2026 Team Blog

Week 1 Recap: 1/12/26 - 1/17/26 : Kickoff Week!

On Saturday, 1/10/26, we kicked off the season with an exciting and productive meeting focused on learning the rules of the game and understanding how to score. Throughout the week, the team spent most of its time discussing the constraints of REBUILT and exploring possible strategies to maximize our performance. During our meetings, we analyzed scoring methods, time constraints, and field components—deciding which tasks we wanted to accomplish within the limited match time. We also discussed gameplay strategies such as feeding alliance partners and pushing fuel under the trench to gain a competitive advantage. To support our planning, we watched videos of R13D robots, explored designs from other teams online, and shared our research with the team. Most members presented their findings, leading to in-depth discussions and the selection of finalized prototypes to begin building and testing. At the same time, several members began assembling the new Krakens purchased for this season, allowing us to prepare a test robot for our programming team. Moving into next week, our goals are to fully assemble, wire, and program the Kitbot, assemble the chassis for our swerve (competition) robot, and begin CAD models for major subassemblies while laying out overall robot mechanisms. We also plan to start prototyping and partially testing key systems, including the shooter, intake, indexer, and climber, as we transition from planning into active development.

 - Alekhya Parimi

Week 2 Recap: 1/19/26 - 1/24/26: This week we made solid progress across all subteams. On the mechanical side, we continued assembling and testing our swerve modules and now have two left to finish. Our Kitbot chassis is fully assembled, and we’re working on fabricating and installing the hopper panels and shooter. Electronics still need to be completed on the Kitbot, but layout and wiring have begun. We also reviewed the chassis and created detailed drawings so we can move into manufacturing this week. Our first batch of 3D printed mecanum wheels has been printed and cleaned, so we’re ready to begin prototype testing. With the mecanum wheels ready, we prototyped the indexer roller to evaluate how effectively it directs the ball left and right. Field elements are also currently under construction to support testing. For the shooter system, we manufactured the components for the Launcher in a Box and began assembly. We’re preparing to prototype and test the shooter using a Kraken motor. Initial prototyping has started for the shooter, intake, indexer, and climber, with partial testing completed. In CAD, we continued developing the overall robot design. We refined a 2D side-view sketch of the robot, including size constraints and key field elements such as the tower and hub. We analyzed tower dimensions relative to robot limitations and added construction lines to visualize where the trench meets the robot. We also began sketching ideal shooting trajectories from multiple field positions—for example, directly against the hub, three feet in front of it, and offset to the side to simulate angled shots. The CAD team also reviewed mechanism files (including Launcher in a Box, Turret in a Box, and robots from past seasons) to better understand different design approaches and identify features we like. Programming focused on learning and working with the Kitbot code and Limelight, continuing steady progress toward implementation.

Overall, we made meaningful progress in assembly, prototyping, design refinement, and programming, setting ourselves up well for the coming week.

  - Alekhya Parimi

Week 3 Recap: 1/26/26 - 1/31/26:  This week we were really productive on the CAD side. We finished designing the bumpers and resized them to meet Rebuilt constraints. The Hub is ready to go as long as it’s mounted on the table. If we want to use it in the stairwell, we’ll need to build two additional legs. We also added a board for the AprilTags—just need to mount the tags themselves. The Tower is close to being ready. We still need to clean up some old welds on a few of the tubes and finish assembly, but it’s coming together. A big chunk of Saturday was spent trying to configure the new KOP radio. We weren’t successful at first, but after doing some research we figured out why. The configuration process has now been streamlined and should be straightforward using the configuration tool and a few clear steps. We tested the Kraken motors and started on the climber prototype. We reused the polycarb hooks from last year’s climber and cut a larger semicircle so they fit properly on the Tower poles. Two hooks are done so far. We also sent the intake measurements to CAD and finalized the intake dimensions. Next steps for the climber are to reuse the polycarb from the old algae plates and cut additional hooks to keep advancing the prototype. We milled and cut the parts for the turret and are waiting on the remaining components to arrive before continuing assembly. For the indexer, we resolved the spacing issue and created the base. We still need to find more bearings and shaft collars and add the motor belts. We also worked on additional turret parts and continued designing the launcher and intake. Next up is finalizing both of those designs and modeling the climber.   - Alekhya Parimi

Week 4 Recap: 2/2/26 - 2/8/26:  This week we focused on the design of the robot.  We are working on CADing over the bumper linkage intake. We are also trying to find the best way to move  - Alekhya Parimi