A Word from JaSun

Dear Supporters of the OctoPiRates,

We are very proud 2 be in our second year of building robots for the FRC competition. Our robot this year "The Farrell Beast" picks up and holds 3 foam basketballs with a conveyor up to a single beautiful 10" aluminum flywheel. We have hit 5 shots in a row from the key and some 45 foot shots occasionally. We have 3 excellent arms, a working conveyor, several sensors, and a great shooter it's absolutely amazing. I am so proud of our students at SAIL High School who: Designed, CAD, Programmed, Welded, Machined, Soldered, and Assembled such a great machine in 6 weeks.

Here is a link to an recent ABC broadcast at our website.
http://sailroboticsclub.com/news.html

Our competition is March 8-10th at Orlando in the UCF Basketball arena.

We have a strong shot to do very well.

Follow us on twitter to keep up to date and track our regional event stats

Thanks for your support, helping to educate the brightest minds in the areas of STEM and life skills.

An extra big thanks to our platinum sponsors.
Lowe's Charitable Education Foundation

Motorola Solutions Foundation

JCPenney

Build Season... Check!

The Farrell Beast is alive and well. Now, she lies dormant in the robot room getting some R&R before her big debut. I am so excited for all the hard work we have put in. No matter what happens at the competition, we have already accomplished an amazing feat!

We did so well that we had time to show off our robot to the media on the last day of build season. Here's a link to our 5 minutes of fame on ABC27: http://www.wtxl.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=3294749

We've still got a few things to do to prepare for the competition. Here's a message from Jasun:

We just built an amazing robot. I am so proud of us and want to congratulate everyone. I eagerly await March 7th and the regional competition in Orlando.

We are going to be meeting Wednesday, and Thursdays 3-7:15
You should be at all meetings or let Emily or I know that you will need to be caught up.

... Wednesdays will be workshops:
Robot and team facts
Science of how the robot works
interviewing skills
juggling
expectations for competition
Thursdays will be less formal and work more on preparation for the event.
Spirit, swag, robot improvements

Only 2 weeks till competition!!

~JaSun

The Light at the End of the Tunnel...

... is near! Goosebumps, cheers, and high fives were among us tonight as we just made our first basketball hoop! Video will be posted soon!

The conveyor has also been assembled and can pick up balls off the floor!

There is still alot of hard work ahead of us before stop build day in just 5 days but we are super excited that we are 500% ahead of where we were last year at this time!

Testing Time

8 Days left till the Crating Ceremony and the end of build season

February 21st 6pm @ SAIL HS

All supporters welcome.

We shot our first ball over the weekend and can't wait to turn some clamps into welds so we can turn up full power. We will be testing the robot all week trying to tune our shooting range and accuracy. Its going to be so fun. :)

~J