Exothermic Robotics, Explorer Post 2036
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General Information
Exothermic Robotics
Current Sponsors
Parents of Exothermic Robotics
Current Year (2009-2010)
FTC Team 417, Exothermic Blue Sun, Robot Whiffle Ball Tony (3rd year, was VEX FTC/FTC 417)
This team is a mixture of veterans and rookies, and is once again drawing on the expertise that led them to two regional finals and four trophies in 2009.
Members
Competition Results Semifinalist, Bellevue 2009
Awards
Design Award, Bellevue 2009
Robot(s)
Whiffle Ball Tony is a holonomic drive robot with a front pickup, top storage, and single-wheel back-spin launcher. It can shoot at the outside baskets from maximum distance.
FTC Teams 418 and 575 -- Currently on hiatus for 2009-10
VRC Team 575, Team Haiku, Robot Gutwrench the Horrible (4th year, was FVC 3632, then FVC/VEX FTC/VRC 575)
With five team members returning from the successful 2008-9 season, this team went into the year with solid construction skills, a new driver, and a new programmer.
Members
Leader and Coach: David T Drivers: Matthew and Micah Programmer: Paul Scouts: Stefan, Ranjan
Competition Results Won 44, lost 12 (before Worlds)
- 1 Alliance Captain, semifinalist, Redmond Jump Start, Nov. 2009
- 1 Alliance, finalist, Vancouver Season Opener, Dec. 2009
- 2 Alliance, finalist, Vancouver Island, Jan. 2010
- 1 Alliance Captain, winner, Robot Skills Winner, Washington Championships, Feb. 2010
- 1 Alliance, winner, Excellence Award, Vancouver BCIT "A" tournament, March 2010
Awards Build Award, Redmond Jump Start, Nov. 2009 Finalist Award, Vancouver Season Opener, Dec. 2009 Innovate Award, Vancouver Island, Jan. 2010 Excellence, Vancouver BCIT "A" Tournament, March 2010
Robot(s) Gutwrench I: holonomic drive, front scooper, innovative "fabric stretch" dumper, 4-motor drive (Jump Start) Gutwrench II: 6WD with dropped centers, belt lifter, big-box dumper, 4-motor drive (Vancouver Season Opener) Gutwrench III: 6WD with dropped centers, pitchfork lifter, big-box dumper, 4-motor drive (Vancouver Island) Gutwrench IV: 4WD, 2.75" wheels, 6-motor drive, roller feeding back dumper (Washington, BCIT, Worlds)
VRC Team 10A, Team TBD, Robot TBD (2nd year, was VRC 419)
With one returning member from the very successful 2009 419 team, 10A went into 2010 with enthusiasm and experience.
Members
Leader: Mercury H, Robin, Patrick, David L, Matt
Competition Results Undefeated in qualifying, seeded second and #2 alliance captain, Vancouver Season Opener, Dec. 2009
Awards
Robot(s) Unnamed, holonomic drive on 2.75" wheels, front scoop, "fabric stretch" dumper
VRC Team 10Q, Team Exothermic Salsa, Robot TBD (3rd year, was FVC/VEX FTC/VRC 417)
In its third year as a mostly-girls team, this World Championships team started the year with an experienced programmer, talented mechanical skills, and the graduation of two-thirds of their drive team. Their goal for the year was to build another great robot and train up drivers to match.
Members
Leader: Tara, Maya, Raluca, Sophia, Kevin, Edward
Competition Results
Awards
Robot(s)
VRC Team 10C, Team TBD, Robot TBD (rookies)
One of the Exothermic all-rookie teams, they will need to move fast to keep up.
Members
Cole, Tyler, Adam, Jan, Alex, Tom
Competition Results
Awards
Robot(s)
VRC Team 10D, Team TBD, Robot TBD (rookies)
One of the Exothermic all-rookie teams, they will need to move fast to keep up.
