Build Blog 2019
week 7
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We’re ready for launch! Build season is over but the hard work never stops. Get ready, Citrus Circuits is lifting off to travel to the outer limits of the universe in the 2019 competition season.
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software robotThis week, Software Robot has been testing out design improvements to the robot and running different autonomous tests. They spent most of their time testing the climbing system and even performed a double buddy climb with our Beta robot and team 3859 Wolfpack Robotics from Elk Grove.
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software scoutingSoftware Scouting has worked on finalizing all of their apps and have begun testing them out to ensure they’re running smoothly. They have been debugging several apps and started scheduling scout trainings.
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Hardware designHardware Design finished creating extra parts for competitions, along with a lighter crawler system to guarantee that our robot is under the weight limit before our competition. The crawler system is the mechanism that unlatches when we want to climb, unfolds, drives onto the the third level platform, and lifts us and our two alliance partners onto the platform.
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hardware fabricationHardware Fabrication worked on finishing the rest of the intake parts for the robot and put together the last of the Comp robot, which included fixing the wrist. They’ve been creating extra parts for the other robots as well as remaking parts that didn’t work well before.
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hardware electricalDuring the past week, Hardware Electrical fixed several mechanisms as well as helped programmers practice autos by changing power cables and fixing wires on the robot. They supplied Comp bot with final mechanisms and set up the new Hatch Panel intake.
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business and mediaBusiness and Media has been updating the Business Plan, allowing it to be presented in an interactive digital format. In addition, they are continuing to reconstruct our financial system to be more automated, making it easier to manage. They also finalized designs for the sponsor panel and prepared a press release about stop build day.
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outroThis is our team’s last build blog as stop build day was Tuesday night. Although our competition robot was bagged and ready for the Central Valley Regional on March 7-9, work continues on both Alpha and Beta robots. Before the next competition, our team will be testing code, practicing driving, and sending apparel out. It’s been our pleasure writing the 2019 Build Blog and we hope everyone has a great competition season!
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As always, please do not distribute this information- it’s extremely important that any information concerning our robot is kept confidential.
Click here to view all photos from our 2019 build season.
Click here to view all photos from our 2019 build season.
week 6
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ABC… easy as 123! Our robot officially can do the third level climb, while supporting two other robots! Check out our teaser video showing our robot accomplishing this challenging task, which is now up on our YouTube channel and has over 12,000 views! Our 2 Hatch Panel Sandstorm reveal is up as well, and has over 3,500 views!
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Thoughts from the team
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Nithmi Jayasundara- Hardware Electrical
Build season is definitely super intense, but I think I’m able to manage it better than I thought I would. Being able to be here and watch the robot be made is amazing, and I am glad I get to contribute to the experience. |
Ellie Kim- Software Scouting
The training was pretty difficult, but we ended up learning quite a bit and our app group leads are very good at guiding us through stuff, although they have a lot to do. |
Wes Hardaker- Software Robot Mentor
The fascinating thing to me is how much everybody here really is engaged and cares and wants to be here. I’ve never seen an environment like this where the participation is voluntary and addictive. It is truly magical to watch the process of all of the pieces coming together to produce a final product. |
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Software RobotSoftware Robot has been continuing to tune their vision models this week as well as doing driver practice with the robot. They are working on the implementation of Citrus Pilot, which will allow drivers to press a button and the robot will then auto-align itself with the targets.
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Software scoutingSoftware Scouting has been preparing for their cutoff this past Wednesday, when their apps need to be completed. They have been finalizing the code for all of their apps (Server, Scout, Super Scout, Pit Scout, IOS Viewer, and Android Viewer) so that they can begin work on field testing during Week 1 of competition.
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hardware designDesign is working alongside Fabrication to assemble their crawler climber for the competition robot. Designers who developed the Human Player (HP) hatch intake and cargo intake continue to make improvements based on the outcomes of robot testing.
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hardware electricalHardware Electrical is waiting for current mechanism designs to be finalized before wiring of the robot can be completed. In the meantime, the necessary wires have been prepared and placed in order to streamline the assembly process. They’ve also been troubleshooting electrical issues that have occured during robot mechanism and autonomous testing to facilitate the programing process.
