After lots of hard work, the QCHS FRC Robot Built Team completed the prototype of the 2009 robot. The dilemma of how to lift the game pieces into the hopper at the top of the robot was solved with a small piece of brilliance. They designed a conveyer belt, like the ones at a grocery store, except vertical, to carry the Moon Rocks and Empty Cells into the hopper. The pieces are squeezed between the belt and a flat sheet of metal. The conveyer belt rolls the balls up from the bottom of the robot to the top, releasing them into the hopper. With that obstacle out of the way, the team set to work welding the frame for the actual machine. Unfortunately, there was a week where progress proved impossible because they were lacking all the parts to continue working on the robot. On Wednesday, January 28, though, the parts were delivered and the team's back to work!