Week 2 was a jam-packed week full of prototyping, assembling, and testing. This week, the team had 4 meetings: Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. All of the subteams had a productive, engaging, and successful set of meetings.

Week 1’s goal featured finishing the chassis, however this task extended into Week 2 and the chassis was drivable by the end of the week. The chassis and control panel subteam faced numerous problems that they worked to identify and solve throughout the week’s meetings. The chassis’ CAD assembly is built, and the plates have been cut on the CNC as well. Wheel packages for the chassis were assembled on CAD before being physically put together for the actual chassis. A drastic change that was decided earlier on in the week was a shift in the gear ratio.

Note: Chassis 2 photos above.

The electronics subteam mainly focused on supporting mechanical, as mechanical was very busy fulfilling the needs of every subsystem team. They also did create a design for the E-Board, and it was transferred to a CAD assembly. A new facet of the E-Board this year is that it is both horizontal and vertical. Electronics also worked on incorporating Spark motor controllers into the E-Board, which proved to be an intricate, difficult, but rewarding task. 

The hanger subteam worked very hard on refining the initial prototype. This involved fixing the release mechanism and the magnet system. They also developed a height calculator to fine-tune the measurements for hanging. Towards the end of the week, the chain system proved to be a focus. The CAD for the hanger is in progress and will be worked on in the following week. 

The shooter subteam primarily focused on prototyping the intake, conveyor, and the shooter mechanism itself. For the intake specifically, the team is developing a center-aligning system. They are also using the new Mark Forged 3D printer to create pieces. The work on the conveyor was introduced later on in the week; so this too will be furthered next week. The shooter prototype was complete at the end of Week 1, so the team went into Week 2 ready to test. The tests proved to be highly successful; the power cell was able to be shot into the high target accurately. 

Programming had a few major code aspects they worked on this week, namely for limelights, color sensors, and analog pressure sensors. They also developed the drive code. 

On a separate note, the Girls of Steel FTC teams had their final qualifier of 2020, the Southwestern PA qualifier, on Saturday, January 11th. The girls did very well, and Girls of Steel Hopper 9821 won the Think Award, which is an incredible achievement! This is the first time in Girls of Steel history that an FTC team has won an award! The FTC girls are looking forward to shadowing the FRC girls in the following weeks, starting on January 20th!  The FTC blog will be posted soon!

Overall, the entire FRC team had a great 2nd week with a lot of excitement and progress. They are ready to move into Week 3 with more plans and goals to achieve.