So far our team has completed several aspects of this years competition, each of our sub teams have been focusing on various aspects of the challenge in order to complete the robot as well as promote our team.

Mechanical Team:

So far in the Mechanical section of the team we have prototyped two frisbee launching ideas one was to actually launch the frisbees into the different level goals; the second idea for the frisbee mechanism is to simply just dump all of the frisbees in to the lower goal all at once. We have also designed our robot to be smaller then the maximum amount so we can maneuver around the field easily, this also will allow the robot to climb up onto the lower section of the pyramid. Another portion of the robot that has been completed is the electrical board, which is attached to the back of the robot by hinges so that we can easily access it in order to fix any problems that might occur with it.

Programming Team:

The Programming sub-team this year has configured a virtual robot simulator which allows them to prototype various aspects of the robot’s programming before the robot has been completed. One of the examples is that they where able to prepare the drive and controlling code.

Using the simulator, they were able to create a tank drive system that can utilize either our standard three joystick system or a single xbox controller. For this, they had to streamline the code design process with a unique xbox control system so that they can easily create controls for the robot using an xbox controller. This multiple option system on controls was created so that the drive team has options between how they want to drive the robot during any given match. Another aspect of driving functions is the autonomous controls, where the robot performs a given task on its own; the programming team created a compact and efficient system for allowing the robot to determine what task needs to be completed just by a particular data value being put in, this would allow for an adaptable autonomous that no matter where it was set up, could be configured to perform its task properly.

They established an interface to control pneumatics and solenoids of the robot as well as improved the runtime motor safety, which allows for if something does go wrong, to easily shut off the robot.

Public Relation Team:

The Public Relations (PR) team so far in this four weeks of the build season have created new button designs, T-shirt designs, and added new pictures into the team website gallery. The PR team has also updated content with in the website to make it more visually appealing to the viewers of the site and contain current information versus having outdated information about the team.