Worlds

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It’s hard to believe that worlds is over and that the official FTC season has ended, but we had a ton of fun while it lasted! At the FIRST World Championship we placed 10th in our division (Edison) and about 23rd out of the 128 teams that were there. We are very impressed with all of the teams who competed in St. Louis, we’re especially proud of the teams local to us, all who did VERY well! We successfully got our big green pit up, and it was just about impossible to miss :) The cart shone with bright green beauty as it carried our robot to and from matches. There were teams competing from all over the world, and we enjoyed meeting them. We also got to meet teams that we had been talking with over social media that we hadn’t yet met. When we weren’t competing we found plenty to do. We cheered on the “red alliance” when we went to a Cardinals baseball game and we were seated in…section 365! Thank you to all of the volunteers, the people working at the dome, and all of St Louis for putting up with the thousands of teenagers who overtook the city :) We will never forget our experience at Worlds! GO MOE!!!

Pit at worldsplaying field at worlds

Button Pageant Winners!!!

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MOE had a blast at Worlds collecting buttons from all different teams from all over the world. We had a great turn out in our button pageant. It was awesome seeing all the colorful and unique buttons. We were so proud of all the teams.

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The Top 4

Coming in fourth we had PhoenxTrix! It might not have been a button but this patch is still wicked cool!

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Third place with their awesome wooden gear button was World Changers!

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Second place with their magical button was the Patronom Bots!

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AND IN FIRST! WE HAD (DRUM ROLL PLEASE) SCOTBOTICS WITH THEIR FANTASTIC WALLE PLAYING THE BAGPIPE BUTTON!

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Congrats to all our winners and thank you to all the teams who participated. If you are one of these teams please contact us so we can mail you your prize.

 

 

Tips for Worlds

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Here are some tips from what we learned our first year at worlds and that some other teams have shared with us.

  1. Food, Drinks, and Pit Presence
    Food and drinks is, obviously, an everyday essential so make sure you have plans for where you will buy food and how you will get it. Also for your comfort, you will want to bring a few folding chairs to put in the pit as chairs will not be provided this year. You will have a 10′x10′ pit so you will need to use the space wisely. The space also should be decorated, when someone walks by they should know immediately what team you are, so display who you are proudly! The first year we went to worlds, we had no idea that we were supposed to decorate our pit and we now joke about having been the “Delaware Hillbillies” :D FYI absolutely no food can be handed out at the pits, not even candy.
  2. Safety and Helpful Hints
    Safety rules are very strict and you can not enter the pit area without safety glasses, so bring safety glasses not only for yourself but for your family members. It is a long walk between the pits and the fields so wear walking shoes. It may be helpful to wear different shoes every day, closed toe of course, it will be easier on your feet. Also, keep spare parts and batteries with you when you head for the fields so that you won’t have to run back to the pits to get stuff. Another helpful hint that we recently learned is that announcements for FTC are done by a woman and announcements for FRC are done by a man. You’ll finally be able to know when you need to listen to the announcements!
  3. Gracious Professionalism
    MOEtivate the volunteers, they are there for YOU. Stop and say hi to them, give them a button, maybe they could use a drink, tell them about your team, they want and deserve to be part of the action. Also, try not to get mad at the people who yell at you when you forget to put on your safety glasses, how would you like to safety police 20,000 people?
  4. Knowing what to expect
    Bring lots of charged batteries, you will need them. Have a cart with an emergency repair kit (more info on ours coming soon!). Have one adult report to the pit area and check in, this is necessary. Know what division you are in in advance (we are in Edison). Have one person in charge of the schedule, so that everyone knows where they need to be, when. If two of your matches are close to each other, you will not be able to go to the pit in between them. Queing can take a long time, up to 45 minutes! You may want to bring something to do.

We hope this has helped you and we can’t wait to meet you at worlds! Leave us a comment, and come visit us at worlds, we’ll be in the big green thing :)

Champions Challenge

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Today, seven of our team members participated in the Champions Challenge in NJ, which was graciously hosted by Say Watt? robotics. We had an awesome time! Team 2753 Overdrive picked us as their alliance and the alliance quickly became known as MOEverdrive. At lunch time we enjoyed sharing a few of our experiences from worlds with other teams. We were voted the team who gave the most helpful advice about worlds :) From line dancing on the field to making up new cheers, today was a day for making MOEmeries.

