Pre-Season
5/20/16- We were privileged to have the opportunity to tour Western Illinois University's engineering program in their Quad Cities location. This allowed us to see the options and careers that engineering can provide. On our tour, we were able to see 3D printers, their metal shop, and some of their computer and research labs.
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6/28-30/16- We held a mini robotics camp to practice and build our skills in brainstorming, designing, and building. We invited incoming freshmen to introduce them to FTC and help them get involved. We divided into two teams to create a challenge and a sense of competition.
7/23/16- We held a robotics demonstration day at the Rock Island County Fair. We were joined by Riverdale High School's Robotic Rams and the QC ELITE- Flaming Squirrels FRC team. Through this event, we were able to show the importance and benefits of a robotics program and promote STEM in our community.
8/16- 9/10/16- We continued to practice with our robot from the 2015-16 season, Gess. We practiced setting her up, connecting the controllers, and driving her around the field.
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Our Design Process
To begin our season, we watched the challenge video multiple times in order to get a basic understanding of the game and its components. We then discussed ways that we could achieve the challenge and brainstormed individually and as a team. We built a basic chassis and attached two Omni-wheels to the front, so that we could turn easily, and two all-terrain wheels to the back for traction. We attached the all-terrain wheels directly to motors in order to have more power and to avoid complications that gears could cause.
After building the chassis, we discussed components to attach to the it in order to move the whiffle balls and the cap ball. We considered a catapult, forklift, rack and pinion arm, and other ideas. We narrowed it down by comparing the pros and cons of each and ended up choosing a linear slide forklift. This forklift consists of a three level linear slide powered by a pulley system on each side of the robot. This system was chosen because we wanted to use it to pick up the cap ball. The slides could also have the capability of pushing the beacon buttons, giving them an advantage over other component options. Therefore, the linear slides were capable of achieving more than the other ideas. Also, we already had them made from our summer camp. We attached the linear slides and added a bucket so that we can pick up the whiffle balls and put them in the corner vortex.
Plexiglass was added to the sides of our chassis in order to protect our electronics and wires from the field and other robots. We also added grips to the end of the forks attached to the linear slides so that we could hold the cap ball without it slipping. |