[CRUSH-all] build competition nearing the end, game competition dates

[Bill Bennett]

Hi Team
We are 4 weeks into the 6 week build competition, only 2 weeks to go. We 
have made a lot of progress but have much left to do. The rear drive is 
done, the chassis is nearly done, the front steering is getting close. 
There are good design ideas and some prototypes of the lift arm, but 
it's not yet ready to build. Some progress has been made on autonomous 
programming.  Completely not started are these tasks:
operator interface board
electronics board
bumpers
All of these task must be done in two weeks. Much better would be one 
week, since that would give us some time to debug and practice driving. 
This is the time to push hard for an award-winning successful 
completion. Please be as available and focused as possible to help us 
complete our great robot.

We will travel to two competitions this year. The Phoenix competition is 
March 6-8. The trip will cost somewhere around $200 per person, reduced 
somewhat by your number of CRUSH hours on the timeclock. This is just an 
estimate at this point, since we are still making travel plans. But you 
should decide now if you are going and factor the cost into your thinking.

The Las Vegas trip is March 26-30. Since it is farther, more travel 
costs are involved, so this trip will cost students more. A rough 
estimate is $300 per person, again, reduced in some cases for CRUSH 
hours (for those students that didn't use up all their hours on the 
Phoenix trip). Think about whether you will go on this trip, we'll be 
asking you soon.

We will have a great robot and animation to enter competition this year. 
Thanks to all the students and adults that are helping make it happen.

Bill Bennett