The Mukwonago BEARs

Robotics Ice Cream Social

Megan Thurow — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 03:17:51 +0000

A robotics open house/ice cream social for students in fourth grade through high school will be held on Wednesday, May 9 from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Park View Middle School cafeteria, sponsored by the Mukwonago BEARs FIRST Robotics Team 930. FIRST LEGO League (FLL) and high school robotics demonstrations and team members will provide information and answer questions about FLL and FIRST Robotics Competiton (FRC). The event is open to anyone in the Mukwonago area who is interested in learning more about robotics opportunities. Call Carol at 262-470-3412 with questions or email Team 930 at mukwonagobears@yahoo.com

Boneyard Fundraiser

Megan Thurow — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 20:17:33 +0000

Come to the Boneyard Pub & Grill on March 11th. Be sure to have this flyer with you, the team gets 10% of all sales!

Boneyard Flyer

Watch FIRST Regionals

Megan Thurow — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 00:08:06 +0000

Have a look at some of the FIRST regionals!

BAE Systems/Granite State Regional

6th Annual San Diego Regional: FIRST Robotics Competition

Alamo Regional

Big Shoes

Christa — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 23:32:22 +0000

At the close of last year’s FRC season, I knew the next year would be a challenge. When we returned from St. Louis I was forced to say goodbye to half of the team, who were now alumni. It was then that I realized I was in the seat for being a leader the following year, and now here I am, the chassis lead for the mechanical team.

I have been the safety captain for two years, however that has been a considerably lesser role. This year, I felt the pressures from all ends demanding more responsibility and focus. I have been called upon for support where I may have not had the best knowledge. On the opposite end, I have provided ideas that have not been weighed before. Instead of following and doing what is deemed right, I now have the power to push the team towards our goal and help everyone get there.

For me, that’s one of the best parts of being a leader. It gives you the chance to take a step back instead and observe, instead of attempting to do what is asked of you. With the official season now over, I see that it was a bigger challenge than I could have expected. I know that I have grown considerably from three years ago and I can’t believe how far the team and I have come. Stepping into a leadership position this year has enabled me to see things differently and I look forward to next season to see even bigger and better things coming from this team.

Sussex Competion

Megan Thurow — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:12:20 +0000

Safety Tips

Christa — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 01:40:02 +0000

I just wanted to apologize for the absence of safety tips! Things during the last two weeks of build season just got to be a little much and web posting was pushed aside.

With that said, I hope all of the teams got through the last two weeks safely! If you choose to work on things until competition, good luck! See you at the competition!

Different People, Same Technology

Brian Scharles — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:34:31 +0000

Researchers at National Taiwan University are building their cutting-edge robots with the same control system that we compete with in FIRST.

Wheels. Legs. This robot has both

Weight Watchers

Josh Santarelli — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:35:19 +0000

Because we switched to a new type of frame last year, our 2011 robot was underweight, something we’ve never experienced since 2008. Because of this, the team this year has been a lot less vigilant in our weight watching, with the exception of Steven; he brought the topic up several times, saying he was concerned about it because no one else was. We kind of dismissed it, but he was right.

Tuesday was when we officially found out: WE’RE FAT! We all deserve a few rounds of “I told you so” from Steven. About 20 pounds overweight was our rough estimate, and unfortunately, aerobics classes are out of the question. This is yet another echo from my first year (see my post called Lunacy Echoes if you don’t know what I’m talking about) but this year is different in that we found out 2 weeks before the end instead of 2 days. That year, we missed the Sussex mini-competition (a practice competition that team 537 hosts) and instead spent the time frantically taking off less necessary parts and doing what we call cheesing: drilling so many holes to reduce weight that the robot looks like Swiss cheese. This year, we’ve got a little more time, so we organized a group to figure out how to shave off those extra pounds. We’ll be replacing a lot of our steel parts with aluminum, and redesigning a few minor things to be more efficient. Because we found out so soon, this is a problem instead of a crisis, and although it’ll be close, I think we can pull it off.

Shooter Action

Megan Thurow — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:54:57 +0000

Robot obsessed rookie joins FIRST community

Curt Henrichs — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:20:42 +0000

I have always been drawn towards science and math, and then I started working with computers. One day in seventh grade, after being inspired by a dream, I decided to build a robot. After many trips to the Mukwonago Public Library and the Waukesha Public Library, I had finally gathered the knowledge necessary for creating my first real robot. It was a very crude BEAM robot, and yet that was the turning point for my entire life. As I progressed in my new found hobby, I learned and enhanced skills, such as programming and engineering. Then, first year of high school my opportunity to join the school’s FIRST robotics team came, yet I took a path that led me away from that experience. When sophomore year came around I was determined to join FIRST Robotics Team 930. I was drawn to the programming aspect of the team. This let me learn new ways to control robots, like PID, and lets me play with the cRIO. As this season goes along I am certain that I will gain more knowledge in robotics. As Gordon McComb said, “Robotics is a journey; the destination is what you’ve learned along the way, and how you use that knowledge to better yourself, and the world”.