Build Blog 2018
Week 7
Redesigning the Robot
Last weekend, at a practice day hosted by team 692 Fembots, multiple flaws were discovered while the robot was scrimmaging with other teams.The intake was too heavy for the elevator and rendered the entire robot top-heavy, making it prone to tipping over. Because of this, we switched from a motorized elevator to one that relies on pneumatics.This reduces the amount of weight on the top of the robot and will make it more stable. In addition, the intake and elevator put a lot of wear on the gearbox, which could create issues during a competition. Every subteam worked in overdrive this week to fix the elevator and produce a robot that climbs consistently during matches. Because stop build day came so quickly after the decision to re-design these key components, the mechanical subteam will have to wait to put a new intake on the robot until the first regional in Utah. Mechanical This week, Mechanical students faced several challenges as they worked to redesign the robot in just a few days. Before sending the robot to the scrimmage hosted by the Fembots, members of the subteam worked on a treadmill to test the ability of other teams at competition to drive forward during autonomous. After the Fembots practice day, mechanical students worked extremely hard to create a new side-grab intake before stop build day. Along with this, the robot’s carriage needed modification to make it lighter so that the robot wouldn’t be too top-heavy and tip over. The CAD team worked on designing new parts, which the mechanical team fabricated to facilitate the redesign. Electrical With the sudden change in design plans, the electrical subteam has been working extremely hard to rewire all three robots (Comp, Alpha, and Beta) before stop build day. Due to the various changes to key mechanical mechanisms, a lot of changes had to be made to the wiring as well. Wires were removed from the intake motors in the conduit, pneumatic tubing was added to the elevator frame and conduit, and different solenoids and manifolds were rerouted on the base of the robot. App Programming
For the past week, App Programming continued fixing bugs from the last field test day. They have also made changes to the Firebase to allow for new data collection on the robot due to the last minute changes. Subteam members collected information about the scouting system from the Fembots scrimmage last Saturday, which has been integrated into the data from the field test. Although they are still working hard to overcome the issues they discovered, App programming is on schedule for app completion before the Utah Regional. Robot Programming Robot programming has been running autotests on the Beta robot, and fine tuning all code to make robot motion smoother and quicker. In preparation for the new mechanisms being added to the robots, they changed some of the logic code that controls the wrist on the intake for all three robots. They’ve also had to retune the controllers on the Comp bot to match the physics of the new intake mechanism. Robot programming completed four auto routines for the Utah Regional and are also developing “drive forward” autonomous codes for other teams. Business and Media Business and Media has been developing the March Newsletter, the Farmers Market trifold, and has begun formatting the business plan. They’ve also made progress writing for pit binders, and are starting to format them. They’ve ordered the sponsor panel and as usual, are working on this build blog. However, the big challenge for Business and Media comes on February 24 during sponsor open house when our sponsors come by to tour the shop and learn more about the team and our programs. Business and Media has already begun preparations for the event and training tour guides to accompany the sponsors. |
Last Build Blog
This is our team’s last build blog as stop build day was Tuesday night. Although our competition robot was finished and sealed last night, work continues on both Alpha and Beta robots so that by the Utah Regional we will be prepared with all new updates in code and mechanisms. It has been our pleasure writing this build blog and keeping everyone informed on our team’s build season!
This is our team’s last build blog as stop build day was Tuesday night. Although our competition robot was finished and sealed last night, work continues on both Alpha and Beta robots so that by the Utah Regional we will be prepared with all new updates in code and mechanisms. It has been our pleasure writing this build blog and keeping everyone informed on our team’s build season!
