Posted by Austin Martus.
Other on team #47 from son of pchs coach.
Posted on 4/11/2000 1:14 PM MST
Today one of my teachers said he watched the nationals on his tv over the weekend on comcast and said he saw a robot that was shaped like a wegde and made out of plywood and was close to the floor and was tipping people over. I’m just wondering if this is true and what team it was. I know this was the First competition because he saw the Chief Delphi Animation that had my name in the credits becaseu i help the team with it.
But i was wondering if anybody knew what team this was
and if it is an actual robot
austin martus
Posted by Ken.
Student on team #192, Gunn Robotics Team, from Henry M. Gunn Senior High School.
Posted on 4/11/2000 1:52 PM MST
In Reply to: Unusual robot posted by Austin Martus on 4/11/2000 1:14 PM MST:
I am not sure, but team 10’s robot is a small robot that’s about 1’ to 1.5’, and a shape of half the ramp and half a box. All it do is guard under opponent’s goal, and push around other robot…
Posted by Andy Grady. [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]
Coach on team #42, P.A.R.T.S, from Alvirne High School and Daniel Webster College.
Posted on 4/11/2000 1:54 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: Unusual robot posted by Ken on 4/11/2000 1:52 PM MST:
That would be Big Jimmy, from team 10
I loved that thing =)
Posted by Lora Knepper.
Student on team #69, HYPER (Helping Youth Pursue Engineering & Robotics), from Quincy Public Schools and The Gillette Company.
Posted on 4/11/2000 2:15 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: Unusual robot posted by Andy Grady on 4/11/2000 1:54 PM MST:
That does sound a lot like Big Jimmy…and Andy, you are not alone in loving that little bot!! I remember watching the broadcast of the KSC and seeing them, they made a huge it with my team as well ;o)
Lora
Posted by colleen. [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]
Coach on team #246, a FIRST-aholic, from John D. O’Byrant High School/Boston Latin Academy and NSTAR/Boston University/Wentworth Institute of Technology/MassPEP.
Posted on 4/11/2000 2:25 PM MST
In Reply to: Big Jimmy all the way!! =) posted by Lora Knepper on 4/11/2000 2:15 PM MST:
Big Jimmy was cool…
…and don’t forget the S.P.A.M. crew… they had a little wedge of a 'bot that was a tough fighter - I was amazingly impressed by their team and their attitude during all the matches (I heard their coach say to the crowd after a match where their motors started smoking ‘that’s us!! yeah!! if we’re going to be out here, we’re going to leave it on the field!’ (not exact quote but…)… anyway… it’s my creed to, fight hard, fight well, and never be afraid to leave pieces behind 
congrats to all
colleen
Posted by Patrick Seeney.
Student on team #469, Las Guerrillas, from Oakland Robotics and Lawrence Technological University and Magna Seating Systems, Nachi and Kuka Robotics.
Posted on 4/11/2000 4:00 PM MST
In Reply to: …and the SPAM team… posted by colleen on 4/11/2000 2:25 PM MST:
: Big Jimmy was cool…
: …and don’t forget the S.P.A.M. crew… they had a little wedge of a 'bot that was a tough fighter - I was amazingly impressed by their team and their attitude during all the matches (I heard their coach say to the crowd after a match where their motors started smoking ‘that’s us!! yeah!! if we’re going to be out here, we’re going to leave it on the field!’ (not exact quote but…)… anyway… it’s my creed to, fight hard, fight well, and never be afraid to leave pieces behind
: congrats to all
: colleen
You can thank the power of Cornelius for that smoking. They tried to take us down in a pushing match, i guess they found out fast, that we don’t lose. heh…
Pat
Posted by Andrew Rudolph.
Student on team NASA KSC/Michael Krop Senior High School from Michael Krop Senior High School sponsored by NASA Kennedy Space Centre.
