2009 Season
Competitions: WA FTC Regional, Portland FRC Regional, Seattle FRC Regional
Rankings: FTC 22 of 25, FRC-OR 42 of 54, FRC-WA 35 of 64
Awards: MTHS presented us with their 2nd Rookie Inspiration award because we shared working with team Pronto, We earned the 2009 Website excellence award
The Year in Review: Over the Summer we did a pneumatic cannon conversion on ROY which made it able to shoot t-shirts. We used this at school to help recruit new members (until the District vetoed it). Also got the team website up and running. Reached our recruiting goal of doubling our members, working on getting the team organized. Voted in new officers - have all four main positions filled!
Team decided to participate in FTC for training and fun. Unfortunately our kit took FOREVER to arrive, so instead of a relaxed build, it turned a bit hectic, especially the last week (well, our new members had a taste of what FRC is like!) Despite setbacks we managed to build a fair machine, which we christened "King Louie". We learned quite a bit about design, programming and how to work together. Went to FTC regionals, but it got postponed half-way through the day because of problems with the new 'blue tooth' system. Only half the team could make the rescheduled FTC competition. We didn't score very high, but it was still a successful day for our team, because they managed to pull together to overcome several big problems to keep Louie on the field. They replaced a broken motor while missing supplies, remade missing programming files and dealt with several on field mishaps (arm and battery falling off). They kept up their spirits despite these setbacks and continued to show 'gracious professionalism' and team spirit.
FRC Kick-off: "Lunacy" is right! Team's gonna have to do some research on the physics of that low friction surface. Then there's the challenge of programming for a moving target, not to mention the robot size limitations - how do we bridge that gap? watch Lunacy video
The build went well. We got a basic design in the first week. Built the chassis and initial lift mechanism during week 2-4. Then we hit our first snag: overweight. We were going for 'robust' construction and forgot about the weight limit! After putting the robot on a crash diet over the weekend, we continued working on the hopper/ball delivery systems.
That 5 day weekend was a big help. Got the robot pretty much in the shape we wanted, then had the chance to give it a shakedown at Skunkworks the day before shipping. Found a few problems: we're too slow, the belts were slipping and balls hung up in a few places. A bit of a disappointment, but the good side was we had a day to make some improvements.
Went to Portland Regional. Converted the chassis drive system to full tank drive on Thursday to gain more speed. Unfortunately we found it difficult to use the side delivery system effectively and had some penalty point problems, so our ranking stayed low. Our highest point was 15th in the rankings. We learned a lot as a team from the experience and from watching the other teams. Even though we didn't make it into finals, we were feeling pretty good about our efforts. For a small 2nd year team with a lot of beginners, we did OK. 
Went to Seattle Regional. Again made major Conversions, this time changed the side delivery to a front delivery system. Actually scored some points. Our highest point was 8th in the rankings. We also significantly helped the Monroe team, who was across the aisle from us. Taylor got their programming working, and we loaned them several parts. We found that Violet has a major talent for 
approaching other teams. Erika got chosen for VIP tour guide duty and wound up organizing the tech school student tours (300 people, when no adult showed up to do so. Several judges were impressed with our logbook and the team in general. Even though we didn't make it to the seimi-finals or win an award, it was a solid effort and a step in the right direction. We learned a great deal and next year will be even better! A couple of weeks after Seattle, we got notified that we did get the 2009 Website Excellence status - way to go Bryan!
Ended the year with a team BBQ. Sad to have Erika and Taylor graduate to alumni status (good luck guys at college!), hope they'll consider becoming mentors or at least root us on at next year's competition(s)! 