Week 5 Wrap Up

With only 1 week to go in the build season, there is still a lot to do to make the robot competition ready. The Sussex Mini-Regional on the 16th will be our first opportunity to see what our robot is capable of accomplishing. Unlike prior years there will not be a “Bag Day” which halted any additional changes so we will be able to use our experiences at Sussex to make sure we are ready for the Midwest Regional in Chicago the first weekend of March.

The team will be hosting two events next week, the week of February 16th. Our Annual Open House will be on Monday, February 17th from 6pm-8pm. Multiple levels of FIRST groups and several of our sponsors are invited to exhibit their teams and companies at this event. Following Open House, we are hosting a SWENext (Society of Women Engineers) event from 10am-12pm on Saturday, February 22nd. Kids from grades 4th-8th will be able to participate in fun STEM activities that explore different areas of science and learn about FIRST.

The shooter prototype makes a perfect shot into the inner power port during testing.

CAD

CAD hustled this week to create models of the final robot and mechanisms. Focus has been primarily on the Tower, which is the part that cycles the Power Cells from the Hopper to the Shooter. Moving Power Cells through the robot efficiently and accurately will be vital to our success.

Strategy

With the Tableau Database finished, strategy is able to collect data from different competitions. The team playbook was completed over the past weekend with different unique names for each strategy. They have also completed the Cycle Ball flow tool which has allowed them to begin running simulations. The Strategy team also opted to develop their own in-house scouting app to collect more accurate and relevant information during competition.

Business

We submitted our Woodie Flowers and Chairman’s Award submissions last week. With Chairman’s submitted, our Chairman's tryouts have begun. The tryouts will help determine who will be doing the presentations in front of the judges during competitions. Business has been finalizing our Open House and SWE events. We look forward to seeing you at these events on February 17th and 22nd! We will also be taking pre-orders for fan t-shirts at the Open House so be sure to get your order in!

Electrical

The electrical team has been working in conjunction with the CAD and fabrication teams to assemble and wire mechanisms like the drivetrain. They also helped set up a new REV encoder for the turret which they gave to programming to code for. Team members have also been helping the assembly process for the robot along with anything else that other teams need help with.

The competition hopper demonstrating how quickly it can offload it’s payload.

Fabrication

Fabrication continues to build robot components as the game elements are now completed. From CAD drawings, the metal shop has finished the final piece for the competition drive train, the gearbox. With another set of designs coming in, they finished building the competition hopper.

Programming

As the build season is drawing to a close, our programmers continue to optimize the code. They designed a layout for the Shuffleboard which is a dashboard that is located on the driver station. They continued the fine tuning of Limelight along with smoothing out the turret which now tracks the target with very little variance or lag. With more shooter testing being done, they have been doing more calculations to increase the probability of making the shot into the power port. More testing of the autonomous code has also been conducted.

Onward to week 5!

Week 4 Wrap Up

As the build season progresses, each subteam continues to work tirelessly. We aim towards a competition ready robot and are making strides in achieving our season goals. 

The team will be hosting two events during the week of February 16th at the Mukwonago High School. Our Annual Open House will be on Monday, February 17th from 6pm-8pm. There, multiple levels of FIRST groups and several of our sponsors are invited to exhibit their teams and companies. The following Saturday, February 22nd, we are hosting a SWENext (Society of Women Engineers) event from 10am-12pm. Kids from grades 4th-8th will be able to participate in fun STEM activities and learn about FIRST. Stay tuned for future details.

The drivetrain is undergoing thorough testing on our practice robot.

Electrical

The electrical team has been working in conjunction with the CAD and fabrication teams to prototype and assemble new mechanisms. To test battery health, electrical used a brand new tool called a CBA (Computerized Battery Analyzer). This will allow for more efficient battery usage. Thank you to our sponsors for making this possible! The team reached out to Cross The Road Electronics and discussed ways to improve electrical components on the robot and reduce potential error.

Business

The business agenda this week concentrated on finalizing awards, design and events. As our SWENext event was confirmed, our team has created a SWENext group, SWE BEARs. Business worked to finish with edits to the Chairman’s and Woodie Flowers Awards. They will be ready to be submitted next week! The team has been busy finalizing sponsors as both the team and drive t-shirts are completed. The business team has also been working on a special project that we are ready to announce soon!