Members
Leader: Derek, Peter, Atanas, Kurt, Kevin Z, Maxine, Erin, Ellie
Competition Results
Awards
Robot(s)
VRC Team 10E, Team TBD, Robot TBD (rookies)
This all-female all-rookie team started the year knowing they have big shoes to fill after the results posted by the all-girls VRC 417 last year.
Members
Leadre: Kavitha, Gabriela, Anna, Netania, Kunjal
Competition Results
Awards
Robot(s)
VRC Team 10F, Team TBD, Robot TBD (second year, was VRC 420)
This team spends the fall as FTC 417, then switches to VRC for the rest of the year. Losing only a couple of members to graduation, they add some new faces but started the competition season with talent and experience.
Members
Leader: Zach, Brian, Jillian, Sam, Ricky, Andrew
Competition Results
Awards
Robot(s)
VRC Team 10X, Team TBD, Robot TBD (formerly 419, second year)
Starting with three veterans from the 2009 419 team that went to World Championships, this team added some fresh blood to start the 2010 season.
Members
Leader: Tommy, John, Kevin, (the three new guys who Tommy needs to write on his team list!)
Competition Results
Awards
Robot(s)
VRC Team 10Z, Team TBD, Robot TBD (was FVC/VEX FTC/VRC 418)
One of our oldest teams, and the only one to have gone to both FTC and VRC World Championship events, these students have a big challenge having lost all but one team member to graduation. Bettering last year's third-place finish at World Championship is their early-season goal.
Members
Leader: Tyler, Arjun, Ben, Chuong, Conor, Pramad
Competition Results
Awards
Robot(s)
History
Year 3, 2008-2009
Club nickname: Exothermic Robotics Club
Club slogan: It was on fire when we got here.
Unofficial Slogan: “stop STOP STOP!” (Anyone who has worked with competition robots doesn’t need this explained.)
Team numbers: FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) teams 417, 418, and 575 and VEX Robotics Competition (VRC) teams 417, 418, 419, 420, 575, and 1899.
Club Symbol: Bright yellow-green shirts with a cartoon robot and a lot of flames.
Club officers: President, Micah Z; Vice President for VRC, Paul C; Vice President for FTC, Zach L; Chief Scout, John D.
We competed in five regional competitions this year: the Washington and Vancouver FTC Championships, the West Vancouver VRC, the Gladstone Open VRC event, and the Washington VRC event. The VRC robots played “Elevation” and the FTC game was “Face Off.” We bought a complete field, including control electronics, and bought and/or built complete game component sets for both VRC and FTC.
Season sponsors:
LexisNexis Applied Discovery (http://www.applieddiscovery.com)
Redmond High School PTSA
Brick Journal (http://www.brickjournal.com/news)
Parents of Post 2036
Microsoft Employees
FTC Team 417, A SECRet
This team built a large capacity, dual-sided feeding, scissors-lift dumper, designed to dump up to three trays of pucks into a hopper and then empty them into the center goal. While rookies to FTC, they were experienced FLL robot-builders and they took to medium-sized robots like ducks to a pond. Their robot was a fierce scoring machine that could run and block, too.
The members of this team were team leader Zach L, Eric H, Andrew F, Anders B, Jill S, Mike W, and Sam D.
Awards
Vancouver, BC, FTC Tournament: Tournament Finalist, Innovate Award, Alliance Captain
Washington State FTC Tournament: Tournament Finalist, Build Award, Alliance Captain
FTC Team 418
This team built two unusual robots. For the first cancelled Washington tournament they built a walking robot, and for the second try at the Washington event, they built a very fast, very small robot called the Mousebot. Unfortunately, the high speed combined with the small chassis produced a robot that was almost impossible to control and the robot didn’t do well in competition. Both of these robots were done more for the fun of it than to be competitive, and the members of this team also worked on other robots. Key members of this migrant team were team leader Walker L, Zach L, and Eric H.
