Hello from China!!!

Hello from Hong Kong! Ivan and I were both in Heshan, China this past Tuesday, we were able have lunch and part of a tour of the vendor's facility together. Here we are on the vendor's shuttle that will take us to other parts of the campus. The weather was very cold (below freezing) and sunny that day.
Cheers!!!!

Wednesday and Thursday, too!

To make our goal of completing the chassis this week, we will be staying late on Wednesday and Thursday!

Monday! Monday! Monday!

Even though there aren't classes, we will be meeting from 9:00 to 2:00 on Martin Luther King Day!
Hope to see you there!

Parts & Pondering

On Saturday, we pondered ways to build the framework and bought upgraded wheels online.

Work Continues Slowly

Keep going gang!

Building Has Begun on Robot

This past Thursday the Tigerbytes started assembling parts for the robot and Friday's session was to continue and hopefully start on assembling a basic framework for the robot chassis.



Monday is the start of a new week and we really need to continue the momentum started on Thursday as there are Five weeks left before the robot is to be shipped - Ship date is February, 19th.

No Meeting/Work Session on Saturday

No work session on Saturday but we are on for after school on Monday.

The session on Thursday got the Tigerbytes working on gear drives and then the pizza dinner was a good time for team bonding. Several parents joined the group for pizza and it was great to have them come and be part of the team.

Thursday's Meeting and Pizza Dinner

Plan to attend the meeting and work session today. We will stay later until 7:30pm and have a pizza dinner for those who can stay. Your parents are invited to join us for the pizza and see the progress of the Tigerbytes.

If you are planning on joining for the pizza please sign up on the sheet with Mr. Fuller.

Areas of focus for today will be Robot Design and PR/Fundraising. The progress we make in both of these areas will determine if we will have a work session on Saturday. We really need to get the design of the Robot nailed down so the building can start.

Greater Kansas City FIRST Website

Check out the Greater Kansas City FIRST website - there is a link to it on the side of this blog page. There are some great pictures, videos and other information we can use as we are putting together our own PR and fundraising information.

Wednesday and Thursday Meeting Times

The Lincobotics team is going to meet Wednesday, January 9th in the afternoon. Students have early release that day and are encouraged to use the extra time that afternoon to read the competition manuals and or work with other team members on robot design. Mentors will not be able to attend until their usual time (no early release at work).

The team is also meeting on Thursday after school and will have an extended meeting/work session into the evening until 7:30pm. To stay late is optional and we will be providing pizza dinner.

We encourage team members stay for the full time if they can and also to invite their parents to join the meeting and pizza dinner as their schedules will allow - Pizza will be served after 6:00. (If your parents are coming to pick you up be sure to invite them to come after 6:00 and they can enjoy some pizza and see what is going on with the Tigerbytes.)

Mr. Fuller has a sign up sheet on his desk in his classroom - please sign up to let us know how many people to expect for the pizza dinner on Thursday.

Priorities Targeted for Robot Design

Tuesday's meeting after school was very productive and many team members were in attendance. The big group split up into three smaller teams and were asked to list out things about the robot that we should make key features or priorities when designing and building.

The small teams all came back together and each presented their lists to the whole group. After the teams presented there was discussion and voting by the big group and as a result five things have been identified as to what the Lincobotics team would like to have their robot be able to do in competition.

Those five things are listed in the image above and will give the team good direction for the next several meetings where the focus for the group will be to get into more detailed robot design.

Public Relations and Fundraising

We are looking for team members to help with team publications. We are currently working on creating a visual identity for the team but then will also need help to update the blog, work on the weekly newsletter, fundraising materials and other things like shirts, banners, pins, etc as we get closer to the competition.

If you are interested in helping in this area please contact David Adeola or Kari Walberg - or add a comment directly below this posting to let us know you are interested.

Weekly Pop Quiz

Do you know the answers to these five questions? If so list your answers in the comments section directly under this post.
Please include your first name or initials. There will be awards for answering quiz questions correctly and also for participating in this and future quizes. We will post a new quiz each week up until the competition.

HINT - All the answers are in the FIRST Competition Manual.

Schedule and Calendar for tigerbytes

We are in the process of getting a schedule and calendar posted here on this blog site to keep you all informed of when the team will be meeting and getting together to work on the robot.

Most school days the team will meet after school, about 3:00pm to 4:30pm (or later).

We are hoping to have the school open for the team to work together on Saturdays from 9:00am to 5:00pm.

No meetings at the school on Sundays.

This Wednesday, Jan 9th is early release for the students. We are planning on meeting and will keep you posted on details.

Thursday of this week, Jan 10 we are asking for everyone to meet after school for a full team meeting. Again, we will keep you posted on the details, but please plan on attending after school on Thursday.

Friday, Jan 18th is a Teacher Workday and no school for students that day. Monday, Jan 21st is Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and no school that day because of the holiday. We are hoping to make arrangements to have the school open at times during that long weekend to allow the team to continue working on the robot.

The link to the KCMSD calendar is posted at the side of this blog page for your reference.

Read the Rules!

An important thing for everyone on the team is to be familiar with the rules and regulations of the game, robots, etc.

There should be copies of the manuals in the team's room at Lincoln. The manuals are also on the FIRST website. There is a link to the FIRST Competition Manual on this blog page.

Things Get Rolling on Monday

Inflating the game ball that came in our kit was one of the first things done on Monday afternoon.

Can you figure out what Chris is doing down there? Join us to find out.

Tigerbytes Kickoff into Overdrive

The Lincobotics team (aka Tigerbytes) met this past Saturday, January 5 at 9:00 to watch the webcast of the FIRST Kickoff for the Spring 2008 Robotics Competition, "Overdrive".

This year's officers, VP-Chris, President -Tyler, Secretary - David, and Treasurer - Bria.

The team got off to a good start on Saturday by taking inventory of their kit of parts.

Check this blog for updates to the schedule and prgress the team is making to get ready for competition.