Tribute to Blacktron

Today, I have taken the time to pay homage to one of my favorite Lego space factions: Blacktron. This faction covered two themes, one in the late eighties and another in the early nineties. The Blacktron have been defined as theives who steal technology from other factions, helping to secure their own domination. The first of the two themes, simply titled Blacktron but usually referred to as Blacktron I or BT1, revolutionized Lego space and has been named the first truly "themed" series of space sets. Blacktron I featured intimidating minifigures, sleek shapes, and interchangeably modular designs, all glued together by a striking color scheme of black, yellow, trans-red and trans-yellow. Many ideas pioneered by Blacktron I are still used today, such as smaller vehicles detaching from larger ones, etc. To this day, Blacktron I sets are very popular and therefore expensive and hard to come by. Regrettably, I do not own any as yet but I plan on collecting them all eventually. Pictured below are the Battrax, the Renegade, and the Message-Intercept Base, some of the most acclaimed Blacktron I sets.

The Renegade isn't huge by today's standards, at only 313 pieces,
but it's by all means a work of art.

The Battrax is a mean four-wheeled machine that is still
highly sought after today.

The Message Intercept Base features a dome that
can open using a mechanism similar to that of the
Futuron Cosmic Laser Launcher.

Blacktron returned in 1991 with Blacktron: Future Generation, which is usually referred to as Blacktron II or BT2. Unlike Blacktron I, its "sequel" had a color scheme of black, white, and trans-neon green, which added to the notion that it was an "upgrade" of Blacktron I. This newer series is often slandered as a set-by-set rehash of its predecessor, but I think this theme needs to be appreciated for what it is, not insulted for what it could have been. Blacktron II shared the idea of interchangeability, since some vehicles had futuristic, spheroid cockpits that were very similar and compatible with one another. Unfortunately, only four of the dozen sets had these cockpits, making the others incompatible. Blacktron II minifigures wore a new logo, a green letter B inside an octagon, emblazoned on their chests. While the new logo and design made the minifigures seem slightly less formidable (you can see their smiley faces through their visors), they still have a great design and excellent play value. Unlike Blacktron I, Over half of Blacktron II sits upon my shelves, hopefully to be joined eventually by the rest of both themes. Two of the most popular Blacktron II sets, the Aerial Intruder (I have that one) and the Spectral Starguider (I really need to get me one of those) are seen below.

The Spectral Starguider is impressively designed, including suspension, steering
and the ability to form an aircraft from the cockpit and the top-mounted engines.

The Aerial Intruder sported two spheroid cockpits
and a cargo ramp for deploying two buggies.

The Blacktron Intelligence Agency

The Blacktron Intelligence agency is a monstrous Blacktron I layout built by Brian Darrow in Indiana. The BIA was a massive undertaking, being under perpetual construction for almost a decade. At its peak, it included at least 78 trans-yellow quarter-dome panels,(worth 20-30 dollars each) and over 1600 minifigures from various themes (mostly Blacktron). It measured almost forty feet long and had over 245 feet of monorail track. Each one of those numbers is amazing, as the quarter-domes, vintage minifigures, and monorail tracks are all very expensive. I cannot go in-depth enough to do this project justice, so you can visit the creator's MOCpages site here for additional information and images. I have also included a video tour done by Joe Meno in 2007. It effectively captures the scope and grandeur of this amazing piece. Regrettably, the BIA no longer exists, as it was dismantled and auctioned off in chunks almost two years ago. This means I will never see it in person, but it has been immortalized on the internet. In fact, it has inspired me to build my own layout of epic proportions, which is already four years into the design process. It will likely be posted in the distant future.

Evidence of Blacktron

Both Blacktron themes were released in conjunction with a "civilian" theme and a Space Police theme. Unfortunately, with the release of Space Police III in 2009, there came no Blactron III. This does not mean there were no hints, however. The minifigure named Rench, who was included in the Raid VPR (5981) wears a modified BT1 uniform with a BT2 logo on it. The "Space Villain" minifig from Minifigures Series 3 also wears the Blacktron II logo, whilst his armor and weapons match the BT1 color scheme. Most interesting of all is the upcoming "Evil Mech" minifigure from the new Minifigures Series 11, which wears a Blacktron I logo (not the BT2 logo) on its armor. Be sure to look out for it upon its release. While it is uncertain as to whether there will ever be an actual Blacktron 3, we can always enjoy the classics.

