FRC 9062 Critical Circuits - 2024-25 Build Thread

[Omuzder]

Hello and welcome to the FRC Team 9062: Critical Circuits Open Alliance build blog for the 2024-25 season!

Links will be updated below as we prepare for the REEFSCAPE season.
YouTube channel
OnShape Files:
TPU Tread
Kraken x44 Adapter Plate (SDS and MaxPlanetary compatible)

We are a team based out of Columbia International College, an international boarding school in Hamilton, Ontario. This is our 3rd official season competing in FRC, and we have made some progress in the offseason to prep for what we hope is a successful season!

Season goals:

• Complete a Robots Done Quick speedbuild in 48 hrs or less.
• Modify our RDQ 2025 robot to test intake and other mechanisms in prototype phase.
• Use 2024 chassis as code development drive base.
• Simplify our designs and criteria to streamline build season
• Create robust and effective bumpers utilizing the 2025 robot construction rules
• Provide a finished robot solution that has less on-field breakdown than our 2024 season
• Train new students on build season roles, as we are presently >50% grade 12 students.
• Attend Centennial and Durham (ONT district) events and qualify for the Ontario DCMP

Specific Partnerships goals:

• Attend, host or cohost a total of 52 outreach per year
• Collaborate with FIRST Canada to provide materials, tools and supplies to rookie teams
• Translate game manual into multiple languages for ease of use on our team and internationally
• Host a pre-inspection event in February to train robot inspectors and assist teams in passing inspections
• Post a YouTube video or short per day of build season to update audience, sponsors, and parents
• Recruit more mentors, students to join 9062
• Volunteer at FTC events in Ontario region
• Implement new safety posters and training
• create a book of knowledge for future high school generations

Specific Design goals:

• Complete a full CAD in the first 2 weeks of build
• Reuse as many spacers, wheels and other printed items from 2022-present
• Complete krayon CAD options by January 7th; choose an archetype by January 8th
• Design at least one component that will be fabricated using our in-house mini CNC
• Design at least two components that will be fabricated using our in-house mini lathe
• belly panel must include battery mount, roboRIO, MPM, Gyro, PDH and swerve motor controllers

Specific Fabrication Goals:

• Manufacture at least 1 component on our in-house mini CNC
• Manufacture at least 2 components on our in-house mini lathe
• Complete in-house manufacturing in under 10 days
• Assemble all components in under 6 days
• Complete repairs as needed to keep main robot functional; use data to prepare spare parts for tournaments

Specific Automation Goals:

• Complete teleop kitbot & RDQ code in first 72 hours; test on day 4
• Code 5+ autonomous modes including preload, preload +2, preload + maximum, and preload + auto line
• Use Limelight mounted to chassis for AprilTag alignment
• Implement at least one encoder not on drivetrain
• Implement at least one time of flight sensor
• Simplify wiring to decrease debugging time
• Utilize APPs for power lines, WAGO 221s for prototypes, and vampire crimps for CAN bus
• Re-inspect batteries prior to each competition

We will be updating this as regularly as possible, and are happy to provide more information on any topics covered here in our thread. This is intended as a collaborative Open Alliance space, where we can share our ideas, what worked or what didn’t and you can comment back with ideas or questions you might have.
We hope you enjoy this thread, and wish you and your team good luck in the upcoming season!

[Rethum865]

Can’t wait!

[Omuzder]

Week -5 updates

As we wrap up our semester here at CIC we are pleased to announce that we will be joining the Open Alliance! As Open Alliance members, we aim to update this thread-- as well as our YouTube channel linked above-- with more content focused on providing helpful ideas or info to our fellow FRC teams and the greater FIRST Community.

Here are the projects we have been working on this week!

Turret Disassembly

this is all that remains of our 2024 offseason turret project, aside from individual components and COTS kits. We are going to take this apart and reuse parts in 2025 as needed!

Shop organization

We’ve moved our mobile tool stations to allow for more build space in the machining / assembly area of our lab.

We changed the way we store our stock materials, we found that this method depicted works really well for stock under 23" long or so. For lengths longer than 24", we have a separate storage area for them.

We’ve also spent some time this semester working on pit toolboxes, here’s one we are still working on the layout for.

If you do decide to make pit boxes like this, keep in mind how you plan to transport them to your events. We’ve modified this pit cart to “lock” using some threaded rod through the thin bin handles, so they don’t slide out in travel config. This works well for us but we recommend taking a look at what you need in your pit before making something this size.

Finally we’ve moved our A1 minis into a separate room from the rest of the lab, so the climate and humidity of the room can be better suited for printing. This isn’t needed for the P1S or X1C and they are enclosed, but this works for printing TPU with A1 or A1 minis because you can do so without making a custom enclosure.

Setup depicted includes a Sunlu S4 filament drying station and a shelf dedicated to storing overstock filament. Red box on the bottom of the shelving unit is going to hold all of our printed TPU swerve wheels, so that we can make them in advance of build season and not have to worry about printer throughput.

As always, questions are welcome and recommendations are appreciated! Have a nice week CD!

[cad321]

I’m liking the short ends rack for material. Are those shelves 18" deep? We’re reorganizing some of the shelving in our build space at the moment, and I’m wondering if incorporating something like this may work well for our limited workspace…

[Omuzder]

The shelving is 24", and we added an old Ikea shelf on top to hold the smaller stuff. If you’re designing one from scratch, we recommend 3 different sizes: 8" and less, 8-18", and 18-24". Our are 6-18" and 18-24" and that works pretty well. We also have a similar, although larger, setup for our longer material under a stairwell. That longer stock is organized into 3’, 5’, and 8’ shelves.

Hope this helps!

[Omuzder]

Week -4 Update

Hi Chief! We are in our last week of classes with our students before they go on winter break, and as such there isn’t a lot to update you all on.

Outreach
We put together a care package / inspection station kit for both the FTC Mississauga qualifier event and FTC University of Waterloo qualifier event this weekend. LRIs at both events were from 9062, so it went fairly smoothly and more than 56 robots were inspected over the course of the weekend! Special thanks to the University of Waterloo – Engineering and Rick Hansen Secondary School (1241) for hosting these fantastic events!

We helped prepare materials for the TDJ2O CCA here at CIC. That is, a balsa bridge contest where students design and build their own bridges and perform mechanical tests on the bridges to determine ultimate holding strength and strength : weight ratios. Thank you to Jerry Kirshner, founder of 3739, for being our guest judge today!

Games day is happening this week, where we use our retro consoles (and modern emulators) to play some E-rated games in the lab during lunch. Seeing as we just got a Nintendo Wii hooked up to our CRT, I’m personally excited to lose in MarioKart.

Fabrication
Both the turret and arm from 2024 have been successfully dismantled and recycled. We are happy to be able to reuse relevant parts again in 2025 and will post which parts make the cut when we do decide on a design.

We’ve found that an over-the-door shoe rack works well for sorting safety glasses and keeping them in a visible, otherwise unused, area. We might get another one of these racks for another room in our facility.

Finally this week, we’ve finished recycling every piece of the 2023 competition field in our lab. Here’s the last piece being cut this afternoon.

See you in the next update!