All team members, robotics alumni and thier extended families are invited.
Times and lunch details to follow.
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2. The average 2011 World Ranking from last year was 1076 for New Orleans and 1240 for San Antonio, making New Orleans a tougher regional than SA (rookie teams were assigned 1800).   So we did better in a tougher regional!! The Dallas Competition average is 1223.  Note: The correlation coef is 0.5 between 2011 ranking and position in this year’s finishing position in qualification rounds in regionals.
3. We won the Engineering Excellence award. (WOW!)
4. Our strength of schedule was slightly favorable. The variation in strength of schedule was much smaller in New Orleans than San Antonio due to 2 more matches played. As a result, fewer teams outside the top 24 were selected for alliance partners in New Orleans (6) than San Antonio (8).
Note that the variation in schedule should be even smaller in Dallas since Dallas is a smaller competition (39 robots). There are likely to be 12 or 13 matches. If there are 13 then we will play against every team once and one team twice. 13 matches x 3 opponents = 39 but we are one of the 39 and can’t play against ourselves. Actually we could if they let the practice robot in. Also, we will be partnered with 2/3’s of the teams (13 x 2 = 26/38). In San Antonio – we were only partnered with 2 x 9 = 19/63 = 30%.
5. Thanks to the mentors and parents for making this trip possible:
- Mr. Alaniz and Mr. Barone for outstanding pit work under extreme pressure
- Mrs. McCabe for travel arrangements.
- Mrs. Gregory, Mrs Barone, Mrs McCabe, Mrs Celii and Mr Pitts for selecting and arranging fantastic lunches and dinners.
- Mr. Celii for pictures.
- Mr Pitts and Mr Alaniz for chaperoning on the bus – they are brave souls!
- Mrs Wolf for driving the uhaul 1000 miles
- And Mr Couvillon for putting it all together. He has taught the students well!!
6. Quinn hit four human shots (1 3pt, 2 2pt and 1 1pt). Is it too late to get him a basketball scholarship somewhere?
7. The scout team input was critical for match strategy and in the selection process.
8. Schedule for the week is TBD.
9. I will put together a “highlights†video and get all matches posted on YouTube this week.
The Dallas competition is in two weeks!
(Thanks to Mr. Wolf for this information)
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The Jesuit All-Sparks have just returned from the Bayou Regional in Kenner, Louisiana. The team went 10-1-0 during qualifying matches (One loss to the eventual winners of the regional, we did get coopertition points though). Ranking second for the alliance selection, we selected teams 1296 (Full Metal Jackets) and 4316 (Trobotics). The alliance performed spectacularly. Unfortunately, our robot malfunctioned in the third round of the semi-finals (a ball got suck on our robot, under a protective covering on the robot, causing our intake to malfunction (a one in a million chance)). We are very grateful to have been on an alliance with such fantastic teams and we look forward to seeing you in future regionals.
]]>2. The field game elements are done – we have a basketball hoops, a bridge built and a court taped off on the floor – Thanks to Mr. Curran, Mr. Newton, Mr. Webb, Mr. Fincher, Mrs Barone and Mr. Wolf for helping out. Mr Fincher is building a barrier out of rolled steel. This will be exactly like the barrier we will see in competitions.
3. We need parents to sign up for shop supervisors. It’s been great that we have so many parents at the shop every evening. Many parents are dropping in to take work with a single sub team or to care of a specific task. We still need 1 or 2 “official†supervisors each session that are primarily focused on shop safety and ensuring productivity. To sign up please see: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E084FABAC283-parent
Mr Couvillon and I are developing a “Role and Responsibility of a Shop Supervisor†document which I’ll distribute later this week to shop supervisors.
4. We need volunteers to bring in lunch on Saturdays. This entails either “Build your own sandwiches material†or getting pizza or something else. The kids are donating $5 for lunch which so far has covered expenses. Mrs. McCabe is setting up a “SignUpGenius†for this.
5. The snack sign-up is almost full. See:Â http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E084FABAC283-jesuit
to sign up.
6. We are also setting up a “signupgenius†for the kids to clean the bathrooms on a weekly basis. Be sure to ask your son if he signed up.
7. I’ve added a couple of volunteer opportunities to the list at: viewforum.php?f=43
8. San Antonio: This will be a tough regional 148 and 118 will be there. We will leave Wed Feb 29th probably around 9am. We have a bus and a driver. We will return late on March 3rd. Cost will likely be in the $175 per student range which will cover b-fast, lunch, hotel and bus. Parents are welcome to ride on the bus.
I have 17 rooms reserved at the Hampton Inn Riverwalk:
http://hamptoninn.hilton.com/en/hp/hote … cn=SATDTHX
Free Breakfast and Wifi but parking is $15/day.
I need to finalize the number of rooms and names for each room by February 15th. I’ve heard from about half the students and several parents. The kids room expense will be included in the trip fee (approx. $175/student). Rooms for parents are $119+17% tax per night. You can book for 1, 2 or 3 nights but I need to finalize by Feb 15.
9. New Orleans: We have rooms at the hotel next to where the competition is being held!!! Yeah. Details to follow.
10. If you have any comments or suggestions for making the team better please let me or Mr. Couvillon know.
11. Finally- all this information and more is saved on the website forum at:Â http://www.jesuitallsparks.org/Forum/
]]>1. 2012 season is underway!! Brainstorming has given way to prototyping. The drive train has a CAD drawing and a prototype is being built, Ball Pick Up has a prototype and will be delivering a file to Manda Machine to build some parts, Scoring has one prototype functional and is working on a second and programming is well underway.
