Getting Ready for Competition!

On February 14th, our team attended  Team 1741 Red Alert's scrimmage in Greenwood. 10 other regional teams attended and it allowed us to test our robot and practice playing the game.

Post by Team 1720 The PhyXTGears.

Potential drive team members had a chance to try their hand at stacking totes.

While we were pretty happy with the results, we knew we had to modify some components of the robot.

Bag Day

After discovering that our robot was a little over the weight limit, we spent the next couple of days lightening the robot. Our team finished all the changes in time for our robot to be bagged.

We're looking forward to our first competition next week!

Build week three's highlights

Here's what the team worked on this week:

Garrett Clansen - Drilled holes in hinges and watched the creation of the autonomous.

Christian W. - Worked on learning how to use blender for the animation.

Hannah - I worked on mounting a sim motor on the robot.

Mike - Worked on the lead screw for the fork and the scissors and mounting the fork rails.

Ryan - Created a custom bracket to secure the drive belt to the pulley of the scissor lift.

Caleb S. - Worked on the mount for the motor control.

Highlights of build week 2

Here are some of the things our team accomplished this week:

Nate - Created and published the video, filmed robot demo with teammates, and worked on the chairman's award script.

Gary - I helped the students finish the ramp in the center of the field . Saturday we will start on the feeder station.

Michael Litt - Worked on the extending arm, and the lifter for totes and RCs

Ryan Spangler - Worked on the bracket for the scissor lifter, the bracket for the main screw drive system, and solved the mystery of the "Hoodie  Happenstance".

John Pugsley - Worked on the intake wheels and the lifting mechanism.

Our Kick Off Event and Recycle Rush 2015!

On January 3rd, our team met at the Innovation Connector to find out what our game objective for 2015 would be. This year is Recycle Rush!

RECYCLE RUSH is a recycling-themed game played by two Alliances of three robots each. Robots score points by stacking totes on scoring platforms, capping those stacks with recycling containers, and properly disposing of pool noodles, representing litter. In keeping with the recycling theme of the game, all game pieces used are reusable or recyclable by teams in their home locations or by FIRST at the end of the season.

Learning the Rules and Brainstorming

After the big game reveal, we spend the day learning the rules and discussing possible strategies.

"One of the biggest challenges of Recycle Rush is going to be moving the robot on a cluttered field." ~ Jordan

"Not knocking anything over is going to be challenging." ~Garrett

Prototyping and Discussing the Design 

This week each team member presented a robot idea or an element needed on the robot. At the end of the day it came down to two possible robot design ideas. Teams were assigned to build a prototype of each design.

We'll see what our robot will end up looking like! The rest of the week will be trial and error as we try out various elements. Looks like another year is off to a great start!

Big Thanks to the Innovation Connector! What a fantastic venue to host our kick-off event!

 PhyXTGears First Video Blog of The Season

               


Our first vlog of the season! We are getting ready for our upcoming season. We have students learning CAD, working on the animation award, programming and more!