The Evil Mech (2013)

State Championship Aftermath

At the state round, our team did very well, though we did not advance. Our project and Core Values poster received high marks from the judges, who were also very impressed with our robot design and programming. Our first round of the robot game was our best by far. We had a nearly perfect run, totaling at an impressive 345 points (our best score in the qualifier was 295, yet we placed first by over 70 points). We placed in the top 15 in the robot game, and the top 10 or even 5 in the other areas of judging. We estimate that we were most likely in the top 10 teams over all. We did not advance, but out of 221 teams in the state, top 10 is to be considered an ultimate victory for the Terabytes.

Now that the season is over and all three team members exceed the maximum age for FLL, the team has essentially been disbanded. This is not the end for the Terabytes, as we still see each other often, but from now on this blog will be maintained by Will (that being myself). This notification should keep readers from being confused by posts written in first person. I will use this archive to show off personal feats of robotics and mechanical engineering, review and modify Lego sets, and possibly record outside endeavors, too. I hope you enjoy the new format.

Robot Modifications

side view showing new angled arm guides

In preparation for the state round, we made some modifications to the robot. Most of these were programming tweaks, but there were a few structural changes that were important to the performance of the robot. In our third round at the qualifier, we noticed (and were not happy) that the arm of the robot got stuck on the supports that we used to keep the arm straight.

In response to this problem, we designed new supports that face sideways so that the tips curve out and the arm will invariably get funneled into a straight position.We also made drastic modifications to the "battering ram" hanging off the left side of the robot. These revisions should help us to combat the problems we faced at the previous competition.

Awards Ceremony

Will takes the trophy

At the end of the day, we emerged with two awards from the qualifier. Receiving two awards is very rare because it is only legal if one is the "Robot Performance" award, since it is the only one based on score alone.

Our two trophies

We earned the Robot Performance and the Champions' award, which is given to the team that displays superiority in all areas of the competition.Of the 15 teams attending the competition, we were placed first overall. We were very glad that we left our school's team to make our own, since that team unfortunately did not move on.

Sterling, Terabyte Dave and Will enjoy the moment of victory

Regrettably, Britton had to leave before the awards ceremony, so the pictures only show Sterling and Will (and Terabyte Dave, our mascot) receiving the awards.

The Road to State

We have been very busy preparing for our upcoming state level competition. There have been numerous problems with the robot and some programming glitches, and battery level has been an increasingly formidable problem with our robot's performance. We have plenty of batteries, but there is only a certain window of charge that offers optimum performance.

We have also been hard at work fleshing out our presentations and adding new animations to our slideshows. With our enhanced presentations, we believe that we will do better than ever before.
As one problem is solved, another pops up. Unfortunately, nothing can ever work perfectly, and sometimes we have trouble finding solutions. But no matter how hard it is, we will keep trying, because we are the Terabytes.

Gracious Professionalism At the Qualifier

Will demonstrates our Robot to other teams

At the first level of competition, we had plenty of opportunities to display gracious professionalism. For those of you readers not affiliated with FLL, gracious professionalism and coopertition are both terms trademarked  by FIRST. They are a part of the Core Values, which teams get judged on.

At the competition, we exchanged business cards and tokens with all of the other teams. (At the state level, we will be giving away ninjas instead of army men, so be warned). We agreed to let other teams use our table to practice on when we did not need it. We also offered tips for programming and design to teams who were having trouble.

Many of the other teams were good examples as well. They also exchanged tokens such as pencils and buttons with the rest of the teams.

Terabyte Victory at Qualifier

Mascot Dave, Will, Sterling and Britton- L to R

Our team emerged victorious from the qualifying round on January 5. We spent five hours preparing the night  before, surviving on fruit snacks and Cheezits. After getting up at 6:00 a.m. to go to the competition, we saw that we had plenty of pit space and we ran home to get our field table.

Since there were no extra practice tables, It was very helpful to have our own table with us. As the scoreboard shows, our first robot round was a complete disaster.

Terabytes on top

Things went wrong at every turn, and we ended up getting only 75 points. Our third round was also less than stellar, but we got a respectable 195 points. Our true triumph was the second round, when we came away with the top score of 295 points which the earned us the "Robot Performance" award.

WIll and Sterling (Britton had to leave before trophies were awarded)

Our judging sessions also went well. Our robot attracted the attention of several teams, and the judges also liked our designs and ideas. The project judges fell in love with our FallSafe, and they told us to start a company to make the product someday. (We were surprised by this). We also did well in our Core Values judging.

Check out our swag!

Due to our great performance in all areas, we also received the "Champion" award. Overall, our first level of competition went very well. We will be going to the state level of competition on January 26.