posted Jan 13, 2012 4:00 PM by Up-A-Creek Robotics
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updated Jan 15, 2012 4:09 PM
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posted May 20, 2011 10:57 AM by Up-A-Creek Robotics
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updated May 20, 2011 11:01 AM
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There are very few times in my life where I have felt so embraced and fully a part of something. The UACR banquet was one of these very few experiences. I cannot even express in words how amazing it was to reunite with the entire team and recognize everyone for a job well done over the course of the season. This was the first event like this that I have ever been to. I couldn’t believe how much of a cohesive and strong unit we had become over such a short time. What Nathan, John, and others had said was so true, we were a family. I loved every bit of the banquet. The prizes were phenomenal, so much so that I was literally on the verge of tears. When I received my award I was so overwhelmed mainly because I was so happy that someone would think so highly of me. I couldn’t even believe that I had won an award just for being me. When I saw all my fellow team members being recognized as well for their contributions to the team I was so happy for them and so proud to be a part of something so fantastic. Robotics has made my life so much better in so many ways. The people, the experiences, and the everlasting memories and friendships I have made make the experience one of the best things I have ever chosen to be a part of. The banquet was like a celebration of all the positive things our team has done as a whole. Robotics is amazing and I am beyond proud. UP-A-CREEK!
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posted Mar 14, 2011 11:40 AM by Up-A-Creek Robotics
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updated Mar 14, 2011 11:45 AM
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Thinking back to the day of the first Up-A-Creek Robotics meeting, I had no idea how it would change my life. I remember going to the ice cream social and feeling completely out of place, like I simply didn’t belong there. When I heard a little bit about the Spirit sub-team, I thought that it had nothing to do with making robots. Whenever I would think about anything that had to do with robotics, I felt intimidated, so I decide that joining the Spirit sub-team was something that would be easy and fun. Going into the team, I didn’t think that I would learn any new skills that would be useful later in life.
At that time, I was interested in going into a career in the medical field. For the longest time I thought that becoming a pediatrician was what I was meant to do. Little by little, I started working with the Mechanical sub-team. I found myself walking away from the Spirit team projects to go work with the Mechanical team. After this, I started doubting the plans that I had for my future. A few weeks past and with the help of other team members and mentors, I was convinced that Mechanical Engineering was what I really wanted to do.
I think the thing that I’ve liked about the team the most, is all the people. Although at times I came up with questions that I thought were stupid, they always answered all of them with pleasure. If it wasn’t for every single person on the team, both mentors and students, I would still be thinking about doing something in the health field. Now when I think about doing that, I do not feel the same way I felt about it before. I am very glad that I realized this now, and not a few years into college.
I am really thankful for the opportunity that I was given. I know that not everyone has the advantage to join a club like this one. The most important part of the team is the mentors, because if it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t be as successful as we are. I thank all of the mentors for being part of the foundation that they have help build and for helping me discover what I really want to do, to become a Mechanical Engineer.
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posted Mar 11, 2011 3:10 PM by Up-A-Creek Robotics
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updated Mar 15, 2011 5:58 PM
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Why hello there! ^_^ This is Sarah aka: Skittles. ^_^ So this season so far... Well we all went to the kick-off and saw this year's game. Some game huh? I think it's the most challenging, thought provoking, mind boggling, insanely awseome game ever. It made us really think long and hard about what we were doing and what we wanted to do. This year we've had a lot of challenges, but as a team we were able to pull through them all. (Don't worry. I'm sure there'll be plenty more. ^_^) I joined this team way back in 2005, and I am amazed at how much of a change the team has gone through. Over these past 7 years I have learned so much more than I ever thought possible. I have met the coolest people and made the best of friends. Early on, this team molded itself and became one of the top teams around. Over the past few years however, we have become more than just a team. We've become a family. Now a lot of people probably don't know this, but I used to be a very shy person, I still kind of am. But when I joined this team, my fellow teamates instantly made me feel like I belonged. Through the years I have become more and more of a... shall we say... "social flower"... and I have made some great friends. And every year I make more, whether it be from new team members or meeting people at the competition. Throughout my time on the team there are a few things that I can easily conclude: 1. We are a very closely knit group. 2. Every year we continue to up our standard of what engineering excellance is. and 3. W
 e are all going to do great things, go to great places, make great mistakes, and love every minute of it. ^_^ So this is everyone's not-so-subtle reminder that life is too short to be taken seriously, so let's have fun, do our best, and come back next year and do it all over again. ^_^ |
posted Mar 9, 2011 11:27 AM by Up-A-Creek Robotics
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updated Mar 9, 2011 11:29 AM
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Hey Up-A-Creek,
With the build season over and the competition coming up quick, here is a last review of the game to refresh your memory. The game for the First Robotics Competition in 2011 is LogoMotion. As always, the game consists of two alliances of three teams each and is played on a 27 foot by 54 foot field. At either side of the field there are sets of scoring pegs in a 3 x 3 square. The goal of the game is for each robot to pick up the game pieces, inner tubes in the shape of the elements of the First logo, and to place them on the scoring pegs. Our method for placing the tubes is an arm and a gripper that picks up the game pieces and places them amazingly. With the height of the arm and the ease of using the gripper, we are able to place the tubes on all three scoring racks to earn as many points as possible.
