Ramroids Robotics 2015-17

2015-16 Year

Roles- Software Captain, Engineering Notebook Writer, PR, Inventory

This year I have grown a lot, I started out as a guy that did only his job and didn't contribute or take initiatives in other parts. Towards the middle of the year, something sparked and I wanted to make sure everything was ready and perfectly in order for competition. I put numerous hours outside of meetings to help fix up the Engineering Notebook and awards which no one had paid attention to all while testing autonomous code. It was a really fun experience and as hard as it was, the work paid off when we were nominated for some awards at our Qualifying Tournament.

Palm Desert QT- Winning Alliance

Perris QT- 2nd Place Rockwell Collins Innovate Award, 2nd Place Promote Award, 3rd Place Think Award

2015-16 FTC RES-Q

The Goal of this Years game was to drop debris onto a steep ramp also known as the "mountain". We had to create mechanisms to collect the balls and blocks and then dumping them into buckets, the more points the higher you go.

FIRST also rewards teams generously with points during autonomous mode, teams must learn how to utilize a variety of sensors to get from the starting position to a beacon and hit a corresponding color to earn points.

After doing thorough research and asking many questions through forums, we decided that treads were the best way to climb up the "mountain". We were challenged by the issue of treads snapping so we used orthodontic rubber bands to keep them in place, it was proved useful.

Isometric of the robot. The bucket in the front is reused from field parts and it is very effective in scooping balls and blocks into the conveyor belt system.

The conveyor belt uses treads and idler wheels to move the balls into the bucket. It was very effective and fast.

The Team After winning Winning Alliance.

2016-17 Year

Roles- Co Captain (Project Management, In Charge of The Engineering Notebook, Awards, and Facilitating and Tournaments Hosted by TCHS). Software- Co Captain, Inventory, Website, PR, and Vice President of the STEAM Club.

This year was an exciting new experience for me. I was able to learn how to manage a team and reach goals together. This year we were better prepared and on track than last. It was a great experience working with other people and improving on my communication skills as Check In and a Queuer for teams at League meets hosted by our team. I was also able to Host club meetings and teach fellow peers at my school basic engineering and robotics. I learned that hard work really pays off at the end. Despite not moving on after Regionals, this year was a great step in experiences for me.

2015-16 First Velocity Vortex

The Purpose of this Year's game was to Shoot Particle Balls into the center or corner vortexes. We had to create a mechanism to collect and shoot balls upward into basketball like hoops. Since particle balls were limited and getting beacons in autonomous gave you more balls, it was a huge incentive to try out sensors to switch the beacons into your color.

The hugest points were lifting a cap ball (yoga ball) and placing it in the center. We tried to use a linear pulley system but the weight was too much for the motors to handle. Lifting the balls up so high also caused the robot to tip over so we focused more on shooting particle balls.

Inter-league Tournament- Finalist Alliance, PTC Design Award; Advancement to Regionals

Initial fly wheel design of the robot. This was designed after baseball or ping pong dispenser robots but we didn't have the power we needed.

Final Design of the robot. We had a sweeper made of zip ties in the front to collect balls. Then we had a lexan flipper to shoot the balls up into the center vortex.

The usage of the lexan flipper was really efficient and caught the attention from the judges for being fast and efficient. We ended up winning the PTC Design Award because of this.