pic: Team 148 - Robowranglers 2010 - Armadillo

[Chris Fultz]

Originally Posted by Chuck Glick

I think everyone is just a little jealous of the 148/217 "ball magnet" skills.

All I know is I went to Home Depot and the guy there said they did't sell ball magnets. Maybe only the Texas and Michigan stores carry those.

[Chuck Glick]

Originally Posted by Chris Fultz

All I know is I went to Home Depot and the guy there said they did't sell ball magnets. Maybe only the Texas and Michigan stores carry those.

I think 1726 found some in Arizona too.

[Karibou]

Originally Posted by Chris Fultz

All I know is I went to Home Depot and the guy there said they did't sell ball magnets. Maybe only the Texas and Michigan stores carry those.

Nope, not a MI product...Home Depot doesn't have any (or #25 masterlinks, for that matter). Must be a Texas product.

Originally Posted by Paul Copioli

I can tell you this: we (148 + 217) created the ball magnet concept using only 9th grade geometry and 11th grade physics (1st semester).

It's really cool to know that this is something that I could do, with a little thinking and application of my physics homework. Note to self for next year, apply physics rather than "well, this SEEMS like it would work." 1-sentence inspiration, right there.

Again, way to go 148 (and 217). Seriously cool stuff, srs bizniz, kick-butt, whatever way you choose to describe it.

[JVN]

We're getting too much credit for the Ball Magnet. The Ball Magnet design is a 100% collaboration between 148 and 217. The Thunderchicken Prototype and Design teams are as good or better than their 148 counter-parts.

Every compliment that is paid to 148 should be echoed 10 times over to our counterparts up north. Years later, I still love the Thunderchickens!

-John

[Racer26]

Something tells me we need to fear 148/217 in Atlanta, and 1114 at all of our competitions... not that I wasnt ALREADY expecting that.

[GaryVoshol]

Hey everyone, you don't have to try to beat teams like 148 and 217 (and teams like 67, 1114, 45, etc. - whatever they come up with). All you have to do is be good enough that they want you on their alliance.

You've seen this; now think of what can you do to complement them, not try to oppose them. And give a few compliments along the line too.

[Aren_Hill]

Originally Posted by GaryVoshol

Hey everyone, you don't have to try to beat teams like 148 and 217 (and teams like 67, 1114, 45, etc. - whatever they come up with).

aww but thats the fun part

[Kims Robot]

Originally Posted by Dmentor

I’m progressing well this year through what I think of as the FRC equivalent of the Kübler-Ross model (commonly known as the five stages of grief). I imagine that there are many other folks going through this as well and hopefully we won’t dwell too much more on the negative aspects.

I think I did the exact same thing!!

But then I had thought's similar to Travis's

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

Don't cry [even virtual tears!] - everything's relative. 148 maximizes the output they get from the plentiful input resources they have, including human. If the output your team generates relative to your team's available inputs is near the same ratio as theirs, be proud of that achievement, as your results are no less impressive.

And Finally I went to look at the "older" robots from 148 & 217:
http://www.robowranglers.com/history/
http://www.thunderchickens.org/ (click on robots)

And realized that looking back to their first few years, they had silly little aluminum bar and PVC robots like the rest of us... 148 has been building & learning since 1992, 217 has been building & learning since 1999, thats 29 years of experience combined!! Why do I mention this? because they are doing what we all should... CONSTANTLY strive to be better every year. You can see it in the progression of their robots, and they came up with the idea of sharing that experience across teams. You can do infinitely better if you dont try to take on all of the work yourself and if you learn from other people's successes and mistakes as well as your own. I'm not saying all teams should co-operate, but for any of you that get that hit of jealousy that I did, just sit back and realize that we ALL can do this too... if we just strive to be better every year. Don't have the resources? GO FIND THEM!! If 1114 can get parts made in Texas, why cant an MD team get parts from CA?? Find resources, find really good engineering mentors, find money, constantly try to do better and do more, have patience, PRACTICE, and you CAN be 148 or 217 Use your jealousy as inspiration if you must!

But before you get stuck in the depression stage realize we are all inspiring kids... I bet those kids that took forever to mill a keyway will remember that for the rest of their lives, and are no less inspired. They may not have gained the depth or breadth of experience that a 148 student does, but our point is to get them to WANT to... to head off to college wanting to be THAT good.

Congrats to 148 & 217 for setting a really high bar for the rest of us

[nikeairmancurry]

Quick question Paul.. I was looking at the dates in which 148 and 217 are competing. Does this mean that for 5 straight weeks your going to be right in the middle of inferno of this game?

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by nikeairmancurry

Quick question Paul.. I was looking at the dates in which 148 and 217 are competing. Does this mean that for 5 straight weeks your going to be right in the middle of inferno of this game?

There's another Copioli behind the glass this year.

[galewind]

Can anyone from 148 get this up on Google video or put it on your site directly? Youtube is blocked from our school.

[Racer26]

Paul has historically joined us Canadians in Wk 4 at Waterloo Regional... I wonder if we're going to see him there paired up with Karthik as our emcees.

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by GaryVoshol

Hey everyone, you don't have to try to beat teams like 148 and 217 (and teams like 67, 1114, 45, etc. - whatever they come up with). All you have to do is be good enough that they want you on their alliance.

You've seen this; now think of what can you do to complement them, not try to oppose them. And give a few compliments along the line too.

Shh, you're spoiling my backup plan.

Every set of fingers needs a thumb...

[Racer26]

Agree. If you can't beat them, join them!

This year's tournament structure (with the weird seeding points none of us are used to), could yield a very different outcome than we're all used to.

It means that someone different could end up on top of the standings, and pick one of these powerhouses (148,217,1114,910,67,45,2056,etc) and upset their normal balance (for instance, the 1114/2056 perennial duo).