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Latest News
Do you need to know what's going on with our team? Then wonder no more, for our Latest News pages will keep you up to date on all of our major team events, competitions, fundraisers, and more! In addition, we'll often announce new updates to our website, as well as interesting new content here was well.
And keeping up with our Latest News has never been easier; now with RSS feeds available for our Latest News you can be sure you'll be the first to know!
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Where Is Wolcott? Invitational
June 5, 2010
On this very hot Saturday in June, teams 228 GUS and 1071 MAX hosted the 3rd WIWI. 228 took care of the food and 1071 took care of the game. 24 teams registered this year making it the best turnout yet.
WIWI was loads of fun between watching mentors try their hands at driving the mentor robot, Tor-Mentor, to watching students play in the human player competition. Teams were also lucky enough to have their matches emceed by none other than Jack In-the-Hat Kentfield. This was a treat for all.
At the competition, 228 and 1071 put together several raffle baskets with the money raised going to Kory's Cause. The Kentfield's daughter Kory is getting married next month, while having leukemia. These sister teams raised $300 dollars which they donated to Kory's Cause. We wish Kory the best of health!
Teams 228 and 1071 are looking forward to another fantastic WIWI next year!
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Battlecry @ WPI 2010
May 8, 2010
WPI did it again. They held a fantastic robot event. Battlecry11 at WPI was an incredible two day robot competition. On Friday afternoon, teams started qualifying rounds and at night students enjoyed a wide range of activities from bowling at Gompei's Gutters to singing karaoke to learning how to play Crud to participating in Andy Grady's game show. On Saturday, bright and early matches started again and fun activities continued throughout the day with activities such as the human player challenge.
Team 228 had an awesome competition. We were once again teamed up with team 20, who we'd won the WPI Regional with this year, in an alliance for the elimination rounds. We made it into the semi-final rounds where we were eliminated by the alliance who went on to eventually win the entire competition. Team 228 and 20, did win the human player challenge with the nimble work from their drivers turned athletes. Team 228 also won the Dominating Defense, an award that was voted on by the other team who had noticed our defensive abilities.
Team 228 would like to thank WPI and everyone who helped make Battlecry11 as successful as it was. You guys definitely turned the dial up to 11.
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VEX World Championships
April 24, 2010
Exactly a week after competing in the FIRST Robotic World Championships in Atlanta, Georgia, GUS Robotics shifted gears competed in the VEX World Championships in Dallas, Texas. This was GUS's first time competing in the VEX world championship and they fielded two teams, 228 and 228B. Both teams competed in the Science division against almost 100 other teams from around the world including teams from Mexico and China. GUS was not picked into an alliance, but we did win a divisional Energy Award for our enthusiasm, team spirit, and our lovable mascot, Fuego. This was a huge honor for GUS because it was the first time they ever won a championship award in either of the robotics programs, VEX or FRC, they compete in.
Team 228 is also proud of the almost dozen of its team members who volunteered at the championship doing field reset, field management, and refereeing. The show could not have gone on with out your help!
On an exciting note, present at the VEX World Championships was Grant Imahara, one of the hosts of the popular Discovery channel show, Mythbusters. Mr. Imahara was the emcee during the final rounds of the competition. A majority of the members of GUS were also lucky enough to meet our favorite Mythbuster and have our pictures taken with him, along with getting his autograph. Imahara first jumped into stardom through winning a Battlebot competition several years ago, so it was inspirational for the students on the team to meet a real life person whom became famous doing something science and technology related.
GUS would also like to make a shout out to team 44, Green Egg Robotics. Green Eggs were our alliance partners at the QCC VEX regional, that we won, back in December. This amazing team won the Driver's Skills Challenge and they were also the Championship Finalists. Congratulations guys!
Team 228 is now looking forward to the new season, playing the new game, Round Up. Happy building to all teams and we look forward to competing with you in the coming year!
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FRC World Championships
April 17, 2010
The FIRST Robotics World Championship is where the best of the best of FRC, FTC, FLL, and FLL Jr. go to play. Hundreds of teams and thousands of students partake in this amazing event every year. In the weeks leading up to the event, teams build robots in 6 weeks and then compete in a number of regional competitions, trying to win there way to the World Championship event.
