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Volume 4, Issue 2COACH’S CORNERINSIDE THIS ISSUE:COACH’S CORNER1CAPTAINS’ COMMENTS1STUDENT-MENTORINGNXT LIGHTNING2FLL PRACTICETOURNAMENT2PTC HANDS-ONWORKSHOP2MENTORING FLL ANDFRC3BUSINESS UPDATE3WELCOMING 8THGRADERS TO THE TEAM4LET THE RUMBLEBEGIN!5UPCOMINGEVENTSJanuary 2012www.team2834.com5It has always been in mygrand plan to graduallyshift responsibility to thestudents when they showthat they are ready. Thefreshmen that were on theteam when we first startedare now seniors. Thesethree seniors and one ofthe juniors showed greatleadership when we ran theFLL Practice Tournamentlast November. Two ofthem were already teamcaptains and I decided topromote the other two,Justin Lopas and RyanHoyt, to the position ofteam captain as well.Together I expect the teamcaptains to provide goodleadership for the team.The team attended thekickoff on January 7th whenrevealed this year’sgame challenge. This year’sgame is playing basketballwith a twist. The game isreally fun. You can see ashort description of thegame plus other informationat bound-rumble.Our competition schedule isincluded in this newsletter.We will be at WaterfordMott High School and NilesHigh School for our twodistrict events. I hope youcan find some time to comecheer for us. The qualifyingmatches start Friday morningand end around noon onSaturday. If we do well wewill be playing in theelimination round onSaturday afternoon. Lastyear we were finalists atthe Waterford districtcompetition and we hopewe will do well again.Our design editor, HibaChaabi, worked hard tocome up with a new lookfor our newsletter thatfollows the same theme asour award winning website.I hope you enjoy it.- Dr. Ed LawCAPTAIN ’ S C OMMENTSWe are excited to informeveryone that the 2012FRC game ReboundRumble has been released.Our team is in full swingand we are currently onpace for our goal ofcompleting the robot in 28days. All of the memberson the team are excited toparticipate in this year’sgame which closelyresembles basketball. Inaddition, we are almostfinished with the CADmodel of what the finishedrobot will look like. Wehave also found a spacefor a practice field andhave finished building it.We think this year’s gameis very exciting and welook forward to seeinghow teams compete. GoBionic Barons!-Matt ReinPage 1
STUDENT -MENTORING FLL T EAM NXT L IGHTNINGFLL Team NXT Lightning celebrate their victoryat the Bloomfield Bash.Team 2834 students have been hardat work mentoringLEGOLeague Teams throughout theBloomfield Hills School District.LEGO League is a smaller-scalerobotics competition among middleschool students which focuses on acentral theme each year,incorporating a robot challenge,research project, and ―core values‖presentation. The Bionic Baronsmentor these middle school teams inorder to prepare them for the highschool robotics program, and getthem interested in Science,Technology, Engineering, and Math.Before going off to competitions,Bionic Barons students teach middles c h oo l st u d en t s a sp e c t s o fprogramming, project management,building, and design.Personally, I worked with NXTLightning, a team of seventh gradersfrom Bloomfield Hills MiddleSchool. The team, in their third year,included 10 students, the maximumnumber allowed on an FLLteam. After winning the BloomfieldBash, a practice tournament held byTeam 2834, NXT Lightning went onto win the Champion’s Award at theNovi tournament and also won theChampion’s Award at the WhiteLake State Championship.Mentoring NXT Lightning was anextremely rewarding experience. AsI have seen how the students haveprogressed throughout the team’sthree year existence. I have learnedhow to better teach and interactwith them, and enjoyed every minuteof it.-Justin LopasFLL P RACTICE T OURNAMENTPTC H ANDS -O N W ORKSHOPOn Nov. 5th , the Bionic Baronsheld their first annual practiceFLL tournament for 14 MichiganFLL teams. Our hope was toallow teams to be able topractice in a real competitionsetting before going to anofficial competition.On November 12th 2011,the Andover/LahserRobotics Team hosted thePTC Hands-On Workshop,where teams from all overthe metropolitan area wereinvited to come and learnabout the work of PTC. Wewere grateful that oursponsor, PTC, sent JordanCox to run the workshop.All 14 teams were excited tobe a part of this tournamentand had a great time, playing5 matches each and giving oneof their presentations to agroup of highly acclaimedjudges. The volunteers also hadan amazing time watching thestudents work vigorously tomake their robot score as manypoints as possible. Overall, thetournament was a greatsuccess, and we hope tocontinue this tournament inyears to come.