The gallery now has photos of the 2008 robot, Sparticus II. Enjoy!

Gallery

Please check back at any time as this update will be updated quite frequently.

THE MOST RECENTLY UPDATED NEWS WILL BE BOLD

Our status:

Here is the list of the 8 alliances that will be in the finals:

Alliance #1: 2035, 766, 1147

Alliance #2: 2551, 1388, 1072

Alliance #3: 2063, 692, 2159

Alliance #4: 2122, 1662, 115

Alliance #5: 1323, 997, 675 <—Our alliance!

Alliance #6: 1678, 701, 114

Alliance #7: 2144, 1351, 852

Alliance #8: 1516, 2073, 2367

-*Friday*- (March 21)

9:42 AM-Match 1: Loss

10:18 AM-Match 2: Loss

10:48 AM-Match 3: Loss

11:18 AM-Match 4: Loss

1:36 PM-Match 5: Win!!

2:00 PM-Match 6: Win!!

2:30 PM-Match 7: Loss

3:06 PM- Match 8: WIN! (Tim Rocks!)

We have come to the point where we must prove to the top 8 (And all of the rest of the teams) teams that we are what they need to win. According to our scouting data (Which has been running very well) we ranked number 9 of all of the teams in order of average points per match score. The catch with our team is that those average points include the matches we had in the beginning with bad luck. If our team was as up to speed as we are now, we would be within the top 4 teams ranked by average points per match. Strategies have been changed, the robot has been tweaked, and the alliance team has enough confidence to take us all the way.

-*Saturday*- (March 22)

9:54 AM-Match 9: Loss (Although our robot-Spartacus 2, got a unique in-match compliment by the announcer)

10:18 AM-Match 10: Loss

11:00 AM-Match 11: Win!!

Total (And now final) results: 4 Wins, 7 Losses

These matches are the important qualifying matches that occur during each regional. The teams are put into a seeding with a rank that will determine how they might make it into the finals of that regional. The top 8 ranked teams are automatically in the finals and will each be choosing 2 other teams to be on their alliance in the finals. What happens, is a representative from each of the top 8 teams will go down onto the field and stand in order of their rank. The regional officials will then ask the representative of the team ranked number 1 which team they would like to invite to their alliance. They may choose any team ranked below them (In the number 1 spot, this of course includes all other teams). If a team in the top 8 ranks is chosen, they may choose to decline the invitation or join the alliance. In the more common case of a team’s acceptance in said situation, they will move to the alliance and rank of the offering team and every team in the regional will move up a rank. This gives the teams ranked just after number 8 a good chance to still make it into the finals. Any team that is ranked 9 or below that is invited to join an alliance is required to accept the offer or the team is disqualified. This alliance picking will start with team number 1, then 2, 3 and down onto 8, and after team number 8 picks a team, the will pick another team immediately after and the pickings will work their way from 8 down to 1. The team ranked number 1 will have the oppurtunity of having the first pick for the finals and the last pick. These alliance pickings for the finals will occur on Saturday and will sortly after be followed by the finals of the competition.

Team 997 has also once again acquired legendary Steve Wozniak’s (Co-Founder of Apple) signature on this year’s robot.

For those unaware of the games and competitions that are going on in FIRST this year, please follow this URL to see the goal for all FIRST teams in 2008: %

Team 997 has returned to Davis to continue their championship status in California. On March 20, the practice matches will give Spartacus the chance to show all of the other teams what it’s made of. The important qualifying matches for the Davis regional well begin tomorrow. (Friday, March 21) PLEASE CHECK HERE FOR UPDATES ON OUR RANK! Throughout the day, we will be posting our win count and our loss count for the qualifying matches as well as our rank in the seeding for the finals. Our team will have at least one match no later than 2 hours apart each, so you can expect to see an update every 2 hours. It’s hard to be here in Davis to cheer us on, but you can always watch our regionals through the NASA channel and check our website for updates. This is it! All of our hard work is coming down to this regional. It’s been a fun year and thank you for your support. 