During the autonomous mode at the beginning of the match, our robot uses awesome sensors to follow lines that lead to the scoring pegs. Autonomous is important because every tube that we place during the autonomous mode is worth extra points. Software did an amazing job this year using both the sensors for the tape on the floor and the camera for the drivers to be able to see. After autonomous, the drivers begin to control the robots and pick up the game pieces from the human player.
One of the difficulties of this game is that the robots need to move quickly across the field and around other robots in order to place as many tubes as possible. For the first time ever, we have a working mecanum drive on our robot so we’re quick and agile. At the end of the match, robots move to the four poles in the middle of the field and deploy their MiniBots. Our solution for deploying was the beautiful and terrifying Kneellotine, a plate that automatically adjusts itself around the pole and deploys the MiniBot as simply and as quickly as possible. The MiniBots race to the top of the pole and the first one there gains 30 extra points. Second place is worth 20 points, third place is worth 15 points, and fourth place is worth 10 points.
We all worked really hard during this year’s build season and I believe I can speak for all the mentors and myself when I say how proud I am. Our robot this year is truly a thing of beauty and we’re going to have a great time at the competition. See you there!
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posted Mar 9, 2011 8:33 AM by Up-A-Creek Robotics
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updated Mar 15, 2011 5:57 PM
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Hello Everybody,
My name is Josie Valadez and this is my first year on the robotics team and I am a part of the Spirit sub-team! Currently the spirit team is working on getting shirts for the competition and finishing up the pins and other spirit items such as poppers. We want to get everything completed as soon as possible. I'm really excited about the competition and seeing what its all about. im so obsessed with robotics. We need to get a shirt design going so we can get the shirts made! Kat, one of our team members, drew an awesome drawing and we hope to use that. We'll be voting tonight.
We are also considering ordering hoodies and jackets. The Spirit Team has been working really hard to get all the boxes completed, along with the memorial pins that we made to pass out at the competition in honor of Mark Dotterwich (the founder of our team who passed away this year), the spirit pins, and the judges baskets. We are getting really far and super excited about the competition and all that it includes! GO SPIRIT!!!
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posted Mar 8, 2011 12:05 PM by Up-A-Creek Robotics
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updated Mar 8, 2011 12:08 PM
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Hello my name is Toby Hammond and I’m currently the president of team 1619 Up-a-Creek Robotics. These past few weeks we’ve been preparing for the season to come through our sub-team activities. We have the mechanical sub-team working on a prototype for the mechanum wheels which, for the most part, have seemed to be quite successful in previous years, the Spirit sub-team working on team themes and fundraising opportunities, the software sub-team beginning to learn how to use Labview, and the Mindstorm sub-team working on learning how to think like an engineer and problem solve.