-Jason LawThe Barons coordinate the FLLPractice TournamentAn FLL RobotFLL Teams at thePractice TournamentThe workshop gave teamsthe opportunity tocollaborate and learnabout the new softwarethat PTC has released. Thisalso was a time where wewere able to experimentand learn where one mayfind their passion in thedesign process. As a newmember of the roboticsteam, I fou nd thisexperience very helpful.Throughout the workshop themain focuses werebrainstorming and design.Once we learned how tobrainstorm, we took designsand put them in a 3-Dmodel, using Creo Elements/ProEngineer, PTC’s computeraided design (CAD)Software. PTC representatives as well as experiencedmembers of the Bionic Baronshelped attendees learn howto use the program. At theworkshop, teams saw theadvantages of using thesoftware PTC provides. Theworkshop was a hit andeveryone walked out havinglearned something new.-Francesca FerraraPage 2
SPOTLIGHT : FRC & FLL M ENTOR L AUREN S CHAFFERI’ve been mentoringteamsfor four yearsnow, bothR o b o t i c sCompetition(FRC) andLEGO League (FLL) teams. Ever sinceI joined a high school FRC team, Iknew theprogram was special,and I wasn’t going to let somethinglike graduation stand between meand all the challenges, rewards, andfun it offered. I started mentoring inmy 3rd year in college, helping arookie high school team. The nextyear I was asked to help an FLLteam during the off-season. I wasn’tsure about joining an FLL teambecause I wasn’t part of FLL when Iwas in elementary or middle schoolso I didn’t know what the programwas really about, but I decided to doit anyway and never looked back.For me, there are a lot of similaritiesbetween mentoring an FLL team andan FRC team. Every year, withoutfail, I am mistaken for a high schoolstudent or, at best, a collegefreshman. I am also inevitably askedif I get paid to help the team, andam often met with surprise fromstudents and parents when they learnthat I’m a volunteer. Of course, eachyear there is a glowing sense ofpride when I see my team atcompetitions — whether it’sdemonstrating an understanding of adifficult concept we’ve been workingon, playing a fantastic robot match,or previously unruly studentsmodeling gracious professionalismwhen interacting with other teams. Itdoesn’t matter if they come homewith trophies or just participationmedals — I know how hard theyworked, and in thecommunity,―winning‖ isn’t defined solely by theawards.There are a few differencesbetween mentoring the twoprograms though, besides the factthat FRC is a high school programwhile FLL is a middle school program.In some ways mentoring a FLL team ismore challenging. I get fewer hoursto work with kids with shorterattention spans. It’s a challenge tomake sure everyone gets to work onthe robot because while everyonewants to play with the Legos, noteveryone can work on an 8‖ robotat the same time. While the kidsand I want the robot to cruisethrough its missions and get a goodscore, I have to acknowledge thatthey need to focus on the otheraspects of the competition.It’s not just a challenge though – it’soften more rewarding and fun.Since these kids are still fairlyyoung, I feel like I can teach themmore, and sometimes I’m simplyamazed at the ideas and solutionsthey come up with for their robotmissions and their project.-Lauren SchafferMentor Lauren Schaffer (far right) with her FLLteam, the MegaBites. Two members of theMegaBites, Sarah Gerendasy and Andie M.,have joined the Bionic Barons for the FRC season (see page 4).BUSINESS U PDATEAn important aspect of having asuccessful robotics team is to haveadequate funding. This year, wemanaged to retain most of ourprevious sponsors while acquiringnew sponsorships. We receivedplatinum sponsorship from TheChrysler Foundation, Hoyt, Brumm &Link (HBL), and PTC, as well as goldsponsorship from BAE Systems andMetroPCS. We are also grateful forour silver sponsors: IBM, AmericanSupplier Institute (ASI), DowChemical, Acme Ladder & SupplyCo, Ferguson Enterprises, Guy,Hurley, Blaser, & Heuer LLC, MobisNorth America, Robert James Sales,Inc and RS Dale Co, Inc. Thesecompanies have provided us withtheir support and we are extremelygrateful.We have also managed to raise asubstantial amount of moneythrough our Entertainment BookFundraisers. Throughout the fall,Bionic Barons team members soldbooks at many locations throughoutthe community, including PlumMarket, Kroger, Bloomfield Hillsmiddle schools, and high schoolopen nights. We appreciate all ofthe support that we get from ourcommunity and hope to continue toimprove and expand our roboticsprogram.-Rohan SinhaPage 3
