2022: Rapid React
Rapid react: game overview
This FRC game season is called Rapid React sponsored by Boeing. The main goal this season is to score points by shooting cargo into the hub and climbing the hanger. There are 6 teams split up evenly between two alliances. All alliance robots are placed on a tarmac with 1 preloaded cargo where they prepare for autonomous and driver-controlled periods. Starting the match, there is a 15-second autonomous period in which the robot can score points in the hub and pick up extra cargo. Afterward, the drivers take control in a 2 minute and 15-second period where they can shoot cargo and prevent opposing teams from scoring points. Robots can also score points by climbing on the hanger during this period. To acquire points, you can shoot cargo into the Hub. Cargo placed or shot into the lower portion of the Hub is worth 1 point. The higher portion of the hub is worth 2 points, but you can only launch a ball to score. To shoot into the upper Hub, you can drive your robot into launchpads stopping other robots from hitting for 3 seconds. To acquire cargo, you can either create an acquisition to pull in the cargo, create a hopper and push the cargo into the terminal or, the human players can load them. In the endgame you can climb your robots up several bars; the first is 4 points, then 6 points, 10 points, and the final bar is 16 points.
Robot overview: dwayne the bot johnson
Acquisition
To acquire the cargo we placed mecanum wheels onto a hex shaft. When the shaft spins, the mecanum wheels direct the cargo into the center, two rubber wheels stabilize the ball into the indexer.
Indexer
The indexer holds and sends the cargo through with two pulleys on either side. There are sensors to tell the program to stop the motor from sending the ball straight into the shooter.
Shooter
Once the robot is positioned the driver can start the motor controlling the hex shaft. Two rubber wheels grip the ball and send it out at a 70 degree angle to be shot into the upper hub.
climb
The climb can acquire 4 to 16 points. We have a stationary arm which can grab onto the mid rung of the hangar, then a moving arm to traverse the robot to the high rung. We changed our original design because of the complexity.
eboard
The Eboard controls where the power goes and reads the data for the sensors. In recent years our team was praised for a sleek and clean Eboard, our wire management is something our IT takes very seriously. Wires aren't very durable so it is very important they are secured and out of the way of moving/clamping parts.
pneumatics
Our robot uses pneumatics to switch from low to high gear. Low gear is slower, for better defense, while high gear is faster to navigate the field. We are also using a pneumatic cylinder to push our acquisition up and out of the way and lower it to collect cargo.
Week zero
Our team participated in Week Zero at Eagan High School, Eagan MN. Seeing everyone else was in the same boat, not having a fully functioning robot, was something we didn't expect. We didn't expect our robot to be able to complete any of the tasks from the start of the day. We gave our robot many upgrades, gaining use of acquisition, then indexer, and then by the very last match we were shooting Cargo! Our team spirit, morale, and overall mood escalated after seeing what we could accomplish in such a small amount of time.
We didn't come fully prepared so we had to borrow some parts from other teams. Week Zero showed how important gracious professionalism is to other teams as well. We weren't able to give back the parts but are hoping to be able to during our Regional Competition in Duluth. This was many of our students first® experience in a competition and it was the perfect chance for them to see our team under immense pressure.
2022 Northern lights
We are very happy to be back in person competing in the northern lights just like we did two years ago. Being around other teams, and using the values of FIRST® has shown the importance of being back together. We are thankful for the opportunity to come and learn from other teams as well as ourselves.
Working with others and being able to see how they are continuing to grow their team through the pandemic has been very helpful. Our media team has been working hard towards recruiting new students through outreach. Many teams have told us that they focus on getting students when they are young, introducing them to FIRST® in FLL. Others try to work with their schools to gain students, showing how FIRST® is a fun program that everyone can enjoy.
Many of our students have not been to a competition. The Duluth regional competition gave an opportunity for students to get in the pit and see how it works was a high priority. A pit is a 10' by 10' area designated for each team to utilize where you can bring tools and materials for working on your robot during the competition. We introduced students to the pit area on a rotation where one or two students would go to the pit area to see how it works to ease them into the competition. Then when our robot wasn't in a match we had some of them working alongside the student leads to help.
During the competition, we found out that our climb didn't work how we had hoped. Making the decision to redesign the climb and executing it in 3 hours, was no simple task. Being successful in this redesign really gave our team a boost in positivity and confidence.
Final thoughts: duluth
After Duluth, we found many areas we excel in: pit productivity, team spirit, and scouting. This was many of our students first® experience in a regional competition and it didn't hinder our capabilities. Our gracious professionalism and core values were put to the test. We discovered some areas we could improve upon, and was a great learning experience for us all.
We have the privilege of participating in two regional competitions this season. Talking to other teams and seeing them in action provided us with ideas to expand upon what we could do. Something we saw a lot of was pit marketing representatives; specifically to promote their robotics program, talk about their robot capabilities, team, and outreach activities. This is something we plan on doing in our next regional competition.
Iowa Regional competition
Thanks to one of our mentors, we were able to go to a second regional. Seeing other teams created. Using the pit marketing representative gives us the chance to talk to teams more in-depth. It is something we are still working on, the extra person in our pit is less than ideal but it's being worked around. We gained many new friends and perspectives from having a pit representative.
Going to a second regional gave us the opportunity to improve from Duluth. We were able to reflect on our first® regional and improve where it was necessary. Creating a more professional pit environment by only allowing 8 people at one time. Our pit productivity was greatly increased, and our robot was better prepared before each match. Making a 'pit checklist' to further prepare us before each match helped immensely.
Gracious professionalism will continue to be improved through our teams future seasons. Other teams gracious professionalism towards us was very important to our capabilities in the tournament.
During the competition our robot preformance was the best it has been the whole season, our climb worked every time we tried and shot with accuracy. We were chosen as an alliance partner again, but unfortunately we didn't advance past our first® bracket. Iowa was a great experience to have and gave us all a new outlook.
Final thoughts: Iowa
After Iowa we improved in all areas that we singled out after Duluth, professional pit, better team spirit, and scouting more matches. We improved our gracious professionalism helping other teams with their cheering. Being able to preform in two different regionals this year was very helpful to prepare our students for the following season. We will continue to look back on this experience and work towards improving our seasons to come.