The 3D printed field has been assembled.

Strategy

A 3D printed model has been created to give the team an interactive view of the competition field. We can use this model to test out several of their strategies. Several tools are being refined and prepared for competition. The Auto Strategy Creator Tool uses data from Roblu, a scouting app, to automate match strategies easily. The Ball Flow Match Simulator helps show the possibilities of Power Cell location on the game field during a match. This week, strategy worked to finalize their scouter accountability standards and plan scouter presentations. During competition, these scouters search for the best team prospects for alliances. Strategy will continue to improve upon these tools as we approach competition season to be as efficient as possible.

The Limelight system has been attached to a turret prototype and is tracking the power port objective!

Programming

Improvements on our code continues on a daily basis. Now that key parts of the robot are taking physical form, the team is able to see their code come to life. They’ve worked to improve the autonomous and drivetrain code and were able to create subroutines that control the Color Wheel mechanism. Trello has been implemented for task management and Github has been configured as a code repository. Finally the Limelight system is properly tracking the power port autonomously. This is a huge milestone!

A CAD rendering of the Shooter Mechanism.

CAD

CAD hustled this week to create models of the final robot and mechanisms. Versions 1-6 of the shooter and turret were completed. The turret acts as a swivel base for the shooter; version 7 of this part is being made. The shooter launches the power cells (foam balls) into designated scoring targets. These power cells are obtained through an intake which are transferred to the hopper, a storage area for the cells. The power cells are then brought into the shooter through the tower to be scored. Designs for the tower and other prototypes continue to be made.

Fabrication

Fabrication continues to build robot components as the game elements are now completed. From CAD drawings, the metal shop has begun to build the outer perimeter of the drivetrain and the gearboxes. The team has also been working in collaboration with other subteams to make some internal improvements. For electrical, fabrication has created a reel holder for the newly acquired loads of wire.

Onward to week 5!

Week 3 Wrap Up

Taylor shows off her paper bag robot that she made at the YMCA event with Team 930 member Olivia.

We have two upcoming events that the team is hosting at the Mukwonago High School. One event is our Open House which is on Monday February 17th from 6-8pm and is open to the public. Our SWENext event is on Saturday February 22nd from 10-Noon. We will be posting more details about these events in a future newsletter.

This week we welcomed the FIRST Lego League team Ten Tooth Gear to Mukwonago High School as they toured our facility this past Thursday. In addition to the tour, the children received the opportunity to learn more about FRC and were given Team 930 keychains. This past Friday, Team 930 was at the Mukwonago YMCA demonstrating our 2019 championship robot to local families. 

Amidst all of the outreach events, the team continues to progress on the robot. The team has worked hard this week as we meet our halfway point in the build season.

Fabrication

Without a playing field, we cannot test and work with our robot. In the woodshop, fabrication worked to finish the remaining field element, the Shield Generator; a 10 by 10 foot structure located in the middle of the field where the robot will hang during endgame. 

In the metal shop, the team has been working on creating the second drivetrain which is used for our practice robot. They worked with programming to finish the “wheel of fortune” and endgame hanging segments on the robot prototype, and have added a Limelight attachment to help with the autonomous portion of the game. 

Everen assembles part of the turret prototype with his father and mentor Steven.

CAD

CAD has been busy drawing up more and more prototypes, this year more so than any before. Some notable progress was mounting the first revision of the intake on the practice robot. This allows Programming to get an understanding of how well their code is working for an actual robot. CAD continues to iterate on the hopper design. We hope to have a final version soon. Another shooter has been constructed and the team is working towards the final design.

Programming

As Fabrication finishes prototypes, the Programming team continues to create code to make those prototypes work. The turret is the swivel base that holds the shooter and Limelight. Programming made PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) values that follow the vision tracking Limelight and turns the turret to keep the shooter always facing the Power Port goal. This will enable the robot to score as efficiently and effectively as possible. Programming also made maps of which buttons do what action on a PS4 controller and a GameCube controller. As all the prototype code is being written, it is being compiled into the master code class which keeps all the code together. And last, but certainly not least, Programming finished the LED code to make our 2020 robot look snazzy on the playing field!

Kenneth discusses the Infinite Recharge game field with the strategy team.

