Explorer Post 1010 spend five lovely days (July 1-5) in Leesburg Virginia at the 2009 Global  Conference on Educational Robotics (GCER).  We competed in the Botball and Beyond Botball tournaments. We had a great time and a lot of fun.

 Here are some videos of around the event.

We took a lot of pictures.  Check out our slideshow.

All three of our regional teams participated, Team 191, Team 192, and Team 193.  There were 60 teams in the tournament.  Team 192 placed 9th, Team 191 placed 21st, and Team 193 placed 44th.  Teams 191 and 192 made the finals in the competition rounds.  Here are the seeding results and here are the overall results.

Our Beyond Team did great, again.  Check out their stuff.

Next year, this conference will be held at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville.  To prepare for the robotics kits we will be using there, Dr David Miller explained the CBC V2.

Remember the "Thriller"!

Lessons for Next Year Start internal competitions earlier. More coding "classes" and self "teaching". More focus on use of sensors to help navigation. Use team building games to develop teamwork. Notes for KIPR Organize the Alliance matches better. Don't use cups on the board. More balanced scoring zones The board connectors were a problem.