Posted on 4/11/2000 4:37 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: …and the SPAM team… posted by Patrick Seeney on 4/11/2000 4:00 PM MST:
: : Big Jimmy was cool…
: : …and don’t forget the S.P.A.M. crew… they had a little wedge of a 'bot that was a tough fighter - I was amazingly impressed by their team and their attitude during all the matches (I heard their coach say to the crowd after a match where their motors started smoking ‘that’s us!! yeah!! if we’re going to be out here, we’re going to leave it on the field!’ (not exact quote but…)… anyway… it’s my creed to, fight hard, fight well, and never be afraid to leave pieces behind
: : congrats to all
: : colleen
We picked spam as our alliance partnerin the KSC regionals and they were AWSOME! they were the best Defensive robot out there and they were pushing the best of them and they were pretty fast too hey, and they spaminized the governor of florida, they got him to sign a SPAM bumper sticker and they put one on his back. They are the nicest coolest and a very hard working team out there.
Another robot with a harsh bite was 168 the flashbacks they had a really cool drive train and all 8 wheels were powered and last year they were a wedge bot at nats. Its all about D!
Andrew
Posted by James Jones.
Engineer on team #267, The Demolition Squad, from North Broward & St Andrews and Motorola.
Posted on 4/12/2000 10:40 AM MST
In Reply to: Re: …and the SPAM team… posted by Andrew Rudolph on 4/11/2000 4:37 PM MST:
I used to work at Pratt & Whitney and was on the SPAM team since they started 2 years ago. We were always short of designers (4 designers in '99) and machine shop support (1 machinist). Well, last year Pratt announced a major restructuring and that most of the jobs in South Florida were moving to Hartford, Conn. The team debated before the season about whether to continue but decided they would because of some very motivated and enthusiastic kids that were on the team. Well, one of their designers (myself) took a job at Motorola (and joined team 267) in Sept. so couldn’t help. Another one of their designers had to take over the controls programming. They were down to 2 designers (BTW one of those designers was my Dad who I had roped in the first year). Well the season started and my Dad had to go out of town on business for 2 1/2 weeks in Feb. and their machinist got the flu and was down for a while. Not to mention UTC (Pratt’s parent company) did not provide any funding as they had in previous years (NASA came through to help make up the shortfall). So, even though they had worked extremely hard they shipped a robot that had no working basket and lift system to deposit balls. They worked extremely hard all through KSC regionals but couldn’t get a basket system working. They were picked to go into the eliminations at KSC where they shut down my team (267) by keeping us and our alliance partner from scoring and causing us to burn out 2 FP motors which kept us out for the rest of the competition.
They wanted to make improvements after regionals but their machinist couldn’t get into the shop in the 2 day window so they decided to stay within the rules and didn’t fabricate much of anything. They decided they were going to be a defensive robot so came to nationals and fabricated a bunch of lexan armor and tried a bar chin-up system I think.
All during Regionals and Nationals they were very generous with their abundant tools and helped my team out of a jam more than once when we just didn’t have the right tools for the job. They were one of the best defensive robots out there and it was too bad they didn’t get picked. In a way I’m glad though because after KSC I didn’t want to have to play against them again!
Their future is also unclear since one of their last designers took a job with another company and many of their other members have jobs that are slated to move to Hartford sometime next year. With morale at Pratt what it is, I doubt they will be able to replace them.
Posted by Warren Boudreaux.
Engineer on team #180, S.P.A.M., from South Fork & Martin County High School and UTC/Pratt&Whitney/NASA.
Posted on 5/2/2000 7:54 PM MST
In Reply to: a little bit of the S.P.A.M. story! posted by James Jones on 4/12/2000 10:40 AM MST:
First, I want to thank Team 212 for the pick at the KSC regionals. It was a blast!
Second, I want to thank James Jones for the follow-up. I would, however, like to add a few comments of my own on this subject.
This year Team SPAM ran over many ‘speed bumps’ on the way to the Nationals. Funding and manpower were just two of them. But we managed to hang together as a team and come up with a good defensive robot. What I continually pointed out to the students was the fact that, despite the difficulties, we were able to field and compete a robot, and that is the important thing. Not winnning, not having money and lots of engineering and manufacturing support (though, those would be nice).
The important thing is that the TEAM, not just the engineers, designed, built, shipped, and competed a robot and that the students learned, I hope, a little bit more than just applications in math and science in the process. They learned that not every idea works the first time. They also learned that you don’t give up. You do the best with the resources you have at hand. AND YOU CAN HAVE FUN DOING IT.
