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Posted by Andy Baker at 05/07/2001 2:02 PM EST


Engineer on team #45, TechnoKats, from Kokomo High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.



The TechnoKats had a great time hosting the second annual "Indiana Robotics Invitational" this past weekend.

Here are some results:

Top four seeds: 1:71, 2:308, 3:535, 4:447

The alliance of 71, 33, 47 and 234 scored 720 to get into the finals. The alliance of 308, 111, 469 and 85 also made it into the finals. In the finals, the 308 alliance pulled off an upset by posting a 720 on their second effort. The 71 alliance had a chance to beat 720, but lost a big ball on the way up to balance. They went for having 13 black balls in the near goal, and a big ball just couldn't stay capped on the goal. Team 33 even tried to "shake" the near goal while the HP balls were being loaded in order to get that 13th black ball in, but the 13th black ball was still was too high in the goal to let a big ball stay on top.

Great effort on all of the teams, and thank you for your patience and professionalism as we worked through a few electrical glitches early in the day.

Our panel of 8 judges had a great time being a part of the event. They suprised us all with giving the "Team Spirit Award" to the 4 people who came all the way from WPI (team 190), awarding the team who showed excellent spirit in the effort to compete. I've gotten some feedback from some of the judges so far... and while they say that their jobs were difficult to do, they would rather give out even more awards to the teams. So, expect even more hardware next year.

The TechnoKats got much help from many teams. Team 292, PantherTech helped us set up the field, while teams 93, NEW Apple Corps, 535, G-Force, and 221, Mi. Roboworks, were a great help in tearing down and packing away the field. Thanks also to people who helped referee who were from other teams, Dan Green (111), Ryan Newton (461), and Charlie Elwood (393). Also thanks to Bob and Rob Jenkins from team 201 for giving us great help. Even Trevor and Chuch McCulloch from team 349 came down to lend a hand, even though their team couldn't make it.

The TechnoKats all had a great time and enjoyed hosting the event... from the cookout on Friday to the shindig on Saturday. Only one member of the team didn't make it thought the weekend; our mascot, TechnoPig... but he was a team player, that's for sure.

Here are some more "unofficial notes" from the weekend:

Cheers to team 93 for making it down to Kokomo, especially since you lost a van around Milwaukee. The next five hours must've been cramped, that's for sure.

I'm looking forward to seeing all of the pictures from team 190's trip... sorry about sending you to Kokomo's worst hotel, the KokoMotel. Hopefully, you got enough "bakes" to take back with you to Worcester, Rick.

Sorry about having to re-run match 16. No, we didn't set that match up on purpose, although seeing teams 45, 47, 71, and 111 in a match makes you think twice. Also, losing power during the match was an honest mistake.

Sorry about not having teams 234 and 393 in a match together. We actually had it planned, but it was too late in the day and we didn't get to that match.

Thanks to Tim Railey and Chris Byam, who scared away the Harley rider who showed up the the Baker house afterwords. I hear that he saw all of the cars and was just looking for a beer... but he soon left, empy handed, thanks to our "bouncers".

The crew who were playing basketball Sat. night got a good lesson on how acrylic works as a basketball backboard... it broke. We will use polycarbonate next time, for sure.

Shame on the student from team 93 who tagged my 4-year-old daughter when we were playing tag in our front yard... pick on someone your own size! Actually, she had a blast and appreciated you letting her play with you.

Thanks to the rest of the the TechnoKats and team 93 for once again doing all of the dirty work and cleaning up after the party Sat. night.

Thanks to everyone who told my wife thank-you for her efforts, she appreciated it and enjoyed having you all over to our house.

And, most importantly...
Thanks to the rest of the TechnoKats for making this event great. There are many people who did more work than I who made this thing work, that's for sure.

We appreciate all of the teams who made the effort to compete at the IRI. We will be sending out a survey to see what you liked and what you want to have us improve on for next year. Thank you again for coming.

Sincerely,
Andy Baker