Application for Integrators!For those interested in becoming the Integrator, the application is due on the 15th of December. In the application, you should include an essay which includes your : Qualification, leadership skills and planning skills. The application will be reviewed by the leadership, and will pick 2 candidates from the applicant pool.


2009 Annual Spaghetti DinnerTuesday, December 15th, We will be hosting our spaghetti dinner in the classic cafeteria in Dulaney High School. It is manditory for every member to sell AT LEAST four tickets at $10 each. Members must buy their own ticket if they would like to eat there. In addition to the dinner we will have a robotics display and a few wonderful surprises. This is an excellent chance to avoid cooking, to see what the robotics club does and to meet some of our mentors and supporters!


Dulaney Robotics Site Now Hosts the Vex Event MonitorThe Dulaney Robotics website now hosts the Vex Event Monitor at WWW.DulaneyRobotics.Com/Vex. This system gives reports and updates on all teams at its Vex event, as well as display pictures of each robot, and has a match schedule with match results and rankings. This Vex Event Monitor makes it possible to monitor a team's progress from home, while not at the event.


Rex Fundraises at Greetings and ReadingsThanks to all who came and supported us this past friday! With your help, we raised $162.39 for Rex. Special thanks to Greetings and Readings for giving us this opportunity.


Greetings and Readings Fundraiser Greetings and Readings has extended an exceptional fund raising opportunity for our club! If the attached coupon is presented when making a purchase the customer will receive a 10% discount that day. In addition the robotics club will also get 10% of the purchase. Encourage as many of your friends and family as you can to make use of this opportunity to enrich our club. The more people we can get to use these coupons the more money we will raise!

Greetings & Readings of Hunt Valley
Hunt Valley Towne Centre
118-AA Shawan Road
Hunt Valley MD 21030
410-771-3022 ext. 220




Upcoming Events

--November 5. We will have a meeting/training session in room 238 at 2:30 that will last until 4 PM.

--November 6. We will have a work session in room 238 dedicated to Ramp Riot Prep preparation and VEX work.

--November 7. The BAA training. We will meet at Dulaney HS at 07:30 to travel to CCBC, Catonsville. If you missed Tuesday's meeting and would like to attend this training please send Mr. Bruneau an email with the classes you wish to attend. The training will take place in Building H, the School of Applied and Information Technology at the CCBC-Catonsville Campus at 800 South Rolling Road . We recommend parking in Lot 5. Follow signs to the specific room numbers. Doors will open by 8:15am and sessions will start promptly at 9:00am.

--November 14. RAMP RIOT---Travel info to follow!!! We will meet at 4:30 AM.

We will have a field setup in room 238 for the BCPS Vex competition - it will be open to BCPS teams from 8 AM to 5 PM


Emergency MeetingThere will be a very short emergency meeting on Tuesday the 3rd of November immediately after school in room 238. This meeting is mandatory for all club members. If you must miss this meeting for any reason you must notify Mr.Bruneau in writing, email is allowed. THIS IS NOT A DRILL, PLEASE ATTEND!!!


Intent FormsThis form states your plans for the club. Please return this form as soon as possible. You can return this form to Mr.Bruneau by email.
The due date for returning members is October 12th 2009!
Intent Form:

PDF

Doc File

AttendanceAll Members please register in the forum. You Attendance will be recorded on the Meeting Attendance. You will need to be registered before you can log into that part of the forum. The Meeting Attendance forum will be open for until 2:40 of that day or 20 minutes into the meeting!!!


Parental Permission FormsPlease return this form as soon as possible. It is a release form that allows you to participate on this exciting team.
You will not be able to participate on this team unless you return the form!
The due date for returning members is September 18th 2009!
Parental Permissions Form:

PDF

Word File


Summer in Review

Over the summer the Dulaney Robotics club has been extremely active. We ended the school year by managing a FIRST display for NASA/Goddard’s 50th anniversary. On May 30th we setup a field, invited 16 other robotics teams to join us, setup a VEX demo and displayed our robotic prowess for thousands of people as part of a larger NASA demonstration at the Baltimore Convention Center on May 30th. NASA/Goddard has been one of our sponsoring organizations since our club started in 2005 and it was a pleasure to participate with them in their celebration.

