Update by BerserkerSpyke on 10/08/04

Welcome back everyone.

I am currently hard at work revamping our website for the new season. Although the site may still change throughout the year, this is what it is going to look like for now.
So... any links that are currently broken will hopefully be fixed soon (some of the pages still aren't quite created ^^; ), photos and video are now merged into media (the video will be moved into the section very shortly, I promise.), and any and all .pdf files that we upload will be located in media as well.
I hope the new design appeals to everyone, but I will never know unless everyone registers and posts in the Forums.
So everyone register! It is fast, simple, and painless, and it is the only way to know EVERYTHING that is going on in Team 871 and the West Islip Lego League teams.


Update by Mr. Buonomo on 09.27.04

Welcome to the 2005 Season!

I'm well aware that the web site as not been updated in a while, but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy.

We are now recruting new students, working on a new web site layout, abd actively pursuing new sponsors.

Last week we had our first Board of Robotics meeting and laid out the framework for this years team and some of our major goals. Board Meeting information can be found in the team discussion forum (see link at left of screen).

This past weekend, we had a very successful demonstration at the West Islip Fair, and we have made a new partnership with Segway of Long Island. They we able to provide us with a Segway for the day to help draw attention to the team and the robots, and from what we all saw it worked. In fact, the day was so successful Segway of Long Island has commited to supporting us at all public events. So get the word out, if someone wants info on a Segway, have them call LI Segway and make sure they mention that West Islip Robotics - Team 871 sent them.


The 2005 Team Kick-off is Thursday October 28th, 2004. Letters will be sent home to parents and sponsors, all are welcome to attend and find out about the 2005 Season!


Update by BerserkerSpyke on 06/12/04
The Team 871 Forums are now open to the public. All sponsors, parents, members of other teams, and those trying to start a team are welcome to enter, read, and respond in the forums as they see fit. All team members are expected to become more active in the forums.

And in other news, next year's website is in the design phase, so all team members are expected to share their ideas. (It helps us alot more if you tell us what you want the website to be like before we finish it.) We will gladly take ideas and advice from non-team members as well. Tell us what you want to get out of the website and we will try our best to make it happen.


Update by Mr. Buonomo on 06/08/04
Well team, it is that time again. We can finally get rid of all the seniors and get some work done next year!

Actually this year we loose some of our most seasoned members. Joe Capo, Asim Chaudhry and John Maybeck were all rookie members of our 2002 Team. It is sad to see them go. I hope everyone on the team enjoyed working with them as much as I did the past three years. I also hope you sucked every bit of knowledge out of their brains, because they are responsible for many of the key parts to running our team. Capo does the whining, Asim panics and Maybeck does all the yelling. We also say good bye to Dave Brethel, Jeremy Jacobs, Matt Matassa, Keith Gruber and Jill Calderone. I hope you guys all gained as much from the past three years as I have. Thank you all for setting the foundation of this team and leading us to great success this year. Good luck in college, don’t forget to sponsor the team when you’re rich and famous.

This year we also have to say good bye and good luck to Mr. Petraco. He got his first taste of robotics in 2002 at BattleCry3@WPI and has been an excellent teacher and mentor at West Islip for the past 2 years. He is now moving back to Oswego to earn his Masters degree and party with Vinny and Pat.

Also, now that we all know who the REAL Gerry is, we need to thank Mrs. Wilkens and Mrs. Celano for the awesome new flag that they gave us. Now for the 2004 list.

