News

This is the current news items about Downingtown Robotics, all the teams: FRC and FTC.

Remember to read about Current Events coming your way.

Ramp Riot - 1-November-2014

Hosted by team 341 (Miss Daisy) at Wissahickon High School in Ambler PA. Team 1640 has participated at Ramp Riot every year of its existence.

FTC 7314 won the FTC scrimmage, with the help of alliance partner 4433, Smoking Motors.

Team Sab-BOT-age (FRC 1640) was 4^th seed, alliance captain and FINALIST at Ramp Riot.

Duel on the Delaware - 18-October-2014

Held at Salem Community College in Carney's Point, NJ and hosted by teams 365 (Miracle Workerz) and 316 (LuNaTeCs), Sab-BOT-age has participated every year starting 2007.

Teams 316 (LuNaTeCs), 1640 and 1089 (Mercury) were Duel on the Delaware CHAMPIONS! This is Sab-BOT-age's 4^th consecutive Duel victory.

Indiana Robotics Invitational - 18 & 19 July-2014

Held at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, Indiana 18 & 19 July-2014. Participation is by invitation only and the level of play is simply awesome. Team Sab-BOT-age has participated in IRI every year since 2010; every year of swerve drive for us.

This year, we seeded 25^th in a field of 68 with a (5-4-0) qualification record. We were not selected for an alliance.

On the way home, we continued an ancient and time-honored team tradition by spending the morning of Sunday, 20-July at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, OH.

Midknight Mayhem - 28-June

Our all-new drive team and pit crew, together with a new, highly reliable 2-ball high autonomous earned us a 4^th seed spot with a (4-1-0) qualification record. We accepted team 869's (Power Cord) invitation to join the 3^rd alliance, but were eliminated in a quarterfinals rubber match, losing by 4 points.

Kids Fest - 21-June

Downingtown Area Robotics responded to a request from the office of PA State Representative Duane Milne (167^th District) and put together an FRC, FTC and FLL demonstration at Great Valley Middle School.

Visit by FRC Team 365 Miracle Workerz - 11-June-2014

Mentors and students from MOE visited for a detailed review and examination of Sab-BOT-age's swerve technology.

Congratulations to our Graduates

We've got a record number of graduates this year. These students not only witnessed, but drove a tremendous team transition. As Freshmen, these students were there for 1640's first ever official season victory at Philadelphia in 2011. As Seniors, they were on Einstein as we became FRC Championship Finalists. Congratulations and very best wishes for the future to:

• Molly K - Co-Captain, Pit Captain & Mechanical Lead - Avon Grove Charter School
• Dhananjay (DJ) R - Co-Captain & Programming Lead - Downingtown S.T.E.M. Academy
• Patrick C - Safety Captain & Driver/Operator - Collegium Charter School
• Lucy S - Lead Scout & Designer - Avon Grove Charter School
• Ian W - Scout & Mechanical - Great Valley High School
• Jack R - Mechanical, Welding & Driver/Operator - Downingtown West High School
• Yahya M - Human Player & Mechanical - Downingtown West High School
• Sarah S - Programming - Downingtown East High School
• Tobias B - Mechanical - Downingtown S.T.E.M. Academy

Best wishes to 1640 Alumni Graduates!

Carly walks at RPI

Carly McKown (DEHS class of '11) graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Carly goes on to doctoral studies at the University of Tennessee and research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Carly joined 1640 during the lead-in to the 2008 (DEWBOT IV) build season; ultimately serving as Co-Captian and Driver.

Paul Klufas (DEHS class of '10) received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from Bucknell University. On team for 2007-2010 seasons; Co-Captain and Programming Lead.

Brianna Edwards (DEHS class of '10) received her degree in Advertising from Temple University.

Nicholas Z receives Shining Star Award

DMS and FTC 7314 student Nicholas Z was named a the Shining Star in the Keystone Federal Credit Union fifth annual Shining Star Award program.

Demo at Downingtown West High School - 2-May-2014

Mackenzie and Dana led a robotics demonstration for incoming freshmen and Downingtown West High School.

In Memorium - Miranda Ram-Nolte

Miranda

It is with greatest sadness that report the passing of 2013 Sab-BOT-age student, Miranda Ram-Nolte on 26-April.

FRC Championship Newton Division CHAMPIONS and Championship FINALISTS - 23-26 April 2014

Thanks to alliance partners 1678 (Citrus Circuits - alliance captain), 1114 (Simbotics) and 5136 (Mechapirates), we were Newton Division Champions and Einstein Finalists at FRC Championships.

MAR Championship 4^th seed & alliance captain - 10-12 April 2014

Another strong performance. Sab-BOT-age completed qualifications as 4^th seed with a (9-3-0) record. We led the 4^th alliance and while not advancing past quarterfinals, we earned a spot at the FRC Championship.

Lenape-Seneca MAR Qualifying Tournament 2^nd seed & FINALIST - 22 & 23 March 2014

Big turn-around from Hatboro-Horsham! Our detailed analysis of the shooter failure facilitated an effective correction. 1640 finished qualifications at 2^nd seed with a (10-2-0) record. Joining the 1^st alliance, we finished the event as FINALISTS. The 56 MAR qualifying points earned secured a spot for us a MAR Championships.

Hatboro-Horsham MAR Qualifying Tournament - 1 & 2 March 2014

Our performance was seriously compromised by an unanticipated Shooter Failure which was only diagnosed and corrected after the competition. We finished qualifications as 19^th seed with a (6-6-0) record. We were the first pick of the 8^th alliance, but did not advance past the quarterfinals. We earned just 21 MAR qualifying points at this event.

Downingtown Area Robotics-TCHS-Penn FLL Qualifying Event 2013 - 7-December-2013

I love it when a plan comes together!

Downingtown's second annual FIRST LEGO League Qualifying Event was held on 7 December, 2013 at the CCIU TCHS Brandywine Campus in Downingtown, PA. This competition was hosted by Downingtown Area Robotics to allow area FLL teams to compete and qualify for the Penn FLL Championship in this year's game, NATURE'S FURY^SM.

Congratulations to teams 763 (Robo Engineers), 1503 (Notre Dame) and 14042 (Ciberneticos), who qualified for the Penn FLL Championship Tournament.

DAR FLL Scrimmage - 23-November-2013

The team hosted an FLL scrimmage at the CCIU TCHS. 18 area teams participated.

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Older news items can be found in:
News Archive 2013
News Archive 2012
News Archive 2011
News Archive 2010
News Archive 2009