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hardware fabricationHardware Fabrication completed the assembly of all three robots. The team is now working to create replacement parts and new parts to complement design changes. They have been creating a second human player station, as well as updating other field elements. Finally, they have been collaborating with the programmers to make the parts necessary to ensure successful vision testing.
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business and mediaBusiness and Media continues to format the interactive pit extravaganza display, as well as document the weekly progress of build season. They are also finishing sponsor thank you videos for DJUSD and Schilling Robotics, which will be released in the next week. Finally, students are updating the business plan and financial ledger.
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As always, please do not distribute this information- it’s extremely important that any information concerning our robot is kept confidential.
Click here to view all photos from our 2019 build season.
Click here to view all photos from our 2019 build season.
Week five
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You’re juiced in time! We HAB to tell you what we’ve been up to this week.
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hardwareDesign has joined Fabrication for the assembly of our Competition robot and Beta (second practice) robot. They are testing their redesigned cargo and hatch panel intakes, and now have a working crawler climber on Beta that will allow us to climb to the third platform level at the end of the match. Design will continue to improve the robot mechanisms as they find any flaws in testing. Electrical debugging controls issues and wiring the new intakes on each robot.
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software robotSoftware Robot is testing vision code. They are also tuning mechanism code to have everything at the optimal point for scoring. Drive team is now able to practice on a full field after Hardware built a new loading station.
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software scoutingEach of the Scout groups are now very close to having a working app. Some of the key features of each app include:
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Business and mediaThis week, Business and Media released the NVIDIA Thank You video on both our Youtube channel and Facebook page. While finishing the rest of the sponsor thank you videos, they are continuing website and accounting sheet updates, and improving our pit display, which will be an interactive extravaganza. The first draft of the Entrepreneurship Award is now done and awaiting final edits before our first competition.
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Team 7229 Electronic eaglesTeam 7229 Electronic Eagles from El Camino High School came by our shop this Wednesday for assistance building bumpers. Now preparing for their second year in FRC, they were the highest seeded rookie at the Sacramento Regional in 2018. Good luck to them - we can’t wait to see the Electronic Eagles in action!
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As always, please do not distribute this information- it’s extremely important that any information concerning our robot is kept confidential.
Click here to view all photos from our 2019 build season.
Click here to view all photos from our 2019 build season.
Week Four
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Working 9 to 5, what a way to make a robot! Our team officially has one working robot for this year’s game. We are now testing out the robot and working on failing faster in order to continue advancements on the robot!
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Software scoutingSoftware Scouting has split up into six smaller groups: pit scouting, scouting, super scouting, android viewer, ios viewer, and server. The scouting app group has decided on several functions of the app this week including collection of climb, intake, defense and object placement data for matches. The super scouting group has finished designing the User Interface (how the app will look as well as allowing interaction between humans and the app). Pit scouting completed displaying the team numbers on the app and is making progress on storing data. The viewer apps have decided how they want to implement all the data that is being collected, while the server group is combining the data from the scouting, super scouting, and pit scouting apps to be able to use it for calculations.
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software robotSoftware Robot is tuning the Limelight models so that the robot is able to see the targets on the field and automatically align itself with them. They have been faced with the challenge of aligning the robot to the target at the correct angle. This week they have also been writing code to send goals from the human interface mechanism to the robot's specific equipment interface. This allows the robot to translate the goals of the driver into what the robot needs to actually do (e.g., move the elevator up and drive forward). In order to earn the Innovation in Control Award, an award that celebrates an innovative control system or application of control components, they have been continuing documentation of the code to explain how each piece of the code functions.
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HardwareHardware Design is making part drawings along with completing the 3D printing of parts. They have also been working on the finishing touches of CAD for the robot. This week, Hardware Fabrication has been making parts for the elevator, cargo intake, hatch panel intake, and hatch panel scoring mechanism. They have also been working on redesigning old parts that need refining. Hardware Electrical has been wiring the elevator on all three robots, wiring up sides of elevator, Limelights, and radios in order for programmers to begin testing the mechanism code on the parts that hardware design and fabrication has just put on.
