Recent Updates
19 April, 2008
FIRST Released new info about the new FRC Controller for next year. The new system contains a 32-bit processor running at 400mhz. The system now also contains a Wi-Fi access point to be used for wireless debugging, or other things and possibly real-time stats, as well as a variety of other features. Fortunately, this means that the prior electronics work that was performed to revamp the outdated 8-bit bus will no longer be necessary, and we can expand to develop our IMU as well as progressions through the FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array).Hopefully this new setup with advanced options will allow us to implement an operating system for full time use without any loss in speed, which will result in easy transfer from year to year, as well as to move forward autonomously for whatever sensory work that will be implemented in the future.
27 March, 2008
We finished our two practice rounds today in Boston. Although three rounds were planned for each team, we missed the first match by arriving late due to traffic. No mechanical problems were experienced all day. We should be ready for the first match tomorrow morning.
26 March, 2008
Tomorrow morning at 4:00AM sharp, we will be leaving for the 2008 Boston Regional, which will go until Saturday (3/29) afternoon. Good luck, and most of all, have fun at the competition, we're all hoping for another regional title.
9 March, 2008
Today marks the second time in team 174's history, as well as the past two years that the team has won a regional event. Our first time was in 2006 in the Buckeye Regional, in addition to this years win at the Fingerlakes Regional. To describe the series of events which sparked this win is in itself oddly improbably. As we arrived at RIT on our first day for the practice rounds, we found ourselves riddled with issues, ranging from underpowered batteries, to abused manipulators and gears through the wear and tear of competition. However, on our second day, we performed quite well, finishing the day in 10th place out of approximately 42 teams, a very respectable position for the FIRST competition, especially considering that the top 8 alliances pick who goes into the finals. With only one match left for Friday, we had a reasonably solid foundation no matter what the result of the match, which was in our favor, as we lost our final qualifying round, to leave us at 14th, still a very respectable placement. Unfortunately, while we were optimistic about being chosen for an alliance with such a high rank, we were not selected. Instead we were forced to wait outside the arena for a few hours while we waited for a chance to replace a fallen team, as we were first in line as a backup team. As we approached the finals, in the first match, team 191's tower was catastrophically damaged beyond the repair period allotted, and after their first win, we were allowed to step in for default silver medals, as alliance team members of team 20 and team 2053. As an eerie return from Thursday's problems, we lost our second final match and were only given one more chance to win the finals for best two out of three. By replacing our battery and backup battery, however, we came back to serve as an asset to the match's scoring, finishing the round four points behind the blue alliance. With luck, however, the judges called a penalty against the blue alliance for pushing our robot during scoring, and we were awarded as FIRST 2008 Fingerlakes Regional Champions.
Awards
- 2008 Fingerlakes Regional Champion
- 2006 Buckeye Regional Champion
- 2005 Spirit Award
- 2004 Website Award
- 1998 Rookie Award
You can view our Team History for a complete story of our team.