HSISHISI
July/August Newsletter
S.W.A.T. Dominates the State Fair
Smithvilles teams 1806 S.W.A.T. and 806 W.A.T. at the Missouri State Fair in
Sedalia, Missouri August 9th.
When SWAT members boarded the
bus on Sunday, August 9th, they did-
nt realize that only a few of them
would return victorious and the others
defeated. Anticipating the smells and
sounds of the fairgrounds, each vehi-
cle anxiously made its way along the
winding excuse of a highway to Seda-
lia, Missouri. After a slight mix-up
with directions (thanks to *cough,
cough* Gabe Greenfield) the entire
team made it safely to their destina-
tion. Besides enjoying all that the state
fair has to offer (funnel cake), Smith-
ville Robotics was there to pit their
robot against fifteen other teams.
However, due to a late dropout, Smith-
ville was permitted to bring two robots
2014
Sponsor of the
Week!
FIRST Team 1806 is al-
ways looking to partner
with sponsors and indi-
viduals to help bring ro-
botics into the commu-
nity. For information on
sponsoring SWAT con-
tact us by sending an
email to
frc1806@gmail.com
- their main competition bot and their
beloved backup bot. Seeing as how
In this Issue
Page 1
two robots labeled 1806 could be
slightly confusing, the second robot S.W.A.T. Dominates the
was creatively renamed 806 and the State Fair
members associated with it called Page 2
themselves WAT. Therefore, the
two teams from Smithville were S.W.A.T. Member of the
SWAT 1806 (the competition robot) Month Megan Krueger
and WAT 806 (the backup robot). State Fair Continued
Team SWAT 1806 was driven by
Mitchell Irwin, operated by Megan Page 3
Krueger, with Camryn Hays as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
human player, and coached by Bran-
State Fair Continued
don Lawrence, an alumnus. Team
WAT 806 was driven by Becker Leth- Page 4
coe, operated by Zach Fergen, with ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
Gabe Greenfield as the human player, Team Photo
July/August Newsletter 2014
S.W.A.T. Member of the Month Megan Krueger
In 2005, when Mr. Vitek started the robotics team, Me-
gan Krueger was in the fourth grade. Her dad, Greg Krue-
ger, was one of the teams first mentors, so Megan grew up
around S.W.A.T. Five years later, Megan started her high
school robotics career.
Megan Krueger is a junior. She is going to be a human
player on the drive team this year, which will involve "a
lot of running around". Most recently, she was a part of
the drive team at the FRC competition at the Missouri
State Fair.
Megan has made many important contributions to team
1806. This past year, she helped the team join in with Har-
vester's, organizing a community service event for the
team. She had gotten the idea because, as an active mem-
ber of Student Council she has worked with Harvester's
before.
Two years after she joined, Megan got Smithville's
Lego camp started. The camp allows seventh and eighth
graders to work to build their own robot out of Lego
bricks. So far, there have been two camps, both of which
have been very successful. Along with coming up with the
idea of the camp, Megan is a mentor for Lego League, as
she truly enjoys working with kids.
S.W.A.T. is only one part of Megan's busy schedule.
Along with being Secretary of the Executive Board for
Student Council, Megan is a member of National Honor
Society and National English Honor Society, and Future
Continued from page 1 and coached by Dillon Woolly
Woollums, also an alumnus. The competition was a modi-
fied game of two versus two with modified rules for scor-
ing. Each team played eight qualification rounds in which
opponents were randomly selected. After these rounds were
finished, SWAT 1806 was ranked second and WAT found
itself in a four-way tie for third. However, after managing
to lose every single game of rock-paper-scissors, Becker
Lethcoe led WAT 806 to a sixth place ranking. Despite this
heavy blow to morale for WAT, they were able to partner
with Team 2164 The Corps from Harrisonville, and both
teams managed to win their quarterfinal matches, but not
without a casualty. . WAT lost one of their six belts, slight-
ly unbalancing the robot. These wins meant that there was
to be a semifinal showdown between SWAT 1806 and
WAT 806, both Smithville teams. It was a battle of epic
proportions. The first match saw team 1806 sweep the field
with an easy win. After sustaining that loss, team 806 ad-
justed their strategy and the second match was much closer.
During this second match SWAT broke an essential belt
and used their precious time out to completely dismantle
the drivetrain, fix the issue, and put it back together, all in a
desperate attempt to beat WAT. It all came down to the
Business Leaders of America. She is a volleyball player, as
well as a student ambassador. When asked how she bal-
ances all of this, she replied, "I don't watch TV. There is
no room for TV. I am always working on homework... It's
crazy!"
Megan wants to be an engineer after college. She
dreams of attending Notre Dame. The best part about ro-
botics for her is the people she meets. "You meet a lot of
people, and you are around them all the time. You make a
lot of friends."
third match; who would advance to finals, and who would
hang their head in defeat? The match was highly competi-
tive, enough to shift the physical playing field, and even
