Highlights from our Ultimate Ascent Season in full HD!
Category Archives: Ultimate Ascent
Happy May Day!
Happy May Day everyone! A lot has happened in the past month! Read below for updates on where we have been! Scroll down to view New News!
Old News
Last weekend was the FIRST Championships which many of our mentors attended in-person to watch and volunteer at. Iowa did very well there!
- Three FRC Teams (525, 967, 4646)
- 525 from Cedar Falls finished 36th on Archimedes with 5 wins.
- 967 from Marion finished 13th on Curie. They were the second pick by fourth seeded alliance captain 2056, where they made it into semi-finals. In their second qf match, they scored 207!
- 4646 from Des Moines finished 78th on Curie with 3 wins.
- Two FTC Teams (3550 & 5466)
- One FLL Team (3985)
- 3985 from Davenport brought home first place in Core Values – Teamwork!
For those who weren’t there, we hosted a booth at IT Olympics where we showed off our robot to hundreds of high school youth from across Iowa who were competing in technology based challenges in three distinct disciplines (cyber defense, multimedia/ game design, and robotics).
We also recently attended VEISHEA and was a part of the ISU Extension STEM tent that featured STEM projects from youth across Iowa, include our very own Story County 4-H FLL Team! Click here to see more photos from VEISHEA! We are doing many more outreach events in the coming months, so please check out our events calendar to see if we are coming to an event near you. If you would like to request our presence at your event, please contact Tony!
Finally, one of our Neutrinos attended the 2013 White House Science Fair on April 22nd. While there, he ran into members from Bomb Squad FRC #16, Falcon Robotics FRC #842, and the Atomic Flying Pickles FLL team among others. The full list of attendees can be found here.
New News
The Iowa 4-H Youth Conference registration deadline is quickly approaching, with less than a month left to register (May 24th)! Why are we promoting this you ask? We are leading workshops on all 3 days (June 25th – June 27th)! When you register, make sure to check either T-22, W-22, or R-22! There are many exciting and fun opportunities that you will encounter while at conference, that it just might inspire you to join 4-H!
We are looking forward to hopefully attend IRI this summer (July 19th and 20th). We will keep you informed of any updates concerning IRI. In the mean time, check out our countdown that is embedded in the right side bar.
If you have made it this far, thanks for reading this super long update. Don’t forget to “Like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up-to-date with team happenings.
Team Neutrino Seeded First in Minneapolis
Minneapolis, MN – Story County’s 4-H FIRST Robotic Competition (FRC) Team Neutrino attended the North Star FIRST Robotics Competition Regional at Mariucci Arena this past weekend. The team of high schoolers designed and fabricated a robot to complete the challenge of retrieving and shooting Frisbees into goals almost 8 feet in the air and climbing a 7 ½ foot pyramid during the regional competition.
Team Neutrino finished with a 13-2-0 record. They won the Innovation in Control award for their work with programming a 7 disk autonomous mode, which utilized their utility arm to pick up an additional 4 disks and shoot 7 disks during the 15 second period where programming controls the robot.
On Saturday, they finished qualifications seeded first. They selected Team 2574 Robo Huskies from Saint Anthony Village, Minnesota and Team 4239 WARPSPEED from Willmar, Minnesota. They continued undefeated up until the second finals match, when they lost by 8 points because their robot suffered a blow to their pneumatics system that took out their scoring mechanisms, making them lose the last 2 finals matches of their season.
Even though Team Neutrino suffered a tragic loss at regionals, they are still proud of all their accomplishments, awards, and new friends they have made this year. The team would like to invite you to visit them at their upcoming outreach events such as VEISHEA, which can be found at www.teamneutrino.org/events.
To learn more about Team Neutrino visit www.teamneutrino.org or contact our coach Tony Milosch by email [email protected]. For additional Story County 4-H program information visit www.extension.iastate.edu/story or contact Mary Wilkins, County 4-H Youth Coordinator, by phone 515-382-6551 or email [email protected].
