Shawnee Mission West
Viking Robotics
Team #1777

Sponsored by:
Shawnee Mission West High School
Overland Park, KS
WHO ARE WE?!?!!?!
Each year team 1777 competes in the FRC, FIRST Robotics Competition. The competition has a six week “build season” during which a challenge is announced and each team has 46 days to design, build, program, and test a robot to compete on an alliance in the challenge. The competition is a great way to teach students what it’s like to be in a “real-world” situation, with a set budget and strict time line. FRC educates students interested in engineering, programming and public relations. It also teaches them invaluable lessons in time management, teamwork and problem solving.
Weekly Updates from David B., Project Manager (see all...)
  • February 15, 2010
On Tuesday it was discovered that the pan we had cut to hold the electronics was too low so we decided to bend and cut a new pan. In addition to a higher pan we cut it back to allow for more room for the kicker. We then hooked up all of the motors and other electronics, and got it ready to drive.

Thursday Tyr moved for the first time. Though the program still had several bugs to work out it was a large step forward.

Friday we didn’t have school due to Parent/Teacher Conferences so we had a workday from noon until five. During that time we worked out the bugs in the programming, finished our bumpers and prototyped the lift mechanism.

The PR team has been working hard to make our award winning website even better for the 2010 season, as well as ordering or 2010 T-shirts, designing the layout for our pit, and working on a scouting spreadsheet.

On Sunday, after a few minor speed bumps, we built our lifting arm. We also worked on the shroud that will stop the balls from getting trapped on the side of our robot.

Monday was President’s Day and we couldn’t get into the school to work until 3:00. So we decided to use the time to relieve some stress and play some laser tag. And I must say that team 1777 is quite good, beating the opposing team by 341,550 points. Once we got to school work began immediately. We continued to work on the website, painted the lift, and built the super structure that will hold the arm while it is down.

With only one week left to build and test our work days are getting longer.
About This Year's Game, "Breakaway"
BREAKAWAY is a game where two alliances of three teams each compete on a 27'x 54' field with bumps attempting to earn points by collecting soccer balls in their goals. Additional bonus points are earned for each robot not touching the field at the end of the match.
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