The fall months are not just leisure time for the teams participating in the FIRST competition. It is a time for all of the teams, nationwide, to gather all their strength for the competition in the spring. New members need to be broken in, money has to be raised, and subteams have to be trained. Here is what our team, The Green Machine, has been doing to get ready before we take the plunge into the competition.
In its first two years of existence, the Green Machine let the FRC robotics world know that it is a power to be reckoned with. The team has been working hard to prepare for the coming year in an effort to live up to the standards set in the last two seasons.
First of all, the outreach team should be given a medal for they have done this fall to get our name out into the community. Sophie B., the subteam leader, has been able to get the team into so many community activities that there probably isn’t a person in Edina who doesn’t know what the team is and what it does! We hosted a fundraiser/benefit at the local Noodles restaurant, where we showed visitors our Chairman’s Award scrapbook and demonstrated our 2007 competition robot. A half-dozen team members attended the Cornelia Science Fair to help the elementary school students with their science projects. Our robot rode in high style in the Edina Homecoming Parade, and we handed out candy to kids and adults who came to see it.
In October, we also participated in the Edina School’s Open House at South View Middle School where we parked our robot in one of the new lobby entrances. While there, we showed new Edina High School principal Dr. Bruce Locklear exactly what an FRC robot can do. We had him sit on one of the ramps, and, just like lifting robots in the 2007 tournaments; we gave Dr. Locklear a competition-winning lift of more than 12 inches! Score!
Our outreach subteam also has been working tirelessly to get ready for the much anticipated “Minnesota Splash,” a pre-kickoff event aimed at bringing together many of the new FIRST Robotics teams which have formed in Minnesota this year. This event, on Saturday December 8th, brings together rookies and veterans for a morning of robotics-related seminars. At least eight Team 1816 members are giving presentations on everything from what to expect at a regional competition to how to document a team’s year with video, photos and presentation materials. Seminars also are in the works on the separate workings of a robot including electrical components, chassis, and drive train construction – everything a rookie team might want to know before the chaotic six-week build begins
For the last few months, our manipulator subteam has been working closely with our Computer-Assisted Design (CAD), subteam, training new members not only how best to use the workshop but also to design and then build a robotic arm and hand that lifts and grabs. To date, the CAD subteam has been able to produce a 3-D model of what needs to be made, and the manipulator team has been able to build the hand (grabbing mechanism). Next up: an arm and joints.
At the same time, our Marketing and Corporate Fundraising subteam has been researching new sponsors to replace $11,000 from two granting sources that are now unavailable to the team. In November, a group of four team members made a presentation to Wanner Engineering, Minneapolis, which resulted in the company granting the team $2,500. Wanner joins Medtronic, Inc., and Honeywell Inc., as our top team’s sponsors.
The programming team has been practicing a Sample C code to prepare for the first 60 seconds autonomous mode in the competition. Our team is dipping its toes into animation as well. So far, the new animation subteam has created a hairy ball that bounces and another version that resembles a helicopter.
All in all, it’s been a busy fall. Good preparation for the six-week build that kicks-off January 5, 2008!