Team 2823 will be at the SPPS School Choice fair in the STEM area demoing our Ping Pong Bot. Feel free to stop by.
You can find more info at http://www.spps.org/schoolchoicefair
Hey Everyone!
On January 8th we got a lot accomplished, but we still have a lot ahead of us.
The build team has made great progress with prototypes. The hook team led by Ian was able to create a functioning prototype that was tested with great success and they began discussing strategies on how to approach totes and recycling containers that weren’t orientated correctly. The next meeting they will be fixing the bumpers and seeing how well there prototype is when attached to a robot. The pneumatic elevator team has reattached there piston and made a new hook. The next meeting they will be replicating that to the other side. The arms/grip team has two prototypes that are almost done. They will be finishing and most likely testing at the next meeting. Field elements also was able to do some great testing on the scoring platform and concluded that 6 inch wheels will be needed on the robot this year. Electrical was able to attach a jaguar and talon and is working closely with the programming team to get everything up and running and ready for code.
Safety Tsar wants to remind everyone to only use wood on the power saw and to make sure that you have a hair tie if you have long hair.
I, the Rule Tsar, would like to remind you guys that the Noodle Agreement is out the window.
That’s all for now!
Hello Everyone!
Today (January 6th) was our first official practice of the 2015 build season. Build team set out and began building prototypes for three different robot concepts and had a small group of people begin wiring the new control board and RoboRio. CAD Team set out and began gathering all the model of game pieces and the field. They then began making models of some of the prototypes and the chassis. Programming team began setting up all the computers for programming and driving this 2015 season. Business team then went and began discussing the Chairman’s Award.
We hope that by the end of our practice the upcoming Thursday that build team has some more progress on our prototypes and that the control board is all wired and the RoboRio is ready to hand off to the programming team so that they can image the RoboRio. CAD hopes to have successful models of the field and field elements by the end of next Thursday. Programming team wants to have all of our computers ready with the new software and be ready to code any prototypes if need be. Along with that we want to successfully image the RoboRio. Business Team is hoping to begin the process of outreaching to our community and making sure we are the model team to hopefully make us eligible candidates for the coveted Chairman Award.
Also two new positions were awarded to some lucky members today. Our new Safety Tsar is Skyler and his counterpart the Rule Tsar is (me) Qwadir. Skylers job is to know all of the safety rules and make sure that everyone on the team is following them and knowledgeable about them. The Rule Tsar’s job is to keep updated on all the revisions of the game manual and make sure that the team knows about these.
And now, a message from the Safety Tsar to 2823 members:
Hey everyone, it’s Skyler. I just wanted to remind everyone with long hair to make sure that they bring a hair tie or binder to the next practice. Also make sure that you are wearing your safety glasses. That is all.
That rounds up our announcements and updates for today. See everyone soon.
**Members of 2823 – The Secret Password is Git**
Hello Everyone!
On January 3rd our FRC team (2823) traveled with other teams to Washington Tech High School for a local kickoff. There we played some fun games and chatted until the kickoff stream began. Once the kickoff stream began we all eagerly awaited the game announcement. We were all very interested and yet still confused about the game for the 2015 First Robotics Competition. After the stream we all split into different groups allowing a small amount of people to be experts on a certain areas of the game manual. We then proceeded to meet back with our teams and discuss what we learned. Finally we had a great Q&A discussion were some interesting questions were answered.
The following day (January 4th) we all met as a team to brainstorm ideas and strategies and possible robot builds. We began with a group discussion to start off and get our brains thinking. We then split off into groups of 5 and discussed what we think our best strategy will be for the game. We presented these ideas to everyone else on the team and we decided the best strategy and from there brainstormed ideas on robot builds that would conform to these strategies. We decided that we will have three prototyping teams and get some prototypes going.
We hope that by next week we have a couple prototypes and have a list of pros and cons to that prototype.
For those of you curious a link to the game animation video will be below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTyCIYZQ_1s&channel=FRCTeamsGlobal
Due to the generous donations from Give to the Max Day, we are now in sight of reaching our goal of $6,000 for the Duluth Robotics competition in March. With the donations of Give to the Max and the volunteering jobs that Highland Park Robotics team has done, as of today we have raised $4,295.45!!!
We can see that the ScotBot thermometer that the Business team created is filling up fast- almost 3/4 of the way to being completely red! let’s keep up the great work!
Give to the Max day is Thursday, November 13th. That’s quickly approaching! You can donate through the robotics Give to the Max page at https://givemn.org/organization/273384001592-7983612. You can also schedule a donation today that will be entered on the 13th. Please share the webpage with friends and family on social media!
We had a brilliant turn-out of all you amazing newcomers (more than 20 new members!!!). Our Team Captain David White and Team Manager Jeremy White gave everyone a warm welcome and briefing. While the new members were learning the ropes, our returning members were preparing ways that everyone on the team could get to know each other better and work together in the most efficient and fun ways possible. Currently, Business team is working on making new tee-shirts and finding sponsors; Build team is getting ready to brainstorm ideas for supplies needed; Media team is working on managing our outreach to other teams and to interest people via the social media; CAD is practicing using fusion 360. If you have any questions feel free to contact our Awesome Captain David White at teamautomatons2823@gmail.com
We will be at Highland Fest on Saturday, the 19th from 11:00 to 11:30. We will be near the intersection of Ford and Finn. Please stop by!
Saturday, July 12th, while attending the robotics summit at the University of Minnesota, Coach Lynn asked our team a question: “If we could showcase at Highland Fest, should we?” The answer was a resounding yes, of course. None of us believed that we would actually be able to get time this year. That didn’t stop Lynn from sending an email, and, much to our surprise, we got a reply, saying that we would be able to demonstrate our robot from 11:00 to 11:30 on Saturday, near Ford and Finn. If you are going to Highland Fest, come see us!
Jack and David at corner of Ford and Finn.
If you have never been to a robotics regional, it is well worth the trip. Ours takes place in Williams Arena, at the U of M. The event is like a cross between a science fair and a sports game. In one gym, all of the teams have a booth, and are available to answer questions about their robot. On the other half, loud music blares from speakers in the semi-darkened stands, and cheers echo as robots score goals. Many teams, including us, have mascots that dance over by the stage. A late night chat with a security guard confirmed that we have a larger attendance than women’s basketball.
Now that you understand the feel of the regional, I should explain how we actually did at the regional. After some difficulties getting the Chugga working on Friday morning, we emerged successful from the pits. Our robot could catch from a human, and throw the giant ball into the high goal. Our autonomous even worked, netting us a neat 20-25 points in that phase. Although we could shoot into the high goal, we mostly did not. We were concerned that our drivers hadn’t practiced enough to be accurate. Plus, throwing the ball over the truss was worth more points. We would receive the ball from the human, and toss over the truss, letting our team mates push the ball into the low goal, to begin the cycle again.
You might have picked up on the flaw in our strategy. We needed our teammates to be able to score quickly, which was harder than we anticipated. As a result, we mostly lost, but we scored well enough to be picked for the Eliminations (Quarter-Final), where we lost 2-0. The most important thing was that we had lots of fun, and learned a lot.
Mentor Jeremy leads a group of students to our pit.
Marcell and Brady chilling with Chairman Scottie in our pit.
Paige dancing with the mascots on stage.
Photo-op with Scotbot and David
Chairman Scottie being brought onto the field.
Ray getting ready to help drive Chairman.
We also got the chance to talk with lots of other teams!
We took a bunch of photos at the 10,000 Lakes Regional. Here are some of our favorites!
