13598 & 15357 FTC Open Alliance Build Thread
Heyo! We are a pair of FTC Teams located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in beautiful Escanaba. Our teams are part of a pathway starting with FLL and progressing into FRC. We operate in the Escanaba Senior High School with a 20 X 40 build / storage space. We aim for 3-4 days a week of contact time with more as needed.
The FTC program has approximately 20-25 students though this year we have a strong core of 8th graders coming up so we’re very excited for a solid 2024 season.
Centerstage
We built two identical robots for the 2023 season. One did quite well, while the other suffered from persistent and frustrating ESD issues. Programming was done with both Blocks and OnBot Java. A minimal amount of CAD was done and limited to subassemblies.
During the FRC season we decided to just send it for 2024 FTC.
Off Season
A core of 6-7 FTC students continued to meet throughout the school year. They observed the FRC build, assisted, and learned through osmosis while also staying engaged.
OnShape was a huge focus. The groups grabbed items from around the build room, modeled them, and then 3d printed them. Think Coke can, pencil, eraser, screwdriver, scissors. It was quick, tactile, and comical. At this point our 8th graders are better solid-modelers than most of our FRC teams.
Off Season Improvements
We looked back at our pain points and decided we needed to make some subtle (and drastic) changes.
Tools
Problem - We had books of allen wrenches and large tool boxes. Team members spent too much time hunting for tools, losing tools, and using the wrong tools.
Solution - We ordered the 4 sizes of allen wrenches we needed, slid on color coded shrink tubing, and removed all other allen wrenches. Same for wrenches. We’ve condensed down to a single daily use tool box.
Software
Problem - Blocks. We saw some truly amazing things done in Blocks. But it’s amazingly difficult to troubleshoot and once you get more than a screen full it becomes challenging to teach. OnBotJava gives you all the benefits of Java but none of the benefits of an IDE. It was hard for members to share and learn.
Solution - Android Studio. We procured two laptops and are on a pathway for team branched code. We are starting with a template that includes drivetrain, some basic functions, and enough comments to choke a goat. This is still in process but the field centric and robot centric base code is ready to go. We’re just waiting on the 10.0 SDK to complete it all.
Organization
Problem - Members arrive, either grab a task if motivated, or mill about until directed.
Solution - DAKBoard & Trello. We have a PC monitor tied into a DakBoard. Members can check out the TODO list and grab a task. It is mentor managed so they still need to check in & out with tasks as completed.
Odometry
Problem - Our Autons were time consuming to build and used only the encoders on the drivetrain.
Solution - We purchased one of the Sparkfun OTOS sensors and paired it to @PhilBot 's wonderful Simplified Odometry Library. We have a minimum viable product, it works and it is easily readable, plannable, and understandable by a 7th grader. If you haven’t seen it, you give it commands like :
robot.turnTo(0, 0.45, 0.25);
robot.drive( 1.0, 0.10, 0.25);
robot.turnTo(90, 0.45, 0.25);
robot.drive( 1.0, 0.10, 0.25);
robot.turnTo(180, 0.45, 0.25);
robot.drive( 1.0, 0.10, 0.25);
robot.turnTo(270, 0.45, 0.25);
robot.drive( 1.0, 0.10, 0.25);
robot.turnTo(0, 0.45, 0.25);
robot.strafe( 1.0, 0.10, 0.25);
It still needs tuning but it’ll be a great introduction for our programming team to have a defined goal without struggling with PID.
Team Ethos
Our goal is to get the members as much exposure to good engineering, design, and manufacturing as is possible. Two teams gives more time on the robot. We also focus on not being the best bot in the state, but competitive as a solid partner.
Mentor Situation
Our mentor core is 100% industry and we unfortunately have no educators onboard. We are also very heavily manufacturing tilted with a single programming mentor. Ideally we’d have an educator who can throw around words like pedagogy and know how to mold brains through better education. Instead we have plant managers, design engineers, millwrights, and machinists. You work with the team you have, not the one you want.
Kick Off Plan
We will watch the kick off, eat some pizza and talk about it, then the 8th grade members are going to each run a station. We will rotate the new recruits through the stations and they will learn about the 3d Printing workflow, using OnShape, Basic Robot Parts, Tools & Manufacturing, and Coding.
Current Status
PUMPED UP. The members have placed fliers all over the school. We have a trophy case with a TV running a slide show. The recruitment drive is going hard. The build area needs some sprucing up.
We’ll get weekly posts and do a bulk dump with our current status. I’d love to hear your experience with the OTOS if you have one. It’s something we’re really excited about.
