DEWBOT VIII

Events

Move into 427 Creamery Way

On 13-August-2011, Downingtown Area Robotics moved into the warehouse at 427 Creamery Way, Exton. Waterloo Gardens is generously and graciously allowing the team to use this facility. Another great space for robotics, allowing a full-scale practice field. We are very grateful to Waterloo Gardens for the use of this building. Again, no sense of permanence. Our 7^th home to-date.

All training is shifted immediatly to the new site.

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  Siri Maley leading design class

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  Clem McKown - Drive Train basics

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  Douglas & Gary Deaver

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  Ben Kellom leads SolidWorks Training

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  Ian & Mike B driving

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  Lucy & Ben Kellom working on SolidWorks

Fall Project - Robot design

Team discussing ideas around field mock-up table during Practice Kickoff

Team 1640's Fall Project is the complete design of a robot for an old FRC game (outside the team's memory). We selected the 2003 game, Stack Attack for this exercise.

The Project started with a well-attended Practice Kickoff on 17-September.

Fall Project - Pivot Drive Value Engineering

The design of the 2011 Pivot Drive System will be reviewed with the intent of:

• Reducing mass
• Reducing cost
• Reducing mill time
• Improving reliability
• Improving performance

Pancake Breakfast

Our AppleBee's Pancake Breakfast on 16-October-2011 raised nearly $1,500 for the team.

Boeing Ridley Park Plant Tour - 5-November-2011

The team toured Boeing's Ridley Park helicopter plant, together with teams 341, 365 & 486. The V-22 Osprey and CH-47 Chinook assembly lines were visited, as well as Boeing's Wind Tunnel and Flight Simulation facilities.

STEM Academy & DEHS Robot Demonstrations - 18-Nov-2011

Team Sab-BOT-age and recently retired DEWBOT VII demonstrated the benefits of FRC to Downingtown STEM Academy and East Students in back-to-back demos.

Robot Name

Team 1640 has called its robots "DEWBOT" from the team's beginning. We've built seven DEWBOTs: DEWBOT I (2005) through DEWBOT VII (2011). The question is raised to the team: Do we want to continue with the DEWBOT name in 2012?

DEWBOT stands for "Downingtown East & West roBOT". This name made perfect sense through mid-2011, but events since then have made the name obsolete. These are:

• The Downingtown Area School District has discontinued its support of the team;
• As a consequence, Team 1640 students are now drawn from a wider range of High Schools; and
• There is now a third High School in Downingtown, the Downingtown S.T.E.M. Academy.

I understand the value of maintaining a consistent trademark, which DEWBOT certainly has been. I also think that DEWBOT remains a great robot name, despite the recent disconnect. But I feel it is also appropriate to open the field to other ideas as well. A Suggestion Box has been created for this purpose.

People

Team Sab-BOT-age is what it is only due to the efforts of the people involved. DEWBOT VIII's success will be in the hands of the students, mentors and parents engaged. The team's very existence is possible only through the gracious generosity of our sponsors.

DEWBOT VIII Students

DEWBOT VIII Mentors

Sponsors 2012

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See our other robots at FRC Team 1640