FTC Team 575, Team Camelids
Team Camelids was comprised of the VRC Team 575 gang, plus Elijah and Hailey, who joined mid-season to work on this robot. FTC 575 only competed at the first cancelled Washington event and the “makeover” event in February. Their simple front-loader robot did well enough to team up with 417 and go all the way to the finals. Due to intense time pressures getting their VRC robot done for the Gladstone Open the next week, final development and autonomous software for this robot were not quite done by the time of the event, or they could have done better. See VRC 575 for a list of other team members.
Awards
Washington State FTC Tournament: Tournament Finalist
VRC Team 417, Team Salsa, Robot Cube Dude
Team Salsa is an all-girls team that were all rookies this year. Working with Mr. Reynolds, they built a sophisticated 2-joint arm that was the first of our Elevation robots to reliably score two goals in auto. Members of this team were Quinn T, Maya B, team captain Raluca I, Tara B and Ruchi. After struggling at both of the Vancouver tournaments, never quite getting the hang of their complex arm, this team won the Programming Skills Champion Award in Redmond, earning a position at Worlds, where they competed with a brand-new robot. They went 1-5 in qualifying at the tournament, having some tough luck. Their robot was the fastest on the team, and possibly the fastest of all 261 robots at the tournament.
Awards
Washington VRC Tournament, Redmond: Programming Skills Challenge winner
Robot (as seen at Worlds)
12" long, 14" wide, four wheels, six-motor drive, 2.75" solid and omniwheels, dual tank-track belts, twin towers, arm lift 60:12, drive 48:15. Weighed 3.5kg or 7.8 pounds.
VRC Team 418, Team Eye, Robot Retina
Exothermic Eye competed with a large, complex robot for their first two tournaments. Having dealt with a variety of challenges getting this robot to work properly, they took it apart seven days before the upcoming Redmond tournament and built a new robot for the tourney, where they excelled. They were the captain of the Tournament Champion Award alliance, and won the Amaze Award and the Robot Skills Championship, for a double-qualification to World Championships. This team is Tyler N, leader Javid H, Ashoat T, Jonathan S, Rishi G, Sean F, Alex V, and Josh O. Their robot from Redmond went on to World Championships largely unchanged, where they had a great tournament. They went 5-1 in qualifying and went on to be an alliance captain. With only one person returning from last year and the rest rookies, this team had a fine season.
Awards
Washington VRC Tournament, Redmond: Tournament Winner, Alliance Captain, Amaze Award, Robot Skills Challenge Winner
VRC World Championships, Dallas: Technology Division Finalist, Alliance Captain, Winner of Third Place Trophy, finished in top 10 in the Robot Skills Challenge with a score of 54
VRC Team 419, Team Moving Stairs, Robot Otis HYPE
Their robot did well at West Vancouver in December, going into the elimination rounds. This team won a Tournament Finalist Award at the Gladstone Open tournament in February, after going undefeated in qualifying. They went on to win a Tournament Champion Award at Redmond in March, teaming up with 418 to earn our club’s first tournament win. An all-rookie team, they made major changes in their robot for each competition. Their world championships robot only looked a little like the one that was on the first place alliance at Redmond. This team is John D, Josh G, Kevin B, Mercury H, Tommy C, Taylor G, Walker L, and Hailey A. They competed at the World Championships, where they went 2-4, including two tough matches where opposing robots pulled out some of their control cables.
Awards
Gladstone Open VRC, Vancouver, BC: Tournament Finalist, Alliance Captain
Washington VRC Tournament, Redmond: Tournament Winner
Robot (as seen at worlds)
Four wheels, two 4" omnis, two 4" regular, short wheelbase, six-motor drive, 11 pounds
VRC Team 420, Team Secret, Robot A Secret
Team 420 is made up of our FTC team 417, who decided to build a VRC robot just three weeks before the Redmond tournament, and worked hard to get their robot done in time. It was fast and effective – and very, very small. It was called “Mousebot.” They built a new robot for the World Championships, using a flat 4-bar-link lifting a dual-tank tread cube gripper to reach all the goals. Spectators thought it looked like a snake striking out the grass. They could do any of the scoring moves the game required, including sucking cubes from the autoloaders. They went 3-3 in qualifying and were selected for an eliminations alliance where they went to the quarterfinals.
