by The Hitchhikers | Jan 24, 2018 | Build season
Week 2 started out like any other week. With high spirits and a lot of teamwork, we were on schedule and having loads of fun! Unfortunately, starting on Wednesday, we were unable to meet for three days because of the ice on the roads. While this was definitely unfortunate for our team, there was a bright side to the whole situation. Firstly, we extended one of the meetings before the snow and ice hit. Secondly, we used the days we were stuck inside to wait for parts to arrive and to continue to work on spirit and marketing aspects. Of course, we also used the “break” and the cold as an excuse to enjoy a cup of tea! In the end, it almost evened out, and we went back to work at Magrathea (our build space) on Saturday.
Once the roads had cleared, we thought that things would return to normal. We were wrong. We had problems right at the start of our first meeting back. One of the holes for our chassis was not lining up with another hole. This would not usually be a huge problem, but redoing the part was not an option for us. Fortunately, we were able to salvage the error, but we had to make sure the problem did not occur again. The manufacturing error caused quite a bit of confusion as we were not sure what had gone wrong. We were positive everything was done properly as far as measurements and use of the tools goes. After some investigation, we realized that our drill press was broken. This news was not too surprising because we have had that drill press since the establishment of our team in 2010. While we did buy and set up a new and better drill press in time for the start of Week 3, we did lose quite a bit time pausing some of our building endeavors.
Despite those problems, we are on schedule and ready to finish the chassis and the rest of the robot!
by The Hitchhikers | Jan 18, 2018 | Build season
The focus of this week has been game strategy, designing, prototyping, and testing programming for our robot. During the first couple of days, we finalized our game strategy. Once we figured out how we wanted to play Power Up, we started working on the design for the robot and then started the process of prototyping the parts. The main part we tested was the design for picking up cubes and delivering them to the scoring areas. So far, we have a general design for the robot, have not had any major issues, and expect to finish our robot on schedule.
On the business side of things, Chairman’s has been submitted and designs for the team shirt and buttons are underway.
by The Hitchhikers | Jan 17, 2018 | Build season
Tension was high and excitement was tangible in the room where students, mentors, and alumni stood around the TV, waiting for the 2018 game reveal. After a long introduction hinting at what was to come and a freeze right before the unveiling of the game, the 2018 challenge Power Up was announced.
Power Up is a game where two teams composed of three robots work to deliver cubes to three different areas: the scale, the switch, and the vault. Unlike previous years, the amount of points gifted is mainly determined by time instead of a set amount of points each time you deliver an element. Points are earned per second when the scale or switch is tilted in your alliance’s favor. More points may be scored by delivering cubes to the vault and trading them for “power ups.” Each power up gives your alliance a unique advantage. At the last thirty seconds, robots may climb the scale to gain extra points. During the autonomous period, robots are preprogrammed to score by delivering cubes to the scale or switch. In teleop period, robots are controlled by human drivers as they attempt to gain control of the scale or switch, trade in cubes for power ups via the vault, and climb at the end.
Right after the unveiling of this year’s competition, we split up into groups and began to brainstorm everything from game strategy to possible robot designs. An hour or so later, we all got together and had each group present their ideas. Together, we came up with a game strategy and a general robot design.
by The Hitchhikers | Jan 16, 2018 | Off Season
As the month of November set in, excitement for the Christmas Parade began to build. For three years, we have participated in the Cary Christmas Parade, spreading the joy of FIRST to hundreds of people. Our tradition of participating in a Christmas Parade continued this year, but unlike previous years, we decided to participate in Apex’s Christmas Parade.
Every year, we incorporate elements from the most recent game into our float. This year, the game had a steampunk theme. To connect the theme to the holidays, we decided to make our float into a Christmas steam engine. After finalizing a design, we immediately started to work on the float. To make our train, we used the gears from STEAMworks, elements from Recycle Rush, and a fog machine. Unlike the Cary Christmas Parade, Apex’s parade is at night. As a result, we also had to do some slight adjustments to the original float. For example, we decorated our robots and float in hundreds of lights to make them visible. A few meetings later, the float was finished.
On the day of the parade, we put the finishing touches on our float and headed to the queuing lineup. While waiting for the parade to start, we played a game of ultimate frisbee to pass the time and keep warm. After about an hour of frisbee, it was time for the parade to start. Despite a few communication and technical difficulties, the parade was quite successful! The team had a fantastic time, and many people told us how impressed they were with our demonstration!
by The Hitchhikers | Jan 15, 2018 | Competitions
In 2013, we and three fellow NC teams founded the off-season competition Thundering Herd of Robots (THOR). Ever since then, we have continued to help out with THOR and participate in the tournament. This year was no different.
Training is the primary focus during the off-season, so the primary focus for THOR was to get our new students ready for the 2018 FRC game Power Up. In our makeshift Pit at the End of the Universe, there was a sign-up schedule for the Drive Team. The team took turns trying each role throughout the day. Despite a couple of electrical problems and a constantly changing Drive Team, we did well and finished qualifications ranked 10th.
During Alliance Selections, we were the first pick of the 5th alliance. At the end of the selections, our two alliance partners were Team 4816, Gadget Girls, and Team 5518, Techno Wolves. Our alliance did not advance beyond quarterfinals, but we gained something more important than a win and a trophy. All of the goals we set out to achieve at THOR were accomplished. Our new students learned some valuable lessons, we found some pretty talented drivers, and we all had an amazing time!
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