News Archive 2013

Archive of News Articles from 2013:

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.

Brunswick Eruption - 9-November-2013

Completed qualifications as 16^th seed with (3,3,0). 2^nd alliance captain 222 (Tigertrons, Tunkhannock PA) picked us as a partner, with 271 Mechanical Marauders, Bayshore NY) completing the alliance.

Alas, we were eliminated (1,2,0) in the semifinals. With this competition, DEWBOT IX retires.

Ramp Riot - 2-November-2013

Both Sab-BOT-age teams (FRC 1640 & FTC 7314) participated in Ramp Riot this year. 1640 finished qualifications (4,1,0) and ended up 4^th alliance captain. Many thanks to alliance partners 1626 (Falcon Robotics, Metuchen NJ), 2539 (Krypton Cougars, Palmyra PA) and 708 (Hardwired Fusion, Upper Moreland PA). We were, alas, eliminated in the quarterfinals.

FTC 7314 finished this scrimmage in 5^th place in a field of 12. A great performance by both teams.

Duel on the Delaware CHAMPIONS - 19-October-2013

1640 after Duel victory

In a very hard-fought elimination (6,2,0), we were able to secure our third consecutive Duel on the Delaware championship. Many thanks to our 7^th alliance partners 341 (alliance captain Miss Daisy) and 1089 (Team Mercury). Miss Daisy shared the Duel championship with us last year (also as alliance captain).

Great job by the entire team, which really pulled together for this win. A special acknowledgement to our new drive team members.

Siri Maley records FTC inspection video

Mentor Siri Maley prepared and recorded the Robot Inspection video for the 2013-2014 game: Block Party.

Siri Maley Named Selected Research Scholar of the Year - 5-October-2013

Mentor Siri Maley was named a Selected Research Scholar of the Year (Africana) for her peer-review published work on the engineering design process curriculum in Penn State's Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship Program. Siri's also been a teaching intern for engineering design and a Kenya changeagent for Penn State; she is a 1640 alumna (Captain, '08-09 seasons) and serves as the field coach and co-lead engineering design mentor for 1640.

Welcome Caitlyn Mackenzie Kulik - 1-October-2013

A hearty welcome to Caitlyn Mackenzie Kulik and congratulations to proud parents Julie and Richard! Julie and Richard Kulik are both 1640 mentors.

Battle O' Baltimore CHAMPIONS - 21-September-2013

Winning alliance

Together with first alliance captain 225 (TechFire, York PA), 2519 (TIGER PRIDE, Washington DC) and 339 (Kilroy, Commonwealth Governor's School, Fredrickburg, VA), we won the 2013 Battle O' Baltimore!

Many thanks to 225 for selecting us. Man, we worked well together!

FTC Kickoff - 7-September-2013

The 2013-2014 FIRST Tech Challenge game, Block Party! was unvieled. This is an enormously rich game of strategy. Watch game animation. The kickoff was hosted by the CCIU TCHS!

Clem McKown accepted by Boy Scouts Chester County Council as a Robotics Merit Badge Counselor

Participation in either our high school FRC or middle school FTC program will be tailored to allow the fulfillment of the BSA robotics merit badge requirements.

DAR is also planning to provide structured robotics merit badge workshops.

Move to CCIU Technical College High School - August

We moved to our permanent home at the Chester County Intermediate Unit's (CCIU) Technical College High School Brandywine Campus at 433 Boot Road, Downingtown.

Indiana Robotics Invitational - July-2013

For the 4^th consecutive year, we participated in the exclusive Indiana Robotics Invitational in Indianapolis.

MidKnight Mayhem FINALISTS! - 29-June-2013

1640 after MidKnight Mayhem

Together with 11 (alliance captain MORT) and 2495 (Hornets), we were Finalists at the inaugural MidKnight Mathem off-season competition. We'd been looking forward to working with MORT for a long time and the experience was even better than expected! Congratulations to winners 225, 316, 369 & 869.

