Science, Technology & and Boo!

A number of team members participated in STEMFest at NIU this weekend.  Got to play robots with five other FIRST FRC teams and shared the impact of STEM education and activities with a great audience and connected with a Lego League team from Dekalb.  

This coming weekend, Winnovation will be helping the village at the Scarecrow Fest on Saturday in downtown Winnebago.  We've also relocated our Haunted Maze to the Village Hall.  Stop by and say hi this weekend.

And, last but not least, the mini bot game will be released on Saturday October, 27.  Look for details here and on the team update page.  

What Offseason?!?

As usual it's been a busy and productive summer for Winnovation FIRST Team 1625:

• Hosted week-long "Legos, Slime and Other Things" camp for elementary and middle school kids from the area.  More than 25 participants enjoyed hands-on science activities (some disguised as a whole lot of FUN!)
• Hosted a jam-packed robotics workshop for more than 100 robotics geeks from Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana.  Topics included programming, strategy, animation, communication and team-building.
• Family campout - even though it was VERY hot 30 or so parents and kids enjoyed boating, swimming, campfire, charades.
• Weekly work sessions at the shop - clean up is slow and tiring, but we're working hard at organizing (though it looks more like disorganizing most of the time) the shop to be a more efficient workspace during build season.

We still have several "play dates" coming up:

• August 11 - MontgomeryFest
• August  16 - Winnebago County Fair, Moss Hall from 2pm - 3pm
• Sept 1 - On the Waterfront Robot from 12pm - 4pm

Team meetings Monday nights, yes even during the summer.

Results and Upcoming Competition

On March 9th and 10th, Winnovation FIRST Robotics Team 1625 competed at the Lake Superior Regional, Duluth, MN.  This year's game of Rebound Rumble involves shooting foam basketballs into basketballs hoops at 3 levels along with balancing on a bridge at the end of the match for bonus points.(see pictures)  Winnovation's robot performed well being driven by Arthur Siebel and Seth Lightfoot.  Luke Didier served as Human Player, returning scored basketballs to the field.  Through Qualification Matches the team was 8-1, ranked 3rd of 64 teams going into the draft.  During the quarter-final matches, Winnovation ran into some tough defense from a team from Appleton, WI, and was eliminated from competition.

On March 23 and 24, Winnovation will again compete at Rebound Rumble at the University of Illinois-Chicago Pavilion, 525 S. Racine, Chicago.  52 teams will be in attendance from 7 states and Mexico.  The team is making some improvements to a few components of the robot to prepare for this competition.  16 rookie teams will also be competing, includingl 3928 from Ames, IA mentored by 1625 alumni Tony Milosch and Aren Hill.  Team 4096 from Champaign has been mentored by alumni Becca Nothof.  Competition is free and open to the public and will run from 8:30am-5pm, Friday and Saturday.  The team promises an exciting time and hopes you will come cheer them on.  Webcast information will be posted on the team website,www.team1625.com.

Pictures provided by team member, Ian Haynes.

Congratulations Team!

FIRST Team 1625 was recently awarded an In Youth We Trust Grant from the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois.  This generous $1,650 grant will be used to enhance the team's "Lego, Slime, and Other Fun" summer camp for elementary and middle school students.

The funds will be used to purchase reusable electronics kits and other consumable supplies to expand and enhance the curriculum of our week-long day camp.

Special thanks to the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois for their support of this educational effort.  To learn more about CFNI's In Youth We Trust program, visit their website.

Thanks to all our family, friends, and community supporters who came out to the 'Bot Shop on a sunny Sunday afternoon to see Winnovation's 2012 robot in action.  The team was able to show off a fully functioning robot, putting the drive team, program, and mechanical systems through their paces.  Our friends from Belvidere, The Flaming Monkeys, FIRST Team 3352, were able to join us late in the afternoon to share some time on the practice field.