cause the commentators to note the level of intensity. This
was a battle to the death; the robots were ramming into
each other, parts and pieces were flying in the air, and any-
thing was fair game. It came down to the last thirty sec-
onds. WAT was slightly behind in points when all of a sud-
den their prayers were answered, and SWATs laptop died.
Without a functioning laptop SWATs robot was essential-
ly useless, and WAT was able to score enough points to
emerge victorious and claim a position in finals. The finals
match pitted WAT 806 and their partner 2164 The Corps
against Team 1987 The Broncobots from Lee Summit
North, and Team 1775 The Tigerbytes from Lincoln Prep
Academy. WAT pulled off an easy win in the first final
match. However, in the second finals match, things started
to fall apart. Literally! The shooter arm moved backwards
and jammed, causing some tubing and pneumatics to mal-
function, while the motor attempted to keep working, caus-
ing the entire thing to burn out. So, picture a smoking piece
of metal with tubing and other parts haphazardly arranged-
thats the cheery sight WAT
 ALS Ice Bucket
Challenge
On Wednesday, August 20th,
you couldnt find any SWAT team
members in their usual places after
school. Rather, students and teachers
alike were filling up buckets with
freezing cold water and ice in prepara-
tion for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
After being nominated by Assistant
coach Jason Jones, Head Coach Scott
Vitek nominated the entire team. Thir-
ty-some excited students and staff
formed an assembly line that quickly
became chaotic as the icy water cas-
caded down their bodies.
SWAT in turn nominated
Team 1986, Woodie Flowers, and
Dean Kamen. However, the goal of
this challenge isnt to bring about ear- Megan Krueger works on the SWAT robot while competing at IRI in
ly, onset pneumonia, instead its to
Indianapolis over the summer.
support the research and treatment of
ALS, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,
more commonly referred to as Lou
Gehrigs disease. Smithville Robotics, Continued from page 2 and took a shot for ten points. Af-
along with the ice bucket dumping, members were looking at. Need- ter the ball scored, it went over
also donated one hundred dollars to the less to say, WAT 806 lost their the truss and balanced there
cause. second final match. Going into against the wall. Becker saw this,
The ALS Association has the third final match, the WAT and with five seconds remaining,
managed to raise 88.5 million dollars bot was missing a belt, had a he raced down to that side and,
in the span of a few weeks thanks to burned up motor, had a jammed without slowing down, rammed
the influx of donations from the chal- shooter, and a partially working into the goal. Everything after that
lenge. While the nonprofit organiza- drivetrain. Basically, the only seemed to happen in slow motion:
tion hasnt explicitly stated what will hope of scoring points rested sole- the ball was in just the right posi-
be done with the funds, there isnt a ly on the quick fixing of the pneu- tion that, upon Beckers impact, it
lack of options. ALS is a progressive matics in order to push the ball fell perfectly into the goal, just as
neurodegenerative disease that affects into the one point goal, because the buzzer went off, signaling the
nerve cells in the brain and the spinal every other function was not end of the final match. Everyone
cord. working. Once the match started, held their breath- would this be
After diagnosis, patients have it was clear that the pneumatics just enough to put WAT 806, the
anywhere from two to five years to were still not working, so the ro- underdogs, into the winners cir-
live and thats living with increasing bot essentially could only drive cle? Yes it was! Thanks to an in-
loss of cognitive awareness and in- around. But team 806 didnt let genious move on WATs part,
creasing paralysis. For a disease that that capability go to waste. Al- they were able to take home first
currently has no cure and minimal lowing their alliance partner to place out of the entire competi-
funding, any donation helps for a solely focus on the offensive- tion. Smithville Robotics returned
brighter future! scoring, WATs sole strategy was home with two robots in desperate
to play defense and not allow the need of repair and a lot of excite-
Autumn Gupta other team to score; which they ment for success this upcoming
"What Is ALS?" - The ALS Associa- accomplished by ramming into season.
tion. ALS Association, 2010. Web. 27 the other robots the entire time. In
Aug. 2014. the last twenty seconds WATs -Autumn Gupta
alliance team inbounded the ball
S.W.A.T. ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
FTC Kickoff for
the 2014-2015
Season will be
Saturday, Septem-
ber 6th .

Visit our Website!

www.smithvillehighrobotics.com/

You can watch Team 1806s ALS Ice Bucket Challenge video on YouTube And Follow us on
by searching S.W.A.T. FRC Team 1806 ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Twitter! @frc1806

Thank You Sponsors!

Darrell Smith Dave Telles G. Gupta

Russell & Betty Woollums Denny & Nancy Lowe Earl & Diane Soetaert
Paul Clouse Jeff & Anne Townsend Robert & Beth Armstrong
Bill & Bonita Farrell Chuck & Joan Hitchborn Greg Armstrong

July/August Newsletter 2014