Week 6
Mechanical
Members of the mechanical subteam have begun to create copies of robot parts in order to help build all three robots. The design subteam has been making revisions to the robot design, including improvements for the robot’s ramp, to make it lighter and stronger. Adjustments were also made to the climber, winch, and intake. Testing continues as the mechanical subteam works to streamline all robot mechanisms, specifically the cube intake system. If mechanical can achieve all its design and fabrication goals for the season, our robot will be the wheel-deal. Electrical Members on the electrical subteam worked on wiring the robot’s elevator shaft frame over this last week. The competition robot requires a larger conduit than the other bots because of extra wires, which means extra work for the electrical team. In addition, electrical subteam members wired a PWM hall effects sensor, which will calibrate the height of the elevator using magnets. App Programming App programming had a big field test for their apps last Saturday. It was found that the apps still had a lot of bugs, and that the server needs to handle the scouting assignments a lot smoother than it has in the past. The scout app also had difficulties retrieving information from the cloud database being used. The subteam members spent the rest of the week debugging the apps and finishing them in time for the week zero competition hosted by the Fembots on February 17. Orange you glad app programming is on track for competition season? Robot Programming Robot programming has completed their first three-cube auto routine, in which the robot was able to successfully place two cubes on the scale and another on the switch. They’ve run multiple field tests with all three robots (Comp, Alpha, and Beta) and made the autorun smoother, along with cutting it down from 15 to 13 seconds. Other than running auto tests, robot programming has been working on developing codes during the autonomous mode that teams on our alliance can use during the competition. |
Check out our censored auto video HERE on youtube!
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Business and Media
This week, Business and Media submitted the entrepreneurship award several days ahead of schedule. This award celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit by recognizing a team that had developed the framework for a comprehensive business plan.We hope this year’s submission will be a-peel-ing to the judges. In addition, team members worked to complete pit binder assembly with the 2018 business plan, which is currently in the formatting process. Progress was made on our article for the City of Davis newsletter and this year’s sponsor panel for the 2018 FIRST POWER UP game. Lastly, the February newsletter was finished, and this week’s build blog was completed.
This week, Business and Media submitted the entrepreneurship award several days ahead of schedule. This award celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit by recognizing a team that had developed the framework for a comprehensive business plan.We hope this year’s submission will be a-peel-ing to the judges. In addition, team members worked to complete pit binder assembly with the 2018 business plan, which is currently in the formatting process. Progress was made on our article for the City of Davis newsletter and this year’s sponsor panel for the 2018 FIRST POWER UP game. Lastly, the February newsletter was finished, and this week’s build blog was completed.
Week 5Build Season is nearly over and as we approach stop build day, all subteams are hard at work! The Utah Regional is coming up on February 28 and all students are excited to test our luck (and robot) at this year’s FIRST Power Up Competition.
Mechanical Mechanical has finished assembling elevators and wrists for all three robots (competition, alpha, and beta), continued to work on robot capabilities, and fabricated the ramp and hook to test the robot. They’ve constructed the first winch for the robot to climb at the endgame, and have used the information they gained from their first intake assembly to update the design. Mechanical design is assembling the ramp while fabrication has created the tubes needed for this ramp. However, because it has to support a 120lb robot while being light and under two inches, they've had to make several design compromises to meet all of these requirements. Electrical This week, Electrical worked on wiring the conduit (a flexible plastic channel used to protect wires) for our beta robot and the intake on the alpha robot. Their primary focus this week has been to finish the beta bot, by wiring the motors on the climber with a four-way splitter (a piece used to split signal wires 4 ways). They encountered some difficulties this week, wiring through the side of the elevator on the beta bot. Time is lime-ited for electrical, and they’re working hard to get all of these tasks done before stop build day! App Programming App Programming is finalizing all competitive season apps in preparation for their field test day next Saturday. There they will test all apps in conjunction with one another, ensuring they will all function as intended during the competition. After this field test, should any issues come up, they will work to fix the problems as quickly as possible, and will repeat this process until everything operates smoothly. All apps are on schedule to be completed and app programming has not yet run into any major problems. |
Robot Programming
Robot Programming has been busy this week creating new code for the new elevator and wrist mechanisms on the robot as the testing of these devices continues. They've also worked on the lift portion of the elevator system, and field testing of the autonomous modes for our robots. They've run into a sizeable barrier in the form of path-drive code, the code that moves the robot to a particular position on the field. They've had to debug it several times in order to move efficiently on the field. While they work on fixing this code, all three robots have had to fall back on older code during training sessions.
Business and Media
Business and Media finalized the entrepreneurship award and closed deals with food sponsors for lunches on weekend meetings. They’ve been developing the February newsletter and working on the pit binders for the upcoming regional in Utah. Business and Media is designing the new sponsor panel, finishing and formatting 2018 Business Plan, and writing this build blog!
