Summer Events
June 5: Ann Arbor MakerFaire
10am - 5pm. Skyline Robotics and other local and regional Makers will show off their creations at the second Ann Arbor Mini Maker Faire June 5, 2010, at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds (aka "Saline Fairgrounds").
June 25-26: Michigan Advanced Robotics Competition (MARC)
42 FIRST teams including Skyline Robotics will compete in a off-season game of Breakaway using an official playing field. If you missed the 2010 competitions, here is your chance to see FIRST Robotics in action!
July 31 - Aug 1: Detroit Maker Faire.
Held at The Henry Ford, this event will include a full Breakaway game on an official playing field and many other fascinating exhibits.
What a Rookie Season!
After six weeks of intensive work on the robot, the Skyline Robotics Team faced its first test at the Ann Arbor District Competition, held March 12-13 at Skyline High School. This was the first year that Skyline High School hosted a competition and as the home team we wanted to make a good showing. On Friday many classes came to the gym to cheer us on and on Saturday many staff and families came and showed their support.
The results exceeded our wildest hopes. Out of 40 mostly experienced teams, we placed 8th in the qualifying rounds and advanced to the semifinals in the elimination rounds. We showed our team spirit by cheering wildly whenever our team number was called, using the team salute (fist to chest), giving out team buttons, and showing our standard, a bronze eagle on a pole. The combination of field performance and team spirit earned us the Rookie All-Star Award and Rookie Highest Seed Award, and qualified us for the State Championship at Eastern Michigan University April 1-3.
After the competition we had a strategy and planning session and made a list of improvements we wanted for the robot. We didn't like being pushed around, so we decided to use two drive motors on each side instead of one. We moved the soccer ball kicker to the short side and totally redesigned it for greater reliability. Our programmers worked on autonomous mode. But with only 6 hours work allowed on the robot between competitions, not everything was working.
Our next test was the Troy District Competition, March 26-27, at Troy Athens High School. This was a lesson in overcoming adversity. Students and mentors tore the robot apart between matches to trouble-shoot and repair a burned out motor and motor controller. Our programmers struggled to get autonomous mode working. But by the end of the competition we had a faster, stronger, and smarter robot. And we walked away with our second Rookie All-Star Award.
Our unexpected success at the Ann Arbor District Competition created a new challenge. The State Championship was not in the budget for this first-year team! We needed to raise $4000 by March 31 and we did, thanks to the generous support of friends, families, and the PTSO.
At State Championship, held April 1-3 at the Eastern Michigan University Convocation Center, we had the opportunity to compete with the best teams in the country. There are more FIRST teams in Michigan than any other state and the World Champion almost always comes from Michigan. We learned a lot from being around the more experienced teams. We didn't qualify for the World Championship this year, but we feel we had a great rookie season and are looking forward to next year.