“What I learned in robotics this year:”
  • It doesn’t get any easier the third time around.
  • Asim does NOT do well under pressure.
  • Finally! Denise seems like she is ready to slap someone silly if they get in her way.
  • Hmm, speaking of which, where is Capo when you need him
  • All bees are NOT GIRLS!!!
  • Capo loves CNC code and breaking 1/8” end mills.
  • Dave will dance for no reason at all. Pop-Chop Dance anyone?
  • Asim can't say "wallet", but throws a TV Guide with deadly acuracy.
  • Rich’s mom still makes the best cookies
  • Flower Hammers do exist.
  • Instead of asking for the “CAD Team” just call Trevor.
  • Matt and Keith will never finish the full robot drawing.
  • Keith is not a morning person, especially when his parents are out of town – SBPLI Regional.
  • Matt and Jeremy do not do drugs, they always looks like that.
  • Tom may be the best chassis guy we have, but he HATES pillow blocks.
  • John Reilly can do just about anything.
  • He just may be the next Maybeck, but without all the yelling – See 2003 SBPLI Regional
  • Joe Laduca is the Pop-Chop and Motor Shifter master machinist.
  • Oh and what spilled all over the programming laptop?
  • YES, JESSIE you can program AUTONOMOUS NOW.
  • Charles had lots of drilling practice this year. Motor mounts anyone?
  • Anil doesn’t know which sub team he is in, but likes to build battery boxes.
  • Brad the “sticker master” is really a driver, go figure…
  • Bobbo is great with chain, but keep him away from Poison ivy.
  • We build the field better than we build our robots.
  • And yes, Charles, you can drive the robot this year.
  • Just when things get busy (think week 6), Jeremy gets mono.
  • Werner is good at telling people to take pictures.
  • 2004 Video… Is it done yet WERNER!?!?!?!
  • Alex proved that skittles come out the same color they go in.
  • Denise is NOT the spokesperson for every female robotics student.
  • Shrink wrap will cause the core temperature of the human body to rise to unconfortable levels - Right Dave?
  • Ringing the "handycap door bell" is well worth waking up at 3:00 AM.
  • Saran wrap, when placed over a doorway is nearly translucent.
  • Werner (WPI), is a cry-baby - "Please stop vandilizing our doors"
  • WPI kids will never out run WI kids. Especially when the Chairman's banner is at stake :-)
  • Atlanta was great, but I think Z still misses Ziggies.
  • Yes I am a vegetarian and no I do not eat chicken. (Mr. Z)
  • K and I should not be in charge of showing up on time for important deadlines (hotel checkout?)
  • Yes, we are going to build a second robot.

    This year we achieved everything we set out to do:
  • We designed, built and tested a robot in 6 weeks.
  • The robot suffered no major mechanical failures.
  • We had a great SBPLI Regional Competition
  • 2004 Chairman’s Award – enough said.

    That award is not just from the accomplishments of this year’s team. It is a culmination of the hard work laid out by the 2002 team, refined by the 2003 team and packaged into a 5 page document and presented by Asim, Joe and Denise.

    Thank you all for another excellent year! You all did a great job and deserve a nice relaxing summer. Get lots of sleep, Robotics begins in 90 days !!!


    • Update by BerserkerSpyke on 05/12/04
    Celebrate Education Night was a big success!
    Although there were alot of things going on around the school, many came over to look at the robots, trophies, and the newly completed video. (I would put it in the video section but it is over 3 gigabytes in size, I believe Werner and Mr.B are working on making it a dvd.) People could even drive Terabot (the 2003 robot) and many did (All of the batteries were used by the end of the night).

    Well back to business then...
    EVERYONE MUST ATTEND THE BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING. It is at BeachStreet M.S. tommorrow night at 7. No Excuses.


    Update by Mr. Buonomo on 04/25/04
    Team 871 arrived back from Atlanta last Sunday and Blitz (the 2004 robot) arrived back to West Islip on Wednesday. Talk about fast service! FedEx must have been swamped..

    Why, you may ask? Well, 280 teams competed at the 2004 FIRST Robotics Championship n Atlanta, GA. That is, 280 robots and about 4000 students. It was an incredible event. The best of the best were present and they did a great job. Unfortunately we did not rank high enough to get selected for the final tournament.