2. Schedule for Martin Luther King: 9:45am to 2pm at the shop (not a mandatory day). There will be no 4:15-7:15 shift on Monday Jan 16th.
3. San Antonio – This will be a tough regional 148 and 118 will be there. We will leave Wed Feb 29th probably around 9am. We have a bus and a driver. We will return late on March 3rd. Cost will likely be in the $175 per student range which will cover b-fast, lunch, hotel and bus. Hotel details to follow. We will be driving the equipment in a rental van. We need someone to drive the van down and back. Parents are welcome to ride on the bus down and back.
Let me know who is going. I need to know how many students and how many parents. Let me know if you are:
a) definitely going,
b) definitely not or
c) undecided
4. Please see the volunteer list and materials needed for parent and student opportunities:Â viewforum.php?f=43
5. Kathy McCabe has set up a website for signup for shop supervisors. See http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E084FABAC283-parent
She will be setting one up for snacks as well.
]]>2. First is just 29 days away – but who’s counting? Here is the tentative schedule for Kick-off Weekend:
- Saturday January 7th, 9am-11am. KICKOFF!!!! We will arrange to watch the webcast at school. We only have 12 seats at JCPenney’s headquarters in Plano, let me know if you are interested in attending at JCP or at School.
- Saturday January 7th 12 to 4pm. Planning and orientation session for the team, mentors and parents. We will start with lunch at the shop. Details to follow
- Sunday January 8th Time to be determined – Mentor and Team Captain Meeting.
- Tentative regular shop hours for the build season Jan 9th to Feb 18th will be: M to F 4pm to 6pm extending to 8pm on select nights. Saturdays 9-4pm.
3. Santa Clara at the Dallas Lego League Championships
The Seniors (Quinn, Ian, Will, Patrick, Ben, Jim, William and Michael) have been teaching kids at Santa Clara robotics as part of their Senior Service Site. They are taking the three teams of 6th, 7th and 8th graders to the Dallas Lego League Regional Qualifier Saturday Dec 10th at Parish Episcopal School. Drop by and show your support. Details can be found athttp://www.parishepiscopal.org/page.cfm?p=595. Good luck!!!
4. Austin Vex Tournament:
Three Teams competed in Austin. Team B (Jerry, Quinn, Ian, Trey, Kieran, ) finished 6th out of 52 teams, formed the 5th alliance. They blew away the 4th seed in the first match of the quarters, but had mechanical problems and did not make it out of the quarterfinals. Team A finished 27th and Team C finished in 24th.
Jesuit finished 3rd out of 16 teams (based on average team finish in qualification round). We now have 13 students that have been through design, build, test and a competition. They are ready for FIRST! But is FIRST ready for them?
The next Vex Tournament is at Ursuline Feb 25th.
5. Volunteer Activities
There are a number of new volunteer opportunities – I will post on the website and send a separate email in the next day or so.
1. Have you seen the T-Shirt Cannon? Awesome! The Seniors, Jeff and Trey did an amazing job of design and construction. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=dUeHY40E5H4 Thanks to Mr. Ferrell at Steeline Enclosure Solutions LLC and Mr. Ellard from Manda Machine Co., Inc.
2. We now have a CNC machine thanks to Mr. Allaniz, Patrick, Will and Jim. They converted the old mill – it’s now driven by a computer. Personally, I’ll miss “eye-balling†holes and handmaking parts.
3. Be sure to visit the “Team 2848†trophy case on the first floor of the “B†Hallway. Thanks to Mrs. Curran and Mrs Webb for creating a great tribute to a great team.
4. The shop is painted! Thanks to Quinn, Stephen, Eric and Will.
5. We have safety posters and signs in the shop – thanks to Mrs Deng.
6. Three Vex Teams are getting ready for a tournament in Houston this weekend. They actually had the robots built a week before the competition – and have had time to practice! It’s not as thrilling as finishing the robots the morning of the competition, but I think we will do better with some practice under our belts.
-Thanks to all the parents who helped out at practices during Mr. Couvillon’s paternity leave – it really made a difference
-The next Vex competition is in Austin on Dec 3rd
7. FIRST Competition schedule for the spring: We are now registered and paid for the Alamo and Dallas Regional events. We are registered for the Bayou Regional, but have not paid yet. Mr. Couvillon is working on finding money for that one.
Key Dates:
- Kickoff is Saturday Jan 7, 2012
- Ship Date is Feb 21, 2012
- Alamo (San Antonio): Mar 1-Mar 3 (Leave school on Wed 2/29)
- Bayou (New Orleans): Mar 15-17 (Leave Dallas on Mon 3/12)
- Dallas: Mar 29-31
The decision to go during Spring Break to the Bayou Regional instead of going to the Lone Star Regional during Easter was made for 2 reasons:
1. Going during Spring Break allows us the opportunity to visit a Jesuit campus and do community service in a different part of the province.
2. The event is evenly spaced between the San Antonio and Dallas Regional events. This will have the least impact on student time spent away from school and reduce fatigue. If we went to the Lone Star Regional, the boys would only have 3 days in between finishing the Dallas regional and packing up to go to Houston. Also, going to Houston would cause the boys to miss 3 out of 8 days of school and Junior Retreat.
8. And finally – in his never ending quest to bring new members to the robot team, Mr. Couvillon had a second son, Ben. Mom and Ben are doing fine. Couv is hoping this year’s FIRST challenge is to build a robot to change a diaper.
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