Meet The 2011 Team

The 2011 Team was led by Captain Kyle McMullan and Vice-Captain Calvin Cafferty. During the 2011 season, the Centurions, mostly senior members, started their last year on the team. This season's game, LogoMotion, in honor of Jack Kamen, was both a challenge and a success for our team. During the season, the team started rebuilding their website, which was lost due to data errors. As well as undertaking this large task, the team also started training younger members to fill the ranks when the seniors move on to college and beyond.

The team had some hitches along the road, but made it to the Regional Competition, and had already signed up for the national competition as well. During the regionals, we were picked to be on the 7th seed team alliance, and lost in the quarter finals. The team may not have won, but had national competition to look forward too. National competition didn't go too well for the team, being near dead last due to programming and mechanical errors that cropped up. However, the team managed to have fun at the national competition, and hopes to be back soon.

Read More about: The 2011 Robot, Fortuona. The 2011 Meida Gallery 

Meet The 2010 Team

Led by Captain John Durivage and Vice Captain Ben Lattner, the Centurions entered their third year with hope and excitement. The new game was Breakaway, a soccer-themed competition with a few twists thrown in. The field was divided into three sections, separated by a foot-high barrier that could be driven over, with the option of driving under it through a tunnel in the middle. The goals were in the corners of the field, and bonus points could be earned at the end of the game if the robot could ascend and hang from one of the towers located above the tunnels.

After an extensive design process, our team created robot that would be able to score with a kicker, as well as earn the extra points by hanging. Also, if necessary, it could go over the barriers to change between offense and defense. The kicker could launch a ball well over the barriers, either to score or get it to another team member on offense. To hang, our robot would extend a rod with a grappling hook on the end, then hoist itself up with a pulley.

We again entered the North Star Regional, where we experienced our share of wins and losses. Our efforts were noticed by sixth-ranked team 1764 (Liberty Robotics), and were asked to join their alliance. We made it to the semi-finals, but were defeated after a few rounds. Even though we lost, knew there were other years and more competitions to prove the might of the Centurions.

More Information: The 2010 Robot, Mithras. The 2010 Meida Gallery 

Meet The 2010 Team

Captain Braden Eliason and Vice Captain John Durivage led the team in their return after a promising rookie year. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first man on the moon, FIRST designed a competition that would simulate the lowered gravity of the lunar surface, titled Lunacy. The field was a white plastic, and the robots were given special low-traction wheels that made accelerating and navigating a challenge. The goal was to get special balls (called orbit balls) off the ground and into a trailer being towed behind the opposing team’s robot.

The whole team worked hard collaborating in the design process, creating mock-ups, and constructing the final robot. In the end our team decided on a robot with an S-bend to gather the orbit balls and carry them up to a hopper on the top of the robot. The hopper had two wheels that would accelerate the balls out, instead of simply dropping them, so that orbit balls would still make it to the trailer of an escaping opponent. The design was called the Power Pez, as it resembled a Pez dispenser.

At the North Star Regional we exhibited the capabilities of the Power Pez design. Though we did not place in the top eight, third-ranked team 1816 noticed our adeptness, and we graciously joined their alliance. Together with the Green Machine and the Tomahawks, we won our way to the final round, where after two thrilling rounds we were defeated when our robot experienced a communication error. Though we didn’t move on to the national competition, we were pleased by our success, and it encouraged us to keep aiming for the top.

More Information: The 2009 Robot, Heracles Mark II. The 2009 Meida Gallery 

Meet The 2008 Team

The Centennial Robotics team had its inaugural year in 2008. The Captains for the year were Christian Knipl and Braden Eliason. The 2008 game was called Overdrive. It involved removing a 40 inch diameter ball off of a 7 foot high bridge and then moving it counterclockwise around a field measuring 27 x 57 feet that was divided down the center. Points were scored by pushing the ball across a line under the bridge or putting the ball over the bridge by a mechanical devise built into the robot. Each match consists of two alliances of 3 teams each and the match lasted 2 minutes.

Centennial used a fork lift system to move the ball around the court and a pneumatic ram to push the ball off the bridge. Our robot was dependable and moved around the court rather fast. We did not make it into the finals, but we were recognized as the All Star Rookie Team at the 10,000 Lakes Regional. This award gave us a chance to go to Atlanta, GA, which we did take advantage of.

In the end, the team did relatively well in the International Competition in Atlanta, but did not quite do well enough to make it into the final rounds. However, the team proved itself to be a viable source of competition for many teams in FIRST.

More Information: The 2008 Robot, Heracles. The 2008 Meida Gallery