Byting Bulldogs' Fifth Year
The Byting Bulldogs' fifth year marked several firsts and changes for the team. Upon the retirement of founding coach Gardner, the Byting Bulldogs welcomed new coach Mr. Tim Warneck. The Byting Bulldogs became eligible to apply for Chairman's Award in 2015, and in so doing, we learned tremendously about broadening our scope of outreach and service to the community. In addition, this was the first year the team won two awards in one event.
The Robot, "Reaper"
Our robot for Recycle Rush featured an H-drive chassis, which combined a standard six-wheel tank drive with a center strafe module in order to travel over the scoring platforms. To save on weight without compromising strength, the robot's elevator was custom-made of carbon fiber by our students. The H-drive and carbon fiber belt earned 3539 the Excellence in Engineering Award at our second district event. Byting Bulldogs' Recycle Rush robot was called Reaper for its scythe-shaped "canburglar" hooks.
Honors
Woodhaven District Competition:
General Motors Industrial Design Award
District Semifinalist
Troy District Competition:
Rank 4
Alliance 3 Captain
District Quarterfinalist
Delphi Excellence in Engineering Award
Johnson & Johnson Gracious Professionalism Award
Michigan State Championship:
Finished 39 out of 102 Teams
FIRST World Championship:
Semifinalist in Newton Division
The Game
The 2015 game, Recycle Rush, was a particularly complicated game involving three very different game pieces: large plastic garbage cans known as "recycling containers", smaller totes, and pool noodles called "litter". The primary method of scoring points was to stack totes on scoring platforms, cap them with recycling containers, and place litter in or on scored recycling containers. Points were also scored for litter ending up in designated areas of the field. Recycle Rush also had an element of coopertition: if four yellow totes were on the center step simultaneously at any point in the match, both alliances were awarded 20 points. If the four yellow totes were stacked on the step, there was a 20-point bonus, for a total coopertition score of 40.