    That does not mean the trip wasn't a success. As a team we were extremely successful. The robot did not have any major mechanical, electrical or pneumatic problems. The programming worked exactly as it was supposed to. Everyone did their job and did it well. The only thing that didn't workout well is that we were up against some of the best robotics teams in the nation. They beat us fair and square. Keep in mind, the same engineers that helped build the Mars rovers were mentors some of the other teams :-)

    Everyone had a great time and was very disappointed to end the season. Is it really over?

    NOT EVEN CLOSE!

    We have a lot coming up in the next few weeks:
  • May 6th - Tug-A-Jet Charity event for the Blind - Demonstration at Republic Airport.
  • May 11th - Celebrate Education Night at West Islip High School - Full field Demonstration
  • May 13th - Board of Education Meeting - Present 2004 Season sponsors with awards.
  • May 18th - Technology Night - Demonstration in West Islip High School Cafeteria.
  • June 19th - BattleCry@WPI 5 !!!
    The season won't be over until BattleCry :-)

    We'll have pictures up soon.


    • Update by BerserkerSpyke on 04/17/04
    I am sorry for not updating sooner but I was trying to figure out the new FTP.

    So anyway... Nationals have begun and thanks to the people at NASA, even if you aren't there you can watch us live in the CURIE division!
    But because I updated sooo late I want to also link Team 108 who have encoded the webcast of every match in their video section (in Windows Media format).

    GO 871!!

    Update by Mr. Buonomo on 04/10/04
    Welcome to the new domain!

    We recently aquired www.westisliprobotics.com and www.wirobotics.com. The old URL team871.zapto.org is still active, but points to the new location.

    The new domain and hosting should provide us with greater speed and improve your web browsing experience on our web site. It may take a few days to work out all the bugs, so please be patient and e-mail any problems you experience to Mr. Buonomo at b3@buonomo.org.

    By the way, the team leaves for Atlanta Wednesday April 14th. Wish them luck!

    Update by BerserkerSpyke on 4/2/04
    If you tried to get to the website you probably ended up at a page that looked like this. If you couldn't guess, that was an April Fools joke and the website has been completely restored.

    Update by BerserkerSpyke on 3/20/04
    Third day at regionals... too good for words.



    Update by BerserkerSpyke on 3/19/04
    Okay... so we aren't winning, but we are doing fine.
    Second Day at the regionals. We flipped 2 out of the first three matches and only won the first of those (we did flip in that one). Fourth match we won, only due to shooting (on account of we flipped again). It wasn't looking too good. We took the robot to practice climbing between matches four and five and we noticed the problem: the skid plates were not rounded in the correct places. After we fixed the problem we had an overwhelming victory scoring more than 100 points! Both robots in our alliance for the match were hanging. It was amazing, but not as amazing as match six. We did it again. Both robots hanging and more than 100 total points. We accidently fell backwards in the seventh match when going to grab the bar, costing us the match but it will not happen again. Especially because we are trashing pop-chop and replacing it with a pneumatic piston in the back.

    Well at least one good thing happened today...



    Update by BerserkerSpyke on 3/18/04
    First day at SBPLI regionals. When we uncrated we thought we were in perfect working order.... we weren't. Minor problems occured here and there (a reminder of Friday last year) but by the end of the day we were hooking the bar like it was nothing. Autonomous turned out to really not matter too much, ball grabbing either. You really don't have that much time so those who can grab the bar grab it fast and then they stay up there. The magority of ball shooting points come from the balls you start out with, sometimes you get more, but if not you don't worry. Grabing the bar is the key to victory.

    *****Important******
    Due to bad weather our transportation may change so....
  • If there is school meet at the Autoshop at 6:30.
  • If there is a delayed opening meet at the Autoshop at 6:30.
  • If school is closed either meet at the college at 8:00 or at Stop and Shop at 7:00 (If you can not get a ride. At Stop and Shop other parents will carpool.)

    Now Let's win it!