INCOSE International Symposium - 25-June-2013

The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) had their International Symposium in Philadelphia this year and graciously set aside a booth for Youth Activities: FRC. The invitation came through Alan Ostrow of FRC team 341 (Miss Daisy); 341, 1640 and FRC Team 1218 (Vulcan Robotics) each took a day of the symposium to spread the word about FIRST, and show off cool robots as well.

Congratulations to our Graduates

Congratulations to:

• Douglas M - Co-Captain & Driver - Downingtown West
• Michael M - Programming Lead - Downingtown East
• Kenneth A - Downingtown West Valedictorian - Class of 2013
• Jason M - PA Leadership Charter School

1640 Alumnae Graduate RPI - 25-May-2013

1640 alumnae Amber McKown (DEHS class of '08) and Heather McKown (DEHS '09) received their Bachelors of Science degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Computer Science & Biomechanical Engineering, and in Mechanical Engineering, respectively. Amber & Heather joined the team during the lead-up to the 2006 (DEWBOT II) build season, and brought some collateral along.

Monty Madness - 18-May-2013

Our first off-season and dedicated to training; especially driver training, but prospective coaches, operators and human players were able to try their hand as well. We finished qualification rounds 6^th seed out of 42 teams participating.

1640 led the 6^th alliance, joined by 303 (Test Team) and 3314 (Mechanical Mustangs). Alas, we lost in the quarterfinals to 2590 (Nemesis), 1676 (The Pascack Pi-Oneers) & 1626 (Falcon Robotics), a powerful alliance who went on to become finalists.

NEWTON CHAMPIONS - FRC Championship, St. Louis MO - 24-27 April 2013

Einstein semifinal 2-1

We won Newton Division at the FRC Championship in St.Louis. Our sincerest gratitude to alliance partners teams 303 (alliance captain Test Team) from Bridgewater, NJ and 3476 (Code Orange) from Dana Point, CA. What a tremendous alliance! As Newton's 3^rd alliance, we went through Newton eliminations without loss (6-0); racking up Newton Division's highest score (247 points; 440 points combined) during the 1^st finals match against the 1^st alliance (comprising teams 1538 (Holy Cows) from San Diego CA, 1986 (team Titanium) from Lee's Summit MO and 217 (ThunderChickens) from Sterling Heights MI - great teams all).

On to Einstein Field! 1640's first time. We started well against Galileo's champions (teams 1241 (Theory 6) from Mississauga ON Canada, 610 (Crescent Coyotes) from Toronto ON Canada, and 1477 (Texas Torque) from The Woodlands, TX), defeating them 199 to 176 in the first match. Alas, we lost the next two and Galileo went on to become FRC Champions for 2013. They were a great alliance and deserved the win.

This was an enormous performance by the team, bringing us to a competitive level which had hitherto been no more than a dream.

Sugartown Elementary School's Lego Expo and Robotics Fair - 19-April-2013

FRC and FLL participated in this annual event.

CHAMPIONS - Mid-Atlantic Region Championship - 11-13 April 2013

Together with alliance partners 2729 (Storm Robotics - alliance captain, from Lenape and Cherokee High Schools in Marlton & Medford, NJ) and 2590 (Nemesis, from Robbinsville High School, Robbinsville, NJ), we won the MAR Championship! We're going to St. Louis!

Springside-Chestnut Hill MAR District Event - 14-16 March 2013

Climb at SCH

1640's 2^nd MAR qualifier. We finished qualifications as 8^th seed and accepted 2539's gracious invitation to join the 1^st alliance. We made it to the semifinals again. The Team also received the Innovation in Control Award from Rockwell Automation for successful demonstration of our caterpillar drive.

We earned 47 MAR qualifying points at SCH, giving us a total of 80 towards Lehigh qualification.

Hatboro-Horsham MAR District Event - 1-3 March 2013

Our first competition of the 2013 season, and we performed quite well. We finished qualifications as 14^th seed in a field of 37 and as a member of the 6^th alliance we made it to semi-finals. The team received the Creativity Award sponsored by Xerox. We earned 33 MAR qualifying points.

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