BIONIC BARONS W ELCOME 8 TH G RADERSAndie M. and I weregiven a great opportunity to join the high schoolrobotics team, the BionicBarons, while still eighthgraders at BHMS. Intotal, four eighth grade studentshave joined the team from districtmiddle schools. At first, it wasintimidating and a little frighteningsince we didn’t know much aboutrobotics. Also, our teammatesare older than us, many of themseniors, and even many of those whoaren't seniors have more experienceprogramming and building a robot.But from the first meeting, the teamhas included us in discussions andmade us feel welcome. Andie and Ihave worked in the shop and havejoined groups working on differentTOT EAMparts of the awards presentation.There are two main reasons wedecided to join the team. First, weboth love robotics, and want tocontinue to build, program, andparticipate in robotics at the highschool level. This early membershipgives us a great opportunity toexperience FRC first hand, gaininvaluable experience in the FRCprogram, and make friends withfellow teammates. The Bionic Baronshave had a great reputation and wewant to be a part of it. Most of all,we have lots of fun on the team.This is not our first experienceworking with the Bionic Barons; theymentored us during our 7th grade FLLcompetition, when we won theresearch award at States. During ourtwo years in FLL (and three years forAndie), our team went to States andwon the research award in 2009and 2010. We are somewhat familiar with the team since 7th grade,and we are looking forward to FRCcompetitions. Since both the FLL andFRC emphasize ―Coopertition‖ tosupport and encourage each other,the welcoming attitude of the teamcomes naturally, even though we are―just‖ eighth grade students. We areboth extremely excited aboutattending the World Championshipwith the Barons later this year. Wemade it to States in FLL, but not tothe World Championship, so we aresure that it will be an experience wewill always remember.-Sarah GerendasyPICTURE GALLERYA team picture of the Bionic Barons.The Barons, in yellow shirts, assist attendees at the PTC Hands-OnWorkshop. See page 2.Three of the 8thgraders who joinedthe Bionic Barons thisyear. Clockwise frombottom left: AdamRaine, James Juncker,and Andie M.FLL participants, coaches, parents, and referees watch an anticipated matchduring the FLL Practice tournament. See page 2.FLL Research Award,won by the MegaBites.See article above.Page 4
L ETTHER UMBLE B EGIN !In December, the excitement andbuzz began to build as theRobotics Competition (FRC) kickoffapproached. On Saturday, January7th,Team #503, the FrogForce hosted dozens of teams for thelive, world-wide broadcast revealingthe 2012 competition season game:―Rebound Rumble.‖ In the hour-anda-half-long broadcast from NewHampshire, the game animation andkit of parts were shown, as well aswords of encouragement frompeople such asfounders DeanKamen and Woody Flowers,President Bush, and President Clinton,to name a few.This year’s competition involvesshooting baskets with foambasketballs, balancing robots onsee-saw type bridges and theadded feature of using the MicrosoftTeam members examine the field set up at NoviHigh School during the FRC Kickoff.A team brainstorming session.The next day, student member LukeKuza and parent mentor John Kuzaof AllStar Wireless and sponsorMetroPCS hosted our teamstrategy meeting. Here, Dr. Lawand team captains Jason Law,Justin Lopas, and Matt Reinpresented the QFD spreadsheet tothe rest of the team. The rules werediscussed again and breakoutgroups were formed to brainstormthe potential concepts of what therobot could look like based on theQFD spreadsheets.Kinect controller during the hybrid/autonomous period. Check out thegame animation at http://www.youtube.com/user/FRCTeamsGlobal.Also at this meeting, a safetyAfter the presentation, the team was presentation was given by Safetyexcited to view the partial set-up of Captain/Team Captain Ryan Hoytthe playing field. In the afternoon, our and parent mentor, Todd Hoyt ofown Dr. Ed Law was presented a Hoyt, Brumm & Link. They discussedseminar about our team’s scouting the highlights of the team’s newlydatabase. We left Novi High School created safety manual, ―Thewith excitement for the much-awaited Safety Shield‖.2012 competition season!By the end of the day, many ideasLater Saturday night, part of theteam met to read over the game rulesand brainstorm a list of the importantfeatures of the game as well asattributes the robot should have.During this process the teamimplemented Quality FunctionDeployment (QFD) to summarize thiswork.were exchanged and presented tothe rest of the group. Thisprepared our team to begin the6 ½-week period in which we builda robot to play the game atcompetition. Let the ―Rumble‖begin!