Robot Programming has been busy this week creating new code for the new elevator and wrist mechanisms on the robot as the testing of these devices continues. They've also worked on the lift portion of the elevator system, and field testing of the autonomous modes for our robots. They've run into a sizeable barrier in the form of path-drive code, the code that moves the robot to a particular position on the field. They've had to debug it several times in order to move efficiently on the field. While they work on fixing this code, all three robots have had to fall back on older code during training sessions.
Business and Media
Business and Media finalized the entrepreneurship award and closed deals with food sponsors for lunches on weekend meetings. They’ve been developing the February newsletter and working on the pit binders for the upcoming regional in Utah. Business and Media is designing the new sponsor panel, finishing and formatting 2018 Business Plan, and writing this build blog!
Week 4Mechanical
Mechanical has been working tirelessly to ensure that any necessary parts for the robot will be designed, prototyped, built, and assembled before Stop Build Day. This week, they spent a lot of their time assembling three elevators for the robots. Mechanical design team members are developing designs for the winch that will hoist up the ramp used to bring another robot up with us when climbing. In addition, the designers have finalized the design for the power cube intake of the robot. Electrical Electrical has been incredibly busy this week wiring the elevator and debugging anything electrical on the robot. They’ve also been busy finding and fixing issues in the ground and frame programs, which are important to the performance of the robot. Electrical is also cooperating with Robot Programming in creating and testing the elevator on the robot (the mechanism that will move cubes to different heights for scoring). Electrical’s wiring days on the 20th and 21st were a definite success. Looks like the odds are tilted in their favor! As always, please do not distribute this information- it’s extremely important that any information concerning our robot is kept confidential. App Programming App programmers have spent the past week working on their apps and server. The Scout App has finalized its user interface layouts, and is almost completely functional. Now, the app just needs to be able to send data into the firebase (the team’s cloud database), which is the key(lime) to success for analyzing data. Students are also working on coding the Super Scout app key data resend feature, where Super Scouts can re-upload past match data while at a competition. The subteam is on track to have its Field Test on February 10, where they will test every element of the scouting system to ensure that it all works properly. Robot Programming This week in robot programming, members have continued to worked on programming different aspects of the robot. These include the drivetrain, the score subsystem, autonomous routines for the robot, and the elevator. They have been focusing on the elevator, coordinating with the Electrical subteam to sync the code and wiring. The elevator will transport power cubes within the robot to different heights so that the robot can score on different heights (if the scale is tilted, situations like that). Robot Programming has run into an issue where they almost broke the elevator in testing, but they soon powered through that and are on track to completion. |
Business and Media
Although Business and Media doesn’t have a robot to build, they have been very busy this week. The subteam has continued to work on the February newsletter and DYR advertising. They’re finishing up the entrepreneurship award and working on pit binders and as usual, they’re writing this build blog!
Although Business and Media doesn’t have a robot to build, they have been very busy this week. The subteam has continued to work on the February newsletter and DYR advertising. They’re finishing up the entrepreneurship award and working on pit binders and as usual, they’re writing this build blog!
week 3It’s already week three, and build season is almost halfway over. Team morale is high with all projects on schedule. We admire our team’s determination and mindset to finish these tasks in such a short amount of time!
Mechanical Members from mechanical have been busy fabricating and assembling the robot’s elevator. They’ve finished building the drive trains, and have started working on the ramp, which should allow our robot help lift other robots at the end of the match. Prototyping members have also created a new idea for the robot’s wrist, which will allow the robot to intake cubes and score. The team also made a big decision to move from 4” to 6” wheels due to the robot frequently running into problems while driving onto the platform. It’s been a busy week for the mechanical subteam, but they’ve done a lot of work and the robot is really coming along! Electrical Electrical has been busy powering up and wiring the robot control system. They’ve been busy crimping the connections to the compressor from the kit of parts, and have been working on cutting encoder wires to length for both the practice and the competition bots. They’ve also been checking up on the electronics on all the robots and the pneumatics on the practice bot, and making sure that the batteries are in place correctly. Electrical has been specifically focusing on wiring the belly pan for the drivetrain of the robot. This subteam aims to complete their tasks and finish wiring the belly pan soon. As always, please do not distribute this information- it’s extremely important that any information concerning our robot is kept confidential.
