We have been working hard, and the website has taken a back seat, but here is a quick update on the year so far. Please check back, as we will be updating the site with more 2008 content shortly.

2008…What a season! Three competitions and three new trophies! Go Team! Lots of hard work…lots of memories!

This year we invented our own unique robot design that the students called “The Fortress”. It was modified numerous times to improve robot performance on the board throughout the various competitions. The robot challenges were much more difficult this year than in previous years. From gathering items and delivering them to specific locations to opening a window and closing a shade on a model LEGO house, the missions required some creative thinking when it came to designing and programming the robot.

This year's project involved identifying a climate-related problem and coming up with an innovative solution. The students interviewed a farmer, a tilling company owner, local lakefront homeowners Bob and Sue James, a chemistry professor, an agricultural specialist, the education director for the Clinton River Watershed Council, the environmental planner for the Oakland County Drain Commissioner's Office and a meteorologist at the National Weather Service Station in White Lake. After several attempts to find a solution that didn't have a patent, the students created their innovative solution which was a three-tiered filtering system used to remove fertilizer from surface runoff. They also created a video of their research project and posted it on YouTube and TeacherTube as a way to share it with others. It can be found by visiting YouTube Oxford Wildcats #4308.

At the Flint Warm-Up Competition, the robot had a few challenges that we had to work out but we were able to improve our scores on the board throughout the day. We received a call back in Research Quality and Teamwork where we had a special interview with a panel of judges. Our project presentation was a hit and we brought home the first place trophy for Research Quality. Good Job Team!

Our robot’s performance continued to improve as we moved on to the Monroe Regional Tournament. We had a Top Ten on the boards and received our 2^nd first place trophy for Research Quality. Way to go Team!

At the state tournament, we received perfect scores in Research Quality, Innovation Solution and Creative Presentation, along with Top 5 status in the Programming and Robot Design categories and Top 10 in Robot Performance. The team earned a second place overall in a state tournament held Dec. 6 at the Rock Financial Center in Novi.

December 8th 2007, Dateline Novi Michigan

It was a valiant effort, and the team fought hard at each match, but came up just a little short on the robot missions. We did not finish 1st and earn the opportunity to represent Michigan at the F.I.R.S.T. World tournament at Atlanta Georgia in April, but we did finish STRONG. As the day wore down and the awards were announced we heard "TEAM #234" not once or twice, but FIVE times! Make no mistake about it either, when we heard the "Team #234" they heard us right roar right back at them. The first time we heard "Team #234" it was to come on down to pick up the 2nd place robot design trophy! Wow! Next we heard "Team #234" during the top five teams in the Project Research Quality, then top five in the Project Innovative solution, then top five n Creative Presentation, and finally for the top five in Programming. With all of the individual trophies handed out, it was down to the main one, the Championship trophy! Once more "Team #234" was announced in the top five listing, but in the end it was the Electrolights, a home school team from South Lyon, that earned the 1st place trophy.  It would be later in the week, we would find out the final ranking and that we had finished 4th in the overall rankings. It was a long day, a long season, and a lot of hard work. This year we fell just a little short of the mark set by our completion, but we'll be back.... Good luck to the Electrolights and represent Michigan well!

2005 - Ocean Odyssey 15th State Novi

2006 - Nanotechnology 9th in the State Flint

2007 - Power Puzzle - 4th in the State Novi

2008 - Climate Connections - ???  (well we know now, 2nd at Novi :)

Team #234	2007	Team #234
What a good team!	It was a very good year!	Did we have fun?

December 1st 2007, Dateline Monroe Michigan (tink, tic, tickity tick, tink)

Well all the work was done, and now was the time to Stand and Deliver, and Deliver we did!

The day started quickly, as we were the first team to do our project presentation. We wowed the judges with our presentation on the Addison Township Library, and scored one of the highest project scores of the day. Next we were shuffled directly in to the robot technical where our hard work on the robot and programs paid off with perfect scores in the Design and Programming, WOW! Now we were off to teamwork. At teamwork there was a little discussion about our pre-rookie (there only eight) members of the team Ben and Olivia and whether or not they should take part in the teamwork event. Well the team decided to let them participate, and while we coaches could not observe this event, they must have made the right decision. The team came out, and were all smiles and laughing. It would be later in the day we would find out they also earned a perfect score in teamwork. Whew, it is now around 9:45am and there is nothing left to do but run the board. The first match was a practice match, so the team took this opportunity to get a head start on next year, and let the 8 year olds have a taste of the pressures of competition, the robot jammed but they remained cool under pressure and walked away with 210. Next up was Wesley and Emily's turn at the board with the first record match of the day. There was a false start, and when the board was reset, our line ups were just a smidge off, and we missed the solar panel. Still Wes and Emily finished the rest of the run very clean and ended up with a 325 when it was all tallied up. After Lunch it was Zac and Austin's turn to prove what they were made of, and they did. The match started with a perfect drop of the solar panel and "Harry Vader" into the ocean. Good execution on the satellite, and all was well until the power plant, and we missed the big finish with a nick on the wind turbine with the power lines. Yet they improved the score of the day, and walked away with first place 365. Last up was Sean and Courtney and this team of younger siblings of Zac and Emily were out to show what they are made of. I thought Courtney was going to pass out before the match, but once the starting bell was rung, those butterflies flew the coup. The solar panel once again proved to be the nemesis of Team #234, but other than that one glitch, it was a clean board. At the end of the match they had bettered their score once again to 385, which stood as the best of the day by anyone. 

Team #234 would like to thank all of the judges and volunteers at the Monroe Tournament. We look forward with gracious professionalism to seeing all of the advancing teams next week in Novi. 

November 3, 2007 - Lego Fever Warm Up, Flint Michigan

We had a slow start, as we learned the hard way what a robot does when you forget to plug in a NXT motor after a battery change... Nothing... First round score, big fat GOOSE egg... 0. That failure was short lived, as the next round we bounced back with our high score of the day, 245. Not good enough to be FIRST on the board, as one team put up 360! WOW! The day ended on a high note as we took home the 1st place programming trophy!

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FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a multinational non-profit organization, that aspires to transform culture, making science, math, engineering, and technology as cool for kids as sports are today.

FIRST was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway Human Transporter. FIRST operates the FIRST Robotics Competition in which teams of high school students, sponsored and assisted by local companies and volunteers, design, assemble, and test a robot capable of performing a specified task in competition with other teams. FIRST also runs the FIRST LEGO League, for children 9-14 years old, and FIRST Place, an innovative science and technology center, including a hands-on children's science museum. Info form FIRST Website.