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.

Catching Up

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.) 

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.

California, Here We Come

Fred V is on the way to Anaheim.  Safe travels everyone and we will see you soon.

-Team 44

Gearing Up!

Students Leland, Zac and Mentors James and Josef traveled up to Pembroke, NH yesterday to test out new improvements on Fred V.  The robot performed admirably in its last action before the 2012 VRC World Championship later this week in Anaheim, California.

Zac, Leland, Mentor/Coach James, Mentor Josef and Fred V

Fred V's Custom Track Mechanism

Fred V Undergoing Finishing Touches

Fred V Redefined in Connecticut Vex Championship Win

11 months, 5 robots and 2 tournaments after winning the 2011 Vex World Championship, Green Egg Robotics has found its identity for the 2012 Gateway season.  On March 25th, the team travelled down to Central Connecticut State University in New Britain for the  4th annual CTEA Connecticut Vex State Championship.  Student members Leland and Zac with support from mentors Josef and James guided Fred V (version 5) to its first VRC Championship of the season. 

Championship Alliance of Teams 902A, 677 and 44

GER was one of only 2 teams to go undefeated in the qualifying round in which 35 teams were competing.   Team 677 of Montclair , NJ., a perennial powerhouse from the mid-Atlantic region was the only other undefeated team and was seeded 1st at the end of the qualifiers.  They chose teams 44 (GER) and 902A from Mansfield Middle School to round out the alliance.  The group of 3 managed to win the finals in 2 matches over the talented alliance comprised of 30C from Montville Township High School, 5319A from Woodstock High School and 4680B from Somers High School. 

Team 44 won the Innovate award  for their robot Fred V and it's "out of the box" design.  Next scheduled: the 2012 VEX World Championship in Anaheim , CA on April 19-21, 2012.

Green Egg Robotics Welcomes Newest Student Member

Team 44, Green Egg Robotics is very happy to announce the addition of the newest student member to the team!  Zac Temple (aka. Diner Kid), a senior from Nashoba Regional High School and founder of Plan B robotics team will be joining GER for the 2012 Gateway season.  Zac brings with him an excitement and passion for engineering and robotics in addition to well-developed skills in design, programming and building.   Zac is a seasoned robotics competitor having succeeded at both the regional and World levels with VRC and at the regional level with FRC.

Welcome aboard Zac!

2011 Green Egg Robotics Highlights

It's here! The latest G.E.R. end-of-season video....

It was a season full of highlights for the team capped off with a tournament championship at the 2011 VEX Robotics World Championship.  James put together this highlight reel in a tribute to Fred IV and the VEX Round Up season.  Special thanks to all our sponsors to help make this possible.

Enjoy!  Click here for the newest G.E.R. video.

photo courtesy of Steve Rainwater, Vex Robotics

GER's Mecanum Wheels from VEX Parts

In a labor of love and a display of shear determination, Leland successfully created 4 customized 2.75" Mecanum wheels using a drill press, a band saw and several custom-made jigs.  Originally built for the 2010-2011 Round Up  game, the wheels were put aside early on in the season as the team changed plans to make way for their design for Fred IV, the eventual 2011 VRC World Champion robot.

Leland spent several days in the shop last fall with many highs and lows trying to create Mecanum wheels from VEX components before finally emerging with these 4 customized wheels designed to easily pass under the ladder rungs on the Round Up field.  Though not used for the 2010-2011 season, they may reappear in the future on a competition robot, but for now they can only be seen driving around in a YouTube video found here.

Green Egg Robotics 2011

Leland, James, Josef and Kieran prior to traveling to Vex World Championship in Orlando.

Green Egg Robotics Wins Second World VRC Championship!

FRED IV and his new metal "friends" from the World Championship

On April 16, 2011 Green Egg Robotics became the first high school team to have won 2 VRC World Tournament Championships. They now have won three world championship titles in three years having won the World Robot Skills title in 2010 along with a pair of World tournament titles in 2009 and 2011.  In addition the team won the Science Division Amaze Award this year for their unique design and construction of their robot Fred IV.  The 2011 event was held near Orlando, Florida at the Disney ESPN Wide World of Sports complex.  Over 10,000 participants competed at the college, high school and middle school levels.  416 of the top qualified Vex teams representing 10 countries competed this year at Disney in the high school division.

Before an energized capacity filled stands, the Green Egg captained alliance (WASABI and Simbotics M) from Science division battled the Math Division championship alliance of Voc. Antonio Luchetti-Advanced, The Pioneers and the DiscoBots D.  The series finished in 2 matches in the best of 3 series with the Science Division champions taking the title. Click here to see a video of the final match.


In 2010, Green Egg Robotics finished as World Finalists as the top placing US team and won the World Robot Skills Championship.  In 2009 the team won the VRC World Championship Tournament and were awarded the World Build Award.

This tournament capped a very successful driving, programming and building career for James who will be graduating from High School this year to attend college.  He may be back in a part-time mentor's role next year along with Josef.  Leland and Kieran will continue on with their roles as designers, builders and drivers.  They will be taking on programming as well next year.