VRC Team 575, Team Haiku, Robot Haiku
This is our “senior team” (even though none of them are seniors this year) because they are our most experienced Vex team. They made continuous improvements to their robot after Gladstone, and added at least 20 pounds of software before VRC Worlds. This team is leader David T, Paul C, Ranjan P, Preetum N, Micah Z, Ben W, Arjun N, and Gary M. At Worlds, they had a tough schedule and only went 2-4 in qualifying. They were selected for an eliminations alliance and lost in the quarterfinals.
Awards
Vancouver BC VRC Tournament: Amaze Award
Gladstone Open VRC, Vancouver, BC: Excellence Award, Tournament Finalist, Programming Skills Challenge Winner, Sportsmanship Award Winner
Washington VRC Tournament, Redmond: Tournament Finalist, Support Award
VRC World Championships: Think Award Winner, Second Place Programming Skills Challenge (their preliminary round score of 37 was the highest at Worlds), scored 58 points in the Robot Skills Challenge, Science Division Quarterfinalist
Robot (as seen at Worlds)
12" long, 12" wide, four wheels, six-motor drive, 2.75" solid and omniwheels, dual tank-track belts, twin towers, arm lift 84:12, drive 36:12. Weighed 3.725 kg or 8.2 pounds.
VRC Team 1899, Saints Robotics, Robot TrashBot
In the middle of the season, Exothermic Robotics visited FRC team 1899 just before they shipped their big robot. Some of the members of 1899 got curious about our Vex robots, and ended up joining Exothermics and starting VRC team 1899. Team members were Dennis L, Franklin S, Eric S, and leader Edward J. They competed successfully at the Redmond event with a simple track-lifting robot, and then built a novel holonomic drive robot for the Vex World Championships. They were very successful at worlds, racking up a record of 5-1-0 and going on to be an alliance captain in the Eliminations. A very impressive result for a team with a total of 10 weeks of Vex experience.
Robot (as seen at worlds)
Four 4" omni wheels, holonomic drive on a square chassis, four-motor drive, 3.5 kg or 7.8 pounds
Other Odds and Ends
All six of our robots competed at the Vex Worlds. Two of our three FTC robots competed in regional finals matches.
Thirty-four students and fourteen adults traveled to Dallas for the Vex Worlds
Of our forty students, only eight are graduating this year.
The technical mentors were Rick Tyler, Bruce Reynolds, Chris Culler and Haji Habibi. Non-engineering mentors included Heidi Lovett, Carolyn Davids, Jean, Shannon Nagamine, and Melinda Tyler.
Our primary sponsor this year was LexisNexis, which allowed us to use their facilities and provided sponsorship money. Other major sponsors were the Redmond High School PTSA, Brick Journal Magazine, and the parents of Post 2036.
Since we sponsored the Redmond VRC event this year, we may not run our off-season event. We are still talking.
Year Two
Year 2, 2007-2008
Club nickname: Exothermic Robotics Club
Club slogan: It was on fire when we got here.
Team number: We started the year with FIRST VEX Challenge (FVC) teams 417 and 418, and added 575 when we had more students join.
Team logo: A cartoon-style robot drawn by Scott MacDonald, a volunteer at LexisNexis.
We competed in the Bellevue FIRST Vex Challenge Competition. The game was “Quad Quandry.” This was the first year we bought our own floor tiles. We still couldn’t afford to buy a competition field, but we did build four goals and had a complete floor for the first time.
Team 417
This team built “Captain Hook” a powerful, heavy robot designed to grab a movable goal with a claw, and then drag it around the field putting rings on the spike. Hook was a fierce competitor and did very well in the competition, making it into the semifinals with 575, taking the competition to three matches. Their alliance lost to an all-Canadian alliance. The members of this team were Saul R, Eric H, Cravixtha A, Evangeline J, and Rebecca J. Everyone on this team except Eric graduated in 2008. All went on to college.
