December 3, 2008 - Community Presentation Day

This evening, the team presented the Allergy Research Presentation and robot demonstration to people in our community. The people who came to see were those who are interested in FIRST Lego League and and friends that have supported us.

The competition is this Saturday! We are beyond excited. We'll let you know how things turn out this weekend in Mountain Home, Arkansas!

December 6, 2008 - Arkansas FLL Tournament in Mountain Home, Arkansas.

We all arrived at Mountain Home High School, very early in the morning, and could feel the excitement in the air before we even entered the building. Our team competed against 30 other teams from Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri.

As a rookie team, we weren't sure what to expect, but it it didn't take us long to join into the energy and fun that surrounded us. We competed hard, the team did a great job presenting the science project to the team of judges, and our robot edged out much of the competition. At the end of the day, the Rock City Robots team won the "Rookie Team of the Year" award. The kids heard their team name announced as the winners of the award, and amid a roar of cheers and applause took the victory run, slapping the hands of all the judges, receiving the award plaque with excitement.

The team also was awarded a finalist certificate for the "Against All Odds" award. This award is given to the team that demonstrated the ability to improvise and overcome a difficult situation, not giving up. The Rock City Robots team demonstrated this when, during the third robot match, our robot just stopped in the middle of a program, and wouldn't do anything. When the match was over, the team was able to take the robot to the pit area, and find the problem - a cable came loose from one of the motors. No wonder it stopped! Then later, during the first round of the elimination matches, the Rock City Robots won the match, making a score that was the highest score up until that point. It was so awesome! Our score in that match was 125.

We were eliminated in the second elimination rounds by the Robo Dragons, with a score of 190 to our 140 .

Here are some pictures of the day. . .

Beginning of the day

Competition tables

Team practice before Match #1

Running match #1

Rock City on the big screen - Match #4

Waiting for Match #5

The Rock City Robots team with awards