Introducing... BunnyBots!

[Jacob Bendicksen]

We at Team 1540 have been hard at work for the past couple months, getting ready. For what, you ask? Well, we’ve got an awesome offseason competition that we think you guys would enjoy.

Introducing... BunnyBots!

BunnyBots is an offseason competition that we run, but it’s certainly not your average offseason event. We’ve been running it for the past five years, but now we want to get it out into the broader FIRST community. What sets it apart is that it’s a whole other build season, rather than just using last year’s competition robots, like other competitions. Our mentors and graduating seniors come up with the rules each summer, and on September 1st they’re released. The game always involves stuffed bunnies in some iteration, hence the name BunnyBots. They sometimes get horribly mangled, but that’s part of the fun. This guy below is a nice example.

BunnyBots has a bunch of benefits. Firstly, it extends the season to a year-round deal. BunnyBots build season starts in September, the competition is in December, and then you’re at regular build season. Additionally, it’s a fantastic way to get the new members up to speed. There’s no better way to learn how to build a robot than building a robot, right? That way, you don’t have freshmen coming in and trying to help on the FRC robot, which is somewhat counter-productive. It also allows veteran members to gain leadership experience before the actual season. Lastly, it brings the whole local FRC community together, and everyone gets to know each other BEFORE the sleep vacuum that is build season starts.

So: why am I posting this? Because we want to spread BunnyBots around! It’s so much fun and very valuable to our team and all the teams in our area. Therefore, if you want to host BunnyBots, PM me or message our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/bunnybots1540. If you want to come to BunnyBots but don’t feel like hosting, PM me or message the Facebook page. I’ll let you know if there’s a team in your area who we’re in contact with. If there isn’t, go bug a team in your area about hosting it! There’s at least one team in every area who could pull this off, and I think all of you know who that is for your region.

Some helpful links:

Summary page: www.team1540.org/bunnybots

FAQ: www.team1540.org/bunnybotsfaq

History: www.team1540.org/bunnybotshistory

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/bunnybots1540

BunnyBots 2012 wrap-up video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc7q0...lRUg& index=5

Thanks for reading, and we hope to hear from you soon!