    • Update by BerserkerSpyke on 2/26/04
    *Robot Shipped.*

    Well I wish I could have been their for week six, but I was away   :(. I am sorry there is no update for that week, but that is the reason.
    The robot, however has all components finished and attatched and has a working autonomous mode. It can push balls, grab the bar, and knock the 10pt ball in autonomous. The only slight problem... our scales read it 1 pound overweight :(. Well let's just hope for the best at the SBPLI LI REGIONAL March 18th, 19th,and 20th.
    (Oh and the website has had updates in many sections, check it out when you've got a chance)




    Update by BerserkerSpyke on 2/15/04
    *1 week until shipping!*

    Week Five: Well at least we're almost done.... The robot and arm are fully functional and the pneumatics and electrical boards have been attached. The skidplates are now made of diamond plate and we aren't sure if we want to add some extra wheels or even a foot to help or replace the plates. The robot can drive around and pull itself up and we are really close to completion.
    But in other news... the video section has been updated with two new clips of our robot giving rides. The photo section has been updated too and has pictures from before the season up to week three. More galleries will be added hopefully this week so we get up to date.
    Next meeting is Tuesday and because we have off from school, get there early. Time to finish this robot.




    Update by BerserkerSpyke on 2/8/04
    *2 weeks until shipping!*

    Week Four: Not too much was completed this week. We finished the ball tee and Mr.Z's arm is now bosch with two pneumatic pistons, but IR still isn't working and Saturday's meeting ended with an argument over where the electrical board will go on the robot. On the bright side, a new mechanism has been developed and prototyped for the robot: Operation Chop-Block. Two "doors" on the front of the robot to knock off the ten point ball as well as help push balls to the human player. Hopefully we will be fully operational next week, or at least close to it, because we are running low on time.




    Update by BerserkerSpyke on 2/1/04
    *3 weeks until shipping!*

    Week three: Metal chasis completed. The robot is now almost fully capable of driving up the side of the ramp, and I've added four videos of it operating to the video section. Mr.Z has developed a prototype for the robot's arm. It is made of wood with a wooden hook at the end and, when finished, will be capable of lfting the robot off the ground while staying within the size constraits of FIRST.Unfortunately, while tested, the IR sensors failed to function properly and it is assumed to be a hardware error. We are hoping to fix this error next week.




    Update by BerserkerSpyke on 1/25/04
    *4 weeks until shipping!*

    Week two: The wooden chasis is now complete and operational with wooden skidplates on each side. The portable goal has been painted, and portions of the playing field (the pull-up bar and stationary goal) are completed as well. Goal for week three: Bosch chasis completion, arm prototye,functional IR sensors.




    Update by BerserkerSpyke on 1/18/04
    *5 weeks until shipping!*

    Week one:

  • Monday- Possible strategy and mechanisms discussed.
  • Tuesday- Prototyping out of wood, cardboard, and foam. Six prototypes and half of the movable goal completed.
  • Wednesday- Prototypes presented and voted on. Mr. K's skidplate and Mr.B's A-frame designs were both popular, but the A-frame wasn't feasable due to wieght among other things. Fieldwork continued.
  • Thursday- Snowday. No work acomplished.
  • Friday- Arm mechanisms discussed (make-up meeting for Thursday).
  • Saturday- Electrical- Worked on sensors. Programing- Used year 3 controllers on year 2 robot. Mechanical- Full scale wooden drivetrain and 6 inch step started. Moveable goal finished. Everyone else- Helped out where they could, started work for their teams.

    Enjoy your weekends; next meeting is Tuesday. Let week 2 begin.




