Robots for Good!

Check out this video of a Department of Defense competition where builders design and program robots to work in disaster areas.


http://nyti.ms/1ceE9M1

We  have just learned that the state championships are going to be on the 15th of February that will give us two extra weeks to work. We will have a competition  session at U.N.M. There are now 17 teams sighed up for the N.M. championships. Our 8th graders missed practice today because they went on a field trip to Santa Fe. They missed the train-- just barely missed it. We will keep you posted if anything else comes up.

Mr. Hart has started the elementary  school team. They love it. Every one wants to participate in it. Say yay for the youglings.

Hello everyone! This week the Syntax Errors are working hard on the  scoring design of our robots. Today we are asking if any businesses are willing to sponsor our teams, so we are able to keep up the hard work. Running a robot team requires a lot of support especially for a small school such as ours and we would greatly appreciate any donations and/or sponsorships. If you would like to help us out, visit our PayPal account or contact Mountain Mahogany Community School front dest at; (505)-341-1425 . Thank You for the support and we hope to blog from Anaheim once again! (PayPal button located on side bar)

The Weekly Report

Today, October 17, 2013 

We have split the team up into Team A and Team B because (like I said last week) we get a grant for making two teams instead of one. 

Team B has to start from scratch with building a new robot because Team A toke the old robot! But that way Team B gets to pick what they want the robot to look like. 

They way the two teams works in competition is if one team goes to worlds they are the only ones to compete but if we raise enough money for everyone to go they other team would just come to support the other team. 

~A Syntax Error  

The weekly news update

Today, September 26, 2013 we are talking about to starting a elementary IQ robot team. But that would mean the the Syntax Errors would need to give them (the IQ robot team) $300  dollars for them to start two teams. If we get $300 for one team the other team would get founded by a grant because we started two IQ teams. We have started on several robot designs for the scoring portion of the robot, the base and the wheels to be able to go over the 2" bump in the playing field. Also the scoring team is finding the easiest way of scoring and hanging from the bar.

~the Syntax Errors

A New Year!

It's 2013 and were back! Starting up a whole new year with some new people but the same joy and excitement!
We have started building and drawing some blue prints for our brand new robot! This year the competition is called Toss Up. It has the robots hanging from bars and throwing objects. We are using the biggest object ever used in the Vex Robotics Competitions. We are looking very forward to doing this all over again, and hope to go back to Worlds this year for another fun and great learning experience for the whole team!

We also hope people can help us out with funds and the team! You can donate money right here on the website, just click on the link on the main page to donate.

Sincerely, The Syntax Errors

P.S. Thanks for checking our website!

We Were on the Air This Morning!

We Heart Robots

Before the Match

At the World Championships each team in our division played 10 qualifying matches. I tried to snap a picture of each driving team before they went into the arena. Here are some of our drive teams:

KUNM Children's Hour

Tune in to KUNM this Saturday morning to hear some of The Syntax Errors talk about World's and robotics on KUNM's Children's Hour! The show runs from 9-10 and more info about the program can be found here.

The Beach!

Although "begin at the beginning" has it's merits, I'm going to start documenting our Anaheim adventures with the end. These pics of this landlocked team at the Pacific Ocean just couldn't wait. We had a such a joyous time after the competition playing in the waves, finding treasures and participating in the local Earth Day activities. Rather than fight the crowds at Huntington Pier, we went up the coast a bit to the Bolsa Chica State Park.

This crab was enormous!

Sushi, anyone?

Gorgeous!

Outside the lifeguard tower the park rangers were working in conjunction with a local non-profit to create an Earth Day tile mural to be placed in one of the Bolsa Chica buildings. The Syntax Errors participated by making their own tiles.

The trip

The trip was wonderful! the robot did grate. there was allot of fun things to do at the stadium! I had a fun time! Elijah

Congrats to the team

We finished strong with excellent teamwork and defense coming in 64 in our division! Congrats team! Here we are celebrating with a beloved mascot.

2013-2014 Season NEW GAME REVEALED

Tonight the next season's game was revealed and it all has our minds racing with design and strategy ideas. We see some pneumatics in our future....

A Whirlwind

To All the Syntax Errors Fans,

So much has happened over the last two days and I realize that our last published post was yesterday at the opening ceremony. Two posts are still trying to publish from Ms. Amy's phone and there is not any Wifi in the convention center (apparently it interferes with the performance of the 'bots).

Suffice it to say, many postings are yet to come. We miss everyone and can feel your love and support from where ever you may be!

~The Syntax Errors

Opening Ceremony

Our view from our seats at the opening ceremony. This is amazing. Over 24 countries and 700 teams are here.

Disneyland

Yesterday we went to Disneyland and California adventure it was very fun we went on many rides it was a fun experience. I went on a ride called splash mountain it was very fun.

Union station

Leg 1 of our journey is complete! Now we wait for our train to Anaheim...

On the train

Here we are riding the rails!

Basking in the Glow

If it seems too quiet here at the blog, that's because we've taken a short hiatus while we basked in the glow of REACHING OUR INITIAL FUNDRAISING GOAL!!