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Business and mediaThe Business and Media subteam is continuing to document the team’s progress and develop sponsor thank you videos. They have also been hard at work on press releases for the DYR camps and an announcement for our 15th year of competitions. This month’s newsletter is now almost ready for launch, so make sure you check it out when it’s released!
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As always, please do not distribute this information- it’s extremely important that any information concerning our robot is kept confidential.
Click here to view all photos from our 2019 build season.
Week Three
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Woahhh, we’re almost halfway there! Build season is halfway done and the team is going full STE(a)M ahead. We have been working on our three drive trains and continuing our process of failing and then trying again.
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Software Robot
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Software Robot has groups of 3 to 4 people writing code for each mechanism of the robot, including the hatch panel and cargo intakes and drivebase. Also, they have been working on vision testing for placing hatch panels on the rocket based off of the retro reflective tape.
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Software ScoutingThis week, Software Scouting has split into smaller groups in order to continue developing different apps such as the Super Scout App, Pit Scout Web App and designing a mapping system for the main Scouting App.
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Hardware design/fabrication
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Hardware Design is preparing for the elevator assembly (coming next week) as more and more parts are being manufactured. They are continuing to iron out some kinks with sizing and placement of the carriage and wrist (the “claw” of the robot”) within the elevator.
Hardware Fabrication continues to make parts for all around the robot, from the intakes to the carriage. They finished up the week by starting fabrication of the elevator. |
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Hardware electricalHardware Electrical has finished wiring our three drive trains. This week, they have been installing sensors, finding resistors for the power voltage divider, and doing minor fixes to help Software Robot with their work.
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Business and MediaBusiness and Media has been working on documentation of the work being done as well as sponsor and season recap videos. They are continuing to update the business plan, writing the yearly Entrepreneurship Award, and creating logos for our outreach programs.
announcementThis week we sent out the apparel forms for the 2019 season, so team clothing is now available for order. If you haven’t filled it yet, please do so by Saturday!
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mentorsThank you so much to every one of our mentors who have been just as dedicated as the students to ensure a successful season. All of our mentors have been working really hard to support our team and ensure that we have been working efficiently, especially during these past few weeks.
Vertical Divider
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Citrus ServiceCitrus Service, our at-competition aid for all other FRC teams, started their training this week. Members from nearly all subteams are assigned, as their primary or singular competition role, to help other FRC teams with code, mechanical issues, etc. This week, Citrus Service members on non-Hardware subteams assembled a kitbot to familiarize themselves with basic mechanical skills.
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As always, please do not distribute this information- it’s extremely important that any information concerning our robot is kept confidential.
Click here to view all photos from our 2019 build season.
Click here to view all photos from our 2019 build season.
Week Two
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In build season week two, prototyping teams are flying towards their goals! Each prototyping team presented the most current iteration of their project on Saturday and it was amazing to see how far the prototypes had come after less than a week. After that, everyone divided into subteams, splitting to work on their specific tasks.
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Thoughts From The Team |
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Evan Long- Hardware Design Lead
Q: How has the training you received during offseason contributed to your prototyping efforts? |
Zatara Nepomuceno- Hardware Design
Q: How has the training you received during offseason contributed to your prototyping efforts? |
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HardwareHardware Design is designing the layout of the robot and adding details to the elevator design. They’ve also 3d printed an extension for the controllers, replacing screws in omni-directional wheels, and made part drawings.
Many members of Hardware Fabrication continued working in prototyping teams this week. Three ‘fabrication floaters’ helped the various prototyping teams, and several other members assisted in building the drivebases of all three robots, which will be wired by Hardware Electrical this weekend. Electrical focused on preparing to wire the robots and had new members practice their crimping and soldering skills. Furthermore, they have been assembling the 3d printed mounts for containing the Power Distribution Panel and the roboRIO. A few Electrical members are still hard at work in their prototyping groups, but most have returned to their subteam.