    • Update by BerserkerSpyke on 1/10/04
    *6 weeks until shipping!*
    Today was the most important day of the year. More important than the Holidays and your Birthday combined. Today we found out what everyone wanted to know: what is the game this year.
    There was an excellent turnout at the kickoff and afterwards there were many ideas on how to tackle "FIRST Frenzy". If you happened to miss the brodcast, see Mr Buonomo. He taped the entire thing.
    Meetings will now be everyday afterschool except Friday, as well as meetings every Saturday. Everyone is expected to attend the magority of them, if not all of them. Web updates will be at least once a week, with photos of the week (as soon as we get that section working). Keep an eye on the forums and your email. Register at the ChiefDelphi forums as well.
    Get ready for the best six weeks of the year.



    Update by BerserkerSpyke on 1/2/04
    Quite a bit of news since the last update...
    First off, the holiday toy drive was a success; not only did we have enough toys to deliver to the hospital, but there were enough left over to almost completely fill a "Toys for Tots" donations box.
    I hope everyone had a nice vacation because January 10th we are going to work. All team members are expected to attend our live showing of the 2004 season kick-off in room 161 from 9am to 1pm. Immediately after the kick-off, we will be having a meeting to discuss strategy and robot designs. Since the kick-off video will only be one hour long, that laves us with a three hour meeting.
    *IMPORTANT*: All members who have not done so MUST join the forums and our email blast list (email Mr. Buonomo for details and a direct link to sign up). If you do not do so you will be out of the communications loop during the season.
    Keep thinking of robots everybody because come January 10th we're building one.



    Update by hork13bajir5 on 12/20/03
    Sponser page was updated by yours truely.
    ... And that's it.



    Update by hork13bajir5 on 12/11/03
    Updated the background. Yum... Gears... It's what's for dinner, y'all!!
    ... *Cough* Anyway...
    Using Internet Explorer and can't see the new background? Hold down Ctrl and press the F5 key.
    Hope everyone enjoys this background.

    Robotics meetin' next Thursday, the 18th; the day before the last day of school. Awesome!!
    Anyway, everyone who hasn't joined the forums: Join... now.
    Get it? Got it? Exce -- I mean, "Good."
    'Til next update.



    Update by hork13bajir5 on 12/06/03
    Thanks to Rich, we've updated the History section with a link to a news article (2002 Season).

    The 2004 Season Gallery will be up soon; we just need to get some coding into the pages.
    Also, in the next meeting everyone shall vote to see if we keep the water drops in the background or not.

    Anyhoo, that's all.



    Update by Mr. Buonomo on 12/02/03

    The 2004 Programming Workshop on Monday 12/1/03 was a huge success! A huge thanks goes out to the programming team. Asim created an excellent presentation and the rest of the programming team in attendance (Jeremy, Jessie, William and Brendan) did an excellent job of working with each of the six teams that Attended. Thanks also goe sout to Jill for helping setup, take pictures, and greeting the following teams: East Islip, Hauppauge, Smithtown, Mt. Sinai, Deer Park, Levitown and Miller Place.

    For those of you that were not able to attend, a copy of the presentation can be viewed here online or it can be downloaded from here (PowerPoint 2003 Format - 2.3 MB).

    Thanks again to all the teams that attended. We learned just as much (if not more) from you as you did from us.

    There will be a team meeting on Thursday in Room 153 immediately after school to finalize a Team Motto and Robot name for the 2004 Season.




    Update by BerserkerSpyke and Hork13Bajir5 on 11/26/03
    Jill called a meeting Monday mainly to discuss the folowing.
    Our team is joining up with another group to collect toys for children this year.We are looking for everyone to bring in a new, unwrapped toy into school.

    Also, Jill went over the pricing of the t-shirts.
  • Regular shirts are priced at $12 with a $35 set-up cost (at least twelve people must buy them for us to order).These shirts will be silk-screened.
  • Embroidered shirts are also an option: $14 per shirt; $100 set-up fee.
  • Besides shirts, we are thinking of buying stadium jackets. They will include your sub team, 871, FIRST, the team logo, and your name. If 20 people buy them, they will be $50, but the more purchases, the lower the price.

