Sunday, March 30, 2014

Preparing for the VEX World Championship for the Final Time

It's hard to believe that this coming April will be our 6th and last time competing at the VEX World Championship. It seems like it was not so long ago when our little team was just entering its first tournament and being asked at the registration desk if they were truly "a real team".

On March 1st and 2nd Green Egg Robotics proved once again that it was "for real" and qualified for a spot at Worlds (times 4) by winning the New England Championship, the Excellence Award, the Robot Skills Competition and by finishing 7th in the World in robot skills.  These accomplishments topped off a great regular season for the team during which they have received many awards including: the Inspire Award, the Design Award, the Create Award, the Excellence Award, Judges Awards and the Amaze Award.  Team 44 entered 8 tournaments this year and won all 8.  This surpasses our previous team record of most tournaments won by 3 and was the most won by any team in the world this season.  Also, the team posted an overall record of 100-7-2 which was the most wins recorded by any team this season according to data from robotevents.com.

Leland has been hard at work since the New England Championship making changes to Fred VII which will take on a noticeably different appearance at the World Championships.  Changes to the drive train, the chassis, the shifter and the locking mechanism for hanging are all a part of the major overhaul.  The team t-shirt will take on a new look this year as well as our redesign is underway in preparation for worlds.  Above is a picture of the new front of the t-shirt featuring "Bob", the "fierce" robo-eggman who first appeared on Fred IV in 2011. The back of the shirt will be taking on a very different look this year. Pictures to come as the design is finalized.