1086- Blue Cheese

We had a “grate” time at the Chesapeake Regional up in Baltimore this weekend and would like to give a huge thank you to all the volunteers and staff who put so much effort into organizing it for all the teams who attended!  Thanks to our awesome alliance partners and hard-working pit crew, we placed 18th overall and were waiting in the wings as a backup robot for the elimination rounds.  Luckily nobody had need of our services and the matches went off without a hitch!  We did very well at the Friday awards ceremony, taking home both the Excellence in Engineering and Spirit awards (we hope everybody had a “gouda” time doing the rollercoaster with us) along with a well-deserved Dean’s List award for our junior CAD expert Tyler Brayton.  Overall, it was an amazing weekend and we look forward to an even “cheddar” one at the World Championships in St. Louis!

We had a blast at Saturday’s Robot Rumble!

first-ers:

Dean Kamen and Google’s Light Bulb (by DaveWilsonPhotography)

(via halfway-to-infinity)

Interested in what Blue Cheese cooked up this year for Rebound Rumble? Well here she is, the lovely lady, Yarg!

Our 2012 robot, Yarg, is blue with a sparkle coat over the powdercoat with yellow accents. It features 9 jaguars to run our 9 motors, the most we’ve ever had! The robot also utilizes the small Vlair compressor and the Pneuaire plastic 44 cubic inch tanks.

Yarg’s shooter is a single wheel powered by 2 BaneBots 775s with an adjustable hood that is powered by a new AndyMark gearmotor. The hood is an innovative approach where the lexan slides on guides like a garage door. Yarg’s drivetrain is run with 4 cims on standard SuperShifters with 6’ 8” Plaction wheels. The robot’s intake is powered by a single fisher-price motor that powers a single bar intake with a secondary bar to assist into the uptake and the uptake is powered by a single fisher-price motor that powers 4 polycord belts.

But why Yarg? Yarg is a type of blue cheese found only in a certain place in the UK! Also, seeing as it’s the team’s 10 year anniversary and we used to be pirate themed, we wanted a name to echo and honor both our past AND present.

Yarg was recently awarded the Industrial Design award at the FRC Virginia Regional for her y-arm intake/bridge deployment system.

Thanks to everyone that came out to see us at the FRC Virginia Regional!

As a FIRST robotics team, 1086 Blue Cheese takes extreme pride in having a team comprised of over one-third young women who aren’t afraid to tie up their hair and get their hands dirty.

Special shout-out to our safety captain, Shyanne who was declared the Pit Safety Star of the Day at the FRC Virginia Regional tournament!

1086 is proud to return home with two new awards under our belt: Congratulations to our business sub-team for helping us claim the Entrepreneurship Award and congrats to our excellent design committee for helping up bring home the Industrial Design Award! We were also quarter finalists alongside team 2890 The Hawk Collective, also winners of the Spirit Award, and Team 900 Zebracorns!

What are these awards about?

Entrepreneurship: This award celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit and recognizes a team which has developed a comprehensive business plan in order to define, manage, and achieve team objectives. This team displays entrepreneurial enthusiasm and the vital business skills to ensure a self-sustaining program.

Industrial Design: The Industrial Design Award celebrates form and function in an efficiently designed machine that effectively addresses the game challenge.

2402 Robojackets:

1086 Blue Cheese couldn’t ever be prouder of our partner, 2402. After a strong build season partnership and friendship, 2402 emerged as one of the top seeded teams for alliances as the 7th seed captain. With just 5 members, they showed the regional that you don’t need an army of students, mentors, and sponsors to succeed. We love you guys.

first-ers:

148 triple balances to win the match at Alamo!

Source: firsterfalcon

The team hosted a demonstration at Colonial Trails Elementary last Thursday the 19th! Plenty of kids showed up and had a ball with our ball-bouncing robot, Cheddar! Thank you to everyone who came out and helped spread the word of FIRST and STEM with the next generation!