Knights of The Olde Robotics

From VEX Wiki

Knights of the Olde Robotics was founded on March 13, 2010. Composed of FIRST Alumni from teams 357 and 1712. KTOR, is a Philadelphia region team that stays true to their roots (2004-2009 FRC).

• Schools Involved: Temple University, Drexel University and Delaware County Community College
• Sponsors: STEMRobotics (Founding Sponsor), Walmart, eStop Robotics
• Donors: Tom and Maria Glick, Jules and Chris Spaeth, Cassie Bartelme, Dennis and Liz Bartelme.

History

2009-2010: Clean Sweep
Formed in 2010, when Andrew Adaman, Chuck Glick, and Pat Kneass came up with the idea of a Philadelphia area college "super team". Composed of FIRST alumni from teams 357 and 1712, the team decided to keep the same design principles they learned from Philadelphia area FIRST competitions.

After discussing the idea with the team's founding sponsor, STEM Robotics, the Knights had 5 weeks to gather all the necessary resources to compete in Dallas at the 2010 VEX World Championships. The team brought on fellow FIRST alumni and friend Joe Gro to help with the effort. The four went on to build 2 twin robots that were inspired from designs that they had seen from the middle and high school teams that they both judged and mentored.

The Knights went on to compete at the 2010 VEX World Championships with the twins, Trogdor and Big Beefy Arm, with relative success. Early struggles with code later led to KTOR helping out all of the other college beta teams when problems arose for them as well. The team started off strong with only minor code issues and a mechanically strong bot, however throughout the competition, code improved, while mechanical issues began to slowly arise. By the time the mechanical issues were found, it was too late for the team to recover. Just missing out on the playoffs by a slim margin, the team went on to cheer on they're middle school mentored teams.

The team was later recognized with the highest honor they could receive, the 2010 College Excellence Award, for their extensive volunteer work and mentoring in the Philadelphia region.

2010-2011: Round Up
Going on from the successes of the short 2010 season, KTOR added three more additional members: Matt Buczek and Ariel Morganstern, both 1712 alumni, and Dan Troy a 357 Alumni. The team continues to help form more STEM programs in the Philadelphia region as well as volunteer and mentor. KTOR competed in the 2011 BEYA College VEX Challenge in Washington DC, finished with a record of 11-0-1. The knights walked away as the event champion and also received the amaze award for their efforts. From lessons learned at the BEYA event, KTOR decided to change from their initial twin robot strategy and arrived in Orlando with a newly revamped set of robots. Finishing the event with a record of 11-6-0 (6-3-0 in qualifiers), KTOR exited the event as the highest ranked team in the USA. To further add to KTOR's successful season, members Andrew Adaman and Chuck Glick were recognized at the World Championships as the 2011 World Mentor's of the Year. The duo recieved this high honor for their extensive coaching and voluteer work in the Philadelphia Region, especially with their primary team, Haverford Robotics (Team 169).

2011-2012: Gateway
Continuing on with the team for the 2011-2012 season will be Andrew Adaman, Chuck Glick, Patrick Kneass, and Dan Troy.

Team Outreach

KTOR has strong roots in the Philadelphia Community, with all members staying involved and inspiring others in the surrounding area. The Knights use their educational program known as "Knight School" to teach students and adults alike, concepts and practical uses of the VEX design system as well as have classes on what to do at events.

As of October 26th, 2010, KTOR currently mentors or assists the following teams: 80, 81, 82, 84, 89, 90, 92, 96, 98 (Downingtown MS/HS, PA); 101A,B (Radnor HS, PA); 169A,B,C,D,E (Haverford School, PA); 357A,B (Upper Darby HS, PA); 1712 (Lower Merion HS, PA)

Robots

Clean Sweep (2009-2010)

The Twin's Specs:

Drivetrain:

• "X" Holonomic Drive with 4" omni wheels (4 motor)

Manipulator:

• Dual "super" tread pickup (4 motor)
• Linear actuated hinge lift (2 motor)

Trogdor

• Driver: Andrew Adaman
• Operator: Joe Gro

The Big Beefy Arm

• Driver: Chuck Glick
• Operator: Pat Kneass

Round Up (2010-2011)

Trogdor

• Driver: Dan Troy
• Operator: Pat Kneass
• Coach: Andrew Adaman

Drivetrain:

• "X" Holonomic Drive with 4" omni wheels (4 393 Motor's High Speed Config)

Manipulators:

• One stage linear lift ( 2x 269) with pivot (2x 269)
• Snorkle pickup (2 x 3wire) able to hold 6 rings
• Dragontail (Descored mobile goals) (2 x 3 wire)

The Big Beefy Arm

• Driver: Chuck Glick
• Operator: Matt Buczek
• Coach: Andrew Adaman

Drivetrain:

• "X" Holonomic Drive with 4" omni wheels (4 393 Motor's High Speed Config)

Manipulator:

• One stage linear lift (2x 269) with 4 bar (2x 269) (36" reach)
• Claw (able to grab full stacks of 4) (2x 3wire)

Accomplishments

2009-2010 World Championships - Excellence Award

2010-2011 BEYA Tournament - Tournament Champion

2010-2011 BEYA Tournament - Create Award

Team Members

Andrew Adaman (2010-Present)

• 357 Alumni
• Delaware County Community College

Matt Buczek (2010-2011)

• 1712 Alumni
• Delaware County Community College

Chuck Glick (2010-Present)

• 1712 Alumni
• Temple University

Joe Gro (2010)

• 357 Alumni
• Temple University

Pat Kneass (2010-Present)

• 357 Alumni
• Temple University

Ariel Morgenstern (2010-2011)

• 1712 Alumni
• Drexel University

Dan Troy (2011-Present)

• 357 Alumni
• Delaware County Community College