    Last Thursday's off-season competition was also dicussed. Although we didn't fare too well, everyone learned a lot from it.
    Everyone be sure to read the forums and bring in a toy.



    • Update by BerserkerSpyke on 11/13/03
    Sorry for the wait.
    We had a great turnout for our team kickoff October 30th. Alot of parents came, along with other family and friends, and everyone seemed to be really interested in what we do. We didn't see many sponsers around but our photography/video team recorded the entire thing. Thanks to everyone that attended.

    In other news...
  • The History section has been updated.
  • Thanks to Ben for this new site design.
  • To all who have not already done so: JOIN THE FORUMS

    And be sure to listen for meetings (one of which is tomorrow).



    • Update by hork13bajir5 on 10/29/03
    Well, I did it, I got the new layout up and runnin'.
    I'd suggest everyone join our forums right now. *Points down and to the left.*
    Well, any comments, suggestions, etc.? All appreciated.
    Anyhoo, I hope everyone enjoys tomorrow's party-thingy.
    See ya there!!



    Update by BerserkerSpyke on 10/16/03
    At today's meeting we split the team up into the subteams. The Veteran members explained to the rookies what the subteams were about and what we hope to achieve this year. Hopefully, our rookie team members now have a better idea of what they will be participating in during the six week build period, and throughout the year.

    Next Thursday, 10/23, meeting in regards to our kick-off 10/30. Attend or see Mr.B for details. (all must attend)

    Join the forums if you have not done so already.

    If at all possible, ask a friend or family member who owns a business to sponser us either in money, time, or food. We will really appriciate it.




    Update by BerserkerSpyke on 9/25/03
    It's that time again.... yes, it's time for us to recruit and train new members for the team. First off, welcome back veterans and welcome all rookie members. Today we explained the basics of FIRST and we had quite a good turnout. The drawing room was filled with students interested in being part of the team. Asim and Joe explained what being on the team was like (not without a side commentary from the rest of us ;) ) and we watched video fotage to really try and introduce all the rookies to the idea. But you really won't know until you're on a sub team and working so....
    ...Meeting Tuesday, September 30th to sort the members into sub teams. All must attend or see Mr.B for details.
    All new members can join our forums.
    Oh and ps. ...we need food this year... please give us food related sponserships if you are related to someone in that area of business... we would REALLY appriciate it.



    Update by Mr. Buonomo on 09/20/03
    The 2004 Season is about to begin, Team 871 has pre-registered with FIRST and Competition Registration begins September 29th.

    There will be a team meeting on THURSDAY, September 25th, Room 161 immediately after school. All new members are welcome Veteran team members are encourages to recruit rookie members.

    We will be hosting a 2004 Season Kick-Off ok October 30th in the High School Cafeteria. We are inviting all team members parents, potential sponsors and previous sponsors. There will be a detailed explination of what FIRST is all about and a demonstration of our award winning 2002 and 2003 robots. All team members are expected to attend.

    I hope everyone is well rested, this will be our most challenging year!




    F.I.R.S.T.

    I thought it was important to try and describe what FIRST is for those who don't know already. FIRST is an acronym that stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. It is an internation organization in which teams of students have six weeks to build operation robots inorder to compete at regional and national events. While in sports and other competitions wining is most important, what's important in FIRST is what you learn from it. FIRST is ment to inspire a spark of intrest in the sciences and technological fields and is designed in such a way that more than just robots are built during the season- friendships and loyaties are formed as well. There is no "boo-ing" in FIRST; you are happy when your robot works and happy when the robots of others work. In FIRST, you respect the other teams because they went through similar ordeals to you and yoou know how hard they worked. That is why FIRST isn't like "BattleBots" or other robotic competitions; you respect the work of others and, in turn, they respect your work. First is the only place where you will see members of different teams in another team's pit area, helping them fix a problem they are having with their robot. FIRST is a competition designed by good people, for good people, to make great people. -BerserkerSpyke