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Business And MediaThis week, Business and Media updated their ledgers, designed logos for the outreach programs, completed the offseason recap and sponsor thank you videos, and continued with the documentation of prototyping teams. Additionally, they continued in the upkeep and organization of the website.
ParentsEvery build season during our weekend meetings, parents graciously donate food to feed hungry students. Thank you, everyone, who has brought or will bring food - we all greatly appreciate it!
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Software RobotSoftware Robot worked on collaborating with the design team to figure out what the design of our robot’s mechanisms will be so that they will be able to more efficiently write the code that will control the specific mechanisms, focusing on the sandstorm period.
Software scoutingSoftware Scouting worked on developing the new scouting app for this year’s competitions. This week they are figuring out how the app will look by beginning to prototype different options and determine all of the visuals. They have split into smaller subgroups and prioritize orders for certain tasks assigned to each subgroup.
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As always, please do not distribute this information- it’s extremely important that any information concerning our robot is kept confidential.
Click here to view all photos from our 2019 build season.
Click here to view all photos from our 2019 build season.
Week One
The Game: destination deep spaceDESTINATION: DEEP SPACE involves two different game elements: cargo and hatch panels. The game kicks off with a 15 second Sandstorm period where the robots can move autonomously or by being controlled by a driver. The catch - drivers can’t see the field! After the Sandstorm period, robots place hatch panels on two three-level rockets and a cargo ship to secure the placement of cargo, which the robots must place inside the rockets and cargo ship. In the last 20 seconds, robots blast back to the Habitat zone, where they choose from three different levels to climb on.
Thoughts from the teamLivy Taylor - Software Robot & Driver
Q: What is a challenge that the team will face with this game? 
Week 1 is all about prototyping, and failing, and trying again! All of the Hardware (Fabrication, Design, and Electrical) subteams have divided themselves into prototyping groups. To find out more about each group, refer to the table to the right.
software and business/mediaSoftware Scouting, Software Robot, and Business/Media have split off from the prototyping groups and are currently working on their own projects. Software Scouting is trying to figure out how to balance the complex data points that they want to collect with simplicity of use for the scouts. Software Robot is in their planning phase during Week 1; right now, they’re trying to figure out auto vs. teleop driving and how the mechanisms will communicate with one another. Business/Media is working on creating all of the apparel for the new season, updating all of our media platforms, and finalizing the team’s sponsor list.
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KickOffWelcome to the 2019 Citrus Circuits Build Blog! Here, you’ll learn about everything that’s going on during the DESTINATION: DEEP SPACE build season. Starting today, we will publish our blog weekly on Fridays, ending after Stop Build Day (February 19.) Strap in for a wild rocket ride!
This year, kickoff was on Saturday, January 5. About 10 Citrus members travelled to Kennedy High School to represent the team, while the rest met at DHS to watch the FIRST livestream at 7:00 AM. After speeches from the founders of FIRST, both groups watched the official DESTINATION: DEEP SPACE game reveal video before sitting down to the always-difficult Rules Test. Everyone soon passed the test and began brainstorming game strategy and robot objectives. 
Tristan Sturm - Hardware Fabrication
Q: What mechanism are you prototyping? How is the process going? hardware
Wonderful Volunteers!Thank you to our fantastic parent and alumni volunteers! Daniel Hahn, Paul Brandy, Craig Long, Evelyn Hahn, Jessie Stavely, Paul Bugni, Alan Taylor, David Fabionar, Mark Pollock, Lori Leong, Matt Foreman, Sean Liu, Olaf Bystrom, and Sophia Hahn spent most of the kickoff weekend building wooden field elements that we will use for prototyping, testing, and driver practice. Special thanks to Craig Long for hosting, Paul Brandy and Dan Hahn for leading the build, and Evelyn Hahn for making sure everyone stayed fed. You all are amazing!
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As always, please do not distribute this information- it’s extremely important that any information concerning our robot is kept confidential.
Click here to view all photos from our 2019 build season.
Click here to view all photos from our 2019 build season.