This year, team 228 GUS Robotics, was lucky enough to win their way to this prestigious event. GUS competed on the Galileo field against over 80 other teams from across the country and the world, including two teams from Israel and one team from Australia. GUS was noticed for their strong defense abilities (New England D) on the field, but sadly they were not chosen into an alliance. Even so, all the members of GUS had an amazing time at this event cheering on our friends on other teams compete in their elimination matches. Also, GUS's Dean's List Finalist, Tina Dutra, was not one of the 10 to be chosen for the actual Dean's List, but she was pleasantly surprised to received a "swag bag" of gifts for being one of the finalists. The bag contained AutoCad 2011, a Flip HD digital video camera, and Dr. Dre Monster head phones to name a few of the most valuable items. Tina was very much appreciative of this generous gift and plans to use the video camera to make more team videos.
GUS would like to thank team 1902, Exploding Bacon, for providing delightful lunches throughout the competition. We would also like to thank team 20, Rocketeers, for helping raise over $1000 for us through donations and grants. This trip would've been so much more difficult to make without your help! GUS would like to congratulate fellow Connecticut team, 177 Bobcats, on their World Championship win.
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Northeast Utilities CT Regional 2010
April 3, 2010
At the 2010 CT Regional, Team 228 had a very successful competition. On Friday we were awarded the Best Website award, for this lovely site you are visiting now. The website team was very excited at this accomplishment! This website will now go on to be judged at The FRC World Championships where it has the chance to win the national level of the website award. On Saturday, we also won the Team Spirit award for showing high levels of enthusiasm and for our displays of gracious enthusiasm throughout the event. Team 228 would like to thank all the supporters who came to the CT Regional, including around 60 students from Edison Middle School and Lyman Hall High School and the numerous family of the team members, who helped cheer on GUS and their alliance partners throughout the event. We appriciate your support and we thank you for helping us do Dean's homework!
On Saturday, Team 228 was picked into the 2nd seed alliance, joining teams 2836 and 1073. In the quarter finals, our alliance lost the first match, came back and won the second match, but sadly lost the third match. Gus's awesome defence was able to cut down the opponents score by half, but it wasn't enough to win the match. Team 228 sincerely thanks teams 2836 and 1073 for being amazing alliance partners and for chosing us into their alliance!
Team 228 is now pumped and ready to roll at the Championships that will take place in less than two weeks! See you in Atlanta!
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Please Help Gus!
March 16, 2010
Please help our team, Gus Robotics! Due to our recent victories (see below), our team is now qualified and registered to go to the FRC WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS taking place in Atlanta, Georgia in April. In order to have everyone on the team be able to go, we need to raise about $25,000 within the next three weeks. We are already going out and finding as many donations as possible, but we can use your help! In the top right corner of the web page, the team has added a new feature, our PayPal account. Through this you can make a donation directly to our team. We are begging you for your help! All donations - big or small - can and do make a difference! We are counting on you!
Please help our team make it to the world championship events and donate today! To read more about this weekend's victories and more follow the link below to our Recent News pages!
Please and thank you from all of us on Gus Robotics, team 228!
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WPI Regional Champions!
March 13, 2010
Gus Robotics team 228 has finally done it! After 12 years and 12 different robots, we finally found the right combination of students, mentors, robots, and alliance partners. At WPI in Worcester, Massachusetts this past Thursday-Saturday, Gus competed at the first FIRST WPI Regional.
The regional competition was an amazing experience. It was the first regional ever held at WPI and it was the first event that our team showed off our new mascot, Fuego, which was 100% handmade by the students and mentors of Gus. It was not all smooth sailing for our robot though, since we had to replace vital bearings in all four of our swerve drive modules between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning (a problem that was due to store-bought parts, not anything we had manufactured). Still despite this, Gus rose from being ranked 27th out of 29 teams to be picked to be in the 1st seed alliance at the end of the qualification rounds. Team 230, Gael Hawks from Connecticut, and Team 20, The Rocketeers of New York, asked us to be in their alliance, knowing that even if the rankings didn't show it we were a fantastic team. And boy, did we show them what we could do! Our powerhouse alliance went 6-0-0 during the final matches, never losing or tying any of the matches we played. Gael Hawks made amazing plays in autonomous and by hanging at the end of the match, Rocketeers score massive points for alliance with their swerve drive and awesome kicker, and we showed the other alliance a little of our "New England D" defense skills, keeping the other alliances form scoring. This was a truly awesome alliance and we thank teams 230 and 20 for once again choosing us into their alliance! This was Team 228's first ever regional win and we couldn't be more proud of our drive team; David our base driver, Nick our co-driver, Matt our human player, and Mr. Art Dutra our coach- thanks fellas!