On July 8th and 9th we were invited by the National Science Foundation to display our robotics program to the senate majority leader, Harry Reid. We were the lone high School to attend with about 14 colleges. The reason we were invited was because of our unique partnership with Johns Hopkins University. Over the years we have been sponsored by JHU in our quest to provide middle school aged children with a robotics summer camp. Over the last five years we have exposed hundreds of middle school children to the fascinating world of robotics thanks to the support of JHU. In addition we have helped JHU sponsor their annual Robotic System Challenge, drawing hundreds of high school children annually.

In August we were a major contributor to the Battle O’ Baltimore. On August 22nd, 24 teams from across the eastern seaboard met to hone their robotic skills in a competitive but friendly environment. Off season events such as the Battle help teams develop new club members and refine their robotic skills. It is also a great place to further develop relationships with teams from around the region. The Battle is sponsored by the Baltimore Area Alliance, which consists of twelve teams from the Baltimore region. The BAA conducts off season events, provides robotics training in the fall and helps teams with fundraising. It is a great way for teams to share resources in a highly competitive venture. REX 1727 is extremely proud of the part they played in getting the Baltimore Area Alliance started.

On the last day of summer vacation, Friday the 28th of August, REX displayed our VEX robot and our FIRST robot for the FOX DC television station in preparation for the state fair. We will display our robotic skills on the on the 5th and 6th of September, 2009 at the Home Arts/4H building. We are also going to develop a partnership the Baltimore County 4H organization to further spread interest in robotics.

As a club we have collected and turned in another 112 pounds of aluminum cans in our “Green” effort. Each robot we build takes about 80 pounds of aluminum and we started our project with a goal of replacing all the aluminum we have used in fabrication. To this point we have collected 700 pounds of aluminum. Since our previous goal has been met we should now strive to collect our team number “1727” pounds of aluminum.

This coming year will be an exciting year. Over half of our existing club members are seniors this year and they have to train next year’s club this year. We have a huge recruitment issue and hope to attract 30 new members this year. Over the summer the Dulaney Robotics club has been extremely active. We ended the school year by managing a FIRST display for NASA/Goddard’s 50th anniversary. On May 30th we setup a field, invited 16 other robotics teams to join us, setup a VEX demo and displayed our robotic prowess for thousands of people as part of a larger NASA demonstration at the Baltimore Convention Center on May 30th. NASA/Goddard has been one of our sponsoring organizations since our club started in 2005 and it was a pleasure to participate with them in their celebration.

Battle O'Baltimore 2009On August 21st and 22nd, Rex participated and helped hosting the Battle O'Baltimore 2009. During the Finals, Rex was partnered with 2528, robodoves, and 1111, Team Powerhawks, but unfortunately Rex was eliminated during the quarters. Although Rex did not win the Champion title, Rex was award the Gracious Professional Award for helping another team who was without its control system and sportsmanship during the competition.


Battle O'Baltimore

We will meet at room 238 on Friday the 21st to pack at 8 AM. We must pack our pit stuff, robot and complete VEX field. At noon we will also use a few people to setup the NASA field down at Park. We can bring our VEX field down there at the same time. We will have to wait until about 3 PM to transport the robot equipment to Park School. We can stay there until about 7 Pm setting up and getting ready.

On Saturday the team can arrive at 07:30. We should plan to meet here at 7 AM. The event will last most of the day and then we will need to help in multiple areas like tearing down the field and the VEX field. As a club we have done this many times and we should be fine.

We are soliciting drivers to transport kids on Friday and Saturday. Park School is close and a bus would cost us hundreds of dollars. If you are willing to transport students back and forth please let Mr.Bruneau know at bbruneau@bcps.org!


REX SENATE TRIP

On the 8^th and 9^th of July, the Dulaney Robotics Club was honored to be invited to Washington, DC to display our accomplishments for the National Science Foundation and Senate Majority leader Harry Reid.  The display promotes the emphasis that the National Science Foundation places on “Cyber Physical Systems.”  Cyber Physical Systems are systems that make normal mechanical systems like automobiles smarter and safer.   There were 13 colleges and 1 high school from across the nation invited to the display.

