The second week of the build season for Panther Robotics was very productive. We began the week with an evening of spirited team building at Advanced Lazer Tag in Olathe. Nearly all of the team was able to attend this opportunity to learn to work together in a fun environment.

Our Build Committee has completed the robot's chassis and drive system design. This is what we will base the rest of the robot's structure on. Work has begun on the kicking mechanism that will kick the soccer ball across the playing field.

The robot is now fully prepared for the autonomous mode of competition. This is the first fifteen seconds of the match and is very important as team members can not control the robot during this time. The programming committee has begun integrating the program with this year's drive train.

Team members attended the Oak Park Carpenter Elementary School Technology and Science Night in Overland Park, Kansas. They demonstrated last year's robot and explained this year's game to the students and their parents. The students enjoyed the presentation and are making plans to attend the Kansas City Regional March fifth.

Spirit beads will be sold at home sporting events, which include basketball games and wrestling meets. The proceeds will go to help finance the team's building and traveling expenses.

A spreadsheet has been developed to help the scouting committee. This will be used to keep information on teams that we will meet at the Dallas Regional. Panther Robotics will use this information to rate strengths, weaknesses, and alliance compatibility of other robots.

The robot will debut at the Paola High School Pep Rally this Friday afternoon in the high school gym. This will not be the final version of the robot as the team is only halfway through the building season. In past years the team had an additional week before presentation at the pep rally. The team is excited to demonstrate their progress thus far.