Well, ok there are a few things that make us even more proud of our team than winning our first regional. They are as follows:
First of all, Kevin Mann, a senior at Maloney High School, was the recipient of the $10,000 WPI scholarship that was designed specifically for students a part of FRC teams attending the event. Kevin's involvement in the team and his goal to pursue an education at WPI in technology helped put him head and shoulders above the competition. Congratulations Kevin once again on your award! You represent our team well!
Second, our team, Gus Robotics, won the Engineering Inspiration at this regional competition. This award is the second highest award that a FIRST team can win, behind the Chairman's Award, and it recognizes teams who embody the spirit of FIRST and make great efforts of spreading science and technology in their schools, community, and beyond. Gus won this award for our unique method of fundraising at local Connecticut fairs and our unique ways of spreading FIRST through these fairs and through several other unique outlets including Meriden's Daffodil Festival and Parade. We also served our community through can and bottle drives, walks for Autism, and sending care packages to soldiers stationed on Iraq. Team 228 is deeply honored that we were chosen as the recipients of this award because it means we truly understand the meaning of FIRST. Thank you to all of you who helped make this possible.
Lastly, Gus had another student award winner, Tina Dutra. Tina, a junior at Platt High School, was one of two students chosen at the regional to be the recipient of the first ever Dean's List Finalist award. This award was designed to recognize outstanding students who are not only active and important members of their current FIRST team, but also show an inclination for continuing the circle of knowledge by helping out FIRST teams as alumni. Tina is a three year captain of team 228 and helps with many aspects of the team, both on center stage and behind the curtain. Tina is now eligible for the world-wide Dean's List award, where only 10 students will be chosen from all the regional winners, at the championship event taking place this April in Atlanta, Georgia. Good luck Tina!
As you can see, team 228, Gus Robotics, has had an amazing season so far and it has only just begun. We still have the Connecticut Regional coming up April 1-3 at the Connecticut Convention Center and now Atlanta as well. The problem is, in order for our team to compete in the World Championships in Atlanta, an honor we have rightfully earned, we need sponsorship and/or donations fast! These are hard times all around so many of our team members cannot afford going to the Championships unless we can raise $25,000 within the next few weeks. Robotics has offered many of our students the opportunity to see a new future for themselves, one that includes a college education. The World Championship events are the Olympics of the science world, so please help these students feel like the champions they are and please make a donation to our team to help us pay for our trip to Atlanta.
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Prelude to the WPI Regional
March 7, 2010
An ode to the WPI Regional:
Alliances are red,
Alliances are blue,
Let's work in coopertition,
To make Dean's dreams come true.
Gus is looking forward to competing with all teams who are attending the WPI Regional this coming week! Look for us in the orange shirts and be sure to get a hug from our new mascot, Fuego!
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CT VEX Tournament Champions!
February 28, 2010
On a date that was nothing short of destiny, 2-28, Gus had a double tournament win at the CT VEX Tournament in Manchester. Gus fielded two teams, 228a and 228b, that consisted of identical robotics. Between their two teams, Gus won four awards at this competition, the Driver Skills award, two tournament champions, and a design award. At the end of qualification rounds, 228a was ranked #1 and chose 228b. Our third alliance pick was team 1709, whom we thank for their contribution to our tournament win. Overall, between their two robots and two competitions, team Gus has a 32-1-0 record, with 228a continuing to be undefeated.
Gus now cannot wait for April when we go to the VEX world championships in Dallas, Texas.
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Build Season 2010
February 23, 2010
After just over six weeks, our robot, Gus12 was picked up by Fed-Ex. Over these weeks, we overcame the expected challenges, while also transcending a few monkey wrenches that were thrown in our gears. But as always, these weeks were filled with good memories and experiences. Veteran students learned more about engineering and design, while new students learned the fundamentals of robot building. During this build season, Gus also saw a rebirth of our animation team and an addition to our pep crew, Fuego, our mascot. Gus is pumped and ready for our first competition, the WPI Regional.
Cheers to an amazing build season! Cheers to a good competition season for all teams!
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Team 228 at a Glance
Location: Meriden, Connecticut, USA
Team Size: 25 Students, 10 Mentors
High Schools: Platt, Maloney, Wilcox Tech High Schools in Meriden; Lyman Hall, Sheehan High Schools in Wallingford
Rookie Year: 1999
Team Mantra: Contagious Enthusiasm!