- Ryan HoytMARK Y OUR CALENDARS !The Barons are excited to announce that we are scheduled to attend the followingcompetitions: March 9-10: WaterfordRobotics District Competition at Waterford MottHigh School March 23-24: NilesRobotics District Competition at Niles High SchoolThe team welcomes and appreciates all who join us at the competitions. Come watch thematches, support the team, and taste the thrill of theexperience.Design Editor: Hiba ChaabiNews Editors: RJ Richmond and Josh InwaldSpecial Thanks to Kristen Law and James Juncker for their help with graphics.Page 5
Our Platinum SponsorsF I R S T RO B O T I C S T E A M # 2 8 3 4Volume 4, Issue 1December 2011Coach’s CornerAs I reflect on how the team did inthe last three years, I can’t be moreproud of what the students haveaccomplished. The team has wonone or two awards at every districtand state competition, includingthe Website, Engineering Inspirationand Entrepreneurship awards. I amespecially proud of these awardsbecause they are accomplishmentsabove and beyond building therobot and the robot competition.Last year we adopted a newmission statement. It has just threesimple words: Learn, Serve andGrow. This isn’t just a missionstatement, it is the team philosophy.Year after year, we really do learnmore, serve more and continue togrow. It inspires me to see how muchthis team has learned and also howexperienced team members mentornew members through the FIRSTexperience. I am also proud of theservice the Bionic Barons provide toour surrounding community; hundredsof families had food on the tablebecause of our efforts. Our community outreach programs not onlytaught others but contributed to ourgrowth. After starting and mentoringnumerous FIRST LEGO League (FLL)teams and running FLL summerrobotics camps for three years, it wastime for us to elevate our FLLinvolvement to the next level. Wecompletely redesigned the MichiganFLL website and incorporated itseamlessly into the FIRST in Michiganwebsite. The Bionic Barons also hosteda FLL practice tournament to help newFLL teams prepare for theirqualifying tournaments. It was agreat opportunity for students to beinvolved in the planning andexecution of the event. It was a bigundertaking, but we successfullycompleted the challenge.I am honored to report to you thatPTC has selected our team as one ofonly ten teams to receiveplatinum sponsorship this year. Thesponsorship is for 5,000. We werechosen because of ourcommunity involvement as well asour close partnership with them topromote science, technology, engineering, and mathematics initiatives.As you can see in the manyarticles in this newsletter, we had avery busy summer and fall. I hopeyou enjoy reading about it.Captains’ CommentsWe are extremely excitedfor the start of this newrobotics season! We areeager to welcome ourmany new recruits to theteam as we continue toprepare for a gruelingnew robotics season. Ourteam has been vigorouslypreparing for thechallenges that lay aheadand we have beenextremely active thissummer and fall offseason. We’ve been verybusy going to competitions,doing community outreachevents, helping mentorFIRST Lego League teams,and training new teammembers, among manyother things. We areextremely proud of whatthis team has accomplishedso far, and we urge ourteam to keep pushingforward. We are excitedto see what this team cando, and we know that withthe hard work anddedication that everyonehas shown thus far, thisteam is capable of doingamazing things. Go BionicBarons!-Jason Law and Matt ReinBionic Barons Co-Captains- Dr. Ed LawINSIDE THIS ISSUE:COACH’S CORNER1CAPTAINS’ REMARKS1SERVING OURCOMMUNITY IN NEED2COMMUNITY OUTREACH 2MAKER FAIRE3PICTURE GALLERY3
