Great progress with the ring shooter prototype!  

Coach Jeff passed out "Home Programming Kits" to each of the two programmers.  Each kit contains a control hub, expansion hub, one DC motor, servo, battery, on/off switch, a set of two phones, and a variety of power and communication cables.  This will allow the programming team to do programming at home and do some basic testing. Nathan demonstrated how to set up a new OpMode using blocks.  He also demonstrated how to create or update a configuration on the phone and showed how the names in the configuration are automatically accessible in the code.  By the end of the meeting, Charlie had a good idea of how to get started working on programming tutorials to familiarize himself with the different components.  Team Members present: Nathan, Charlie

New member, Brandon, dropped by HQ this morning to do a training exercise. He learned a little bit about what's under the hood of an FTC robot by taking last year's test robot apart. This season he'd like to learn more about the different drive trains and construct his own.  Destructicon! Old Test Robot

Tonight we worked on our launcher prototype. We made some discs out of the foam flooring material for the playing field. Then we ran tests varying the width/angle of the chute and how far back the disc were loaded. The discs shot a lot farther than expected! We measured the distance the discs travelled and recorded our results.  Team Members present:  Elijah, Nathan, Joshua, Caleb, Shelby, Brandon, Charlie

 This was our first official team meeting. We brainstormed ideas and layout concepts.  Team Members present: Elijah, Nathan, Josh, Caleb, Shelby, Brandon, Charlie

Over the summer, the Neuman family kicked off our team's COVID relief efforts by organizing a team face shield production assembly line. Some members 3D printed face mask bands, some procured and hole-punched the clear plastic shields, and some sorted, packaged, and delivered.  The team really banded together to produce hundreds of face shields and mask extenders for area health centers and doctors' offices. Their efforts were recently featured in an HSLDA article! Check it out: Josh Roldan hands off completed protective gear to VNA healthcare.

 Due to COVID we have a virtual kick-off this year. This is the event: From FTC website: The nature of traditional sports is shifting. In any sport, we use our minds — our creativity, imagination, and critical thinking — as much as we use our muscles. Our robotics season challenge theme represents the potential in all of us to redefine the game and exceed our team and personal potentials through the only sport where every kid can go pro.