I’m currently a part of the mechanical sub-team and we’ve been doing mini competitions to simulate the season. We’re given a task to complete and then we get in our groups and think about how we could build a robot that can complete the task in the most efficient manner. It’s very similar to the real season because we’re only given a meeting or two to create our robot, we get to see other people’s ideas on how to complete the same task, and if something fails, you’re still rushing back to your little “pit” to fix it. The only thing that is different is that we have total freedom when it comes to size, weight, etc. I think that it’s very helpful because it provides us with the opportunity to see not only how things work but also how great ideas can come out teamwork rather than dominance.
It’s nice to see a lot of new faces every night because it shows that there are other people interested in engineering. There are a lot of kids with great ideas and input and a lot of energy. Hopefully we’ll be able to find a way to put all of that energy to good use.
Graduation . . . All I can say is get your college applications done as soon as you can because they’re not what I would call fun. If you have the drive and ambition, try and do it during summer because it makes your last year much more fun because you don’t have to worry about the application you forgot to do come winter break.
I’m glad to be graduation especially because I want to major in mechanical engineering. I love to study and I love engineering so I can’t wait to graduate.
Hopefully we’ll choose a team theme soon so we can start thinking of ways we can apply it to the robot and our team while also incorporating our sponsors. The top three choices we had were tron, starwars, and the blues brothers. In all honesty, I have no idea what/who the blues brothers but I’m excited for tron and starwars. We could always go blue and black for tron to maintain our identity as a blue team (for those no-themers) while still doing something cool and original. |
posted Mar 8, 2011 11:31 AM by Up-A-Creek Robotics
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updated Mar 8, 2011 12:04 PM
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Hi! I’m Kelsey Christofferson, a senior on the Up-A-Creek-Robotics Team. So far this season, the electrical team has been working on making our old robot from two years ago (Up-Duck) run again. We are fixing up the electrical panel and making it so that way it can attach to another chassis, and be easily moved from one robot to the other. Once that’s done, the software sub-team will be able to use it to practice writing code.
This year, I’ve also really enjoyed working with Solidworks. Solidworks is the 3D program we are using. We use it to design and model the whole robot. I like making parts in it, and then when all the parts come together to form the whole robot, I can’t help but feel accomplished. After we have the 3D model done, we watch our work go from the computer screen, to actually building it and watching it come together in real life.
I think this season will be our best year yet. Every year we have gotten better and better, and I think this year won’t be an exception. We are already working hard and training all of our new members during this pre-season, so when the build season comes around and the game for the competition is announced, we will be ready to get started right away. Already knowing it’ll be a good season, all I have left to ponder is what will the game be this year?
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posted Mar 8, 2011 11:27 AM by Up-A-Creek Robotics
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updated Mar 8, 2011 11:29 AM
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Hello Up-A-Creek Robotics 2010-2011!
I have definitely missed you over the summer! What was I supposed to do without meeting every day for 3 hours or more? Or not having meetings from 9-5 on Saturdays? I was so bored, and for that reason, my summer was a wreck without you UACR. I missed how we would get together and build a robot, and how there was always something to do to help the team out. I’m most excited about getting back together with all of my mechanical brethren to create a masterpiece that will be both functional and good to look at.
My mechanical brethren and I put together everything that can be seen on the robot from a distance. We design and fabricate the drive train, the chassis, and any mechanisms that the robot needs to function at its highest possible potential. Working with experts (who happen to be our mentors) in the fields of mechanical design (Dave) and mechanical engineering (John and Mike) is a great way to learn what the professional world of MD and ME are really like.
The 2010 season thus far (a whole two meetings in) seems to be shaping up just as good, if not better, than years past. Quite a few new students from schools around the district have joined up and it makes the upperclassman feel a little bit better about the team after they depart for their future endeavors. However, there have been communication errors and a bit of confusion while we attempt to get everybody’s name, email, and phone number into the team’s Internet database.
The Lego MindStorm teams so far have been great. Mechanical duties, such as building a Lego vehicle, are an excellent way to get your head in the game for the 2011 build season. The Mindstorm work helps students understand communication, how to alternate mechanical designs, and gain dedication to the work they’re doing as they see a project through until the very end; without those three things, the ’11 season will be a very long season with very little results.
Good luck UAC Robotics! I plan on being with you every step of the way and I’m excited to see what January has in store for team 1619 this year!!!
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