The summer has been filled with media appearances and preparations for the new season. We have appeared twice at the Penngrove Power and Implement Museum. At our first appearance, we were able to help them raise enough money to purchase a starter for a 26 cylinder airplane engine and at our second, we were able to see the engine in action.

Coming up on August 18th, we will be appearing at the Latitude Island Grill for a press conference and check ceremony. LRG Capital Group has been generous enough to sponsor our team for another season! We will be receiving their donation at the conference.

We will also be getting the team together this month to start organizing for the 2009 season. We plan to apply for the Chairman's Award, the highest honor in the FIRST Robotics Competition. The award is bestowed to one team at each regional competition "that best accomplishes the FIRST mission to change the culture of the United States". We will be organizing a committee to that effect.

As for this website, we have been working on updating all of the information for the upcoming season and will be getting some pictures online for your viewing pleasure.

Tuesday, July 28, 2008
We have an upcoming event on August 18th - details to be posted here soon - save the date! The location will be at The Latitude Island Grill in Rohnert Park.

Friday, May 9th, 2008
The 2007/2008 robotics year has been exciting as well as arduous. We have been able to achieve many goals we set at the beginning of the year. We now have a working website that is being maintained regularly. We were able to ship a fully functional robot to two regional competitions: the Silicon Valley Regional and the UC Davis Sacramento Regional.

During the Silicon Valley Regional, our team ran into a number of problems relating to the robot. We had many technical difficulties but were able to overcome the obstacles. We managed to rank number 39 out of 48 which wasn’t terrible.

At the UC Davis Sacramento Regional, we also ran into a few mechanical problems but we were able to fix them in a short period of time. After the first day of competition (Friday, March 21), we received the Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Entrepreneurship Award. The award is given to teams that have developed a comprehensive business plan in order to scope, manage, and achieve team goals. The following day, our team was chosen by one of the eight seed teams. Our alliance made it to the quarterfinals where we went neck and neck with the opposing alliance. Unfortunately, we were defeated but we walked out with our heads high.

After the competitions, our presentation team appeared at the Sebastopol Rotary. We also volunteered at Creekside Middle School’s Sonoma County LEGO Robotics competition. We are sponsoring their team so that they can become a FIRST LEGO League participant.

On May 1st we were invited to the Rohnert Park Business Showcase to demonstrate the robot and talk to local businesses about our team.We have also organized a team social with two other North Bay FIRST teams. The social will be a great way to bond with our robotic comrades.

We are having a pasta feed tonight at Sally Tomatoes. There will be a cake auction as well as a gift basket raffle. If you are reading in time, please join us at 5:30pm. There will be tickets available at the door.

This year has been an overall successful year. We did well at both competitions and even received an award we have been vying for. We are continuing to develop relationships with local businesses and our community and we’re preparing for next year and next season.