To date we have raised $11,400 which will go to sending our team to Anaheim in less than a week. We could not have done it without all of the funds donated through this blog. Thank you.

If you are visiting us for the first time and are interested in donating, please do! Any funds which are not spent on our trip will go towards building our program next year. This year's program was started entirely with grant money which will not be available next year. I have a feeling that our numbers will swell given the success in our first year and would be great to have the resources to support the students.

While we are in Ahaheim we will blog daily, so stay tuned April 17-21 as we take on the World Championship!

~The Syntax Errors

Leaders of the 'tax

At next week's world championships our team needs to people to represent us. The first is our team captain and the second is a team member who will march in the parade in the opening ceremony. This person will represent our team, New Mexico and part of the US contingency. Last week Aidan G. was selected to be our team captain. He is pictured at the right below. Jack (center) will be our parade rep. Sophie (left) rounds out this driving/coaching team.

Congratulations Aidan and Jack!

Here they are in action at today's practice! 

Warm Fuzzies

Last night the Mountain Mahogany Community School shone with their support for our students and our fundraising efforts. Photos will be posted later, but we wanted to be sure we thanked everyone for helping us raise over $1500!

A huge thank you to Mr. Seth for organizing the entertainment, Debra for getting the food piece in order, Cathy for getting the word out through the Leaflet, Brian and Alex for staffing the 'bot drives, Socorro for handling the money, the Syntax Errors for representing the team and to everyone else who supported the event. We are oh so grateful!

The official fundraising tally will be posted this weekend--check back tosee if we met our goal!

~The Syntax Errors

Fundraising Update

To the fans of the Syntax Errors:

We have broken the $6000 mark! As of yesterday we raised just over $6500 and today we were able to add more than $300 more to our total--$230 of which was from Hexbug sales alone! I love how our school (and extended) community is coming together to support these amazing kids.

If you ordered a Hexbug Ant, don't worry, they are on "backorder" and we should have them tomorrow afternoon.

Thanks so much!
~The Syntax Errors

Selling Like Hotcakes!

The school support for the Hexbug fundraiser has been absolutely astounding! We raised about $400 over the last few days, enough to send another student to Anaheim!

Thanks MMCS for supporting our team through this fundraiser!
~The Syntax Errors

A Milestone!

The blog has reached over 1,000 visits since it's start just two weeks ago. Thanks to all of you that have come by and continue to check in. As you can see from our counter on the right, we still have a few thousand dollars to raise so anything you can do to get the word out is greatly appreciated.

This Friday from 5-8 is our Music Review fundraiser--just $5 per family and you can be entertained for 3 hours! We will also have a bake sale with sweet and savory treats, robot drives for $1 and Hexbugs for sale. See the map below for directions.

In the event that you cannot attend Friday's fundraiser--please use the PayPal donation button on the right to support our team. It all adds up!



View Larger Map

Variety Show Fundraiser

Image from pixelgirlpresents.com

This Friday, April 5 from 5-8pm our school is hosting a variety show fundraiser for the Syntax Errors.

Students, families and community members will sing, dance, act, and otherwise entertain us through the evening.

$5 per family is our suggested donation. Hexbugs will be for sale ($7 for the Nano and $12 for the Ant), and robot drives will be $1.

We hope you can join us for an excellent evening showcasing our local talent.
~The Syntax Errors

HexBug Fundraiser

Ant Hexbug image from Cutebiz.com

To support our fundraising efforts we are selling Nano and Ant Hexbugs! They are for sale on the Mountain Mahogany Community School campus and will be at any of our community fundraisers, such as the bake sale at Altura Park.

Hexbugs are micro robots that move and have sensors which allow them to do unique things.

The Nano, for example, vibrates to move and if it ends up on its back is able to right itself. We are selling the Nano for $7 a piece. You can see the Nano in action here.

For $12 the Ant could be yours! The Ant is larger than the Nano and zips around on hard surfaces. When it runs into an obstacle, the sensors on its antennae signal it to back up. When it backs into an obstacle, the sensors there indicate that it should move forward. Click here to see the Ant in action.

In the Media

Katie at KUNM Children's Hour put in a word for us yesterday. Thanks, Katie!

Geoff at the Alibi also posted about us on their blog.

We are so grateful for the support from the greater Albuquerque community and if any of you know of other media that would be interested in getting the word out, please leave a comment so we can get in touch.

~The Syntax Errors

Bake Sale UPDATE

Today at the bake sale we raised $254!! That's a whole lot of muffins, cookies and robot drives. A HUGE Thank You to everyone who supported this event-from the delicious food to the organizing to those of you in the community who purchased these treats. We had so many items to sell that they were distributed amongst the team members to sell around town this weekend. Keep an eye out for Syntax Errors at your local park or dog park and pick up a sweet treat this afternoon.

Sevilla Explaining the 'bot to a Happy Customer

Something for Everyone

Bake Sale TODAY!