This team won the Innovate Award at the Bellevue FVC event, for having a creative solution to playing the game.
Team 418
This team built “Chopstix” a fast, maneuverable robot with our team’s first 4” omniwheels. Chopstix did very well in the competition, making it into the finals with before losing to an all-Canadian alliance. In recognition of their success on the field, their teamwork, and their engineering approach, 418 won the Inspire award for having the best robot at the competition. The members of this team were Cody M, Richard P, Joel C, Rishi G, and Kris K.
This team won a Regional Finalist award and the Inspire Award at the Bellevue FVC event. 418 was our first team to be invited to a world championship event, and they traveled to the Atlanta FTC tournament where they finished mid-pack in a field of 50 championship robots.
Team 575
This team built “Plan B” a fast, maneuverable robot with small wheels. After abandoning their first design just 12 days before the tournament, this team built “Plan B” in a little more than a week. Despite obviously having great potential, the bugs were not worked out by the end of the year, and 575 partnered with 417 in the elimination rounds, losing in the semifinals. The members of this team were David T, Preetum N, Paul C, Micah Z, Ranjan P, and Alex. This team did not win any awards at the Bellevue tournament.
Other Odds and Ends
The Mentors were Bruce Haley, Rob Krasser, and Rick Tyler.
Our primary sponsor this year was LexisNexis, which allowed us to use their facilities and provided sponsorship money.
This was the second year we sponsored the “Robothon” scrimmage, where 575 and 417 teamed up to win the 12-robot event. They were happy that they had finally worked the bugs out, but the dreaded and feared Canadian contingent did not attend. This was the first year we recruited members from Redmond High School and started a beautiful friendship with Pete Saxby, physics teacher.
Awards won:
417: Innovate Award
418: Inspire Award, Regional Finalist Award
Year One
The first year, 2006-2007
Team nickname: The Combine (from the game Half Life).
Team number: We were team 3632, but we also picked up team number 3367 (see below).
Team logo: An International Harvester Combine Harvester being driven by a Combine (the game) soldier.
We competed in the Bellevue FIRST Vex Challenge Competition. The game was “Hangin’ Around.” This was the first year FIRST allowed anyone to sign up for this new game, as 2006 was a limited-release pilot program. This is the year we chartered Explorer Post 2036.
We built our main robot “Otis” which had a tank tread lifter which sucked softballs off the field and placed them on a tray on top of the robot. The tray then elevated to place the balls into the highest goal. Otis was heavy and powerful, but we hadn’t yet learned the trick of building big robots that maneuvered well, so it struggled to turn on the foam mat floor. Despite clicking clutches and frustration, Otis made it into the semifinals.
We also built “The Goat” as a fooling-around robot. We took it along to our first competition just to show it off. The tournament was small that first year – only about a dozen teams – and there were a couple of teams that didn’t show up, so the event organizers allowed the Goat to compete using team #3367. The goat only had limited ability to handle softballs, but it could play tough defense, score into the low goal in pretty vast quantities, and hang from the bar. As it turns out, the Goat was more successful than Otis, making it into the finals before losing to an alliance of robots from the Sky Valley Education Center in Monroe, Washington.
Team members this year were Chris H, Kris N, Tristan S, David T, and John T. Chris, Kris, and John were all seniors and this was their last year on the team, Tristan lived in West Seattle and left the team when he could no longer find transportation in 07-08.
Other Odds and Ends
This was the first year we held the spring “Robothon” scrimmage, which we hosted in conjunction with the Sky Valley Education Center in Monroe. About 10 robots participated, and, frankly, we don’t remember who won. It was a lot of fun, though. This was also the only year our entire club would fit into one Honda Odyssey, with tools and robots.
The Mentors were Bruce Haley, Rob Krasser, and Rick Tyler.
Our primary sponsor this year was LexisNexis, which allowed us to use their facilities and provided sponsorship money. Awards won: 3367 (The Goat) won a Regional Finalist award.
TODO
Contact information