I am proud to be associated with this team and the FIRST organization. Yes, the future is uncertain. Few people really know what they will be doing next January. I plan on working with a group of students on next years diabolical competition. I’m not sure where I will be working with those students, but I’m sure that I will be working with them.
Posted by Erin. [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]
Student on team #1, The Juggernauts, from Oakland Technical Center-Northeast Campus and 3-Dimensional Services.
Posted on 5/3/2000 6:38 AM MST
In Reply to: Re: a little bit of the S.P.A.M. story! posted by Warren Boudreaux on 5/2/2000 7:54 PM MST:
Warren-
I am glad to see that you looked at slight problems in such a positive light. The feeling a team has when they do the robot themselves is an overwhelming feeling of pride. This year, our robot had quite a bit of engineer help, but when the students pull together to run regular maintenance or fix what is broken, it makes me so porud that they can have 10 people all who have their hands on something in the robot, with no engineers involved.
When our team competed for the CDI, we built with no engineer help, and small bits and pieces of help from our teachers. Even though the robot didn’t actually function until after the picking had already happened (and we didn’t get picked), we were so proud when we actually found the problem and fixed it. We didn’t care that we didn’t get picked and we didn’t have the chance to win, we were porud that we built a working robot! YEAH! That’s all that mattered.
I really enjoyed your story, and I think you have alot to be proud of.
-Erin
Posted by Andrew Rudolph.
Student on team NASA KSC/Michael Krop Senior High School from Michael Krop Senior High School sponsored by NASA Kennedy Space Centre.
Posted on 5/9/2000 6:39 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: a little bit of the S.P.A.M. story! posted by Warren Boudreaux on 5/2/2000 7:54 PM MST:
WE had some good times at KSC didn’t WE?? Well I hope we can make it next year threes a charm aint it? Im proud to see that you guys keep such a positive outlook on the cometition in good and bad times.
Andrew Rudolph
Ram and SPAM!!
Posted by Dan.
Student on team #10, BSM, from Benilde-St. Margaret’s and Banner Engineering.
Posted on 4/11/2000 2:41 PM MST
In Reply to: Unusual robot posted by Austin Martus on 4/11/2000 1:14 PM MST:
That sounds a lot like Big Jimmy (our beloved little doorstop) but believe it or not there actually was another wedge there as well! I forgot which team but it was all plywood and very similar to Big Jimmy.
Did you guys know Big Jimmy was seeded 20th? Yeah, I know, how the heck did that happen? It was quite a bit of luck and some ole-fashioned defense. We didn’t expect to be in that position so I was up till 2AM trying to figure out who we would draft. Unfortunately very few top 16 teams allied and no one took a chance on us, so we were spectators. Good fun though.
:-Dan
Posted by Mike Kulibaba. [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]
Student on team #88, TJ², from Bridgewater-Raynham Regional and Johnson and Johnson.
Posted on 4/11/2000 3:06 PM MST
In Reply to: Unusual robot posted by Austin Martus on 4/11/2000 1:14 PM MST:
I believe their were two teams one was Big Jimmy and the other was from an All girl’s school and were a rookie team I believe there number was 462 or something. Maybe Archer school for girls or something like that, we allied with them in a match and posted a 20-11 win. They were a good robot. Thanks for everyone that participated
Kuli Team 88
Posted by Mike Bonham.
Other on team #343, Hamilton Career Center and Oconee Partnership, from Hamilton Career Center.
Posted on 4/12/2000 5:51 PM MST
In Reply to: Unusual robot posted by Austin Martus on 4/11/2000 1:14 PM MST:
On our web page we have part of the story of team 362 and their wedge shaped robot.
Check out the photo albums at http://www.hc-cop.com
: Today one of my teachers said he watched the nationals on his tv over the weekend on comcast and said he saw a robot that was shaped like a wegde and made out of plywood and was close to the floor and was tipping people over. I’m just wondering if this is true and what team it was. I know this was the First competition because he saw the Chief Delphi Animation that had my name in the credits becaseu i help the team with it.
: But i was wondering if anybody knew what team this was
: and if it is an actual robot
: austin martus