Last week Buzz competed at the CT Regional sponsored by Northeast Utili-

ties and was captain of the 8th alliance. Though we were knocked out in the

quarterfinals by the 1st alliance of 2168 (Aluminum Falcons), 118

(Robonauts), and 2791 (Shaker Robotics), Buzz had a great time at the

event! Some adjustments were made to Buzz 17 on Thursday’s practice day

to improve the drive system. The gear ratio was adjusted so that high gear

would be better suited for traversing the field, while low would allow for

improved control while on the bridge. While at the event, Buzz held a food

drive to benefit the Enfield Food Shelf. The drive was very successful, and

we would like to thank all the teams who participated and those who orga-

nized the drive. A big thanks to Cory Rice and Mrs. Osborn for their sup-

port.

Buzz Robo t i c s : F IRST Team 1 7 5

We recently competed at the Northeast Utilities FIRST Connecticut Regional, where scouting was very important,

since we were seeded 11th at the end of the quali-fication rounds. Our team spent the majority of Friday afternoon scouting competing robots from the stands. Everyone on our team helped out and greatly participated in the scouting process. Once we received all the data we needed, we compiled it into several lists of the best robots. We looked at different aspects such as shooting accuracy, and the ability to balance on the ramp for bonus points. We discussed our information with several other students and mentors to create our final list of the best robots. Holly Beaudoin was our Alli-ance Captain for this regional, and she went down on the field for alliance selections. When it came around to us, we ended up as the eighth seeded

alliance, and we were able to pick two other teams to work with during finals. Holly picked teams 126 and 869, according to our list. All in all, scouting was a success at the Northeast Utilities FIRST Connecticut Regional, even though we lost in the quarter finals. - Jamie Surrett, Scout Captain

Scouting Update

Issue 9: Monday, April 9th, 2012

The Weekly Buzz

The Weekly Buzz

Issue 9: Monday, April 9th , 2012

PAGE 1

Countdowns:

Championship:

17 days

Weekly Team Update: Week 12

Inside this issue:

Team Update 1

Scouting Update 1

Countdowns 1

VIP Section

-Jim Patrick

-Dennis Klapperich

-Michael Sperber

2

The Weekly Hodge 3-4

CT Snapshots 5

Our Staff 6

Upcoming Events 6

Buzz Scout Holly Beaudoin with representatives

from 126 (Gael Force) and 869 (Power Cord)

Buzz Fun Facts:

9 of Buzz’s 23

mentors have

been with the

team since 1996!

This would be a good place to

insert a short paragraph about

you and your organization. It

might include information about

the services you offer, how long

The Weekly Buzz

Issue 9: Monday, April 9th , 2012

PAGE 2

Buz z R obo t i c s :

F IR ST T e am 175

VIP Section

A visit from our supporters at Hamilton!

Thursday night after the practice rounds Buzz was honored by the presence of Jim

Patrick, Dennis Klapperich, and Michael Sperber. Representatives of the team Victor

Hipolito and Kelsie Atiyeh greeted our VIPs and instructed them for a hands on expe-

rience with Buzz 17. Our engineering cycle and thought process was broken down in

order to illustrate all the hard work that goes into developing a robot each year. The

VIPs had such a fun time driving Buzz 17 that even the CT Regional FTA gave the ro-

bot a go!

Jim Patrick

VP Customer Service

Dennis Klapperich

Director Military & UAV Customers

Michael Sperber

Offset Manager

The Weekly Buzz

Issue 9: Monday, April 9th , 2012

PAGE 3

It looks like Buzz is ready to go again, with "some" work to do on practice day to improve performance. Buzz is raring to go, but re-strained in the "bag", anxiously awaiting it's arrival at the Conference Center in Hartford on Thurs-day this week. The Programming Team will be working hard to tweak and improve the autonomous mode. Buzz has performed well in the past in this phase of the game, making both shots from the key, as well as the fender. Improvement is needed when shooting during the "teleop" period. New, reinforced wheels are ready to be installed for greater durability when traversing the barrier. Speed changes by the Drive Team using new drive sprockets are also going to be installed, which will al-low shifting into high speed, a low speed for greater push and control-ability for balancing on the ramp, with minor lateral shot adjustment. The ball pickup will also require some improvement dur-ing autonomous and "teleop" mode, as well. this will require some lowering of the first intake roller, some additional friction material, and an increase in roller speed. Additionally, the camera may be used to provide visual alignment to load balls not visible from the driver station. An extended pickup roller is being considered that is light weight and deployable within the 14" x 19.5" zone to improve pickup capability. Finally, the ramp manipulator drive is being strengthened to prevent po-tential failure. if all of this can be accomplished on Thursday (practice day), Buzz will be in the Fi-nals again, and well- prepared for the World Championship in St. Louis.