And, as if we weren't busy enough trying to finish the robot by end of day Tuesday, February 21, we sent two groups of students out for community education on Saturday, February 18.  Team members participated in the Discovery Center's annual Discover Engineering event (sponsored by Illinois Society of Professional Engineers).  Another set of students headed to the Students Involved in Technology conference and led interactive brainstorming workshops with elementary and middle school students.
We'll wrap up things at the shop Tuesday night as we finalize the robot for "ship" - we actually seal it in a huge plastic bag.  The team will take a few days off to catch up on sleep and homework before we start prepping for the Lake Superior Regional in Duluth, MN on March 9 - 10.

Week of January 23

Special thank you to our alumni who spent a lot of time at the shop during their Winter Break - Nathan A., Jake C., Dillon C., Carrington H., Becca N., Ross K., Stephen H., Aren H.  Looking forward to seeing some of you at Duluth and/or Chicago.  Enjoy your Spring semester!  (I'm sure I missed someone, it was not intentional.  PK)

Having Fun at the Shop!

Since kickoff on January 7, 2012, we've had a lot of fun - checking out the kit of parts, brainstorming, and building the practice field.  Like what you see?  Stop by and join the fun.  M-F 3:30pm - 9pm, Sat 10am - 10pm, Sun 1pm - 5pm.

Thanks to Ian H. for the awesome photos.

Week of November 14

This Week's Schedule

• Monday
• Open Shop 3pm - 7pm (Adults - Mrs. Siebel, Mr. Johnson, Jeremy)
• NO TEAM MEETING
• Tuesday
• Open Shop 3pm - 7pm (Adults - Mrs. Asner, Jeremy)
• Animation 3pm
• Wednesday
• Open Shop 3:30pm - 7pm (Adults - Mr. Hedlund, Mrs. Kahler, Jeremy)
• Website 5pm
• Lego League
• Thursday
• Open Shop 3pm - until picture time (Adults - Karen)
• Team Picture 3:40pm at WHS - wear team shirt
• Winter Sports Kick Off 6pm at WHS- wear team shirt

Community Service - With 13 enthusiastic rakers we took care of two yards in just two hours and still had a lot of fun. It was a beautiful day on a busy weekend, thanks to everyone who joined us.

Flapjack Challenge - Mini-bot work needs to continue.  Check with your team lead on when your team will meet.  There are less than three weeks left!. 

Basket Raffle - Please let Val Hong and/or Denise Eilers know of your donations for the basket raffle and bake sale. 

Miscellaneous

• Let Karen know if you need more pancake tickets. 
• If you still owe money for team shirts, please bring it to pictures/Winter Sports Kick Off on Thursday.  Karen should be able to pick up the extra shirts that were missed the first round and have them Thursday.

Week of September 19

Open Shop this week - 3pm - 7pm Mon - Thurs, 3pm - 4:30pm Friday.

Monday, September 19 - TEAM KICK-OFF meeting is at 7pm Monday night in the cafetorium. New updated Team Handbooks will be handed out and reviewed. Consent forms need to be signed and district extra-curricular forms completed if necessary.

Friday, September 23 - Load IRI robot for HarvestFest

Saturday, September 24 - Playing LogoMotion at HarvestFest in Milwaukee. The Kahlers and Asners will be transporting the robot and students. Seth L., Arthur S., Bryan O., Jacob K., Scott B., Owen A., Jacob A., and Noah W. are signed up at this time. Mentors Jeremy T. and Kellen H. are also going. Meet at the Bot Shop at 6am. We will return to the Bot Shop around 8pm. Bring $$ for food. Matches start at 10:15am; elimination rounds are scheduled to begin at 3:45pm. Event ends at 5:30pm.

Friday, September 30 - Winnovation will be working concessions at the Homecoming Football game. We need 1 more adult for JV game, and 6 more adults for Varsity game.

• 4:30pm for JV: John Cox, Brian & Mindy Brown, John & Mona Siebel, Todd Eilers, Mike & Linda Hedlund, Carrie Asner, Gary & Trish Lightfoot, Don & Polly Kahler (Trailer). Need 1 more adult.
• 6:30pm for Varsity: Steve Freeman, Michele Thorn, Tom & Lana Daly, Val Hong, Denise Eilers, Scott & Karen Hill. NEED 6 more adults.

SEE YOU MONDAY AT WHS Cafetorium, 7pm!!