competition!

We’d like to extend warm thank-yous to your mentors and advisors, our sponsors, BAE Systems, the House Foundation, and Bullard, and everyone who came to the event to support us. Photos from the competition should be up soon… after some (well deserved, in our minds) rest.

Have a look at:

• Match Results (Scroll down to the bottom for the playoffs results. And check out qualifying match number 62 (Q62).)
• Video Footage of the Playoff Matches and Awards Ceremony (You can download the playoffs in their entirety here. MP4 files are viewable with QuickTime.)
• Final Qualifying Round Rankings (We came in 9th out of 40 teams in the qualifying rounds… compare to last year’s 13th out of 36.)
• Awards (Scroll down to the bottom to see: “Regional Winner #2 | 581 | BAE Systems & San Jose High Academy | San Jose,CA USA”)

Remember to check the Calendar of Events for updates on the work schedule.

Remember that the dates of our Silicon Valley Regional Competition are: March 16th, 2006 - March 18th 2006!

Anyone, who plans to attend the live kick off need to fill out the “Consent, Release, Hold Harmless and Authorization to Reproduce Physical Likeness” form.

http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/2006/kfevents.htm

Everyone must have one filled out and signed by both them and their parents or they can not attend the live kick off. Also we are limited to 15 people who can attend the live screening, we will determine on Thursday exactly who can go, but leads will have first shot. We will be re-playing the entire kick off at the school later in the day for anyone who could not attend the live screening, parents are encouraged to attend at this time as well so they can get a better understanding of what we are doing.