PATRIOT ENGINEERING TEAM POSTS PLAYOFF FINISH for 2014-15 WORLD CLASS FLL COMPETITION

The Patriot Engineering Team closed out the 2014-15 FIRST Lego League season, with FLL Qualifier Tournament advancement and a great playoff run to the FLL Regional Championship !  The team competed in the FLL World Class Learning Unleashed program, orgranized by FIRST and Lego.  The PET team members are students of George H.W. Bush Elementary in Addison, Texas.

The FIRST Lego League competition is sponsored by FIRST, Lego, 3M, Rockwell Automation, National Instruments, and many other companies who provide support for the many FLL teams worldwide.  Patriot Engineering Team is supported by Duncan Motorsports and Enloe Museum, along with the parents and friends of the team members from Bush Elementary.  The experience and learning opportunities for the team members, has been a great compliment to the studies at school.

PET would like to thank those who have supported our team, as well as the FLL program.  The PET group began FLL participation with the Jr. FLL organization in 2011, and moved into FLL robotics competition in 2013.  The team plans to participate in various STEM related activities this spring and summer, including Dallas Area Rocket Society events and KidWind Project.   Stay tuned to learn of more Patriot Engineering Team projects !

Patriot Engineering Team advances to playoffs in the 2014-15 FLL World Class Learning Unleashed robotics competition.

PATRIOT ENGINEERING TEAM ADVANCES INTO SUPER QUALIFIER FLL TOURNAMENT

The Patriot Engineering Team from George H.W. Bush Elementary in Addison, competed in the FIRST Lego League Qualifier Tournament, contested at University of Texas at Dallas, in Richardson.  The event was held on Saturday, December 6th, and featured a 32 team field of FLL competitors.  After three rounds of robotics action, the Patriot Engineering Team emerged with a top ten finish, and secured a spot in the next round of FLL Tournament action !

After finishing the first round with a middle of the pack performance, the team turned in a clutch performance in the second round, placing the team in the top five.  After scoring another great performance to finish the third and final round, the team remained solidly in the top ten and was selected to advance to the Super Qualifier Tournament, scheduled for January 17th, at the Trinity High School in Euless.

The team was faced with a few programming challenges, which resulted from a variance in the team's practice table and the actual competition tables.  The team will adjust accordingly, and will correct the issue before the next event.  With the experience of the tournament, and additional scoring opportunities that a few program changes will provide, the team feels confident that the robot performance can be improved.

The Patriot Engineering Team would like to thank all of our supporters, who have contributed to the 2014-15 FLL competition effort !!

Patriot Engineering Team prepares for FLL competition at UTD Richardson.

Patriot Engineering Team representing Addison, Texas and Bush Elementary, during FLL Regional Qualifier.

University of Texas at Dallas, FLL Regional Qualifier Tournament fields.

Action in the Patriot Engineering Team pit #13.

Patriot Engineering Team members take to the floor during FIRST Lego League tournament action at UTD.

Patriot Engineering Team on deck, during the University of Texas FLL Tournament.

Patriot Engineering Team from George H.W. Bush Elementary, prepare for FLL Tournament action at UTD.

Lane Duncan takes a moment to focus, during round 2 FLL Tournament action at UTD.

Patriot Engineering Team received props for their robotics cart, during FLL tournament action.

Lane Duncan works the PET robot, during FLL competition at University of Texas.

Patriot Engineering Team, Grayson Jones, Lane Duncan and Mason Dicks.

Patriot Engineering Team receives honors for their top ten finish, and advances to the next round of  FLL Competition.

Patriot Engineering Team celebrates a top ten finish, on their way to the next round of FLL competition.

Patriot Engineering Team, Mason Dicks, Grayson Jones and Lane Duncan.

Patriot Engineering Team Prepares for FLL Regional Qualifier Tournament

The Patriot Engineering Team members are preparing for the 2014 FIRST Lego League Regional Qualifier Tournament, to be held on December 6 at University of Texas - Dallas.  The event will be held on the UT Campus, in the Activity Center Main Gym, with a schedule of events from 9am to 3pm.