Borrowed from the Village Voice blog

From 9:30-1:00 at the SW corner of Altura Park (near Carlisle between Indian School & Constitution) we are holding a bake sale to raise funds for Anaheim. Last night many Syntax Errors and their families were baking away. I, for one, will be there with coconut bread and my signature grapefruit cake. Come by for a treat, a coffee, a chat and to pick up a Hexbug Nano--just $7! Hope to see you there on this gorgeous Saturday.

 ~The Syntax Errors
View Larger Map

We're on KRQE!

A segment about the team aired on KRQE early this morning. You can access the video and transcript here. Nice work with the interview Elijah!

NM robotics team makes national competition

Kickball for Robots

Our school community is really banding together to support our trip to Anaheim. The Hexbug fundraiser has been an incredible success so far and classrooms are finding unique ways to raise money.

Ms. Conna's 5th grade class is playing kickball to raise funds for our trip, too. For every point they score Ms. Conna will pay $.50. They have had two rousing games of kickball so far and from what I hear, those 5th graders really know how to score some points!

Thanks for supporting the team, 5th grade!
~The Syntax Errors

On the Air

KQRE/KASA were on campus today filming and interviewing the team which was very exciting! We did not make it on tonight's news but may be on the air tomorrow morning for the am news on Channel 13 (KRQE). We are also scheduled to be on NM Style on Channel 2 (KASA) which airs from 8-9am. James the editor/camera operator was glad to be a part of such a positive story.

Tune in and see us in action!

In other news, check out the practice field! SiaTech High School is letting us borrow half of a playing field so we can practice in a more accurate environment. Up until today we have been using a wooden perimeter and chalking in the scoring troughs. Now we have regulation bean-bags and scoring areas that meet the Sack Attack regulations. We are so grateful for this support from a fellow robotics program.

Update: We did not air on New Mexico Style this morning, but were part of the early morning news. Here's a link.

Fundraising Event This Saturday!

This Saturday (3/30) we will be hosting a bake sale at the Altura Park Soccer Fields here in Albuquerque from 9am-1pm. We will have most delicious treats, hot coffee and Hexbugs for sale! The Hexbugs are the Nano and the Ant and sell for $7 and $12, respectively.
If you can come out and support us, or if you have some goods to donate to the cause, please leave a comment and how we can get in touch!

Wow!

Today we received $1250 in donations! We are on our way to Worlds!

Please use the PayPal button to the right to make your tax-deductible donation to our team.

We are so grateful!
~Syntax Errors

Monday Practice

We met as a team today, split into our groups and got down to business.

The 'bot is finished!

Our programming issue was resolved!

Diego worked with the PR team to get started on screen printing!

A successful practice.

Following practice, we held our first pre-Anaheim parent meeting. We had a huge turnout and hopefully some questions were answered. The fundraising ball is rolling and soon our Kickstarter URL will go live.

Our 'bot at Work

Here us our robot before the competition.

If you would like to donate...

Dear Supporters of Syntax Errors,

If you would like to donate money to help us get to Anaheim, you can send your tax-deductible donation endorsed to Friends of Mountain Mahogany (FOMM). This is the non-profit arm of our school. FOMM's mailing address is:

5014 4th St NW
Albuquerque, NM 87107

In the very near future our Kickstarter campaign will also be live. When that happens you can use your credit card or PayPal account to donate directly.

We are also looking for donations of snacks, banner printing, small New Mexico Zia flags, small ristras, a button press to borrow, and new, white t-shirts in a variety of sizes. These donations can also be delivered to our school at the address above.

Whatever way you choose to support us, we're ever so grateful!

The Syntax Errors

Today in Robots

Today in robots we talked a lot about our up coming trip to Anaheim, CA for Worlds. There were many questions!!!! Like, how long will we be competing? Good question! We will be competing April 18-21.
More questions! How much will it costs? Where will we stay? DISNEYLAND?!?!!
It will cost us close to 3,000$ to take all 16 of our wonderful teammates. We will be staying in a hotel close to the VEX Dome,(the location of the comp) and possibly in one across from, yet again Disneyland.

For the next hour of robot club we split into groups. Our PR team working on T-shirt designs, programmers working our autonomous program, Super Secret Spies scouting out this years competition, robot designers working on tightening bolds and fixing gears, press release workers, and our very own video documenting crew! We worked diligently until 5:00pm, then we cleaned up and retired our robotic intelligence for the night.


Oh and We will be blogging live in Anaheim! So keep up with our young robotics crew!!

Cutest Worlds crew ever😍

Us kiddos!

Up and Running

Today marks our first official blog post before the World Championships in Anaheim, CA! We have a lot to do to put the finishing touches on our robot and fundraise our way to California. This blog will highlight all of the ups and downs on our way to World's!

Last weekend we won the Excellence Award at New Mexico's inaugural VEX Robotic Competition. The Excellence Award is not because we were the best at designing, programming and driving our robot. We won it because we demonstrated excellent sportsmanship and attitude during the event. We were all totally shocked and amazed that we won the overall competition and grateful for the opportunity to represent our school and the state of New Mexico in just a month!