coyote connection
edition 5
Crescent School's Robotics Program is the envy of many schools, and has become a signature hallmark of Crescent. It is also an expensive program to implement and maintain. In order to ensure the program's ongoing success and sustainability, Crescent is seeking modest financial support from the parents of those in the Robotics Program, [1]
and from the Crescent community. You might wish to provide a taxdeductible donation to help support the operational costs of the program. Please contact John Lynch, Director of Advancement, at (416) 466-4290 ext 242 or jlynch@crescentschool.org to discuss how your family can support Robotics with a taxdeductible gift. Thank you!
our second contest
first place prize - premium spirit package second place prize - spirit package third place prize - three buttons
the questions: what is the name of team 610’s rebound rumble robot? what was our highest score during the 2012 season? in which us states has team 610 competed in?
contest rules: to be eligible to win you must ‘like’ the team 610 facebook page to win a prize, send your answers to contestteam610@gmail.com we will have a contest in all remaining issues of the newsletter those who participate in at least three weekly contests until the final issue will have their names put forth to win an official 610 jersey
the contents of the awards: premium spirit package: team 610 hat, three rally towels, three buttons spirit package: three rally towels, three buttons three buttons: self-explanatory
students, mentors, and alumni of 610 cannot win a prize [2]
division feature: programming As the team enters the final stretch of the grade 9, Warfa’s knack for booleans and build season, the robot is beginning to come methods has helped create the advanced together. It’s one thing to build a robot that robots our team has been known to build. looks like one of the best in the world, but His extensive knowledge of Java for FRC and it’s an entirely different thing to make it his ability to troubleshoot is what brings our perform like one of the best in the world. code to the highest level of complexity and This is the challenge that the Programming efficiency. Warfa is poised to make an Division faces every year. Their job is to impact on this team during his final year as ensure that the robot can perform the tasks a 610 student, and we’ll surely need his that the team set out to achieve. Our programming prowess to succeed this year. programming division utilizes the Java programming language and a program Ian Lo is the Assistant Head of Programming called NetBeans to program the robot. The this year. The best part – he’s only in grade programming division works all 10! This not only shows that Ian is an season creating subsystem classes exceptional programmer, but he will for every part of the robot, such be around to program the robot for Like us on as the drivetrain and the 2 more seasons. Ian has been Facebook shooter. As well, they create instrumental in his division this facebook.com/team610 multiple commands that can year, and his already vast Follow us on be used in autonomous and knowledge of the robot tele-op, such as shooting. translates to cool new features Twitter There are also many sensors such as Kinect target tracking. twitter.com/ on the robot that the We are glad to have Ian on the frc_team_610 programmers can utilize to get programming team and look accurate values for every forward to seeing great things from subsystem command. The most him in the future. difficult job for the programming division is tuning the values that they use for all the At the start of the season, Scott took commands; these values are incredibly aninterest in the Kinect. He has been difficult to get perfect, and with only six working with mentor Mr. Lo on the Kinect weeks it seems nearly impossible, but our vision tracking using RoboRealm. A dedicated programmers work very hard to committed member, Scott has helped find the optimal values that will help the improve the Kinect Tracking Code to track robot perform properly. The programmers multiple objects with a push of the button. are the final piece of the puzzle that Continuing to learn more about the completes our robots. Mechanical builds the competition code, Scott is a valuable asset robot, Energy Systems prepares the robot to to the team. be used, and the Programming Division allows the robot to move and complete Jeffrey is another young, important member specific tasks. of the programming division. He is an astute programmer that contributes many As Head of Programming this year, Warfa important lines to our competition code. has been an effective leader of the division Devoted to making the subsystems move, that makes the magic happen. Ever since Jeffrey is a stupendous asset to our team. [3]
the home stretch We are in the final 10 days of build season and we have tracked the progress of every division thus far! Now is the time when all the work from each division begins to come together and create a masterpiece. The robot has made great progress so far. Nevertheless, the machines in the shop are running constantly, as we continue to refine and finalize our robot for this year. As a result, the lab is in a flurry as parts are machined, added to the robot, programmed and tested. As the design process reaches its end, we see how every part of the robot contributes to a much larger creation. Similarly, the contributions of every individual team member add to our success as a whole. The team’s first regional begins on February 28th, and we’ll be able to see the fruit of our labour in action. The most rewarding part of the entire FIRST process is seeing your creation the result of your crazy ideas, hard work and long hours succeed in competition. We hope that the work we put into this year’s robot will yield results as successful as last year, or even more. To achieve these goals, students will be spending more time in the lab after school and on weekends in an attempt to make the best robot we’ve ever built!
[4]
week 5 photos
[5]
BAE Granite State Regional February 27 – March 3 Manchester, NH
competition dates
Waterloo Regional (parents welcome) March 20 – March 23 Waterloo, ON
we would like to thank all of our parent sponsors for donating food Seto Family
Ravindran Family Riley Family
Rose Family Liu Family
Spevack Family DiMenna Family
Lang Family Chien Family
Bianchini Family Menon Family
Pearce Family
Ganguli Family Dhar Family
Harrs Family Haughton Family
McCauley Family Kachura Family [6]
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