La Canada Engineering Club Presents
ROBORALLY
WHAT IS ROBORALLY?
Robots will be driven around the track at La Canada High School for 17
hours straight through the middle of the night. This is the first annual
A new fundRoborally. The event will be open to the public and both individuals and
raiser for FRC
organizations will donate money on a per-lap or flat fee basis to help
teams in the Los
support all of the participating FRC teams. In addition to getting money
Angeles area
for our robotics programs, this event will just be plain fun! We look
forward to your team’s participation in this exciting new event!
When: 5PM Saturday August 18 to 10AM Sunday
August 19
Where: La Canada High School Track
How: To get involved, just keep reading this packet
and make sure you RSVP for your team by August 12
About La Canada Engineering Club
Our high school club has extremely active teams in FRC, FLL, MATE, Solar Boat, and
now also FTC. We strive to get students excited about engineering through events
like our Engineering Week, Roborally, and through community outreach. We received
the Gracious Professionalism™ award at the 2012 Madera regional in recognition of
our dedication and sportsmanship in FRC even when it gets difficult.
[1]
How do the donations work?
We have created a donation form that all the
participating teams can use. This form is on the last page
of this packet. Individuals or organizations can give
money either on a per-lap or a flat-fee basis. All the
money will be collected by the La Canada Engineering
Club and it will be distributed equally to all the
participating teams. We decided that this is the best way
to collect donations for the first year of this event, as some
teams may be more prepared than others and it is always
fun to support each other. The La Canada Engineering
Club will keep the profits from selling food at the event as
well as an equal share of the donations.
What do we get if we do the most laps?
There will be awards given to the teams whose robots do
the most laps around the track. Our track is a standard
400m track and we will only be using the inner 6 lanes
for driving. Each team is responsible for recording how
many laps their robot did. Since the donations will be
shared communally, there is no significant benefit to lying
about how many laps you did. It is on the honor system.
So that’s it… Just driving robots?
But wait there’s more! In addition to just driving robots
around the field we will have:
•A Snack Bar
•People to drive to local restaurants and order dinner for
large groups of people
•Lots of music
•Sleeping on the bleachers - Please no tents, but feel free
to bring sleeping bags
[2]
Getting your robot
ready for the event
•Many donations will be
on a per-lap basis so the
faster you go the more
money we will raise.
•Make sure your motors
are up to the task of
running for 17 hours with
only short breaks. If
needed choose
endurance over power
(eg., only use one motor
on each wheel to save
electricity).
•Make your robot
lightweight. All you will
need to do for this event
is drive for a long time,
so take off any
attachments that you
won’t be needing.
•Implement a hot swap
battery system. For fast
battery changes you’ll
want to have two battery
connectors so that you
can change batteries
without powering down
the robot.
•The track will be lit, but
to aid driving further,
you might want to install
LED lights on your robot.
•Each robot will get a
colored flag mounted on
¾” PVC pipe, so make
sure there is a place to
mount it.
5. When you come to the event make sure you
What do we need to do to get
prepared?
bring:
5.1. A case of water bottles for your team.
1. Get your team involved in preparing the
There will be drinking fountains available
for you to refill your bottles.
robot (see red box on pg 2 for details)
2. Get a group of a few team members who
5.2. Only one robot will be allowed to
will come to the event and take turns driving,
tallying laps, eatings, hanging out, and having fun. The more people people from your
team who can make it, the better! You will
need to figure out how to carpool to the
event. Here are directions to the school:
http://www.lcusd.net/domain/181
compete, so just bring one!
5.3. Robot parts:
• As many batteries as you can bring
(label them with your team # please!)
• Spare parts for breakdowns
• A tool-chest with the tools you use for
your robot the most
3. Contact your sponsors and find out if they
would be willing to give money on a per-lap
or flat-fee basis. Please use the form at the
end of this packet.
• A control laptop (or two)
• A wifi router incase our wireless system fails
4. Tell your team to join the Facebook group
• A few extension cords for power
(search for “Roborally 2012”) to keep up
with any new information. We will also send
out emails to whoever received this packet so
you can relay new information to your team.
5.4. Individuals should bring money for
dinner and snacks as well as a sleeping
bag if they want.
This is our field and some of the things that will be setup on it for the event:
Entrance
Bleachers
Music and wireless systems
Parking and Entrance
P
i
t
s
Bleachers
Driver stations will be located
here for a good view of the track
[3]
Restrooms
and
drinking
fountain
Snack
Bar