The PET team will compete in three rounds of robotics action, and will conduct a presentation during two additional scoring events.  The project theme for the 2014 FLL, is World Class Learning, which challenges teams to prepare methods of education which might be used in the future.  The PET team project, 'Disco Library' involves video education, and illustrates how education can be made efficient with the use of video instructions.

Good luck to the Patriot Engineering Team members, and to all of the FLL teams, as they embark on FLL World Class Learning Unleashed !!

Patriot Engineering Team Tests at FCA World Class FLL Scrimmage

The Patriot Engineering Team recently participated in a 16 team scrimmage tournament, to test the teams robot, in preparation for the upcoming 2014 World Class FIRST Lego League competition.  The team competed in three rounds of robot action, with their 'Robozilla' nicknamed machine.  Consistency seemed to be the greatest concern for the team, after the event.  Duplicating the robot performance from one competition table to the next, seemed to be a bit of a challenge for the group.  The team will continue testing, to improve the robot performance and learn how to adapt to changing conditions.

PATRIOT ENGINEERING TEAM SET FOR FLL SCRIMMAGE

The Patriot Engineering Team has been selected as a participating team in the Fellowship Christian Academy 2014 FLL World Class Scrimmage.  The event is scheduled for a 12:30 start, at the FCA Campus in Dallas.

A field of sixteen FIRST LEGO LEAGUE  teams will debut their 2014 robots, and compete in 3 rounds of robot mission action !  The event is designed to allow teams to test and tune their robots, practice the robot challenge missions, and have fun with fellow FLL teams.

For more information on the event, visit the FCA Robotics webpage at FCARobotics .

BUSH ELEMENTARY STUDENTS 'PATRIOT ENGINEERING TEAM' RETURNS TO FLL COMPETITION

The Patriot Engineering Team members, from George H.W. Bush Elementary, are preparing for their  2014 FIRST Lego League competition !  The members have organized and registered as Patriot Engineering Team #8636, representing Addison, Texas.

The team competed in 2013, as a rookie team, and scored a top five finish in the FLL robotics competition, in regional qualifying.  The team would like to improve upon their finish from 2013, and advance into the next rounds of the FLL tournament.

The theme for the FLL competition for the 2014-15 season, is 'World Class'.  This subject topic, challenges the competitors to research and introduce teaching methods for education enhancements of the future.

Patriot Engineering Team has arrived at a base topic for their project, and will be working toward a finished project in the coming weeks !   The PET members will also be formulating their plan of attack for the robotics challenge portion of the competition, in which they performed so well in 2013-14.   Wish the team 'good luck' !!!

PET team members Lane, Mason and Grayson, during the 2013-14 regional qualifying tournament.

PET members assembling the practice table and equipment at team headquarters.

PET members working on a plan for 'World Class', 2014-15 FLL competition.

Patriot Engineering Team #8636, of Addison Texas.

Dallas Area Rocket Society High Power Launch Event

Patriot Engineering Team member Lane Duncan attended the Dallas Area Rocket Society High Power Launch event in Gunter Texas recently.  The event provides for FAA clearance and plenty of space for launching High Power classified rockets.  Even with summer temperatures approaching 100 degrees, the club had a great crowd on hand for the event.  Clear skies and a slight breeze made for a great day of launches.

Lane brought along three new rockets, to test on single engine flights.  These mid range rockets can approach altitudes over 1000' on single stages and low power engines.  With medium power engines and dual stages, these rockets can soar to high altitudes !  Testing went really well, with clean and straight flights from each of the three rockets, and perfect parachute deployment and recovery !  The rockets will now be inspected, and loaded with higher powered engines and second stages for the next DARS High Power Launch event.  For more information on the DARS, visit their website at:
Dallas Area Rocket Society

Lane Duncan launches his Patriot Engineering Team entry, at the DARS High Power Rocket Launch in Gunter, Texas.

Lane Duncan had two great flights and perfect recoveries, with his Patriot Engineering Team rockets at the DARS event in Gunter, Texas.

Lane Duncan prepares his 'Shark Attack' rocket, for launch at the DARS High Power Rocket Launch in Gunter, Texas.