The Code Red "Perspectus" #13

Hello Everyone!

This is now the last week of build… worn out, but excited, we continue to build and change the robot. In the final days many things still have to happen: One of the largest events that is yet to come, is the driver test. This test will decide who will be driving the robot during the competition. There are 10 people who have signed up, and have taken a written test and, will be tested tomorrow on their skills of driving the new robot! Of course this means that we need to have the robot completed... “The Commander” (our robot’s name) still needs to have the kicker mechanism installed and multiple other parts completed as well. About 4 days ago The Commander was weighed at 132.6 pounds… This means we were 12.6 pounds overweight. The rules of Breakaway make it impossible for any robot to exceed 120 pounds, excluding bumpers and batteries. Since then steel has turned to aluminum, aluminum to titanium, and huge parts have been taken off. Every team member has put work into trying to lighten the robot and it is being weighed again tomorrow!

The entire team has spent a huge amount of time at Code Red working as a team, on The Commander. Our dedication will pay off, but not until the end of the weekend... Between ONLY Friday and Monday morning, the entire team will spend 19+ hours at Code Red. AND, an average of 220 hours will be spent by team members by the end of Sunday! Ship date is Tuesday so we can’t lose any time!

In comparison, if any student went to a single IHS School class every day (including breaks) they would still only spend 137 hours in the classes! Students have to be dedicated to be on the team and everyone who has shown up has done that!

People who have come every day and ever hour will have come for:

144 Hours - On Weekdays

80 Hours – On Weekends

In the next 24 hours we hope to complete the robot, completely and in the case that we do, drivers tests will be tomorrow afternoon, and from then on we will be able to test and work with the robot.

Our competitions are just weeks away. Our 1st 3 day match is in Rochester on March 4-6, our 2nd in Philidelphia on March 25-27. We would love to have anyone who can come and attend. It will be a lot of fun and we would love to see all of you there! What will we look like? A bunch of people in Red!

I will end today with a wish of luck... Our former president, Thomas Jefferson once said...

"I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it."

We have worked hard, and now we will find good luck!

Good Luck To Everyone! We Will See You At The Competition!

Zev