and away we go!

hello!
it's strange to think that season's already started -- sixth year!

yesterday was kickoff. the challenge this year is essentially a modified soccer game with "bumps", and a "finale" involving robots elevated onto platforms. here's a link to a youtube of the animation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEHAj3EmpMw

caroline, anna m, anne, and i [sherri] went down to sj at the crack of dawn to receive the challenge and get the kit of parts. we came back to school and kicked off with the larger team and community at noon. i definitely think it was the biggest kickoff yet! over fifteen new team members showed up. we had an initial brainstorming session which we are continuing today. yesterday, we also inventoried the kit of parts, began to read the manual, and began to set up for labview/downloading.

this morning, we outlined major dates and guidelines. we want to have a design review sometime in the 17th-19th, actually choose a design, especially for drive train, by the 22nd. sometime early in season, we need to actually make a decision: do we want a gripper/elevation thing or not? we don't want another scotty-situation.

allie is going to create a twitter account for us.

we have a list of tasks/jobs that need to be done, especially things that underclassmen can do...
blog -- shreya
inventory robotics lap?
bill of materials
"manual expert" -- anna m
cart -- sarah r
picasa/photos -- teresa
junior safety captain?
youtube scout -- victoria
bumpers
game components

and off we go! thank you to ms mourad, the mentors who came yesterday, and all the parent support. we couldn't do it without you. let the madness begin.