The PMHS Robotics team placed 24th in a field of 400 teams at the National competition in Atlanta Georgia from April 12-14. They ended up spending an extra day in Atlanta due to a powerful noreaster that hit Long Island!
		Congratulations to Morgan Poulos-Keating for winning MVP at the FIRST Robotics Competition. She was recognized along with 40 other team MVP's and was chosen as this years MVP for all of Long Island! Morgan is 4th from the left on the bottom row in the picture.
		The field has a rack in the center, and 3 robots form each of the 2 alliances, red and blue. 6 robots are on the field at any one time.
		The object of this year's competition was to place innertubes called ringers on a rack. The rack has 8 "arms" going around in a circle at 3 different heights. To score points, robots must strategically place the ringers in rows, and each ringer is worth 2n points. 2 in a row is worth 22 or 4 points, 3 in a row is worth 23 or 8 points, etc.
		At the end of the match, teams that can successfully climb and stay on a ramp robot recieve an additional 30 points per robot 12" high or 15 points for 4" high. In this picture, the robot successfully climbed the 12" ramp robot, and team 386 is attempting to climb to give the alliance another 30 points, bringing the total to 60.
		In this example, 329 is going for their 4th ringer on the middle row, making the score for their red alliance 16. In the back, you can see a red robot deploying its ramps and preparing for the other robots on the red alliance to climb the ramps and get an easy 60 points. With 15 seconds left in the match, 329 will stop scoring and head back to the home zone to climb the ramp.
		Team 329's robot has an arm with a claw at the end to pick up ringers. It can extend and retract to 3 different positions with pneumatic cylinders that use compressed air. Here, the robot has the arm in the fully extended position to pick up a ringer from the ground directly in front of it.
		In the halfway extended position, the robot can place a ringer on the bottom or middle level with ease.
		The match consists of two periods, autonomous and driver-controlled. In autonomous mode, the robot is operated automatically by a preset program. After autonomous, the driver can use controls to operate it.
		Here, the robot is being prepared for the autonomous period. During autonomous, teams are allowed to load the robot with one ringer, and the robot can attempt to score the ringer without the aid of the driver.
		This is a picture of the claw at the end of the arm. It has a top and bottom jaw than can open and close. To pick up a ringer off the ground, the bottom jaw remains closed and the top jaw opens, to scoop the ringer inside. Once the ringer is in the claw, the top jaw shuts to grasp the tube. To release a ringer onto the rack, both jaws open up a full 90 degrees to completely release the ringer.
		After every match, the robot needs to be inspected for damages and the battery needs to be replaced. Moving parts need to be checked to ensure proper function and all bolts need to be retightened. Damage to the robot is not uncommon and needs to be fixed as soon as possible, ideally before the next match to ensure proper capability.
		This is a picture of the robot with one of the side protector plates removed. You can see that the drivetrain consits of a tank tread as opposed to regular wheels. Tank treads give you a considerable increase in pushing power which is essential in some matches.
		After this match, the claw was slightly damaged and it needed to be removed to be fixed, which is why the green pneumatic hoses are not connected to it. Here, it is in the fully closed position, the way it is when it has grasped a ringer.
		Another photo of the robot in action, about to score another ringer.
		In this picture, the end of the match is near, and team 329 has stopped scoring to climb the ramp robot. This particular ramp robot can only deploy one side, and to hold two robots, the first robot that climbs needs to bump into and knock down the second side to drive onto it.
		This is a picture after they knocked the other side down and drove onto it. The second robot wasnt able to make it onto the ramp robot however, so only 30 points were gained.
		This is the pit area, where teams can repair the robot or test it before matches. It is where they keep all of their tools and supplies. In this picture, the claw is being tested after the program was re-written to help make the controls easier.
		This is an overhead view of the pits. Each pit measures about 10 feet by 10 feet. This is only one of the four sections that held all 400 teams.
		Four people per team are allowed on the field at any time, and each person must wear a badge. Joe Madonia, the human player, is on the left. His job is to throw ringers onto the field for the robots to pick up and use. Celestino Alem, the operator, is in the middle. His job is to operate the up-down-extend-retract motion of the arm, and the open-close motion of the claw. Eric Petersohn, the driver, is on the left. His job is to control the motion of the robot itself. Kevin Ray, the mentor, is kneeling on the bottom. His job is to give kids detention and look pretty.
		This is a picture of one of the four playing fields at the nationals. To make things simple, the 400 teams were divided into 4 sections, and the winner of each section competed in the finals.
		The robot is being tilted to access the treads more easily. From regular wear the treads needed to be changed at the competition, which requires a great deal of work and cooperation from the team members.
		At the end of each match, the scoreboard reflects the points gained from gameplay, bonus points from the ramps, and any penalties. In this example, team 329 is on the red alliance, and they scored 6 ringers in a row, yielding 64 points. The blue alliance managed 2 in a row which gives you 4, and 15 bonus points from having one robot on a 4" ramp. Red alliance wins.

Advisors		Students
Kevin Ray Alex Reben Danielle Voje Thomas Kelly		Celestino Alem Eric Petersohn Joe Madonia George Barbieri Erik Kirshey Morgan Poulos-Keating Matt Boehm Patrick Mendelsohn Eugene Gallager David Zollo Andy Boehm Diego Zelaya Matt Pernot Allie Zentgraf Joe Viola Steve Baldwin Kayse Sosa Rich Rodrigues Lauren Davis

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