(Fairly Late) Build Season Week 1&2 Update
Leadership Team
Aarush - Co-captain
Angelina - Co-captain
Anubhav - Mechanical Lead
Chandana - Outreach Lead
Dhruv - Electrical Lead
Riya - Scouting Lead
Ryan - Programming Co-lead
Vansh - Programming Co-lead
Kickoff
We hosted our own kickoff and lunch at our mentor’s house. Just after the game animation was aired, we split up into groups and immediately started analyzing the game and potential strategies. We’ll discuss more about the strategies that we’ve come up with later. This year we decided to dedicate our kickoff to strategy planning because we usually lack the strategy and game-planning to back our robot during competition. After breaking down the game and its rules, we reconvened and talked about specific things each of us noticed.
Coral
This is our priority, both in auto and tele-op. There are more coral than algae, so cycling this will be very effective, also because there are two coral stations and they’re both on ‘our’ side. The goal is to consistently score all four levels of the reef, using an elevator.
Algae
Being able to manipulate algae will be crucial because it’s not just a game piece - it’s an obstacle as well because you can’t score a coral if there is an algae in its spot. Intaking both an algae and a Coral in the same motion will help save time in cycles, since we should be able to score one while holding the other…
Climb
Knowing that the Deep Climb rewards 12 points, compared to the Shallow’s 6, we are going to design a climber to allow us to climb it. We got our earliest inspiration from Robowrangler’s 2010 climber, with its pivoting arm.
Coral Station
Because the coral station is active during auto, we will be using the most direct, plug-and-play, approach to allow us to cycle from the coral station the fastest. the lesser amount of moving parts, the more efficient it’ll be, so something with only a pivot and a wheel should do us well. If we have an elevator, and if we position it properly, we should only have to raise the elevator, and line up the robot at the corals station to receive a coral.
Auto
Score preloaded Coral on L4, go to coral station, score another L4, coral station again, score an L3, and grab an algae. This should suffice, as long as we can optimize it and make a variant for any/all starting positions.
Ranking Points
Co-opertition bonus will be 2 Algae in each processor, and grabbing an algae just before Auto ends will equip us with one, of the two, algae for that co-opertition bonus. If our alliance can cycle fast enough, that co-opertition bonus will help achieve that ranking point easily. Leaving in auto (could be as basic as moving back 2 feet, for simpler bots) and scoring 1 coral is another Ranking point. Barge points will be interesting since either 1 bot will have to Deep Climb and 1 park, or 2 Shallow Climb and 1 park, which will depend on the alliances as the day progresses…
Week 1: January 5 - January 11
During the first week at Magrathea (our build-space), our team focused on setting up the build-space and getting our tools and materials ready. We unboxed our new KOP, inflated the Algae, and created ‘go/no-go’ gauges to make sure the Algae was up to spec. Although our initial balls were slightly oblong, we expect them to shape correctly as we continue working. Ryan updated our software from WPIlib to REVlib on our new Dell laptops, which will help both new and experienced programmers on the team. We also started designing new t-shirts, including a special edition for our 15th anniversary in FIRST. The build team built the new MK4n swerve modules, and cut the frame pieces to size.
We also welcomed six of our alumni, who were home for winter break, back into the build-space and employed their college education. Mrenaal, who programmed last year’s robot, worked closely with Ryan, and helped him through all the little hiccups he had found over the Off-season. Shubi, who graduated from
FIRST 4 years ago, helped us decide what end effector we wanted: piston actuated grabber, or something with wheels? We also figured out that an elevator, instead of a jointed arm, was a better system due to its simplicity and because we’ve used it before.
Midweek, our high attendance allowed us to make good progress on building the reef and testing the Coral collector, while bad weather briefly paused our meetings, keeping the team busy with planning and preparation.
Week 2: January 12 - January 18
In the second week, as the weather improved, we moved forward with detailed designs and further mechanical work. We started using Computer-Aided Design (CAD) to test and refine our parts, ensuring everything fit perfectly before building. The team built the robot chassis and installed the new MK4n Swerve modules. We also cut out an aluminum belly pan so we could lay out the wiring, allowing us to make adjustments before we cut a hole in the middle of it for the climber.
Near the end of the week, we made all the remaining frame rails, and fitted a battery mount to the frame (something robust that we’ve lacked in past years). Additionally, our t-shirt designs are progressing, and we’re excited to launch them soon.