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App Programming
App Programming is busy updating all their apps to the new schema (the variables that they will record for calculations and viewing). Students have been further updating the schema as new issues come up, and the implementation of the new updates continues. So far, there’s been lots of new problems and bugs, which can be expected when working on such complicated code. Overall, the schema continues to be updated, and implementation of the user interface is ongoing. App Programming aims to level up and transition from writing code to debugging and testing as build season continues.
Robot Programming
Robot programming has been active fixing their drive code this week. They wrote the code during the offseason, but now that there’s more information about the game available, they are editing the code to cover the robot capabilities. Robot Programming is continuing their preparation for the first power-on of our robot by writing tests and simulations to make sure all of the coding is ready. The primary goal, aside from basic robot operation, is to prepare for the robot’s autonomous mode. They’ve determined that our robot’s ability to account for every possible situation in autonomous mode is crucial to our success in FIRST Power Up. Robot Programming hopes that our robot will place two cubes on the scale and one on the switch in the autonomous portion of the game, which will hopefully put us ahead of the opposing alliance early on in the match! They’re doing a crate job thinking outside the box to create different codes for the robot.
Business and Media
Business and Media spent the past week working on the build blog, editing the Entrepreneurship award submission, and organizing the pit binders. They’ve made the switch from writing the January newsletter to developing the February newsletter, and they’ve also been busy working on sponsor thank you posts. Business and Media members have continued finalizing sponsorships for the 2018 season, and are currently looking for new sponsorship opportunities.
App Programming is busy updating all their apps to the new schema (the variables that they will record for calculations and viewing). Students have been further updating the schema as new issues come up, and the implementation of the new updates continues. So far, there’s been lots of new problems and bugs, which can be expected when working on such complicated code. Overall, the schema continues to be updated, and implementation of the user interface is ongoing. App Programming aims to level up and transition from writing code to debugging and testing as build season continues.
Robot Programming
Robot programming has been active fixing their drive code this week. They wrote the code during the offseason, but now that there’s more information about the game available, they are editing the code to cover the robot capabilities. Robot Programming is continuing their preparation for the first power-on of our robot by writing tests and simulations to make sure all of the coding is ready. The primary goal, aside from basic robot operation, is to prepare for the robot’s autonomous mode. They’ve determined that our robot’s ability to account for every possible situation in autonomous mode is crucial to our success in FIRST Power Up. Robot Programming hopes that our robot will place two cubes on the scale and one on the switch in the autonomous portion of the game, which will hopefully put us ahead of the opposing alliance early on in the match! They’re doing a crate job thinking outside the box to create different codes for the robot.
Business and Media
Business and Media spent the past week working on the build blog, editing the Entrepreneurship award submission, and organizing the pit binders. They’ve made the switch from writing the January newsletter to developing the February newsletter, and they’ve also been busy working on sponsor thank you posts. Business and Media members have continued finalizing sponsorships for the 2018 season, and are currently looking for new sponsorship opportunities.
Week 2Now that build season finally started, we’re powering up our productivity levels! With meetings currently held every weekend from 9 am to 5 pm, our subteams have been making lots of progress, and we’re all very thankful to have such hardworking and dedicated members!
Robot programming is having the lime of their life working on their build season projects! They’ve been working to finish the basic drive path for 3 cube auto, and the mechanism code. The past week has been spent writing lines of code that will help our robot in the autonomous and tele-op portions of the game. To test these codes, robot programmers have written simulation codes that will test the real robot coding before our robot is even built. They have been working very hard to program for the new robot so that it works come competition season. |
Mechanical has divided into prototyping teams to test various mechanisms for the robot. The main two functions they focused on this week were the power cube intake and the climber. While mechanical prototyped, some of the design team began working on the overall structure of the robot, like the drive base and skeleton. Mechanical faced one major challenge this week - a recent rule update. The update made one entire mechanism they had prototyped for the endgame climb illegal, forcing them to redesign the device! If it’s any console-ation, they didn’t let this get them down in the dumps. Instead, they went straight back to the drawing board, came up with ideas, and went back to prototyping. Way to go, Mechanical!
Electrical has been busy with inventory and preparing for robot wiring days on the 20th and 21st. In preparation for those days, members have been practicing wiring by fixing the tablet charger for App Programming. They’ve also been busy teaching their newer members, working in prototyping teams, fixing the gearbox, and developing various robot mechanisms. Electrical’s build season projects are going shockingly well.
