Team 3082: Week Two Update

Mechanical (Prototyping):
Our mechanical subteam has been
focusing on refining our prototypes
for the power cell (yellow ball)
carrier and shooter. Currently, we
have four power cell carrier designs
and two shooter designs to pick
from. We additionally set up a test
field to compare the accuracy of our
shooters side-by-side. Our goal
going into week three is to choose
so that we can refine, CAD, and
build our official robot mechanisms.

Mechanical (field elements):
We have also made a lot of progress
on-field elements this week,
including finishing the Power Port
and cutting all the “special-cut”
pieces for the Loading Bay. We
anticipate they will be complete
early in week three.

Electronics:
Our electronics subteam has been
focusing on sensors and their third
electronics board. We have been
soldering and crimping the sensors
to index the power cells. The third
electronics board will be for
programmers to use. We are also
drawing a schematic for the kit
chassis board.

Programming:
Our programming subteam has also
been focusing on “vision” for the
robot, which pertains to making
sure cameras and sensors are up
and running so that drivers can see
even if their vision is impeded. The
progress with sensors will also help
the robot auto-align. Finally,
although we are not currently
anticipating the control panel (color
wheel) being part of our strategy,
we have been setting up code for
the color sensor as well, in case we
do decide to go for the control
panel.

Drive Team:
Week two has been extremely
important as we begin to consider
drive team roles. We started the
week with a Game Manual Rules
test, which all applicants sat down
and took to see if they put in the
time to learn the game rules and
penalties. Applicants also indicated
on the Rules Test which drive team
roles they were interested in. Then,
we held 15-minute-long interviews
for all students who applied for
driver, operator (second driver),
and/or drive coach. Our third and
final drive team application step
was a driving test for all driver and
operator applicants. We plan to
have our drive team roles assigned
by the beginning of week three.

Proudest Accomplishments:
★ Solid prototypes to give us a
more realistic idea of how
different mechanisms will
function on our robot.
★ Having multiple controls set
up along with the kit chassis
to allow drivers to choose
the controls for their skills
tests.