Alliance Team MOverdrive

MOEverdrive

Champions Challenge 2013

All the champions :)

Button Pageant

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So this year at worlds we are going to host the first annual MOE 365 FTC Button Pageant!
Please come to our pit and submit your own team’s button by the end of Thursday the 25th of April. On Friday the 26th of April we will be displaying the top ten buttons from those that were submitted at our pit. At our pit you can vote for the button of your choice. After the votes are counted, the winner will be announced after worlds.
The winner will receive a mystery prize!

May the odds be ever in your favor :)

Peter with ButtonsButton Time!

Worlds is coming up fast!

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The team has been hard at work since the Pennsylvania Championship. We’ve been practicing driving the robot at just about every meeting, making hundreds of buttons to hand out at worlds, and making spare parts to take to worlds. Our pit design is also shaping up nicely. It’ll be pretty hard to miss us! We’ve also been designing a snazzy cart to carry our robot around the dome in St Louis. The fundraiser we held at Grotto Pizza went quite well and we would like to thank those who came out to support us. Worlds is only about two weeks away and we have a lot of work to do, but we are eager to do it. Go MOE!

Pit setup version 1pit setup

Fundraiser with the Horsey foundation and Grotto Pizza

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On Tuesday, April 2, we are having a fundraiser at Grotto Pizza located at 2015 Concord Pike (Route 202) Wilmington, DE 19803. When you present our flyer to the waitress, 20% of your bill will go to us. The money we raise will be used to help fund our trip to St Louis. We would greatly appreciate it if you joined us at Grotto Pizza and told your friends about our event. Print out this flyer and bring it to Grotto Pizza. Don’t forget to bring your appetite!

Thanks to The Horsey Family Youth Foundation, we will also be selling raffle tickets for a Camaro ZL-1 Convertible.

See you there!

A Mentors perspective

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This is my first year as a Mentor on the MOE FTC team.  My son Ethan is a High School Freshman and previously participated in FLL and JrFLL teams where I was the coach.  I’ve also volunteered as a judge at various regional and state competitions for FLL.

I believe in gracious professionalism. I love technology.  I think FIRST is a fantastic program.  I love what Dean Kamen is doing to help bring water to third world counties.  He is truely an inspiration.

Seeing the team winning the Inspire award this year is one of the most exciting events of my life.   When I think of the meaningful contributions in my life, being a FIRST coach/mentor is at the top of the list.

My top 5 reasons to be MOE FTC Mentor:

  1. Teamwork – in my opinion, the greatest benefit to being on a FIRST team is the emphasis on teamwork. It’s not always fun and it’s not always fair – just like real life.  The challenges are like real life work projects that must get accomplished, some days are easy and some are not.
  2. Seeing teenagers solve problems – Just like watching a toddler start to walk, seeing these kids start hesitantly then gain confidence then start running with brilliance is inspiring.  The older team members and mentors work patiently with the new kids to share their knowledge knowing that they are responsible the future success of the team.
  3. Friendships – the kids may be oblivious to this, but adults need mentors and friends too. The adults on this team are inspirational and I enjoy spending time and learning from all of them.
  4. Competitions – Is there an adult equivalent of a FIRST event?  The events are so high energy and exciting it is just awesome.  I love that FTC teams have scrimmages and generally more events than FLL teams, so there are many more fun events.
  5. Personal Fulfillment – Mentoring helps me reach a personal goal of ‘giving back’.

Go MOE!

More info about Dean’s water purification project:
http://www.allwaterpurification.com/dean-kamen-water-purifier.html#axzz2NwMrhlnQ

PA States

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Yesterday we participated in the PA championship. We had a TON of fun! We got to spend time with kids from other teams and almost everyone on our team joined the line dances :) At the end of the day we were absolutely thrilled when the judges picked us for the Inspire Award. Winning the Inspire Award means that we are going to worlds!!! This is what the Judges said about us:

“When it comes to analyzing problems, developing options, and implementing solutions, this team is exceptional. They are the face of Social Media in FIRST. Their team spirit and gracious professionalism stands out. You can’t miss these guys on the street….365 days a year, they are truly a role model for FTC.”

PA State Inspire Award

We are so excited that we have the opportunity to go to worlds. We really want to thank all of the judges and volunteers that have helped make our journey so amazing. The next few weeks are going to be a flurry of activity as we prepare for worlds. We’ll be sure to keep you posted :D

PA State Inspire judges linePA State Inspire Finalists