We were invited due to our unique relationship with Johns Hopkins University.  On the 8^th we displayed in the National Science Foundation headquarters and met with many NSF dignitaries in preparation for our display the next day at the Hart Senate Building for Senator Reid.  On the 9^th of July Senator Reid visited with 3 of the 13 college displays and spent a great deal of time with Dulaney High School.  He was briefed by Aki Ko, Allen Wu, Lyra Meurer, Matt Verne and Matt Dordai (alumnus) on our wide variety of robotics programs to include the summer camps we held for middle school students and all the robotics programs in which we are involved.  Senator Reid was very impressed and asked many questions and our display team responded well with intelligence and dignity! 

Maryland’s Place in Space: A NASA Demo

On May 30th, 2009, Rex worked with NASA to host Maryland's Place in Space, a event that demonstrated to the public NASA's works and promoted FIRST robotics. About 10 Teams attended the event, while a few thousand visitors streamed through the Baltimore convention center. Rex played an instrumental roll in assuring that the event went off without a hitch. Thank you to everyone who came, especially the mentors and alumni who were managing the field, and students who volunteered to assist NASA.




New LeadershipAfter a very intensive competition between the candidates, the result are the following:
President: Andrew Shapiro
Vice President: Aki Ko
Treasurer: Karen Hecht
Historian: Laura Panneton
Secretary: Jason Ma
Safety Captain: Lyra Meurer



Rex #1 Seed at the Chesapeake RegionalThis past March 19th-21st, the Rex team drove to our home competition, the Chesapeake regional in Annapolis.

In this competition, the robot performed extremely well. Although the first match was a tie, all six following qualification matches ended in a win for REX! After the tense last qualification match, Rex was ranked number one in the whole regional!

As the top seeded team, Rex chose the first alliance partner. We selected team 190, Gompei and the H.E.R.D., because of their formidable robot. When selection came back up the line to Rex, our representative selected The Duct Tape Bandits, team 467.

In the elimination tournament, the 1727 alliance won both matches and advanced through the quarter finals. Unfortunately, Rex's luck turned in the semifinals, when Rex's alliance lost both matches; one match was only barely lost due to a penalty.

Later at the award ceremony, the Rex team won the judges' award. The team was cited for its outstanding outreach, robot performance, and spirit.


REX Rocks the DC RegionalREX traveled to the week one Washington DC regional FRC competition with their 2009 Lunacy robot.

The REX team did not rank in the top 8 teams at the regional after the qualification rounds. However, the #6 ranked team, 2199 the Robo-Lions, were wise enough to choose REX as their alliance partner in the elimination tournament. The alliance went on to choose team 836, the RoboBees, as their third alliance member, rounding out the group with three Maryland teams.

In the quarter finals, the REX alliance won both matches, advancing to the semi-finals. But the alliance lost in the semi-finals to other powerful teams after two tense matches. But even in defeat, REX led its alliance partners back into the pits to celebrate their cooperation. Chantings of "Chesapeake!" or "Robo-Lions!" could be heard from back in the stands.

Later at the award ceremony, REX's chants, dancing, and spirit payed off when they won the Chrysler Team Spirit Award. The award speech not only mentioned the team's vocal nature at the comprtition, but their previous outreach, such as taking the robot to the opening of Wall-E.

REX would like to thank all of the team members and mentors who attended DC and made our success possible.



Build Season is Over, Competition Season is here!

Rex has successfully completed the 2009 Lunacy robot
"Rex 4 The Win", and shipped it to the DC regional. Check out the Robot section of the website for a description of the Lunacy Robot.

Rex will soon be going to the DC Regional on February 28th. All team members and team parents who wish to come MUST have their forms turned in before the first day of the regional. We will be leaving at 5:00 AM Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, so please come by at least 4:45 AM, and set your alarm early!

If you have any problems or questions, please talk to Mr. Bruneau or contact him using the website contact address
(at the bottom of the page).











Video Section CompleteThank you for the long wait, our Video Section is finally up! The section currently contains a fair sampling of the team videos: The VEX Event, the 2008 Duct Tape Fundraiser, and the 2006 Chesapeake Regional. More videos will be added as they are produced.


Older PostsNewer Posts