It has become apparent that a strong a strong Alliance will consist of the following: 1- All Alliance robots that can consistently score at least their two balls, and maybe several more, as well as control the balls on the Coopertition and Alliance ramps. 2- Quick ball pickup by at least 2 robots, allowing a high level of shots that lead to a higher scores. 3- One defensive robot capable of quick ball pickup and delivery of balls to their home zone for their partners to score. 4- The human player's ability to return balls to the home zone eliminating the need for robot loading at the player station. 5- The ability to balance 2 robots on the ramps during the Elimination rounds, and likely 3 robots in the Final rounds. _____________________________________________________________________________ Buzz has been designed and built to play the game well, and the Drive Team is ready to imple-ment different strategies designed to enhance performance with varying Alliance Partners. With some luck, and partners that enhance that performance, we look forward to the Championship rounds.

The Weekly Hodge

An Observer’s Perspective Pre-Competition Analysis

Strategy Adjustments

The Weekly Buzz

Issue 9: Monday, April 9th , 2012

PAGE 4

On Friday, several matches were lost by less than 10 points total. At the end of the day, we were seeded 11th, well within striking distance of being in the top 8 teams to make the Championship matches. To help achieve that position, we performed a balance with other robots on the Coopertition Bridge in 6 of the 8 matches. On Saturday morning, we still had 3 Qualification matches to play before the final seedlings were set. Our second match was against an alliance led by Team 118 (Robonauts) from Texas, argua-bly the best robot in the field. We played them tough, and it was nip and tuck throughout the match. Our strategy was flawless, and our drive team was magnificent. Buzz finally prevailed, set-ting the stage for another tough match in the elimination rounds. Buzz and their Alliance partners, Team 869 Power Cord, and Team 126 Gael Force, were formed, and Buzz moved on to the elimi-nation rounds, the eighth seed, and Alliance. Team 2168's alliance was the #1 seed, and was the first alliance we would face. Partnered with team 118 and 2791, we were up for a hardpressed bat-tle. They did a triple balance on the practice field (intimidation?) to give us a better idea of what we would be facing. Our strategists came up with a plan to also triple balance, and we did two triple balances on the practice field to show them what they would be facing, like boxers at the weigh-in. We lost our first match by only a few points, and were within seconds of doing our triple balance before time ran out. We lost the second match as well, and we were on our way to packing up and going home, bowing out in the Quarter Finals, just short of our goal going into the Competition. Team 2168, 118, and 2791 went on to lose in the semi finals, with an on-board computer glitch. They were a great team, coming all the way from Texas, and undoubtedly had the best performing robot in the competition. Buzz went into the bag that day, and was shipped in the crate with the "HodgeBear", and then on to St. Louis on Tuesday. Plans are in the works to add another compo-nent to the ball collection system so Buzz can shoot more baskets during the "teleop" portion of the match. Just to put things in a proper perspective, Steve Olson did some research with the performance figures for all 2000+ teams that are competing. Buzz is in the top 3.5% of all competitors this year, and overall performance since 1996, Buzz is the 12th ranked robot in the WORLD. Upgrading the ball collection system should help us raise our level of play into the "elite" class. I look forward to watching all the matches on my computer from home, and see Buzz play on Einstein. A live webcast can be found on the Internet at theredalliance.com if you're stuck at home like me. Noth-ing compares to being there on the front line. Thanks to our sponsors, Hamilton- Sundstrand Sea, Space and Defense, PTC, and Peerless Ma-chine Tool for their support in this endeavor.

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ON TO ST. LOUIS ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

The Weekly Hodge

(continued) Post-Competition Review

The Weekly Buzz

Issue 9: Monday, April 9th , 2012

PAGE 5

CT Snapshots

The Weekly Buzz

Issue 9: Monday, April 9th , 2012

PAGE 6

Our Staff

Behind the PDFs!

Upcoming Fundraisers

When: Sunday, April 22nd 1pm-5pm

Where: Chicago Sams

Enfield, CT

20% of all proceeds will go to Buzz Robotics

On behalf of the newsletter staff we’d like to apologize on the lack of newsletter issues in the

past weeks. We have been busy with other responsibilities to help keep our respective teams

working.

Victor is the base driver for Buzz, and as a senior is looked to as a leader.

Kristine has been tied up managing the newsletter for FRC 126, Gael Force, along with teach-

ing her class at an elementary school in Massachusetts.

Fundraiser Recap

Our recent fundraiser was a great success! We

sold 239 Easter flowers that resulted in a profit

of around $1000 for the team.

Thank You to all the students who helped to sell

the flowers, and a big thank you to Suzanne and

Jay Toohey in regard to their hard work to make

this fundraiser possible. :)

Kristine Atiyeh,

Editor

Victor Hipolito,

Writer

Sue Reis,

Photographer

Bob Rossato,

Photographer