It has been a long time since the last post on this blog and there has been a lot to report since then. 2 games ago (Gateway, Sack Attack) and countless iterations of Freds V, VI and VII have passed. Former team member Zac has graduated and is now studying engineering in college. Freds V and VI travelled to Anaheim to compete in the World Championships and both performed admirably winning Create Awards and reaching the Divisional Finals while a part of the first seeded alliances. (trivia-Freds II through VI all share the distinction of having been part of the top seeded alliances at Worlds-an achievement we are very proud of.)
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| Fred VII |
2012-13 marked the first year for Leland to go it alone as the only student team member. Graduated team member James provided mentoring support and assistance from afar while at college. The Sack Attack season saw several
totally different variations of Fred VI. The final version was a robust defensive robot that had a 2 speed transmission and an 8 motor drive that was able to lift 30+ sacks at the end of the match with a rubber band powered lift. Its first and last tournament of the season was the World Championship in California.
Fred VII is now in the midst of the 2013-14 season . VII has competed in 4 local tournaments so far and has managed to win all 4 this year. Leland has won an award at each tournament this year as well (Design, Amaze and 2 Judges awards). There have been 4 major iterations so far and there are more to come. Fred VII is a do-it-all robot (as was Fred II and III). Leland is in the process of getting it to "do-it-all" a bit more efficiently. Fred VII is currently ranked 14th in the World in robot skills with the 7th highest score recorded (77) which was achieved in November of 2013.
2013-14 also brings our newest student member to the team. Lauren has joined us in her first year of robotics and has been assisting in an on field coaching role for Leland with 2 of our tournaments so far and will be assisting Leland in building when possible. Lauren is a junior at Quabbin Regional High School.