Congratulations to the winning alliance team, Team 1540 “The Flaming Chickens”, Team 368 “Kika Mana”, and Team 1280 “The Raging Seabiscuts”. They all had fantastically designed robots and deserved to win.

Our own Manley Thompson won the Woodie Flowers Award! Manley, we all think you truly deserved this award, and we hope that you’ll stay with our team for a long, long time.

Figured it was about time for everyone to see the Sparticus II. More pics to come soon in the gallery.

Team 997 will be returning to Portland for the Oregon Regional this week, and you’re invited!

Over the next few days we’ll be busy making sure we have everything ready for the competition. We divided the team into groups and started training the new members, and we’re still busy packing.

If you’re interested in going to the regional, the competition is held in the Rose Quarter from the 28th to the 1st. We suggest you arrive early, as seats fill up fast. Feel free to sit with the team or on your own. Admission is free. The regional will be taking place over 3 days. Anyone is very welcome to go to 1, 2 or all of the days.

The full schedule is as follows. Bold Italicized text defines when non team members should show up. Anyone is welcome during any of the other times as well, but most of those times will be teams cleaning and either wrapping up the pit and scouting areas, or setting up the pit and scouting areas. We encourage everyone aware of this big event to come watch all of the matches, talk to the members of team 997 as well as many of the other teams that will be attending, and enjoy the regional that Corvallis High School’s team 997 won first place in last year that helped send them to the world championship in Atlanta, Georgia to make it to the top 16 in the world!

Thursday, Febuary 28th, 2008
7:45AM 3 Team Reps to uncrate
8:30AM Pits and Machine Shop open
8:30AM-12:00PM Registration and inspection
9:30AM-5:10PM Practice rounds
8:00PM Pits and Machine Shop close

Friday, Feburary 29th, 2008
8:00AM Pits and Machine Shop open
9:00AM Opening ceremonies
9:20AM-4:30PM Seeding matches
12:00PM-1:00PM Lunch
4:30PM Awards ceremony
6:00PM Pits and Machine Shop close

Saturday, March 1, 2008
8:00AM Pits and machine shop open
9:00AM Opening ceremonies
9:20AM-12:00PM Seeding matches
12:00PM-12:15PM Alliance Selections
12:15PM-1:00PM Lunch
1:00PM-3:00PM Final rounds
3:00PM Awards ceremony
5:00PM Pits and Machine Shop close, crates packed for shipping

We hope to see you there!

Well, the robotics scrimmage went well for team 997. Of course by well, I mean we managed to discover all the errors and bugs in our design. Luckily, none were too severe, and after the match we headed straight back to our headquarters to work out the kinks.

Build season is over and we’re now ready for regionals, so I say bring your “A” game everyone, because we’ll be sure to bring ours!

Team 997 as well as the other teams from around the valley are getting their first chance to demonstrate their robots among other teams in a scrimmage this season. This is an annual event that opens up the gate to the big and important regionals that the teams will be attending. This is a great place to be whether you’re interested in robotics or not. You won’t want to miss it. Details are listed below:

• Date: Saturday, Feb 16th, 2008
• Time: 11:00am
• Where: Linn County Fair Grounds — Santiam Building

As usual, the end of build season draws nearer and our robot still isn’t quite ready. Great strides were made during the last couple of weeks, but more needs to be done before we can ship this thing. However, our team is pulling together and we’re dividing up the tasks as much as we can so that everyone has something to do.

For now, our robot designs will remain under wraps, and although we’re a bit behind schedule, there’s one thing we know for sure; we will be ready.

Will you?

While unaware of how many people would attend the open house, Team 997 ran the whole show with high hopes and great optimism. It turned out to be very beneficial for familiarizing ourselves with the citizens of Corvallis and spreading the message of FIRST to other members of the community. We gave numerous tours and explained the ideas behind our team. We discussed strategies and demonstrated the assembly of our soon-to-be competition robot.

Last year’s robot was on active display; visitors were able to drive it around on a carpet square (just like in kindergarten!) and experience the mechanisms firsthand. Videos set up around the room showing this year’s game and last year’s competition were available to guests for viewing.

All in all, the whole thing was great.