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach programs are available to all without regard to race, color, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, sex, marital status, disability, or status as a U.S. veteran.
North Star Regional
Saturday
We finished quals being seeded first. We picked 2574 (second seed) to be our second alliance pick and 4239 to be our third alliance pick. We made it through elims pretty well with the exception of the last 2 finals matches when we lost to the 3rd seeded alliance captain due to pneumatics problems not allowing us to shoot or climb. Even though we experienced this tragic event that blew our team away, we continued showing our gracious professionalism. As one of the regional event directors told me, our gracious professionalism really showed through and she could tell that we were a 4-H team because of the heart we showed by giving up our timeout before the first finals match to the other alliance to allow them to re-image a crio. After the last finals match, I took a photo of what the front of our robot looked like (see the photo to the left). We seriously got hit hard by another team as the hex aluminum tube was bent in fairly far and our bumpers were also bent in. We brought home the Innovation in Controls award for our work with our 7 disk auton. We are sad to say that our season has ended with this unfortunate set of events and that we won’t be attending Champs like we all were looking so forward to doing, especially the graduating seniors. Keep checking back here for updates from the team throughout the off-season of our outreach activities.
Friday
Hello! The past 2 days have been pretty hectic and exciting! As of tonight, us and Iron Lions are undefeated and ranked #1 and #2 respectively at North Star. SwartDogs are ranked #3 across the street at 10,000 lakes. We have been working hard, analyzing data and playing out all the possible situations during alliance selection tomorrow.
Wednesday
Good morning! We are excited and pumped for the North Star Regional! Keep tabs on us by following us on Facebook or Twitter! Also, check back nightly for updates from each day at regionals!
Until later tonight or tomorrow, keep your robots on! -David
Team Neutrino finishes as Second Regional Finalist in Kansas City
Click Here for photos and videos.
Kansas City, Missouri – Story County’s 4-H FIRST Robotic Competition (FRC) Team Neutrino attended the Greater Kansas City FIRST Robotics Competition Regional at Hale Arena this past weekend. The team of high schoolers designed and fabricated a robot to complete the challenge of retrieving and shooting Frisbees into goals almost 8 feet in the air and climbing a 7 ½ foot pyramid during the regional competition.
Team Neutrino finished with a record of 11-4-0. They won the Excellence in Engineering Award for the design, elegance, and accuracy of their drive train, shooter, and pickup arm.
On Saturday, they were selected by the second seeded Team 1939 the Kuh-nig-its, from Kansas City, Missouri, to be their second alliance partner in the elimination rounds along with Team 1987 Broncobots, from Lees Summit Missouri, They easily won their two quarterfinal matches scoring a total of 223 points. In semifinals, they continued their push for a chance to compete at the FIRST Championship in St. Louis, when they recorded their second highest match score of 133 points. This win built the confidence that carried the team to the finals. Unfortunately their run ended early after their first finals match, when they were forced to drop out due to a failed speed controller in their drive train system. The Kuh-nig-its substituted their selected backup robot in Team Neutrino’s place during the second finals match where they could not hold back the first seeded alliance. Along with the Kuh-nig-its, Team Neutrino claimed the second finalist award.
Team Neutrino is already looking ahead to their next regional in Minneapolis. The team is planning to work hard over their spring break to fabricate a completely new climbing system named ‘Kraken 2.0’. You can virtually join them at their second regional happening in Minneapolis, March 29th and 30th, by visiting www.teamneutrino.org/live to watch the live webcast.
For more details on the North Star Minneapolis regional along with a link to a live video feed, please visit www.teamneutrino.org/ns. To learn more about Team Neutrino visit www.teamneutrino.org, or for additional Story County 4-H program information, contact Mary Wilkins, County 4-H Youth Coordinator, by phone 515-382-6551, email [email protected], or visit www.extension.iastate.edu/story.
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach programs are available to all without regard to race, color, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, sex, marital status, disability, or status as a U.S. veteran.