Co-Opertition FIRST

At the start of the 1999-2000 season this sophomore team was brimming with confidence.  In our rookie year we had managed to field a competitive robot won the UTC Connecticut Regional Rookie All-Star Award and very nearly made the finals at the FIRST Championship (known as the Nationals in this time period) at Epcot in Disney World in Orlando, FL.  This seasons Co-Operation FIRST competition was in many ways more sophisticated than previous year's Double Trouble.  This was the year the expression RTFM - Read The FIRST Manual was invented for us.  Without an in depth look at the pneumatic rules we designed a very effective, but highly illegal, venturi vacuum system to lift the play ground balls, the scoring object of this competition, off the floor.  This was pointed out to us the day before we had to ship.  The midnight oil burned that night.  In addition our direct drive drill motor system didn't take into account side loads.  The tripping breakers made for a robot that could not get out of it's own way.  To say the least this was a rebuilding year fro Team 230 but the lessons learned made us much stronger the next year.

The best thing about this robot was it appearance.  It looked cool.  It looked like a robot.  During this year the Connecticut and Massachusetts teams were asked to demonstrate their robots at the Big E, a large well known regional county fair known as the Eastern States Exposition which has been held yearly since 1917.  A picture Team 230's robot, Talon, was selected as the cover art for the Exposition flier that year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2000 Events

·         UTC New England Regional - Meadows Music Theater, Hartford CT March 30-April 1, 2000

·         The Championship Event – Walt Disney World Epcot Center, Orlando, FL April 6-8, 2000

 

Team Awards

 

Community Events

·         Gaelhawks Dinner & Auction 1999

·         Relay for Life - 2000

·         Special Olympics of Connecticut 2000

 

Off-Season Competitions

·         Bash@theBeach - CT 2000

·         UTC Scrimmage – Suffield High School, Suffield, CT

 

Team

Students                                 Teachers

Dominic Amatoro                 Ronald Mileski

Jason Bachman                     John Niski

Jessica Bal                             Tracy Nolan

Jennifer Baker                        Louis Schmecker

Charles Baugh, III                 Kerry Taylor

Chris Bertucio

David Chapman                     Engineers

Gloria Chen                            Thomas Dannenhoffer

Julie Easter                             Robert Lundberg

Rachel Foglia                         Elizabeth Sheppard

Michael Grant                       Henry Voegeli

Joshua Hill                             Richard Vogl

Carol Koty

Stacy Koty                               Parents

Matthew Lawrence                Janet Baker

Kevin Lundberg                      Charles Baugh, Jr.

Laura Mariano                      Rebecca Baugh

Sean McCaffrey                     Barbara Bertucio

Drew Mihalick                       Jerry Dos Santos

Joshua Moran                        Laura Dos Santos

James Ordija                          Donna Easter

Brian Reed                              Joseph Koty

Shannon Reynolds                Susan Koty

Daniel Schofield-Bodt          Glen Lawrence

Donald Sheehy                      Carole Mihalick

Anne Szeker                            Evelyn Reynolds

Jennifer Vogl                          Herman Szeker

David Wickers                       Robert Wolf

Christopher Zito