Strategy

The Strategy team worked on many different parts to create some successful strategies. They created a new tool, called the Ball Flow Tool, that will help them verify their strategies. After going over the scouting survey, they began to develop some scouter appreciation rewards to use throughout the season. Finally, they discussed how they wanted to view the data that they will gather during competitions using a software solution called Tableau.

Business

Business has been busy this week! The team coordinated the YMCA demonstration and we have been planning our upcoming Open House and SWENext Events. We have also been hard at work finalizing our Chairman’s Essay which is due February 6th. Work has also continued on designing our team t-shirts for the 2020 season. For the first time in our team’s history, we will have dedicated team shirts and separate ones for our family, friends, and fans.

Electrical

The Electrical team has been prototyping most of the mechanisms. It’s been a slow week as CAD is designing new prototypes, but they are gearing up for the next sprint where lots of components will be ready wire. Troubleshooting was performed on malfunctioning electrical components and the team worked with the vendor for replacements. This was great practice for competition time!

Onward to week 4!

Week 2 Wrap Up

The team has been busy working towards completing our goals for this week. We have made excellent progress and are excited to see how everything comes together before our first competition at the Midwest Regional in Chicago, the first weekend of March.

Jacob, Karl, and Enya showcasing the Wood Shop's accurate replica of the Power Port field element.

Fabrication

The wood shop immediately set to work fabricating the playing field elements that are essential for robot development. The Power Port objective was completed first which allowed the shooter development group to calibrate their designs against a real target.

The metal shop took the designs from the CAD department and began assembly of the drive train and the rotating magazine that will hold the power cells.

Programming

The team is coding a vision tracking system called Limelight for the autonomous portion of the game. The robot will need to navigate the playing field without player intervention for the first 15 seconds. Limelight will help the robot to accurately target the Power Port shooting objectives to score bonus points which may give the team an early lead in competitions.

Alex discussing the drive train with the CAD design team during a working session.

CAD

One of the most important parts of a great robot is a great design. Our CAD team drew inspiration from prior years to come up with a new and exciting robot for the 2020 season. Being able to modify designs on the fly helps the team see their ideas come to life on the screen before committing to fabrication. We can’t wait to see the result of their hard work in the coming weeks!

Strategy

The primary focus of this week has been developing the algorithms that will be used during competition to come up with the best strategies and assist with alliance selections. The team is hard at work identifying which key metrics will ensure maximum efficiency on the playing field. Strategy is preparing to train its scouting team which will navigate the pits at events to gather as much valuable information as possible about both alliance partners and opponents.

Dominick wires up a Power Distribution Panel which reroutes power from the battery to other systems.

Electrical

The Electrical team has been preparing their circuitry for integration into the drive train. Once all of the pieces come together, our robot will finally be able to move under it’s own power!

Business

The team has been planning several outreach events and demos for the upcoming weeks. We are hosting an event at the Mukwonago YMCA on January 24th where students and mentors will be showcasing last season’s world class robot to the younger members of the community to promote STEM and creativity. The week of February 17th, we will be hosting our annual Open House at Mukwonago High School as well as a SWENext (Society of Women’s Engineering) event.

Onward to week 3!

Kickoff

On January 4th, the 2020 FRC Season “Infinite Recharge” began with a Kickoff event hosted by Team 930 at the Mukwonago High School. Between the five local robotics teams that were in attendance, anticipation ran high as the game objectives and rules were revealed live to a global audience. Teams quickly began to collaborate on strategy and design.

The 2020 Season has a combination of new and exciting objectives including:

• An autonomous period where the robots will need to operate without driver input.

• Shooting power cells (7” Foam Balls) through various targets. The more difficult the target, the more points you earn.

• Spin a wheel a set number of times and stop on a specific color.

• Climb to and free hang on a horizontal balance bar. Extra points are awarded if the bar remains level.

If you would like to see the official game reveal video, you can find it here. https://youtu.be/gmiYWTmFRVE

We are extremely grateful for our sponsors. Due to their continued support we are ready to build a custom robot to execute each of these tasks. The team has put in countless hours already in week 1 designing, prototyping, and strategizing.

If you've considered sponsoring Team 930 for our 2020 season but haven't yet committed, we'd love to have you as part of our team for another (hopefully) World Championship season. Time is running out to get your company's logo on our banners, t-shirts, and robot. Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have regarding partnership.

The 2020 Infinite Recharge game field.