Members in app programming have had their projects assigned to them for the build season. They have completely updated the schema (variables that they will record for calculations and viewing) for the new build season across all the apps. The UI layouts for all apps are done and are being coded in. They will begin testing and debugging soon, as most of the apps are on schedule. In the meantime, others are working on calculations and data points for firebase (app programming’s cloud database).
Business and Media has been busy working on their build season projects. These projects include newsletters, the Citrus Circuits website, and this build blog! In addition, members of the business and media subteam have been working hard on press releases, apparel orders, and writing a sponsorship proposal to NVIDIA. There’s still a lot of work to do this build season, but Business and Media is ready to vault over any obstacles in their path!
Make sure to be on the lookout for the next build blog updates, and have a great week!
Electrical has been busy with inventory and preparing for robot wiring days on the 20th and 21st. In preparation for those days, members have been practicing wiring by fixing the tablet charger for App Programming. They’ve also been busy teaching their newer members, working in prototyping teams, fixing the gearbox, and developing various robot mechanisms. Electrical’s build season projects are going shockingly well.
Members in app programming have had their projects assigned to them for the build season. They have completely updated the schema (variables that they will record for calculations and viewing) for the new build season across all the apps. The UI layouts for all apps are done and are being coded in. They will begin testing and debugging soon, as most of the apps are on schedule. In the meantime, others are working on calculations and data points for firebase (app programming’s cloud database).
Business and Media has been busy working on their build season projects. These projects include newsletters, the Citrus Circuits website, and this build blog! In addition, members of the business and media subteam have been working hard on press releases, apparel orders, and writing a sponsorship proposal to NVIDIA. There’s still a lot of work to do this build season, but Business and Media is ready to vault over any obstacles in their path!
Make sure to be on the lookout for the next build blog updates, and have a great week!
Week 1
Welcome to the 2018 Citrus Circuits Build Blog! Here, you’ll learn about everything that’s going on in this year’s FIRST POWER UP build season. Starting today, we will publish our blog weekly on Thursdays, ending after Stop Build day- so be sure to power up that computer and read our blog each week!
This year, kick-off was on Saturday, January 6. About 20 team members travelled to Kennedy High School, while the rest met at DHS to watch the FIRST live stream at 7:00 AM. Both groups were super excited to watch the official Power Up game reveal, which you can now watch HERE. This year’s game relies heavily on strategy. It takes inspiration from arcade games, which is why it’s called POWER UP. It includes scales, switches, power cubes, and cool power ups. If you attend a match, you’ll see robots holding cubes, placing them on the scale and switch, and climbing the rung at the end- to defeat the boss! It’ll be a joy(stick) to play this year’s game. |
Interviews!Gemma Bertain (left)
Q: What problems will we be facing, and how does your prototype overcome them? A: The scale is very tall, and having our robot start at 55 inches, and extending to 8-9 feet, will be challenging, but a possible solution to this is to make an elevator mechanism. Also, having our robot climb from the tiny hook along with another robot will be very challenging. Asha Khan (right) Q: In the game, there will be challenges. What is one of them, and how will your prototype will overcome them? A: Our prototype consists of a ground cube intake, as well as an elevator mechanism. It also has the capability to latch onto another robot, so we can pull it up with us as we climb. Our ground cube intake plan was to use two claws that extend from the robot, grab a cube, pull it into the robot. |
Robot programming students have been working very hard on writing code for our robot. Specifically, they have been creating a code that will work with the robot's elevator system. Since the elevator will have to collapse and extend to and from different heights, there needs to be complex code that will allow the robot to place cubes on the switches and the scale. The programmers have been doing their zest to write a code that will make our robot successful when it comes to collecting and placing cubes!
Our time to build the robot is lime-ited, so we spent a long weekend reading the game manual, testing our knowledge, and discussing the robot. Prototyping groups worked hard to design elevators, intake systems, and more. All this hard work has given us a great start to designing, prototyping, and building our new robot! Thank you Volunteers!Thank you to our sublime parent and alumni volunteers! Craig Long, Paul Brandy, Buck Cutting, David Solomon, Denise Odenwalder, Alan Taylor, Jan Quick Wright, Sophia Hahn, and Kelly Ostrom spent most of the kick-off weekend building wooden sets that we will use to train drivers and prototype robots. The sets look great!
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