Serving Our Community in NeedTeam members help pack food for the needy atthe Yad Ezra Food Bank.FIRST robotics isn’t just aboutbuilding robots, it’s about spreading the message of education,engineering, and communityservice. Each year, the BionicBarons serve our local communitythrough volunteer activities andevents. We realize how fortunatewe are, and try to give back toour community in various ways. Thisyear marks the fourth year thatthe team volunteered at the YadEzra community food bank inBerkley, MI. There, we helpedpack and store food for theneedy. Team members felt greatafter leaving, knowing that theymade a difference in someone'slife.We also participated in the BHSMake a Difference Day, an eventwhich brought together Bloomfieldcommunity members and volunteersto give books and supplies to theDetroit Public Library System.We also volunteered our time atGleaners Community Food Bank inPontiac, MI, helping assemblebackpacks that would bedistributed food to the hungry insoutheastern Michigan. Throughthese efforts we packed 250 bagsof food, representing 250 kids/families that were fed for theweekend. Each backpack providednutritious meals for the children toeat over the weekend. Currently,the weekend backpack programprovides food to more than 5300of our community’s most needy children. We plan to continue to serveour community in need for years tocome.-Justin LopasCommunity OutreachFLL campers plan their strategy for a minicompetition at the end of FLL camp.The Bionic Barons continue to reachout to the younger members of ourcommunity to get them interestedand excited about robotics. OnAugust 15-19, the Barons hosted asummer FLL Robotics camp formiddle school students to learn anddemonstrate the Lego MindstormRobot (NXT). Mentors and theirstudents were assigned teams andthose teams developed andpracticed their robots. During thelast hour of camp, the studentsdemonstrated what they learnedthroughout the week byparticipating in a mini competition.Their parents were invited to seetheir new talents and skills too. Thestudents gained a greatunderstanding of what the actualFLL experience is like and enjoyedcompeting with friends and peers.They also learned that this is afriendly competition and thatteamwork is fun as well asimportant to their overall success.On Saturday October15th, the Bionic Baronsdemonstrated the robot atthe Bloomfield TownshipPublic Library. The purposeof this demonstration wasto show to our communitythat science, technology,and engineering can becombined to build andprogram a robot. Thepeople who witnessed the showwere of all ages. Childrenespecially loved the robot; weeven gave them a chance tocontrol the robot. For parents,seeing their children use such acomplex machine was both nerveracking and funny. Overall theparents were amazed at what washappening in their community andwere encouraged and excitedabout robotics.-R.J. RichmondTeam members, parents, and siblings watch as young kidstry their hand at driving the robot at the library.Page 2
Maker Faire at The Henry Ford Greenfield VillageThis past summersome really coolthe Bionic Baronsideas. There is aattended thehuge “MouseMaker Faire atTrap” game setThe Henry Fordup just like theGreenfieldboard game andVillage inother really coolDearborn. It wasideas. In additionour second timeto all of the neatattending anddisplays, whenbeing part of theyou attend theexhibits that feaMaker Faire inture everythingDearborn, youfrom homemadealso get free adFIRST Robotics Teams—including the Bionic Barons, of course—at the Maker Faire.clothing, food,mission to Therockets, electronics, and of course,There was a partial LogomotionHenry Ford Museum. Don’t forgetrobots. The Maker Faire containsfield set up that was very helpfulto check it out next time the Makermany inventions that are creativein demonstrating to the public theFaire comes to The Henry Ford.and imaginative. We exhibitedgame and what the robots can do.our robot throughout the two-dayThe Maker Faire is held throughout-Matt Reinevent along with other FIRSTthe United States and is a greatrobotics teams from Michigan.event where you can check outPicture GalleryLeft: Team members explain to visitors at theMaker Faire how our robotworks.Right: The Bionic Barons atthe Yad Ezra CommunityFood Bank.Spectators watch the robots during a practice match at the Maker Faire.Design Editor: Hiba ChaabiNews Editor: R.J. RichmondPage 3
Personally, I worked with NXT Lightning, a team of seventh graders from Bloomfield Hills Middle School. The team, in their third year, included 10 students, the maximum Team 2834 students have been hard at work mentoring LEGO League Teams throughout the Bloomfield Hills School District. LEGO League is a smaller-scale
