Week five of build season started off and ended strong, and our whole team is getting more and more excited as we get to see serious progress made on our robots and attachments! We decided on the names for our competition and practice robots. Our final decision was to name our competition robot Europa, and our practice robot Callisto. 

Our main goal is to have both robots finished as soon as possible so we can start practicing with all the components, and so the programming team can get started with troubleshooting. Programming has made a lot of progress with our newest technology, the limelight! The limelight is basically a camera that flashes an intense green light that reflects off the tape on many parts of the game. This input shows the drivers what the robot is seeing so shooting and aiming can be more accurate. Programmers have been working extremely hard to code the limelight, and we are so excited to see how it works at competition! Programming has also been testing code after connecting the conveyor to our practice robot.

The conveyor is one of the subteams of mechanical, and the team was so excited to see so much built. The conveyor, winch, and climber arm subteams are also making incredible progress with their structures! Assembling the robot is tricky because the different parts have to be attached in a certain order, requiring pristine communication between subteams. Design has been finishing the hanger and adding finishing touches to the shooter. Mechanical and Design bond together during build season to finish the different components of the robot, so they have both been working on the hanger and shooter. Design has also been improving the robot CAD and adding small details as they see fit.

Electronics has been super busy with the two robots! Each robot requires e-boards, and our robot has both a vertical and horizontal e-boards. So far, the vertical e-board has been mounted and wired, and the horizontal e-board has been hooked up. This requires a lot of checking wires and motors, as well as tightening and securing connections which is very tedious! Lastly, the electronics subteam has hooked up drivetrain motors so our robot can have more consistent and smoother driving!

The drive team has been practicing at the new practice field, getting ready for our Week Zero scrimmage coming up on Saturday, February 15th. 

Next week, the Chairman’s Award presenters will give their speech to the whole team at the all hands meeting, and we are all very excited to hear what they are going to tell the judges at competition!

Many FTC girls have been shadowing FRC practices to see what positions they will be interested in next year. It’s strongly encouraged for FTC girls to shadow because they can get more of a feel for each subteam and truly explore their interests.

This year at competition, our team wants to give little goodie bags to each team to celebrate our tenth anniversary of joining FIRST! We have a tenth year anniversary logo for shirts and buttons.

Our parents and volunteers along with volunteers from other FRC teams have been building our new practice field, and it looks amazing already. They have been working extremely hard, and our team is so grateful for their dedication and skill. We are so excited to finish our robots and start practicing even more!