Alpha Force

2013 NATURE’S FURY

FLL Team #3070 – Alpha Force Mark VI

This season marks the 6th year for this team as well as the last season for the senior members. More posts to come!

Attended:

2013 Qualifier Event at Pascack Hills High School, Montvale NJ
2013 State Finals at Mt. Olive High School, Flanders NJ

Awards:

2013 #3 Robot Design, Bergen Qualifier
2013 #2 Programming Award, State Finals

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2012 SENIOR SOLUTIONS

FLL Team #7185 – Alpha Force Revolution

The team cranking up the revolution for a better season this year with seven members (6 old, 1 new) in 4th and 8th grade

Attended:

2012 RoboFest at NJ Science and Engineering Festival, Clifton High School, Clifton NJ
2012 Qualifier Event at Liberty Science Center, Jersey City NJ
2012 State Finals at Mt. Olive High School, Flanders NJ

Awards:

2012 Champion’s Award, LSC Qualifier

(Right) Robot’s Name is SuperLolo.

Fitted in with a 4-speed gear box and 4-wheel-drive gearing that allows switching between power and speed as needed. SuperLolo, meaning super “grandfather” is heavy and bulky but powerful. This grandpa uses 3 light/color sensors all the better to track/see the lines with.

(Left) The RoboFest demo robot is a remote-controlled car built with a rear wheel differential and a fully functional steering wheel. The car can be controlled remotely using Bluetooth technology and a cell phone to turn left and right and to move forward and backward.

Research Project:

Helping a caregiver grandmother and a Parkinson’s patient grandfather through the use of a specially designed exoskeleton and remote override system

Learned:

It is great to work with friends. And play hard too.
To overcome the obstacles and challenges presented by time, distance and space to the whole team
To always be there and understand the meaning of commitment and responsibility
To ask better questions for our resource persons and during our brainstorming sessions
To work hard at designing and building
To work harder at programming
To even work harder at testing, testing, testing…
To expound and give better answers and explanations during demos and interviews
To present their reports, project, designs and work better visually and orally
To greatly improve teamwork
To be more responsible with their leadership roles
To finally and truly enjoy the whole process…

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2011 FOOD FACTOR

FLL Team #4751 – Alpha Force Reloaded

The team got reloaded this year with LOTS of new members, resulting in six 3rd and 7th graders, (3 old, 3 new members). Shown here with Scott Evans.

Attended:

2011 Qualifier Event at Pascack Hills High School, Montvale NJ
2011 State Finals at Mt. Olive High School, Flanders NJ

Awards:

2011 #1 Robot Design, Bergen Qualifier

(Right) Robot’s Name is Chef.

It comes complete with “aprons”, “serving trays” and an easier way of running the programs.

Research Project:

Using a system of tiny robots and big robots to help inspect the food coming in to the stores and food companies

Learned:

To overcome all sorts of challenges, scheduling conflicts and still do one’s best!
Each team member did different things and tasks for the team but all contributed to work that needs to be done.
With teamwork, all things are possible, even if there’s not much time left.
Building with Legos is fun. Building robots and machines with Legos is cool. Making them come alive is awesome!
Learned to do other cool things like making stop animation videos using Legos and our phones

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2010 BODY FORWARD

FLL Team #3974 – Alpha Force 3.0

3.0 represented the third generation of team members (1 old, 3 new) with one 2nd grader and three 6th graders

Attended:

2010 Qualifier Event at Hillsborough High School, Hillsborough NJ

Awards:

None but the rewards are the great fun, friendship, challenges and memories this year!

(Right) Robot’s Name is Fabio.

Cleverly designed with a multi-purpose feature that was used for many uses at varying heights. The youngest member made all the attachments used for the missions.

Research Project:

Helping polio victims in poor countries

Learned:

You must dig deep into the problem to find a solution.
There is a way of overcoming challenges, no matter what.
That not all communities are rich and that some communities have extremely limited resources
Hard work and the importance of teamwork
If programming is a lot of work, then testing over and over again for accuracy can drive you nuts!

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2009 SMART MOVE

FLL Team #3360 – Alpha Force

Totally hooked into FLL and returning with five members (1 old, 4 new) in 4th, 5th and 6th grade

Attended: